It costs about $10,000 for an average bill to pass into law. About 4,000 bills were introduced in the 119th and 120th Legislatures and if each had completed the process, Maine taxpayers would have spent $40 million over the 2-year period. Fortunately, an estimated 70 percent of all bills are killed in committee, so the cost was closer to $12 million.

In this time of cost cutting, the lawmaking process deserves scrutiny.

Ordinarily, a legislator or the governor pitches an idea, perhaps even providing some foundation language, and the bill goes to the Office of the Revisor of Statutes, a nonpartisan office responsible for drafting and editing legislation.

Bills also go to the Office of Policy and Legal Analysis to ensure statute revisions comply with the intent of proposed bills. They also go to the Office of Fiscal and Program Review for cost examination. Then, there’s the Legislative Information Office which provides information on each bill, including current status, and provides administrative support for each of the 17 joint standing committees.

Each bill must go through this process, and if amended in committee, goes back again.

The $10,000 price tag pays for staff time and printing costs. And, remember, that’s the average cost. Detailed bills are more expensive.

For instance, a former Lewiston lawmaker once crafted budget legislation to compete with another bill. He intended it to be introduced as an amendment from the floor, but certain that it wouldn’t get any support he decided not to introduce it at all.

According to House Speaker Pat Colwell, the effort cost taxpayers about $20,000 because the document was intricate and required more than the average amount of staff time to vet.

It never had a chance of passage, so it was an expensive and wasteful exercise.

Similarly wasteful is the process of drafting bad ideas into bills and marching them through the process. Ideas like L.D. 1057, An Act to Allow a Worker at a Beano Game to Play the Cards of a Player Who Takes a Restroom Break. Not only is that the title, it’s the entire bill.

We need legislation for this? Beano players have successfully taken restroom breaks for years without authority of the Legislature and this is a complete waste of time and money.

There’s a better way.

Colwell and others in leadership are pitching the idea of drafting concept bills for hearing, shortcutting the revisor’s office and bringing ideas in concept directly to committees. Bad ideas can be voted out immediately without having to dance through the costly legal analysis and fiscal review. Only bills that make it past the hearing stage will get the full attention of the revisor’s office.

It could save as much as 10 percent of the Legislature’s budget, but the savings in time is more valuable. It means we could consider limiting the legislative session.

Already under discussion is the idea of limiting the size of the Legislature and, during last week’s public hearing, one man even suggested limiting the number of bills that can be introduced on a first come, first served basis.

If we want efficiency in government, concept bill drafting is an idea worth attention.


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