California Law Contest

I'm firmly against the idea of the senseless proliferation of new laws. We could legislate every action we take if we're not careful. Having said that, a contest held in California recently holds a certain appeal. Palo Alto Assemblyman Joe Simitian held a "There ought to be a law" contest, and three ideas from that contest were passed into state law yesterday:

Simitian picked the three winners from 100 entries. The inspiration for the contest came after his first year in the Legislature, when he spent a lot of time talking with representatives of special-interest groups and ``far too little time with the people of my district.''

He joked Friday that the three bills he introduced on behalf of constituents had a better record -- three for three -- for getting signed by the governor than his own ideas.

In smaller text under the article is a note stating that the Assemblyman is holding a second round of the contest, and that entries should be received by October 18, 2002. This seems like a good idea. I wonder if anyone from Delaware would be willing to give something similar a try.