Pre-Filed Bill Excitement Spreads Among Nerds, Hacks …

Count me in as the latter, but I assure you I am at least a reputable hack. Political Fix has gotten in on the pre-filed bill review act, so I know I am in good company with my latest posts. I have reviewed all of the bills (at least the brief summaries) filed so far, with thousands yet to come, and I have been pleasantly surprised at the lack of outright horrible bills. This is probably because the really bad ones always have harmless sounding titles, like a "Make Missouri Better" act that will raise the state income tax rate to 78 percent and make all policy analysts apply for a state license. Or maybe the bad ones intentionally come as late as possible?

Here is a great bill. Senator Bartle has again introduced a bill allowing toll roads in Missouri. This will require a vote of the people, because that’s always the case when amending the Constitution. (If I were of a different mindset, this would be the perfect place to insert some crap like, "except under the current administration" and calling for the impeachment of Bush /Cheney, but that ain’t me.)

With transportation being such a serious issue right now, perhaps this will finally be the year this change passes, and people realize that we can meet our mobility and movement needs by making the people who use a new asset pay for that new asset. I commend Senator Bartle for this proposal, and I look forward to discussing it much further in session.