Louisville quarterback Teddy Bridgewater (5).State lawmakers in Tennessee and Georgia are certainly wasting no time wasting time and money.
Less than a month into their legislative sessions, politicians in Nashville and Atlanta have already managed to file 574 resolutions — while making little headway in addressing actual policy concerns.
Resolutions are how state lawmakers officially honor, memorialize or recognize a person, business, charity or event. They are usually accompanied by a few minutes of hot air on the senate or house floor and a fancy copy of the resolution suitable for framing.
A few resolutions each session, like proposed state constitutional amendments, can impact policy. More often than not, however, resolutions are submitted in the hopes that the people recognized by the resolutions will vote for, or give campaign contributions to, the state lawmakers responsible for the recognition.
Wasting time on these vote-buying dog and pony shows in the legislative chambers rather than tacking real problems is bad enough. What’s worse is that state taxpayers are on the hook for the cost of the staff and lawmakers’ time, as well as the printing expense related to the resolutions.