Editorial: Bills descend on state Legislature

THE primaries haven't even been settled yet, let alone the general election, but already there are 313 bill draft requests swarming the Legislature's staffers.

The 1999 Legislature is almost half a year away, but the flood of bill draft requests is under way. The Sun's Cy Ryan reports that there were some interesting bills introduced, such as banning public schools from having fund-raising drives that send students door to door. Another would prohibit banks and other financial institutions from placing a surcharge on the use of automated teller machines.

At this early stage, though, it's tough to determine which of the bill draft requests have any merit. The public only gets to see a one-sentence description of the bill, and legislators have the option of withholding their name, preventing the public from knowing who introduced the bill.

It's time for another reality check: During the 1997 Legislature, about 2,000 requests for bill drafts and resolutions were made, but only 849 became law. Submitting a bill draft request can carry a hefty price tag. The average cost of researching and drafting these bills is $700.

Considering that there is a ballot question in November that would limit the length of legislative sessions to 120 days, interim legislative committees are already looking at how to cut back the session's duration by limiting the number of bill draft requests made by executive branch agencies and others. But before they start putting limits on others, legislators should take a long hard look at themselves and put their own house in order first, placing tough restrictions on how many bills they introduce.

archive