ABFE Updates American Booksellers for Free Expression (ABFE) spoke to Maggie Tokuda-Hall, acclaimed Children’s and YA author and part of the national leadership team for Authors Against Book Bans (AABB), about AABB’s rapidly expanding initiative to mobilize authors in the fight for free expression. This interview is available on our podcast, social media, and blog. Additionally, ABFE wrote to Alabama booksellers asking them to oppose HB 385 last week, a book ban bill that could have seen booksellers at risk of being labeled a “public nuisance” if books in their collection were deemed “harmful to minors” — a notoriously elastic term that can encompass classics and other mainstream literature — or if they hosted drag story time events. Happily, the bill died without a vote when the legislative session adjourned last week. Credit Card Competition Act and HR 6398 While the Credit Card Competition Act still searches for a route forward, lawmakers have introduced a bill that only a banker could love: HR 6398, which would exempt even more banks from limits on the debit card fees they are able to charge. Lawmakers should be working to lessen the fees that hurt small businesses, not increase them — but increase them is exactly what HR 6398 would do if it is allowed to pass. If you received an email from us about HR 6398, please write to your US House Representative to demand they oppose HR 6398 as long as Section 2(b) remains in it. |
