Mylar Balloons are OK according to California Politician

Early this year California politician Jack Scott was on a crusade to ban the sale of Mylar balloon at retail stores by introducing California SB 1499.  According to Scott, at the request of Burbank officials concerned that business, including major movie studios, are losing power too frequently because of Mylar balloon-triggered outages.

After pressure from the balloon industry, the SB 1499 bill has been amended and is passing through the assembly and will go to the Senate for approval and be signed into effect by Governor Schwarzenegger. The new provisions will go into effect January 2009 and include the following:

• Balloon weights cannot be edible or a child’s toy. (The spirit of this rule is so that consumers leave the weight on the balloon.)
• Retailers are required to notify consumers of the risks of releasing metallic balloons either by posting a warning notice or informing customers at the point of sale.(The spirit of this rule is to educate consumers on what can happen if metallic balloons are released)

• Distributors must send information regarding the CA balloon regulations in every order. (This is to ensure all retailers are educated on the regulations.)
• The warnings printed on balloons will be uniform.
• The fine will change from $100 to $250 per incident.
• The bill does not ban balloon sales and does not require a study to find alternative materials (the utility companies did not want to help pay for the study).

For more information about the bill and its activities go to:http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/postquery?bill_number=sb_1499&sess=CUR&house=B&search_type=email

Was this a problem or just a way to increase a fine?

Scotts stated that he was trying to protect the public by enacting a law that would protect people from electrical outages. So if this was his major concern, then how did the new prevision solve the problem?  Mylar balloons are going to be release; they will get tangled in power lines and this “California power outage problem” will still exist. Did Scott fabricate this problem just to increase revenue?  Either way, I think California residents should look closely at Scott judgment when it comes do writing legislature.  Is he really writing laws to help protect the California community or is he looking to craft bills that underlyingly creates a new fine.

Are politician like this really what we need in government?  What are your thoughts?