Lawmakers are wasting their constituents’ trust and money when they introduce bills they don’t intend on getting passed into law.
More than 8,000 bills were introduced at the Minnesota legislature this session. Less than 300 bills are likely to be sent to the governor.
The other 7,700 or so bills were introduced by lawmakers who were doing someone a favor with support of a cause or making a personal statement on a particular issues. Some of these bills were introduced despite the author's understanding that it would never get enough support from fellow lawmakers to move forward.
Certainly, we understand the motivation by lawmakers to introduce bills that indicate their feelings on a subject. We’ve recognized bills that saw little political support, but served to invite discussion on a growing concern or issue that everyone expects to resurface at future sessions.
But introducing bills that truly serve no public purpose is an irresponsible use of the public's trust. We don’t believe that lawmakers ought to be censored about what kind of bills they may introduce. The process should be open to all issues.
And we resist the urge to demand to know how much money it costs the government to prepare an individual bill. The importance of introducing a bill shouldn’t be weighed solely on the costs.
A newspaper reported last week that Rep. Tom Rukavina, DFL-Virginia, admitted that he introduced a bill that would have reversed a county ruling against a childhood friend never meaning for it to go forward. He considered introduction of the bill his way of sticking by his friend and admitted he wasn’t serious about the bill.
Lawmakers must use restraint in introducing bills that serve little public purpose and instead concentrate on the bills that can provide value to Minnesotans.