Expelling pornography from school computers
Sponsorship by powerful liberal senator smooths way for bill
From Kentucky Citizen Digest, April, 1998

In the middle of the General Assembly session, a columnist for one of the state’s major papers wrote an editorial on “odd couples” in Frankfort -- people working together who you wouldn’t expect to have much to do with one another. But the writer didn’t mention one of the strangest pairings of all.

Senate Bill 230 was a bill that required that schools filter sexually explicit material on the Internet before it is made available to students. The bill was authored by Family Foundation staff members, but was introduced into the legislature by one of the General Assembly’s leading liberals, Senate Majority Floor Leader David Karem.

With the support of The Family Foundation and the sponsorship of Karem, the bill breezed through the legislature with almost no debate.

“We have certainly had our disagreements with Sen. Karem,” said Martin Cothran, senior policy analyst with The Family Foundation, “but this was a good example of an issue on which conservatives and liberals could agree.”

“I think it will make all of us more aware of the dangers of the Internet and the need to address the problems that have resulted from it,” said Theressa Boling, Family Foundation policy analyst.“And although the filtering programs are not the ultimate solution, they will take care of most of the problems. We should be using all the tools available, and this is one that is available.”

But the story of a law doesn’t end with its passage by the legislature. Much depends on how the relevant state agency (in this case the Department of Education) implements the law.  Conservatives -- and liberals -- will be watching.
 

Key Family Foundation Contacts: Kent Ostrander, Executive Director Martin Cothran, Senior Associate Policy Analyst