GEOFF PENDER: We passed what? Bum’s rush legislation is bad policy
But voting in a bum’s rush on major policy that hasn’t been thoroughly formed, vetted or debated — or, at times, even read — is becoming more common on both sides of the aisle, and it isn’t limited to Congress and D.C.
It’s become the norm in the Mississippi Legislature in recent years. Bills that normally would have been debated, tweaked and debated and tweaked some more either zip quickly through the process and become law, or are killed without hearing or explanation.
I’ve referred to this phenomenon in the past as “voting blind.” My colleague Jeff Amy with the Associated Press calls it “legislation by ignorance.” The committee process of legislation appears to be overtaken more and more by the leadership’s secret-squirrel process, or the just hurry-up-and-pass-it or kill-it process.
The results, often are not good, and unintended consequences abound.
Clarion Ledger
7/22/17
