Last week we had what we call a perennial bill before us on the House floor. That is, a bill which appears before us year after year.

The bill would require children under the age of 12 to wear a life jacket while on a boat, unless that boat is anchored. Make no mistake – Mariah and I insist our children wear life jackets whenever we are on the water, and I strongly encourage the use of life jackets regardless of age.

But to me, this bill is a 'nanny-istic' attempt to replace the common sense of a parent with the collective wisdom of the legislature.

Recognizing that the vast majority of Delegates are from urban places and, therefore, do not have the experience around the water that we enjoy, I gave the following speech against the bill on the House floor:

“Mr. Speaker, it is not very often in this body that the argument for a piece of legislation is the same as the argument against a piece of legislation. 

The gentle lady stood up and said that this bill is just ‘common sense.’ Mr. Speaker, I would submit that it is just common sense to leave this up to parents. 

By way of background, Mariah and I live on the water and our kids always wear life jackets when we go out in our boats – whether kayak, canoe or skiff. But our kids wear life jackets even before they go out onto the dock because, as my 8 year old pointed out, it’s more dangerous to be on a dock than on a boat because there are no sides on a dock. 

Mr. Speaker, under this bill, our collective wisdom will be that you don’t have to wear a life jacket when you are in five foot surf at Virginia Beach but you do have to wear a life jacket when you are in a boat in flat calm. Under this bill, you don’t need a life jacket when you step off a boat to be pulled in a tube, but you do need a life jacket when you get back into the boat. This legislation says that it’s more dangerous to be drifting in heavy seas than to be anchored in heavy seas—because you don’t need to wear a life jacket when you are anchored.

Mr. Speaker, when we attempt to replace our collective wisdom with common sense, we run into the law of unintended consequences. I would urge members to consider those consequences before they support this bill.”

The measure was effectively killed after I spoke.

You can watch my floor speech by visiting my blog, www.problemsofparallax.com.