A bill pending in the South Carolina Legislature would provide that,
Members of the General Assembly may use athletic clubs or gymnasiums owned by a state or local agency, entity, commission, or institution without charge.
The sponsors are Reps. Williams, Jefferson, Brantley, and Hodges.
Ilya Somin says:
I can see at least 2 public-spirited reasons for this law:
1. Healthy, physically fit lawmakers might pass better legislation.
2. The more time the legislators spend at the gym, the less time they will spend legislating. Other things equal, fewer laws are better than more – at least from a libertarian point of view.
In sum, this bill might decrease the quantity of legislation, while increasing the quality. Who could ask for a better bill than that? I have no doubt that South Carolina’s legislative solons were motivated by such public-spirited considerations when they so unselfishly voted for this important reform.
February 9, 2010, 5:18 pmPatHMV says:
A healthy body in a healthy mind. Didn’t Ben Franklin say that? Are you AGAINST legislators being physically fit? Do you WANT legislators to be fat couch potatoes, their minds slowly rotting to even more nothingness than they are already?
And hey, these guys are busy people. They have to travel all over their district and stuff to meet with constituents groups. They don’t have time to maintain regular gym memberships.
Hey, here’s a better question. Why does the state of South Carolina own ANY athletic clubs or gymnasiums to begin with, outside of schools? The large gymnasium/rec center on my alma mater’s campus was paid for entirely with student fee money collected solely for that purpose. Why should the legislators get to sponge off their money for free?
February 9, 2010, 5:32 pmEH says:
How about all citizens get to use state- and agency-owned gyms, then?
February 9, 2010, 5:35 pmPositroll says:
Orandum est, ut sit mens sana in corpore sano …
February 9, 2010, 5:36 pmWhy pray when you can legislate?
Mark Field says:
I assumed that the purpose of this was to allow the legislators to work out while in prison.
February 9, 2010, 5:38 pmJohn Thacker says:
All four are Democrats, it seems. Why would you even do this as a member of the minority party? Do they really think it would pass?
February 9, 2010, 6:03 pmKenneth Anderson says:
Mark Field wins the thread.
February 9, 2010, 6:22 pmD says:
If they are going to legislate something like this, then I would like to see it as a mandatory rather than a permissive.
Legislators shall use gyms, etc., owned by the state or an agency without charge.
I mean, what is a right to use a gym if you never go. Individuals often have “gym buddies,” so why not a legislate a penalty for legislators?
February 9, 2010, 6:33 pm1040 says:
Members of the S. C. govt need to stay fit so they can hike the Appalachian.
February 9, 2010, 7:09 pmRandy says:
They want to be like Dick Nixon: Tanned, rested and ready.
February 9, 2010, 7:35 pmWaste93 says:
If this passes, bets on if they remember to claim the benefit on their taxes?
February 9, 2010, 8:23 pmrequired says:
It surely is to allow them to use the pool at USC. If it weren’t for this law then the legislators might be tempted into corruption by USC administrators who promise to let them use the pool in exchange for funding. A fine, public spirited bill and it will also save the citizenry money as it is cheaper than building a heated pool just for the legislators.
February 10, 2010, 1:28 amWakefield Tolbert says:
Why posit a public-spirited argument at all?
Here in South Kakalaka the pols do things for the same reason ants crawl over rocks.
Because they can.
February 10, 2010, 1:50 amveteran says:
required says:
It surely is to allow them to use the pool at USC.
Great place to hit on “chicks” will preparing for the “hike” on the Appalachian Trail
February 10, 2010, 8:21 amalkali says:
Legislators are fat and lazy, and people complain. Legislators want to work out, and people complain. It’s a hard life, being a legislator.
February 10, 2010, 9:02 amegd says:
I think this represents the difference between Democrats in conservative areas and Democrats in liberal areas.
In liberal areas, it would read:
February 10, 2010, 11:37 amSC Public Defender says:
as required says…It is almost certainly to allow them to use the (awesome, approx. five year old) gym at the University of South Carolina which is about 4 blocks from the Statehouse, and which the University, at least in my day, guards access to like Ft. Knox.
February 10, 2010, 12:22 pmJamie says:
At the University of Virginia, I sometimes saw state legislators working out in the student gyms. It was usually the Friday before a home football game, and I assumed that the University let them in before wining and dining them at the football game the next day.
It never occurred to me that a state would deny such a demand or would charge for the privilege. I just assumed that it was good, honest graft.
February 16, 2010, 2:57 pm