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04/15/2008

That's our request to the members of the 123rd Legislature, as they frantically dash their way to the finish line. Faced with a Wednesday deadline to conclude their consideration of bills, they're tearing through the more than 100 pieces of legislation still to be debated, amended, killed or passed. Last Friday saw a blizzard of legislation passed in the House; most of those bills now await Senate action.

That these bills have been left to the end does not mean they are unimportant. On the contrary, lawmakers still have major decisions before them. They are considering an increase in the state's cigarette tax to help fund the Dirigo Health insurance plan, a plan to consolidate state and county jail systems and a proposal to allow the Penobscot Nation to operate 400 slot machines on its Indian Island reservation, among dozens of other proposals.

We have observed over the years that a certain disease afflicts lawmakers, no more so than in the final days of the session. That disease has one outstanding symptom: A strong belief that all problems have a legislative solution.

Kids are mean to each other on the Internet? Pass a law to ban that kind of behavior. Your neighbor had a run-in with an agency staffer who refused to give them a development permit? Initiate a year-long legislative study of that permitting program. Don't like the foreign policy of Iran? Propose a measure to divest state holdings from any companies that do business with Iran. Having trouble getting re-elected? Add your support to a bill to raise the minimum wage.

Yet not all the answers to our problems can be supplied by government. As the 123rd Maine Legislature draws to a close, now is the time for all good men and women in the Statehouse to come to the aid of their constituents -- not by passing frivolous legislation, or hidden fee increases under the cover of night, or bills that will increase the burden of government without a clear and compelling reason.

We ask, simply, that Maine lawmakers, in the heat of the moment, coolly assess the need for each and every remaining piece of legislation, make their decisions based on facts and reliable analysis, weigh the demands of both constituents and the state at large -- and then make wise decisions that will move the state forward into a prosperous future that we can all share.

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