Two bills aimed at shutting down Madison’s World Naked Bike Ride got another public hearing at the Capitol this week. The measures were authored as a response to a young girl’s participation.
Representative Cindy Duchow (R-Delafield) said it’s about protecting kids. “As a parent I don’t want to expose my child to that. But I don’t know that when I go to the farmers market that you’re going to be there naked. And if I get there what do I do, because there you are and I’m at the farmers market.”
Madison police and the Dane County District Attorney’s Office determined no laws were broken.
Representative Todd Novak (R-Dodgeville) doubted these bills would change that. “So when you’re talking about farmers market in Dane County, no Dane County prosecutor or Dane County Judge is ever going to touch this with 100 foot pole, because that’s just the way we work up here.”
Unlike an earlier Senate committee hearing, opponents of the bills testified, including a participant who read a statement from the mother who allowed her daughter to ride.
It’s not clear whether the legislation will advance to either the full Senate or Assembly.