Legislative Fun and Games...

Back to back posts about public policy... man, I must be getting more serious!

So once again, we begin the three-ring circus in Pierre known as the legislative session. Since we don't believe in career politicians, the session is pretty short... 40 days in odd-numbered years and 35 days in even-numbered years. This year is 35 days, which means less time for those legislatures to play grab-butt with the pages!

Speaking of which, the Legislature finally passed a "Code of Conduct" for themselves this year. Isn't that something? To be able to determine your own rules as well as pay? What other job can you do that BESIDES politics? Anyway, the measure passed resoundingly, with the exception of a few Republicans (including the guy that used to sub for me in Doland, Brock Greenfield) poo-pooing the idea.

Frankly, I'm glad they passed this. A lot of folks say that passing this code of conduct won't prevent such episodes as Dan Sutton and Ted Klaudt. They're probably right, but what I'm glad this thing does is provide some modicum of accountability that our lawmakers can be held to.

That's the key word right there... "Accountability". You go to any profession, be it media (even though I'm not a reporter, per se, I do follow the Code of Ethics set down by the Society of Professional Journalists. When I was a teacher, I had to follow the Code of Conduct set by the South Dakota Department of Education. Doctors, lawyers, even my brother, who is a real estate agent, all have to follow codes of conduct established by the State of South Dakota. If they fail to follow those rules, they are held accountable and can even get stripped of their licenses, certifications, etc. So doesn't it make sense that the folks that are setting up the rules also be subject to the same means of accountability themselves?

Now that the Legislature has established these rules, they're now turning around and trying to do away with the constitutional amendment dealing with term limits. Here's the poop... a legislator can only serve in one particular house for no more than eight years. They can serve in the other house as well as governor, but they are also held to the same 8-year limit for each position. Now soon-to-be term-limited folks like Bill Napoli (R-Rapid City) are whining that the limits "take away a lot of experience."

What arrogance! To think that these folks are the only ones that can do the job! Frankly, I like the idea of "changing the plant water" every once in a while, to get new ideas and new perspectives, instead of the old fuddy-duddies that should have left office but decided to make it a career.

I know what you're thinking... why not let voters do the term-limiting at the polls? Well, because there is precedent with the 22nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, limiting an elected official (i.e. the President) to just 2 terms. What's good for Dubya, Clinton, and Reagan should be good enough for Napoli, Gassman, and Olson!