Outgoing State Rep Fred Deutsch was at the crux of the culture wars this past year, and was asked to weigh in by Politico on pressure by big business for legislatures to reject gender-specific bathroom laws in an article out this evening:
Before North Carolina, there was South Dakota. Last month, Republican Gov. Dennis Daugaard vetoed his own state Legislature’s bill to mandate that kids in public schools use the bathroom and locker room corresponding to their biological gender after hearing from local business groups and banks.
“I don’t think it’s the place of Big Business to tell a state how it should run particularly its social legislation,” said state Rep. Fred Deutsch, who sponsored the bill, in an interview with POLITICO. “I would encourage CEOs to run for the Legislature if they want to participate in social engineering, or send their lobbyists to testify against bills while they’re in committee. But don’t threaten us with leaving the state, especially when we’re extending tax incentives for them to be in our state.”
The United States Chamber of Commerce declined to comment for this story, saying it doesn’t weigh in on “social issues.”