Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their consciences. – C. S. Lewis
From MSNBC:
About 40,000 state laws taking effect at the start of the new year will change rules about getting abortions in New Hampshire, learning about gays and lesbians in California, getting jobs in Alabama and even driving golf carts in Georgia. Several federal rules change with the new year, too, including a Social Security increase amounting to $450 a year for the average recipients and stiff fines up to $2,700 per offense for truckers and bus drivers caught using hand-held cellphones while driving.
NBC News, the National Conference of State Legislatures, The Associated Press, and other organizations tracked the changes and offered their views on the highlights.
Many laws reflect the nation’s concerns over immigration, the cost of government and the best way to protect and benefit young people, including regulations on sports concussions.
Eight states will raise the minimum wage, NBC News reported. They include Arizona, Oregon, Washington, Montana, Colorado, Ohio, Vermont and Florida, NBC News said. San Francisco will become the first city to raise its minimum wage above $10 per hour. The new $10.24 minimum is nearly $3 above the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, set in 2009.
Here are a couple of examples:
- Alabama, with the country’s toughest immigration law, will require all employers who do business with any government entity to use a federal system known as E-Verify to check that all new employees are in the country legally. (Georgia and Tennessee are enacting similar laws)
- A South Carolina law would allow officials to yank the operating licenses of businesses that don’t check new hires’ legal status through E-verify.
- The California Dream Act expands eligibility for private scholarships to students brought to the country illegally when they were infants
- People 18 and under in Illinois will have to wear seat belts while riding in taxis for school-related purposes, and Illinois school boards can suspend or expel students who make explicit threats on websites against other students or school employees.
- A California law will add gays and lesbians and people with disabilities to the list of social and ethnic groups whose contributions must be taught in history lessons in public schools. The law also bans teaching materials that reflect poorly on gays or particular religions
- In North Dakota, drivers under age 16 must have instructional permits for a year, up from six months, before they can get full licenses.
I’m sure all of these laws were written and enacted by folks with the best of intentions. Some of them seem like they’re going to be hard to enforce, and others include costs of compliance that businesses will just have to pass on to consumers. It just seems like legislators, both state and federal, have this insatiable impulse to protect us from ourselves, and control every aspect of our lives. Thomas Jefferson had it nailed more than 200 years ago: ”The course of history shows that as a government grows, liberty decreases.”
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