We begin the second session of the 124th Legislature on January 6th. During the coming months we will face some serious challenges. A budget shortfall of more that $400 million dollars, issues relating to school consolidation, the environment, labor and wage bills and the need to correct language on some laws enacted during the first session which have had difficulties in implementation. This is the peril of pushing through legislation to meet a self proclaimed deadline, as opposed to assuring the issue has been properly reviewed and the concerns of various parties have been considered, including those of the end users who must apply the results of the new law.
Two good examples of this were a bill to require all rental units and homes sold after Oct 31st 2009 to have a functioning carbon monoxide detector installed. There is no doubt that this can be a real and concerning life safety matter, however in the rush to pass the final version many changes were made which left unanswered questions as to how to enforce the new statute.
We also passed legislation to prevent the unauthorized use of information regarding minors, it was to prevent various entities from misusing data acquired from publicsources. The final version of the bill has caused concerns from legitimate organizations such as colleges seeking to work with those applying for entrance and even news organizations seeking to publish students information for athletic or academic accomplishments. We are regularly told by some we can’t let “perfect be the enemy of good legislation” however my thoughts are that we sometimes rush to complete a bill before it has been properly reviewed and considered by many parities who will have to apply the “unintended consequences” of our action.
All in all this second session promises to offer many challenges as we seek to do the people’s business in an uncertain economy.