Excessive Lawmaking Road to ‘Regiment Every Aspect of Society and Commerce’

Christopher DeMuth is the former president of the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington-based think tank. In 2017, DeMuth received a Bradley Prize for his contributions to “preserving and defending the tradition of free representative government and private enterprise.”

DeMuth’s acceptance speech on On April 6, 2017, included this sentence: “Government and politics have succumbed to demands to regiment every aspect of society and commerce and ameliorate every difficulty of private life.”

The Michigan Legislature was taking a spring break when DeMuth spoke, but in the previous week its members proposed adding 83 new laws to the state’s statutes. Here are descriptions of just three, from MichiganVotes.org:

2017 Senate Bill 297: Mandate electrician have proof of licensure while on job
Introduced by Sen. Kenneth Horn, a Republican, on March 30, 2017:
To mandate that an electrician on a job must show a government official or inspector a photo ID and evidence of licensure status if ordered.

2017 House Bill 4465: Mandate cable, phone company “teaser rate” expiration warnings
Introduced by Rep. Jeremy Moss, a Democrat, on March 30, 2017:
To require cellphone, cable and other telecommunications companies that sell contracts with introductory “teaser” rates to notify customers of the new rate in the last two bills before the teaser rate expires.

2017 House Bill 4440: Authorize cytomegalovirus infection public information campaign
Introduced by Rep. Robert Kosowski, a Democrat, on March 30, 2017:
To require the state health department to do a public and health provider education and awareness campaign on risks related to cytomegalovirus infection.