House Democrats expressed their opposition to the controversial Title IX bill in a press conference on Thursday.
Representative Dean Dorhman is the sponsor of House Bill 573, which would create a process for either party in a Title IX case to appeal a decision if they disagreed with the findings of a college or university.
The bill recently underwent 23 changes, several of which were designed to address criticism that the bill would stop some victims from coming forward. Meanwhile, supporters of the bill have ramped up efforts, hiring a team of lobbyists.
Representative Kip Kendrick has been an open critic of the bill. He said he still sees major errors in it.
“All of the sudden there are 20 plus lobbyists hired in this building to silence victims of sexual assault. My god, what year is this”
House Republicans said they’ve been working with universities to improve the bill. One representative said university leaders told him they were 95 percent of the way to agreeing with the bill’s language.
Lawmakers will be on spring break next week, but both parties said they would continue debating the bill upon their return.