CA. Rep. Wyland Takes Pot Shot at Kuehl’s Domestic Violence Bill

San Diego Republican Representative Mark Wyland has some interesting thoughts about legislation in his new San Diego Union-Tribune column The burden of the bill factory (5/17/07).

I also enjoyed his little slap at Sheila Kuehl’s SB 353. I had criticized the bill in my co-authored column CA Legislators Vote to Protect Pets from Domestic Violence but Deny Services to Male DV Victims (Long Beach Press-Telegram, 4/21/07).

Wyland selected the bill as the latest example of bills which are a “diversion from what ought to be our real task,” writing:

“You may have heard about the bill to prohibit parents from spanking their children, or legislation to outlaw the incandescent light bulb. Now there’s one to provide restraining orders to protect the family cat. It’s not that all of these bills are going to succeed. It’s that each of these is a diversion from what ought to be our real task: tackling the big, tough issues such as spending, building more roads and freeways, etc. 

“This problem is seldom reported, and not confronted by the Legislature. Yes, there are some bills dealing with important issues, and of course there are some that are really bad and very contentious. But the effect of so many bills creates a virtual ‘bill factory,’ where paper goes in, and paper comes out, and a lot of it – detracting from the time required to focus on the big, important problems facing California.”

Read Wyland’s full column here.

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