A bill that would protect historical memorials, including controversial monuments to the Confederacy erected after the Civil War by White citizens’ groups, moved through a committee in the Senate, powered by a Republican supermajority on the Senate Committee on Governmental Oversight and Accountability. No Democrat supported this measure. Sen. Jonathan Martin’s bill (SB 1122) would impose penalties on local officials who removed those and other historical monuments after July 1, 2024. That mirrors a House companion in key ways, including potential removal from office by the Governor, as well as civil penalties and required restitution for monument restoration from the...