This week at the house was as eventful as the last. We took up a few key pieces of legislation that were very important. One of the bills was a bill dealing with gas pipeline safety. This bill brought the amount of a fine from our state agencies to be in tact with that at the federal level. With the recent pipeline explosion, I voted yes on this bill. I do not believe this was a knee jerk reaction because the language states that the state can fine “up to” $200,000.00, which is what the current federal fine is. Normally, I am against creating more regulations, especially ones that can get too overboard, but with the recent happenings in our state we need to make sure we do not have another occurrence like we did with that last explosion. Though they are somewhat rare, we must take care in dealing with pipeline safety.
We also voted on a bill allowing a family court judge to take emergency care of a young person for up to 96 hours if there is eminent danger present to the child. In the world we live in today, we need to ensure the safety of our children. I voted yes on this bill as well. Of course we need to be very careful in protecting the rights of our parents, but protect our children in bad situations too. With the time having expiration at 96 hours, I believe it is a good compromise in protecting parental rights, but providing protection to our children. Again, eminent danger must be present in order for this to happen.
Some of the other bills I co-sponsored are, “Prohibiting the Governmental Taking of Private Property for Private Use Amendment”, the “Freedom from Unwanted Surveillance Act”, “Urging the EPA to revoke its decision to allow the sale of gasoline with fifteen percent ethanol”, and many others.
As always, my door is always open. My office is 6R.
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