Censorship and book bans must be stopped in North Dakota. Senate Bill 2307 would require public and school libraries in the state to hide “obscene” material from minors. Who is to say what’s “obscene”? What’s offensive to one person could be entirely appropriate for somebody else.

This frightening bill is completely unnecessary. What is the problem legislators are trying to fix? There’s already a process in place at libraries to remove objectionable materials. The legislation would cost libraries millions of dollars to go through all the items on their shelves. Where is that money coming from?

Backers of this absurd bill say they’re out to protect children from pornography. I have news for the lawmakers: Libraries are not where minors are looking for porn. I’m told it’s pretty accessible on the internet. Homophobic legislators also want to ban books dealing with sexual orientation. Yes, let’s just put our heads in the sand.

The bill passed in the Senate and House. Legislators ignored the whopping 85% of the testimony opposing this disturbing legislation.

Meantime, are we really going to arrest and jail our dedicated librarians? If you don’t like a certain book, then don’t read it or don’t have your children read it. However, we should be able to decide what library books we want our children to read without government interference. Gov. Armstrong must veto this alarming bill.

Speaking of frightening bills in North Dakota, there are two that bash transgender people in the state and pretend they don’t exist. Transgender people are small in numbers and don’t threaten anybody. It’s time to leave them alone and just let them live their lives in peace.

Armstrong is spot-on with his criticism of the Senate Appropriations Committee for gutting his property tax reforms. Armstrong rightfully called for a $1,550 tax credit for the primary residences of North Dakotans. The committee has dropped that to $1,250.

He’s also correct in denouncing the committee for wanting tax relief for commercial property that is often owned by people who live out of state. Armstrong has properly recognized that property tax relief is the top issue in the state. It should just be for North Dakotans.

Pretty pathetic that Fargo Sens. Kyle Davison, Tim Mathern, Michelle Powers, Kristin Roers and Ronald Sorvaag all voted to ban Fargo’s approval voting system. That popular system has been a huge success. More importantly, approval voting was overwhelmingly voted for in all of their legislative districts. They should have represented the wishes of their constituents and voted no.

Good to see Mathern tried to double the staff of the North Dakota Ethics Commission. It’s disturbing that the House voted not to add any positions and limit investigations to 180 days. Many Republican lawmakers despise the commission, haven’t properly funded it, and disgracefully would like to handcuff it as much as possible.

Gotta go now. I’m going skiing with Lori VanWinkle.

InForum columnist Jim Shaw is a former WDAY TV reporter and former KVRR TV news director.