From The DOG (Democrat-Gazette)

This information was taken from a column in today's Democrat-Gazette by Meredith Oakley.

The Arkansas Legislature has met every two years for 172 years. This year, for some unknown reason, the voters, who always, almost to a man, vote "no" to change, decided it would be a good idea for the Lege to meet every year. This is such a bad idea, on many levels.

First crack out of the box, they declare their offices inferior. The Senators don't much like having to share with other Senators, and members of the House don't much like not having offices at all.

They are planning to use $6 Million of what I assume are stimulus dollars to renovate offices at the Multi-Agency Complex, called Big MAC. Also, 135 lawmakers will be housed at the new Arkansas General Assembly Suites and Business Accommodation Grounds - or, A-GASSBAG. Really. I'm not making this up.

Then, someone got the bright idea to use $3.5 Million of the $6 Million to build a tunnel (or, skybridge) linking the state Capitol with Big Mac.

Justification for the expenditure is the huge amount of paperwork, files, etc., that have to be schlepped across the street, from their offices to the Capitol. Here's where Meredith comes in. She wryly suggested that "they don't realize that today's computers and printers can comunicate across vast oceans, so communicating across a narrow street and a narrower drive-thru should be a snap."

Governor Mike Beebe has weighed in with an even better solution - umbrellas. Our governor is nothing if not practical. We'll see who wins this argument. My money's on Mike.

Stay tuned.

Very Important Business

The Arkansas voters, in their infinite wisdom (not) voted to make the Legislature meet every year, instead of every two years. Oh, goody! Just imagine how many silly laws can be passed, now.

Lately, these mental giants have introduced the following:

1. A law outlawing cell phone use by teenagers, while driving. Just teenagers? Jeez! It ought to apply to everybody. Practically every car in town has a driver with a cell phone to his/her ear, like some kind of appendage.

2. A law allowing people to take guns with them into church. To be fair, this one didn't make it out of committee, but it will rear its ugly head again until they "git-er-done." I guess that would be one way to keep the sermons short.

3. A law establishing an 11:00 p.m. curfew for teenagers. There they go, beating up the kids, again. There are exceptions for kids who are going home from work or a school function. Isn't that nice?

4. A proposal to require employers to provide unpaid break time and make a reasonable effort to provide private locations for breast-feeding mothers to pump their breast milk. This one cleared the committee. So, will the ladies have to clock out and clock back in a couple of times a day? How many minutes would she be docked? How stingy is your boss, anyway?

5. Another member of the lege wants them to pass the ERA (Equal Rights Amendment), finally. Don't look now, honey, but I think that train has left the station.

And, they can meet every single year to pass laws just like these.

Stay tuned.