Fooling around in Sacramento
California government is $26 billion-plus in the red, but members of the Legislature still have managed to introduce 2,300 bills having nothing to do with resolving the state’s staggering budget crisis.
There are, for example, bills that would revise the definition of extra virgin olive oil. Another piece of legislation would ban caffeinated beer.
Yet another would require that animal shelters not be called dog pounds, and dictates that instead of saying an unwanted animal is going to be killed, it would be “humanely euthanized.” There’s even a bill mandating that fewer bills be introduced.
Does any of this have anything to do with solving California’s fiscal crisis? No. Is there a way to get lawmakers focused on the real problems, and leave the trivial stuff until another time? Yes, and more about that in a moment.
That 2,300-plus bill total in this legislative session is actually down considerably from sessions in the recent past. Lawmakers in Sacramento can, indeed, be thick-headed, but maybe they’re finally realizing that the ship is sinking, and if they don’t want it to go under, they need to stop fooling around and start bailing. Read more ...http://www.lompocrecord.com/news/opinion/editorial/article_24958036-4c6b-11e0-b271-001cc4c03286.html
There are, for example, bills that would revise the definition of extra virgin olive oil. Another piece of legislation would ban caffeinated beer.
Yet another would require that animal shelters not be called dog pounds, and dictates that instead of saying an unwanted animal is going to be killed, it would be “humanely euthanized.” There’s even a bill mandating that fewer bills be introduced.
Does any of this have anything to do with solving California’s fiscal crisis? No. Is there a way to get lawmakers focused on the real problems, and leave the trivial stuff until another time? Yes, and more about that in a moment.
That 2,300-plus bill total in this legislative session is actually down considerably from sessions in the recent past. Lawmakers in Sacramento can, indeed, be thick-headed, but maybe they’re finally realizing that the ship is sinking, and if they don’t want it to go under, they need to stop fooling around and start bailing. Read more ...http://www.lompocrecord.com/news/opinion/editorial/article_24958036-4c6b-11e0-b271-001cc4c03286.html
