SENTIMENTAL TYPES

Maine legislators turn out to be a sentimental lot, full of embracing thoughts and kind feelings toward fellow residents. Give them an opportunity to express that sentiment in official form and they will do it over and over, about 1,500 times a year, and each time Maine’s overworked Revisor’s Office must draft the deeply felt expression.

In memory of, in honor of, congratulations to, happy anniversary – and so forth. There’s nothing wrong with lawmakers wanting to recognize the achievements of the good people in their districts. But there is something wrong with the way they do it, and they were told this more than a year ago when the National Conference of State Legislatures looked over Maine’s practices and made several time- and money-savings suggestions. They shouldn’t be forgotten.

For instance, the Revisor’s Office doesn’t have time to do this work and review 700 or 800 bills each year. The study noted that Maine has relatively few bill drafters and that the state of its electronic drafting system, at the time, was behind those in other states. Even if drafters spent only 30 minutes on each of the 1,500 sentiments, that’s 750 hours of work required with what could be addressed as other states do, with a certificate that includes the person’s name or a commendation.

What’s more, the overuse of sentiments is trivializing them, the NCSL said. The expressions are used not only for the death of a prominent citizen but for first or second place in pageants, school honor rolls and Chamber of Commerce awards. In interviews with Maine lawmakers and officials, the NCSL reported, “several individuals noted that sentiments are being used so often that they have lost their significance and purpose.”

No legislator wants to say no to the admired couple celebrating a golden anniversary or to the happy basketball champions, but if they must keep saying yes, they ought to at least do so affordably with certificates. This is a small change at a time of big budget holes (the study has several more suggestions for saving money), but it’s an easy way to improve quality without adding cost. They could think of it as one small way to honor taxpayers.