Soccer Dad

How you can tell your legislators have too much time on their hands

A decade ago Jeff Jacoby wrote "Shorter and sweeter on Beacon Hill" (Boston Globe, Sept 7, 1998) in which he lamented that the Massachusetts legislature was in session year round.

The New Hampshire House of Representatives, for example, may meet for a maximum of 45 days and is required to end its yearly sessions no later than June 30. That is a schedule that fits most peoples' lives. As a result, New Hampshire is governed by a true citizen legislature .

In 1995, the 400-member House comprised -- take a deep breath -- veterinarians, social workers, psychotherapists, property managers, office managers, mechanics, foresters, clerks, clergymen, chefs, carpenters, business managers, auto dealers, ambulance owners, construction workers, pilots, administrative assistants, salesmen, journalists, bankers, accountants, police chiefs, executives, nurses, firefighters, consultants, education administrators, engineers, small-business owners, government employees, homemakers, and teachers, as well as retirees, students, volunteers, the self-employed, people in real estate, insurance, utilities, quality control, marketing, lumber, public relations, security, the shoe industry, and the military -- and a handful of lawyers. That is about as perfect a microcosm of society as any political system is likely to produce. And since New Hampshire legislators do not have individual offices and are paid a grand total of $100 a year, the great majority of them runfor office for the most admirable of reasons: because it is an honor to serve.

In neighboring Massachusetts, by contrast, the Legislature never adjourns, and members are paid a lavish salary -- $46,410 to start, plus thousands more in "leadership" bonuses, expense allowances, and mileage per diems. Not surprisingly, very few Bay Staters can even contemplate running for office, while those who do tend to be political careerists. Most Massachusetts legislators list "legislator" as their occupation. Many are also lawyers.

Apparently he isn't much familiar with Maryland's legislature that manages a full year of mischief in only 3 months.

In case you don't believe that Maryland's General Assembly doesn't have too much time on its hands, there's an initiative to penalize dry cleaners.

You may have guessed that after prompting worldwide ridicule, a D.C. judge's $54 million lawsuit against his neighborhood dry cleaners would disappear from the headlines. Think again.

Maryland Del. Barbara A. Robinson (D-Baltimore) was inspired in part by the case of Roy L. Pearson Jr. to introduce legislation requiring dry cleaners to pay customers for clothing they damaged. Click here to read the story in today's Metro section.

One of the witnesses pointed out a problem:

Richard Ehrenreich, executive director of the Mid-Atlantic Association of Cleaners, criticized the bill. He said it places too high a burden on dry cleaners. For instance, he said in his testimony, someone could spill champagne on a party dress and may not notice the stain because the liquid is clear. But the sugar from the champagne soaks into the fabric and when the heat of a dryer or iron is applied, the sugar creates a stain.

"Dry cleaners are experts, but you can only be expert to a certain degree," Ehrenreich said.

Our intrepid legislators are also considering a text messaging ban. Now I'm not saying that text messaging while driving is good obviously it isn't.

In our Session 2008 report: Should you be allowed to text message while driving? Lawmakers are debating a proposal that would ban the behavior on Maryland roads. The parents of Heather Hurd came to Annapolis Tuesday to testify in favor of the bill. Kim Hurd, Heather’s mother says, "She had her dream job, she was loving life. She had just gotten engaged in October."

But those dreams came to a standstill 2 months ago when Heather was killed in a 9 car pile up in Florida. Russell Hurd, Heather’s father says, "It was alleged the tractor trailer driver who started the accident was text messaging." Heather's parents want lawmakers to ban text messaging while driving.

First of all, this case, tragic as it is, is a case where text messaging is "alleged." If it is established that the truck driver was, in any way, reckless he will prosecuted accordingly. If common sense didn't tell him that what he was doing endangered others, I'm not sure that a law will.

Also after our state legislators are now considering granting in-state tuition rates to illegal immigrants. According to the Sun the objection is that this bill would then reduce the number of in-state scholarships available for legal Maryland residents.

Critics argued that because of the limited number of slots for students receiving in-state tuition at Maryland's public colleges and universities, every undocumented student allowed to pay the lower rates would mean one fewer legal resident getting the discount.

(I originally thought that this would involve an increase in spending by extending the discount to more students. After the special session that would be wrong. However that does not appear to be the case.)

Given the problem of the murder rate in Baltimore City, one would think that was the number one issue facing not only the city but the state. Yet the legislature, seems more intent on protecting geese than people.

Two years ago Maryland's legislature, in an effort to undermine Gov. Bob Ehrlich in an election year, overrode three of his vetoes only to have those overrides reversed on appeal. This is what our lawmakers have done in the past. They were so unaware of the legal aspects of the bills they passed that they couldn't even make sure that the laws didn't run afoul of precedent.

Now this year they are being petty in another way, passing laws that we don't need. Fortunately, the legislature is only in session for 3 months. Who knows what damage they could do if they had a full year to legislate? Even now, they appear to have too much time on their hands.

maryland.