Georgia Senate passes bill banning taxpayer, private funds for American Library Association

Georgia’s Senate passed a bill Thursday that would ban libraries from spending public or private funds on services offered by the American Library Association, which a Republican member of the chamber called a “Marxist and socialist” group.

The measure, Senate Bill 390, passed by a vote of 33 to 20. Democrats opposed it, saying the ALA offered libraries invaluable services and had long defended free speech and artistic expression.

But one of the bill’s authors, Republican Sen. Larry Walker III, said the group’s agenda and politics were inconsistent with Georgia’s conservative values.