Editorial: The Legislature is welcome to pick up after parades, but does it really want to?

Editorial: The Legislature is welcome to pick up after parades, but does it really want to?
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Maybe it’s become a cliché, but there is something to be said for the notion of staying in your swim lanes.

Or between the lines, like that of a street. And so we wonder whether the Legislature needs or wants to become involved in picking up beads and cups from trash-strewn roadways after Mardi Gras parades.

A bill by state Rep. Foy Bryan Gadberry, R-West Monroe, would require parade organizers to clean up all the left-behind litter within 24 hours of an event.

That provoked howls from Mardi Gras krewes, particularly in New Orleans, where the greatest free show on earth attracts tourists from around the nation and the world. The economic benefit is far more valuable than extorting some payments out of krewes.

Is this a swim lane that the Legislature wants to dog paddle in? Gadberry wrote his proposed mandate to be optional for cities, which makes it reasonable to ask whether it is necessary in the first place.

Another old saying is that one shouldn’t make a federal case out of everything. In this case, Gadberry proposes a state-level solution to a problem that the local governments should deal with, we think. Costs and division of labor can be worked out at that level.

But the cost-benefit analysis isn’t the only consideration.

Krewes are volunteer organizations that represent what conservatives are supposed to treasure ideologically, the “little platoons” of civic activity. Not only do they throw us something tangible, they also provide a larger sense of community that means more than all the beads in the world.

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About Mary Weyand 15919 Articles
Mary founded Scoop Tour with an aim to bring relevant and unaltered news to the general public with a specific view point for each story catered by the team. She is a proficient journalist who holds a reputable portfolio with proficiency in content analysis and research. With ample knowledge about the Automobile industry, she also contributes her knowledge for the Automobile section of the website.

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