Another great commentary by Linda Stowe. This one takes a good look at repressive legislation and its far-reaching and close to home effects. As always, Linda’s observations are insightful and astute.
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Legislation
by Linda Stowe
Anyone who reads the news daily has heard warnings about the negative impact of repressive legislation enacted in GOP-led red states. Mostly the warnings have cautioned that businesses will not want to locate in such an oppressive environment or that people just plain won’t want to live where not everyone is welcome. This makes sense in a general way, but something I heard this morning was specific enough for me to see the harm of every plank in the platform the far-right is laying in these states. And, sadly, Ohio is one of those states.
There is a saying that all politics is local, meaning that voters will be more concerned with what affects them directly. That doesn’t mean that state or national legislation does not have local impact. It just means that we cannot always clearly see how state and local legislation affects us personally. For instance, voters are more likely to notice the personal impact of a $1,200 Covid stimulus check than legislation on climate change.
Over recent years red states have enacted legislation on reproductive health and the rights of LGBTQ citizens. These laws make these states less welcoming to the military because they affect military readiness. Military readiness is defined as the military’s ability to execute national military strategy. Part of this strategy includes having the right military personnel in the right place at the right time. If a military family would be negatively affected by the laws, then that family cannot be stationed in those states, making the future of the bases in those states less secure.
Even this specific example can be too large to grasp. Until now. This morning I learned that Huntsville, Alabama will be the first locality to feel the pain of right-wing politics. Plans were on the books for the Space Force headquarters to be relocated from Colorado to Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville Alabama. However, since the time those plans were made, Alabama enacted legislation negatively impacting reproductive health and the rights of LGBTQ citizens. Now the decision has been put on hold and it is likely the headquarters will remain in Colorado. This shuts the Huntsville area out of millions of dollars of potential revenue.
This is the first incident that can be directly connected to this legislation, but it will likely not be the last unless state legislatures wake up to see that such legislation is making red states less welcoming to newcomers. Wright-Patterson Air Force Base is home to many important military commands, and these commands can shift any time in response to military readiness. What would happen to the communities and families who depend upon the Base for their livelihood if major changes were made at Wright-Patt? Could the Dayton metro area become the next Huntsville?
