Democratic State Rep. Linda Lawson of Hammond is part of a group transporting rescued dogs to New England because, she says, Indiana suffers from "extreme pet overpopulation," and the dogs are more likely to find a good home in New England since there's more demand there for adoptable pets. That sounds like a fine effort for a good cause -- if only she'd left it at that. But she apparently wants to stay busy:
Lawson's van will be going to New Hampshire
. She says she hopes to learn about legislative issues there and says her trip will influence her future legislation.
As a firm believer in the concept of states as the laboratories of democracy, I think it's a good idea for legislators who get a notion for a new law to look around to see what other states are doing. Other states might have tried the same approach and found it worked or didn't work, and that can be helpful for us here. But I don't think we need to go out of the way to look for new laws. I wouldn't say the last thing we need is a bunch of legislation pre-approved by New Hampshire, but it's definitely on the list.
