This bill would hit hardest those programs that rely on state funding where city or county funding falls short.

Anyway, the double-think being exhibited in a statement like this is astounding:

>Republican Rep. Dirk Deaton of Noel defended the law and the decision to strip public library funding in response to the lawsuit. “It’s been said this is a book ban. This is not that,” Deaton said. “It is protecting innocent children.”

He completely disconnects purpose, cause, and effect. Let's pretend for a moment that this action protects innocent children. How would it do that? By defunding libraries that dare to legally challenge book bans. Dirk Deaton tells a big lie because he knows that "protecting children" is a weak band-aid that covers the Republican power grab for strictly controlling the information the public has free access to.