More statehouse and city hall tomfoolery:

1) In Indiana, bill mandating public food be handled by “food certifiers” inadvertently banned a Hoosier staple — the community potluck dinner. Lawmakers are rushing to write in an exception. But here’s the important question — If the bill really was passed out of concern for food safety, and if state-certified food handlers really are the best way to prevent food-borne illness, why do churches and rotary clubs get an exemption? Just because it’s bad PR? Isnt potluck food just as succeptible to contamination as restaurant food (probably moreso, if you think about it).

2) Rob Port notes that North Dakota lawmakers are seeking to extend everyone’s 20th year of life by eight hours. Like anywhere else, young people in North Dakota like to hit the bars the minute they turn 21. Problem is, North Dakota laws mandates that the bars close at 1am. This has created what’s known as the “power hour,” in which newly legal imbibers try to pound 21 ritual shots before the pub shuts down. Pretty classic case of laws bringing about unintended consequences. Of course, North Dakota’s legislature plans to address the problem by, yes, passing another law.

3) Nanny-state Mecca San Francisco is considering a tax on disposable grocery bags (to encourage recycling), fines on cyber-cafes that don’t card minors during school hours, and — as previously discussed here — has already passed a kind of “housing code”…for doghouses.

4) Texas is considering bills that would ban cell phone use while driving, set up sobriety DUI checkpoints, limit bar to one half-ounce of alcohol per drink served, keg registration, a drinking-age bill similar to North Dakota’s, and adding a “grade” on your kid’s weight to his report card.

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 13th, 2005 at 3:15 pm by Radley Balko and is filed under Nanny State, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.