KillerMuffin
Seraphically Disinclined
- Joined
- Jul 29, 2000
- Posts
- 25,603
Yes, I've been reading CNN again. I like reading the law section.
Link
=================================
http://www.cnn.com/2002/US/11/26/activist.government.ap/index.html
Story
=================================
HAUPPAUGE, New York (AP) -- There ought to be a law. And on the east end of Long Island, there often is.
A ban on hand-held cell phones while driving? Smoking restrictions in restaurants? Recycling? Suffolk County was among the first in the country to pass legislation in these areas, its initiatives often serving as models for laws later passed elsewhere in the nation.
<snip>
We've been at the cutting edge and helped set a lot of national trends," said Paul Sabatino, counsel to the 18-member legislature for more than two decades.
Sabatino said local governments from upstate New York to California and Hawaii have sought advice in pursuing their own versions of measures first passed in Suffolk.
Jacqueline Byers, director of research for the National Association of Counties in Washington, said Suffolk is among a handful of counties nationwide that are considered "bellwethers" in pursuing legislation that moves into new areas.
Suffolk is among "our really forward-thinking counties and we usually can look to them for models in many, many areas."
<snip>
I'm here once again to lead the way on an important issue that has largely fallen on deaf ears on the national level," said Cooper, who also sponsored the county's cell phone law.
Not everyone thinks the Suffolk Legislature should be so active.
Republican Martin Haley, from Rocky Point, said his colleagues have "a profound reputation for going beyond what we would normally refer to as parochial representation of their districts."
"They have this propensity to create legislation because they think that means they're doing their jobs by creating more government," Haley said. "I think they fail to realize that their primary function is to represent their constituency."
<snip>
Back to Muffie
=================================
There's more to the article and it's interestingly almost unslanted. Odd for a journalist.
On your own, personal, local level, would you like to have legislators like this? Do you think being a law-making bellwether community is a good thing? Do you think that there's any such thing as "cutting-edge law-making"?
Comments?
Link
=================================
http://www.cnn.com/2002/US/11/26/activist.government.ap/index.html
Story
=================================
HAUPPAUGE, New York (AP) -- There ought to be a law. And on the east end of Long Island, there often is.
A ban on hand-held cell phones while driving? Smoking restrictions in restaurants? Recycling? Suffolk County was among the first in the country to pass legislation in these areas, its initiatives often serving as models for laws later passed elsewhere in the nation.
<snip>
We've been at the cutting edge and helped set a lot of national trends," said Paul Sabatino, counsel to the 18-member legislature for more than two decades.
Sabatino said local governments from upstate New York to California and Hawaii have sought advice in pursuing their own versions of measures first passed in Suffolk.
Jacqueline Byers, director of research for the National Association of Counties in Washington, said Suffolk is among a handful of counties nationwide that are considered "bellwethers" in pursuing legislation that moves into new areas.
Suffolk is among "our really forward-thinking counties and we usually can look to them for models in many, many areas."
<snip>
I'm here once again to lead the way on an important issue that has largely fallen on deaf ears on the national level," said Cooper, who also sponsored the county's cell phone law.
Not everyone thinks the Suffolk Legislature should be so active.
Republican Martin Haley, from Rocky Point, said his colleagues have "a profound reputation for going beyond what we would normally refer to as parochial representation of their districts."
"They have this propensity to create legislation because they think that means they're doing their jobs by creating more government," Haley said. "I think they fail to realize that their primary function is to represent their constituency."
<snip>
Back to Muffie
=================================
There's more to the article and it's interestingly almost unslanted. Odd for a journalist.
On your own, personal, local level, would you like to have legislators like this? Do you think being a law-making bellwether community is a good thing? Do you think that there's any such thing as "cutting-edge law-making"?
Comments?
