The New York State Legislature In Action

Inaction is what most of us prefer from the New York State Legislature as we are familiar with the old saw "No man’s life, liberty, or property are safe while the Legislature is in session.” It is a classic political phrase that popularly began with a New York court decision in 1866 (1 Tucker 248, N. Y. Surr. 1866).

However, here is a sample of the handiwork of the legislature in 1971 -- and a perfect piece of useless trivia it is. Section 6514 of the Education Law was repealed by the legislature in 1971 when it enacted chapter 987 Section 1. The Solons were probably in a hurry to get out of town (I spent a week in Albany one afternoon myself) because they subsequently passed chapter 1135 Section 6 of the laws of 1971, amending a subdivision of the same Section 6514 of the Education Law that they had previously repealed. Otto von Bismark reportedly quipped that “The less the people know about how sausages and laws are made, the better they sleep at night.” And that's how The New York Legislature makes (Albanian) sausage--and, laws or links, expect the wurst.