I’m always amused by the lengths to which our government will go to try to get us to behave.
Usually, it involves raising taxes on something the powers-that-be feel is bad for us, more often than not on the promise that the money raised would go toward some health-related initiative.
Remember the most recent tobacco tax increase? Of that money, 100 percent was supposed to go to fund a number of programs, including youth tobacco cessation — except that it didn’t quite get there with the regularity originally promised.
Today, the focus is on junk food sold in vending machines on state-owned property. A bill being pushed by 1st Franklin District state Rep. Steve Kulik would offer healthier options in machines at the Statehouse, college campuses, highway rest stops and other state-run facilities.
“I want to be clear: We aren’t replacing candy bars with things that taste like cardboard,” Kulik said.
“We just want to give people some healthier choices.”
And Kulik said the change is one he believes people will embrace.
“This is being largely market-driven,” Kulik said. “I think we see people making healthier choices all
The plan seems to make sense, but the only rub is that the effort only extends to vending machines, which, on the Mass. Pike, for example, don’t get nearly as much business as fast-food restaurants, whose fare some could argue presents a much clearer health danger than the occasional Snickers bar.
“That is a fair point, but right now we are just looking at the vending machines,” Kulik said. “And we’ll see where it goes from there.”
I’m hoping Thursday’s Greenfield Community College forum on Question 4 helped give voters some good information to decide whether or not to say “yes” to a plan to legalize marijuana for recreational use, but I doubt the discussion did much to influence certain state officials, who feel the question is problematic on a number of levels.
“It’s written in a way that makes it easy to understand for the voters, but it’s not going be nearly as easy to implement,” 2nd Hampshire State Rep. John Scibak said.
“There are a number of real-life implications here,” Scibak said, “not the least of which is that we have, at present, no way to test if people are impaired while driving under the influence of marijuana.”
A lot of these issues might have been addressed long ago by lawmakers, but they weren’t — which is why the voters are, once again, forced to go around their elected leaders and create a change that, if the polls are to be believed, people feel is long overdue.
Sometimes, the best political analogies come from the least political people.
Consider this recent Facebook parable that I believe crystallizes perfectly the ongoing charter school debate in Massachusetts
“It’s no secret that a large number of roads in Massachusetts are in terrible shape. The infrastructure in this state has been suffering for years. But rather than invest the time, effort and money into fixing them, we’re going to build some shiny new roads right next to the existing roads.”
“These will be public roads, and will be managed much better than the old roads. Since they are public roads, they will be funded by public dollars. That is, tax dollars. They will be wonderful. But in order to keep these roads maintained properly, we’re going to have to limit the amount of traffic on them. So, only some of you will be allowed to use them.
“You will have to go through an application process if you want to use these new public roads. Even if one of the new public roads is right in your town, it’s possible you will not be allowed to drive on it. You may have to use the old roads. Anyone have a problem with this?”
Take a bow, WHAI’s Nick Danjer. You’ve given us all some good food for thought going into what may end up being the most important education-related vote in this commonwealth’s history.
Chris Collins, who worked in local radio in a number of capacities, has observed political life in Franklin County for years. He also is a former staff reporter for The Recorder and a Greenfield native.