You Can Lead A Horse To Water . . .

but you can’t make him pass constitutionally sound legislation. I had the pleasure of speaking with the AP’s Tom Lobianco a couple of days ago and, in return, got a mention in one of his stories about the General Assembly.

The gist is that the General Assembly has staff, both in their political caucus and through the non-partisan Legislative Services Agency. Those staffers try to point out constitutional and other difficulties proposed legislation might have. Often enough, the problems simply aren’t spotted in the first place. But, at other times, the legislator doesn’t agree or wants to push the envelope. As a legislative staffer, if you’ve provided sound legal advice, and the legislator proceeds anyway; you’ve done your job. From there, it’s up to the political process to either work or not.

But in the end, whether to pass a law is a political decision made collectively by the state’s lawmakers, Papa said.

“They could ask for anything in the world to be drafted, whether it’s a good idea, a constitutional idea, or a bad idea,” he said. “Then it’s up to the political process where you go from there.”

Senator Greg “The Flogger” Walker seems to regard pesky “laws” and “Constitutional protections” as minor things when his judgment says that his view of things is more important.

In the Planned Parenthood case, pro-choice advocates and the Obama administration have argued that the new law clearly violates federal law regulating how billions in Medicaid dollars can be used.

But for people who believe strongly about an issue like abortion, abridging a man-made construct like a federal law is a low hurdle, Walker said.

So, the exchange in that situation would be something like:
Staffer: “That’s unconstitutional.”
Senator: “I don’t care.”
Staffer: “O.k.”