RICHMOND -- A Senate committee killed legislation Thursday that would have put the weight of the state attorney general behind school boards wanting to prohibit events promoting sexual activity.

On a 9-6 vote, a motion to report House Bill 1308 from the Senate Committee on Education and Health to the full Senate failed.

The legislation was opposed by members of high school gay-straight alliance clubs, who said the legislation unfairly targeted their groups. They said the intent of clubs is to promote awareness and understanding of homosexuality, not to promote sexual activity.

Dyana Mason, head of Equality Virginia, said the bill was a "thinly veiled attempt to allow and even encourage some school boards to discriminate against gay-straight alliances."

HB 1308's sponsor, Del. Matthew Lohr, R-Rockingham County, denied that his bill targeted any particular school group.

"This bill is not aimed at eliminating gay-straight alliances from our schools," Lohr said. "I'm sure the majority of them are doing good things. This bill just gives the school board more legal authority that they can act when there are clubs that are promoting sexual activity."

Lohr said the legislation was sparked by a 2005 incident in which a Chesterfield County gay-straight alliance invited gay author Greg Herren to a high school for a speech and book signing. The school board canceled the event after it learned Herren's works included a book entitled, "Frat Sex: Stories of Gay Sex in College Fraternities."

Although local school boards can already prohibit events that promote sexual activity, advocates said the bill was needed to clarify the law and allow the attorney general to defend school boards if they were sued over such prohibitions.

"The threat of lawsuits intimidates school boards from implementing policies that would protect our children," said Stephanie Wyman, director of the Capital Region Family Forum. "So it's critical the state give local school boards the legal support to do their job."

Others, including all seven Democrats on the committee, apparently disagreed. Sen. Janet Howell, D-Fairfax County, said she didn't buy Lohr's claims that the bill didn't threaten gay-straight clubs.

"If they have 'nothing to fear' and yet they're fearful, it tells me that maybe we have no need for this legislation," Howell said.

Committee Democrats were joined by Sen. Russ Potts, R-Winchester, and Sen. Frederick Quayle, R-Chesapeake, in voting against the bill.

Textbook bill moves out to full Senate

The Senate Committee on Education and Health voted Thursday to approve legislation designed to make textbooks more affordable for college students.

House Bill 1478 includes five guidelines for colleges to try to make textbooks more affordable. They include:

n Having faculty adopt books earlier to give students more time to look for bargains.

n Selling packaged books separately instead of just in a "bundle" with other materials.

n Ensuring faculty know the price of textbooks before they decide to use them.

n Limiting the use of new-edition textbooks.

n Placing samples of textbooks in the school library and other places.

"What we are trying to do is encourage efforts to minimize the cost of textbooks for students at public colleges and universities," said the bill's sponsor, Del. Glenn Oder, R-Newport News.

Jesse Ferguson, executive director of the student advocacy group Virginia21, said that state numbers show the cost of textbooks has risen to $400 a semester, about 25 percent of the cost of tuition at a four-year college and 75 percent of the cost of tuition at a community college. As a result, he said, some students just go without.

Opponents of the legislation said HB 1478 was unconstitutional and threatened the ability of professors to order books they needed for their classes.

Bruce Hildebrand, representing the Association of American Publishers, said the bill was "a slippery slope" that could result in the state telling publishers how to package their books.

And Don Beville, a senior field editor for Prentice Hall, said the limit on new editions went in the face of faculty in quickly advancing fields like engineering, who demand new editions to keep up with breaking news.

Sen. Steve Newman, R-Lynchburg, said Beville's argument was a "ruse" and the measure did not limit faculty who want to order a new edition.

The bill passed on a 13-2 committee vote.