Oklahoma and Missouri both enacted anti-BDS bills in the last few days.
Unlike bills in other States, these bills have been restricted in scope so as to pass constitutional muster.
Essentially, both States now ban companies with more than 10 employees from applying for State contracts worth more than $100,000 unless they certify that they do not engage in the BDS move, i.e. they do not boycott Israel, have not divested from Israel and do not support sanctions against Israel.
Limiting this to large companies and large contracts avoids free speech issues that have brought down earlier BDS laws in other States.
I do not support the BDS movement, but neither do I feel these laws are necessary, but if they must pass, they should at least be limited in scope, as Oklahoma and Missouri have done.
As an example of how past laws have overreached.
In one case, a State attempted to fire an employee because she refused to sign an anti-BDS pledge in her contract, the employee stating that she actively boycotted Israel, not purchasing items manufactured in Israel. The employee rightfully won in court and the statute as it related to individual employees was struck down as a blatant violation of the First Amendment.
Oklahoma and Missouri at least did it the right way.
