Curley: Legislators need 90-day cooling off period after a crisis occurs
Jun 16, 2016, 10:58 AM | Updated: 1:42 pm
After any major crisis, elected officials often enact legislation. Sometimes it’s a wide net and other times it’s a band-aid.
The most famous/infamous examples are the Japanese internment camps during WWII and the Patriot Act that was signed into law shortly after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Just a few days after 49 people were killed at a Florida nightclub, Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy led a nearly 15-hour filibuster about gun violence.
Related: Orlando gunman raged against ‘filthy ways of the west’
KIRO Radio’s John Curley says he understands that people feel the need to act in order to assuage voters, but he believes there should be a “90-day cooling off period” to ensure elected officials don’t needlessly grab hold of legislation without truly understanding it.
“The problem is when you start to create legislation based on what they consider to be a crisis,” Curley said. “They should have a 90-day cooling off period. When something like this happens, you get 90 days before you’re allowed to pass any legislation.”
Co-host Tom Tangney says he understands Curley’s perspective but sees a glaring weakness.
“The problem is, in most cases, Congress takes too long to do anything anyway,” Tangney said. “If we just give them more incentive to drag their heels we may never see anything done.”
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Tune in to KIRO Newsradio weekdays at 3pm for The John Curley Show.
