Needless Legislation ≥ Destructive Legislation

One of my friends sent me a link to this article from NewHampshirewatchdog.org titled “The Legislature Should Just Say No to Purple” about the nuisance of frivolous laws. As Charlie Arlinghaus writes:
Some legislators interpreted the election results to mean that they ought to focus on the budget, getting the state’s fiscal house in order, solving a huge deficit, maybe doing about the retirement system. But one guy took the election to mean something completely different. A Republican legislator from Pelham named Doherty has introduced a bill to make purple the official color of the state.

There’s no regulation involved, no appropriation and no mandates but every bill has a cost in printing, writing, and distributing. It used to be a few thousand dollars each. It’s probably a little less now. But even if it’s only fifteen bucks, it’s waste.

These silly ideas are usually pitched as something we do to teach kids about how government works. … If we want to teach kids, how about we teach them that the legislature is not designed as a source of amusement (at least not purposely)? Debating, considering, and adopting a state color is a waste of time. I think we should teach them that. If I were governor and this bill reached my desk, I’d veto it in front of a room of students to teach them about frivolity.

I don’t know why bother with those ideas either. They are a waste of money, time, and effort. However, if being around “political types” has taught me anything, it is that the folks we elect are going to pontificate and blow smoke as long as they hold office. I prefer their time to be spent around something frivolous, such as the state color or drink, rather than tax increases or new government programs. Bring on the state colors, state pants, state sandwiches, state gemstones…. Just keep them distracted from trying to legislate morality or collectivism. Maybe one day we’ll elect legislatures based on how they mix and match colors, rather than their proposed means of distributing the money of other people.

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