4,000 bills and counting....Uh oh...

"That government is best which governs least." - Thomas Paine

Most people give the famous Paine quip a thumbs up. Seems straightforward, right?

It fits with the Big 3 our democracy…life, liberty, pursuit of happiness. The government only gets involved when it has to. No more, no less.

It took a total of 15 minutes in Springfield to learn that that ideal is dead. Six feet down, heaped with dirt, and long forgotten. I'm mourning.

Case in point, take a look at SB1463 amending the Silent Reflection and Student Prayer Act. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Kimberly Lightford (D-Westchester) makes it mandatory for teachers to have a moment of silence at the beginning of each day in every public school. The moment of silence is already allowed if the teacher choses; this bill just requires it.

Eric Zorn's Tribune column on Wednesday lambasted the legislation. I am not so concerned with the merits of the actual moment of silence. What gets me is the idea that the General Assembly should be the one making the blanket decision for thousands of teachers. Zorn hits it on the head:

It might help. But of course maybe, depending on the kids, they'd get a better start to the day if they spent that moment singing a happy song, stretching, listening to a good poem, or hey, here's an idea, getting right to work learning the material. Constitutional issues aside, that's a decision for their classroom teachers, not a crew of idle moralists in Springfield with their one-size-fits-all fantasies and their ill-concealed pro-prayer agenda.

Sen. Rutherford was the only dissenting vote. He logic was Paine-esque:

"State law already allows schools or teachers to start the day with a moment of silence if they want to," Rutherford said Monday. "That's important. If they feel the need to do it or believe it's a good idea, the law says they may."

Amending the Silent Reflection and Student Prayer Act to change "may" to "shall," the legislative brainchild of Sen. Kimberly Lightford (D-Maywood), "isn't necessary," Rutherford said. "That's not what government should be doing."

Bingo. Illinois is a big state. Each school district is a little different. Each classroom type is a little different. Each specific crop of students is a little different. More "mandates" don't fit well with the diversity. The decision should come from those closest and most invested in the decision, not the folks sitting in the capitol.

Sen. Lightford defends her position:

"It will allow for more uniformity," she said. "Here in the General Assembly we open every day with a prayer and Pledge of Allegiance. I don't get a choice about that. I don't see why students should have a choice."

Consider me unconvinced. Uniformity is not automatically a good thing. Saying the legislation creates uniformity says nothing about the actual merits of the bill. That is not an argument; it's a description.

And she doesn't see why students should have a choice? Again, that is not an argument for the blanket mandate; it is simply a description of it. Besides, it isn't the students who are having their choice taken away; it is the teachers who manage the classrooms each day.

I just don't get it. And this is only one of many others that seem amazingly unnecessary, intrusive, and wasteful. What's the total bill count now? 4,000+.... Yowza. Talk about "governing least."

How did we get to this point?

Is it because only a few key players make the 'big' decisions, so other legislators have to come up with this nonsense to stay busy? Is it because these "feel good" things are easy to feed to the public and hard to argue against? Is it because legislators are eager to please anyone who comes with an idea for a bill?