Happy New Year!

It seemed to us that 2006 was a darn good year, everything considered, and we’re excited about what’s in store for the Sonoma Valley community in 2007. It’s still early, of course, but we haven’t fudged on any personal resolutions yet! We hope your self-discipline is holding up, too.
Just as we make resolutions to improve ourselves in the new year, so do governments, and myriad new laws are going into effect this week around the country. Some are good and some not, depending on your politics, we suppose, but even some of the good ones are simply trying to fix problems created by earlier legislation. Very few laws are repealed, but we guess that since we elect “legislators,” it shouldn’t be surprising that they do, in fact, legislate, writing new laws every year.
At least we can be thankful we don’t live in North Carolina, where the long-standing exemption has been lost for fishing without a license if you’re using natural bait and fishing in the county where you live. A short-term exemption still exists, though – you only need that new license if you’re 16 or over.
Colorado, where the immigration issue has been hotly debated in recent years, now requires employers to verify new workers’ identification to ensure they aren’t illegal immigrants and to retain copies of the supporting documents, for audit purposes.
Michigan is making itself more scenic, banning new billboards in the state. Crime is also a concern there, where an e-mail service will alert residents if a sex offender moves into their zip code and the use of stun guns is allowed by private security companies.
Several states continue to fight money in politics. North Carolina now requires that state legislators wait at least six months after leaving office before they begin lobbying. Pennsylvania, like the rest of states, now requires registration of political lobbyists. Missouri actually has ended all limits on campaign contributions, although legislators cannot receive contributions while that state’s legislature is actually in session.
Some issues seem, well, a tad trivial. Does it really help the fabric of Illinois society that music bands there cannot use the same name as a “classic” band, unless one of the original members is included? At least that state is budget-conscious, requiring inmates with self-inflicted injuries to pay their own medical bills, although it would seem unlikely that most inmates carry medical insurance.
The gun enthusiasts among us may be interested to know that two more states now allow citizens, with a permit, to carry a concealed weapon, leaving only Wisconsin and Illinois where that is not permitted.
Here at home, California’s many public colleges are limited in their ability to censor student journalists. Dogs cannot be tethered to stationary objects for more than three hours. And landlords evicting long-term tenants now must provide 60 days’ notice.
What to make of all this activity? Somehow, it’d be nice to see less government, not more. Maybe the idea of a “sunset” will catch on, especially for taxation measures. Automatic clauses, requiring the legislature to re-authorize its laws every few years, would keep them busy and out of further mischief, and it’d bring the issues back in front of voters regularly. That would remind us just how many ways our tax money is being spent, and which of those our current representatives are willing to support.
But we’re not complaining – we live in interesting times, full of opportunity. Happy new year!