House members passed House Bill 1605 on a party-line vote of 70 to 24, with one member present, not voting.
The bill, sponsored by Rep. Gino Bulso, R-Brentwood, would prohibit the display of any flags that “represent a political viewpoint, including but not limited to, a partisan, racial, sexual orientation, gender, or other ideological viewpoint.”
A companion bill could be up for a final vote in the Senate as early as Thursday, having passed the Senate Education in a 5 to 4 vote last week.
“Do parents have the right to instill values in their own children that they agree with?” Bulso asked during House debate on Monday. “If you have parents across the state who want to instill in their children values represented by the pride flag, they are certainly entitled to do that. On the other hand, if you have parents who want to instill values in their children that are not consistent with the values represented by the pride flag, they have the ability to do that.”