As if there is not enough to do, what with the Commonwealth facing a budget shortfall of around a billion dollars for FY17, now lawmakers want to set a limit on how much you can toss in your own household trash can each year.  Seriously!

Taunton Democrat Senator Marc Pacheco's bill that would require cities and towns to reduce their solid waste intake to no more than 600 pounds per capita by 2018 and no  more than 450 pounds by 2022 is scheduled for debate on Beacon Hill on Thursday.  A similar bill failed in the House two years ago after passing in the Senate.

Pacheco is worried that too much trash in the dump increases greenhouse gas emissions.  Got a great idea Senator, why don't you throw away less and save planet Earth?  I don't know about you but I can barely fit what I need to dispose of weekly in the can now!  For purposes of full disclosure, Pacheco says 53 percent of communities already meet the 2018 goal and 26 percent currently meet the 2022 objective.  The bill meets what is already spelled out in the 2008 Global Warming Solutions Act which was filed by, you guessed it, Pacheco. So, why then do we need another law?

I don't like people telling me what and how much what I can toss in the garbage can. That's kinda personal between me and the garbage man, no? And what are they gonna do weigh everybody's can?  It will take forever to collect the city's trash.  Will there be trash police and official citations?  How much is all of that going to cost?  Did I mention we have a ONE BILLION DOLLAR shortfall?  There is also a proposal to force all companies in Massachusetts  with 50 or more employees to implement a recycling program for a selected list of materials. Are there not enough regulations crushing  business already?  Oh,by the way...lawmakers will also take up a bill on Thursday to ban fracking in Massachusetts.

Me thinks the government has gotten too big and lawmakers have way too much time on their hands.  What say we cut back to a part time legislature?  That could take a chunk out of that shortfall, no?

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