Grassroots activists frustrated that HB4 has not been prioritized by legislators

March 20, 2025 – MONTGOMERY, AL – The Alabama Legislature returns on Tuesday, and a group that is seeking to have objectionable pro LGBTQ+ propaganda and sexually explicit materials taken from the children's sections of children's libraries is frustrated that legislation that they have endorsed has not even been considered by the Alabama House of Representatives.

Clean Up Alabama is a conservative grassroots group with a singular focus on protecting children from being indoctrinated into beliefs and values incompatible with traditional Alabama values and a Judeo-Christian worldview

House Bill 4 was pre-filed well ahead of the legislative session where the Legislature and the Governor's office could review the legislation and make any necessary changes. HB4 was sponsored by State Representative Arnold Mooney (R-Indian Springs) and has 50 House cosponsors.

"Why are taxpayer-funded public libraries in Alabama continuing to expose children to obscene content?" Clean Up Alabama wrote in an emailed statement. "This practice is illegal for everyone-except public libraries. Libraries funded by our taxes are exposing our children to graphic sexual material, disregarding the will of parents and community standards."

"How did this happen? It's a result of radical lobbying by the American Library Association, which has pushed for an exemption for libraries from existing obscenity laws," Clean Up Alabama continued. "This is why the Common Sense Library Obscenity Bill was introduced, for the second year in a row now."

The group is frustrated that even though the legislative session is half over the Legislature has done nothing to address this issue.

"HB 4, filed by Representative Arnold Mooney with 50 co-sponsors, has yet to be placed on the Judiciary Committee calendar," Clean Up Alabama wrote. "The Chair of the Judiciary Committee, Representative Jim Hill, is responsible for scheduling, and despite weeks of requests from concerned constituents, there has been no response or action on this bill."

According to Clean Up Alabama, HB4 would:

"• It removes the exemption for libraries from current obscenity laws, ensuring that taxpayer dollars are not used to expose children to harmful, explicit content."

"With 50 co-sponsors, why is this bill being delayed?" Clean Up Alabama stated. "The answer is clear: Our legislators would rather pay lip service than take real action to protect our children."

The group is asking people to sign their petition at:

https://cleanupalabama.org/state-petition/

The American Library Association argues that this is a free speech issue. Critics however point out that libraries already censor when they decide what books to add to their collections or not.

Speaker of the House Nathaniel Ledbetter (R-Rainsville) and House Majority Leader Scott Stadthagen (R-Hartselle) are both cosponsors of the bill. The bill has to receive a favorable report from committee before it can be added to the calendar for the full House of Representatives to consider passage of the bill.

Tuesday is day 14 of the Alabama regular legislative session. The Alabama Legislature is limited to a maximum of 30 days in a regular session.