Latest news with #HB60
Yahoo
01-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Senate bill barring transgender athletes passes House committee, House bill dies in Senate
CHEYENNE — Last fall, the University of Wyoming women's volleyball team pulled out of a match against San Jose State University, which reportedly had a transgender player. This incident helped inspire two different bills filed this legislative session to ban transgender athletes from women's sports teams. Sen. Wendy Schuler, R-Evanston, is the primary sponsor of Senate File 44, 'Fairness in sports-intercollegiate athletics,' which bars transgender athletes from participation in intercollegiate female sports. Female students are allowed to compete on men's college sports teams, under the bill, if there is no women's team available for that particular sport. The House Education Committee unanimously passed Schuler's bill Wednesday in a 9-0 vote. Rep. Martha Lawley sponsored a similar bill, House Bill 60, that prohibited transgender athletes from competing on women's or girls teams in grades K-12, as well as college sports. However, HB 60 was laid back in the Senate Education Committee on Wednesday over concerns about the bill's structure. Instead, part of HB 60 was amended into Schuler's bill in the House committee. The new amendment to SF 44 prohibits transgender athletes from participation on women's sports teams and prohibits women's teams from competing against other teams with a transgender player, including individual sports. Earlier this month, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to ban transgender athletes from competitive girls' and women's sports teams. The executive order rescinds federal funding to any programs found out of compliance with it. 'We've had people say, well, do we still need it even though there's an executive order out there? And I think we do need it,' Schuler told House Education Committee members. 'We don't know in four years who the administration might be. … As the administrations change, the executive orders change.' SF 44 provides a person the? right to a civil cause of action against any Wyoming college found in violation of this bill, where the public higher education institution could be liable for up to $50,000. The bill protects people from retaliation for reporting a violation of the law, and it also allows the institution to discipline any student or employee for making a false report. 'Women's sports and Title IX exist because men and women are biologically different,' Wyoming Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder said. 'And standing up for women's rights in this regard is not about hatred, it's not about bigotry — at least it certainly is not for me. What it's really about is safety in sport.' Wyoming Equality Communications Director Santi Murillo was the first openly transgender athlete at the University of Wyoming. Speaking on behalf of herself, Murillo said athletics taught her invaluable life lessons that she now passes on to the kids she coaches. 'If this law had been in place when I was a student, I would have been denied those opportunities,' Murillo said. 'Let me be clear that we're not asking for an extreme position. But the only options that are being presented seem to be total exclusion or complete inclusion without accountability. And neither of those are real solutions.' Murillo said if she were taller and heavier, with a clear biological advantage, she would have taken accountability and not competed in women's sports. She asked lawmakers to consider policy changes that take into account the fairness and lived experience of all athletes, instead of a blanket ban that targets 'an already vulnerable population.' 'Beyond the harm that this bill does to transgender athletes, it also fuels fear, rather than fostering understanding,' Murillo said. 'It tells transgender women we are something to be afraid of, instead of human beings who deserve dignity and respect.' University of Wyoming student government representative Sophia Gomelsky told lawmakers other UW students do not want this bill. Players on the UW volleyball team did not support pulling out of the match against San Jose State, she said. 'But after a series of threats from state legislators, the university decided for the students and for our volleyball team that they would not play,' Gomelsky said. Both Gomelsky and Murillo said the National Collegiate Athletic Association already has rules and procedures in place for college sports teams, and that this legislation is a form of government overreach. 'The only thing Santi here could dominate me in is a hair and makeup competition,' Gomelsky said. 'But I think I have 20 pounds on her. … This bill is a step in the wrong direction, and it's government overreach students do not want and athletes do not want.'
Yahoo
07-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Landlords do well during first House business session
Feb. 6—Landlords and housing developers had a good day in the New Hampshire House of Representatives Thursday after the House approved strengthening no-fault eviction laws and rejected limits on those selling or owning private rental property. State Rep. Joseph Alexander, R-Goffstown, chairman of the now permanent House Committee on Housing, said during the debate the market is "volatile and uncertain" in waving off attempts by House Democrats to impose new limits on property sales. The most significant change that passed gives landlords an affirmative right to give tenants a 60-day notice of intent to evict once a lease has expired and the two parties can't reach an agreement on the future rent or terms of occupancy. "This strikes a fair balance, giving housing providers the ability to plan for the future while ensuring tenants receive the necessary time to transition," Alexander said. "HB 60 fosters a more predictable rental market by reducing sudden displacements and promoting responsible property management." With a vacancy rate of .8% statewide — less than 20% the amount needed for a healthy market — House Democrats said this stricter tenancy standard would throw vulnerable families out on the street. "I am a small mom and pop landlord. Just the people this bill is trying to protect. I know how difficult the eviction process can be for small landlords," said Rep. David Paige, D-Conway. "This bill would do more harm than good and at the worst possible time." The House rejected postponing the change until the vacancy rate was at either 2.5% or 5%. "This has been working for decades. The question is why now when people are facing housing insecurity at unprecedented levels," said Rep. Ellen Read, D-Newmarket. The House passed the bill, 217-139. Issue underscores House GOP cushion The legislation revealed the cushion that House Republicans have after gaining more than 25 net seats in last Nov. 5 election. During 2023-2024, the House GOP had the tiniest minority in more than 150 years. A year ago, this bill with a tougher 30-day notice narrowly cleared the House, 194-180; the Senate sent it into study, killing it until 2025. With Republicans now holding a 16-8 supermajority in the Senate, the legislation stands an even better chance of getting to the desk of Gov. Kelly Ayotte. The House rejected two bills from House Democrats, one to require property owners give right of first refusal to a tenant before selling their multi-family housing (HB 444) and the other to restrict the right of corporations to own residential property in the state (HB 623). The debate on both became charged when GOP legislators tried to brand the bills as extreme attempts at government control. "The bill is fundamentally socialist in nature and undermines the principles of the market and home ownership," Rep. Dick Thackston, R-Troy, said about the right of first refusal bill. Rep. Matthew Hicks, D-Concord, said House GOP leaders weren't open to compromising on the issue. "This sends a message to our constituents that we don't really care about housing," Hicks said. Alexander said the legislation the House passed that might help the most is a bipartisan bill (HB 399) to create a commission to study the state's zoning enabling act that turns 100 years old this year. The enabling act that started as five principles has grown to hundreds of pages of regulations and court decisions on the topic, Alexander said. The House approved that one on a voice vote. klandrigan@
