House Highlights

By Tom Loertscher

It seems like there has been a study conducted about almost everything, but in spite of that we seem to be able to come up with new ones especially when there are government funds available. I have noticed that these studies seem to focus on providing excuses for what we want the outcome to be.

I couldn’t help but notice this last week when two piqued my interest. The first was a study about eating red meat and avoiding cholesterol buildup by drinking red wine. After hearing that, I had more questions than answers about the study. My doctor tells me that cholesterol levels have more to do with genetics than with what you may eat or drink. The other study was about farm kids. It concluded that kids who grow up on the farm are healthier, have less asthma, and are not subject to hay fever as much as their city counterparts. Some of the details were mentioned and the one that was the most interesting was that farm kids have things to do and work hard.

This last week was mostly taken up by rules review in almost all of the committees. Some of the most difficult ones are being “studied.” Three years ago a little bill passed the House that required the agencies to detail the specific reasons for new rules. The bill did not make it through the Senate but the agencies have gotten the message and have reduced the number of new rules over the past three years.

The “hot button” issues of healthcare (including Exchanges and Medicaid expansion) and Education Reform are being “studied” by legislators and others. At this point there is no way to tell how that will all turn out.

The House State Affairs Committee this week had a couple of proposals presented for introduction. Both were rejected by the committee and were returned to the sponsors for further “study.” The members of the committee were definitely feeling their oats that morning. They really worked over the one for the Athletic Commission (boxing, kick boxing, and others) and after it was turned back the comment was made that coming before this committee was sort of a contact sport.

As you can see we too like to study stuff. The only difference is that we are not after government grants to do it, at least not very often.

On a personal note, our grandchild number thirty one arrived over the weekend, a grandson. All is well with Mom and baby. Dad seems to be OK too. It would take no study to tell how Grandma and Grandpa feel.

If you enjoyed this article, consider subscribing to the full-feed RSS.