Tough times don’t halt bill filing bonanza

Campaign commitments to less government that helped big Republicans electoral gains and a tight budget situation had set the stage fewer bills to be filed this session.
Evidently lawmakers couldn’t help themselves.
More than 2,000 bills were filed in both chambers through Feb. 17’s filing deadline. And while some bills deal with high-profile issues like changing the state’s education and judicial systems, many are far more limited in scope.
The multitude of bills range from efforts to change the legal definition of a rickshaw, exempting cow owners from legal liability for “bovine activities,’’ and banning unrestrained dogs from riding in the front seat of cars.
Republican Sen. Stacey Campfield of Knoxville calls his dog restraint proposal his “Marmaduke bill.’’