In February, California decided to ban state-funded travel to Kansas, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Tennessee after officials deemed laws in these states discriminate against the LGBT community.
California has now added Texas, Alabama, South Dakota, and Kentucky to that list for the same reasons.
From The Sacramento Bee:
California Attorney Xavier Becerra announced the new states at a Thursday press conference, where he was joined by representatives from ACLU Northern California and Equality California.“We will not spend taxpayer dollars in states that discriminate,” Becerra said.
North Carolina gained national attention after officials signed a bathroom bill that said people must use public restrooms associated with their birth sex, which is why California added the state to the list. North Carolina reached a compromise over the bill in March, which made some companies change their minds about doing business in the state. Texas lawmakers have been debating a similar bill.
But that’s not why California added Texas. The Sacramento Bee described the reasons for all four states:
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott this month signed a law that allows child welfare providers to deny services because of “sincerely held religious beliefs,” a provision that critics interpreted as permitting adoption agencies to deny services to gay families.Alabama and South Dakota were added to California’s listed of banned states because of similar adoption-related laws. The California Department of Justice said Kentucky’s Senate Bill 17 allows student-run organizations in schools to discriminate against classmates.
The ban does not apply to “law enforcement officers, tax auditors and training events that are required for grants.” The state will also exempt trips that are “needed to enforce California law and to honor contracts made before 2017.”
Officials probably added that last part because the first ban caused a pain for public universities over sporting events. Fresno State University has a game against the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa this season. Fox News reported that “[A] request for a legal opinion on whether public university sports’ travel is exempt from the ban has been filed with Becerra’s office, but no ruling has been issued.”
Texas has responded to the ban, according to Fox News:
“California may be able to stop their state employees, but they can’t stop all the businesses that are fleeing over taxation and regulation and relocating to Texas,” said John Wittman, a spokesman for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican.
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