Priorities Please

By: Ben Adams
This year at Youth Leg there have been many bills I haven’t seen as economically plausible; doing things that are noble in intent, but poor in execution. Bills like this remind me of a story I once heard about government spending. An abbreviated version goes like this: The Army needed some screwdrivers for their mechanics. Several different companies placed bids, each slightly overpriced. One claimed to be far superior, but at the price of $500 a screwdriver. The Army, wanting the best for their mechanics, decided on the $500 screwdriver.
As a lobbyist, I was able to roam around and speak about several of these bills that were trying to make poor economic decisions. For instance, banning cattle just because they produce greenhouse gasses, but overlooking the fact that they are a crucial part of Montana’s economy. Another was a bill that sought to eliminate plastic bottles just because they are a pollutant. Sometimes the environment needs to take the backseat to our economy. Or at least be executed in a more elegant way than an entire ban.