Link: http://www.10news.com/news/19562217/detail.html

Couple: County Trying To Stop Home Bible Studies

POSTED: 5:31 pm PDT May 25, 2009
UPDATED: 1:45 pm PDT May 28, 2009
SAN DIEGO – A local pastor and his wife claim they were interrogated by a San Diego County official, who then threatened them with escalating fines if they continued to hold Bible studies in their home, 10News reported.

Attorney Dean Broyles of The Western Center For Law & Policy was shocked with what happened to the pastor and his wife.

Broyles said, “The county asked, ‘Do you have a regular meeting in your home?’ She said, ‘Yes.’ ‘Do you say amen?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Do you pray?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Do you say praise the Lord?’ ‘Yes.’”

The county employee notified the couple that the small Bible study, with an average of 15 people attending, was in violation of County regulations, according to Broyles.

Broyles said a few days later the couple received a written warning that listed “unlawful use of land” and told them to “stop religious assembly or apply for a major use permit” – a process that could cost tens of thousands of dollars.

Read more…

Link: http://www.city-journal.org/2009/eon0212wo.html

Children’s books burn, courtesy of the federal government (U.S.)

12 February 2009

It’s hard to believe, but true: under a law Congress passed last year aimed at regulating hazards in children’s products, the federal government has now advised that children’s books published before 1985 should not be considered safe and may in many cases be unlawful to sell or distribute. Merchants, thrift stores, and booksellers may be at risk if they sell older volumes, or even give them away, without first subjecting them to testing—at prohibitive expense. Many used-book sellers, consignment stores, Goodwill outlets, and the like have accordingly begun to refuse new donations of pre-1985 volumes, yank existing ones off their shelves, and in some cases discard them en masse…Read more.

Mr. Hillier has introduced a bill (Hansard) that establishes a committee to oversee and modify legislation that impedes, over-regulates or denies your person its property freedoms. The bill also provides for a minimum 60 days to review any proposed legislation, in other words time to actually read the junk that passes into law these days. The bill can be found here…

RED TAPE AND REGULATORY
REVIEW ACT, 2008 /
LOI DE 2008 SUR LA RÉVISION
DES FORMALITÉS ADMINISTRATIVES
ET DES DISPOSITIONS RÉGLEMENTAIRES

Mr. Hillier moved first reading of the following bill:

Bill 57, An Act to establish political oversight over legislation and regulations to reduce red tape and unjustified regulatory burdens / Projet de loi 57, Loi établissant un régime de surveillance politique des lois et règlements afin de réduire les formalités administratives et les fardeaux réglementaires injustifiés.

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Is it the pleasure of the House that the motion carry? Carried.

First reading agreed to.

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): The member for a short statement?

Mr. Randy Hillier: It is my pleasure to introduce my very first bill, focused on red tape and regulatory review. For far too long, the nameless have created a red sea of regulations from their ivory towers without scrutiny by this assembly. This bill empowers all members, from the back row to the front, to remove regulations that provide no value, regulations that infringe upon freedoms and reduce competition.

It is imperative that we in this House do our homework before enacting regulations. It is time to get back to basics-

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Thank you.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The Bill establishes a standing committee of the Legislative Assembly to be known as the Standing Committee on Red Tape and Regulatory Review.

Every public bill must be referred to the Committee for a review or include a provision stating that it applies despite the requirement for a review. The review deals with whether the bill imposes a regulatory burden on persons or bodies, other than the public sector, whether the bill infringes on the freedom of those persons or bodies to own and use property, whether the regulatory burden constitutes an unjustified burden and red tape and whether the person or body that administers the bill is best suited to do so. The Committee may amend the bill before reporting it back to the Assembly.

No person or body, including the Lieutenant Governor in Council, is allowed to make a regulation under an Act without giving the Committee at least 60 days notice to review the regulation and to propose amendments to it, except if the person or body gives notice to the Committee that the urgency of the situation requires the making of an emergency regulation. An emergency regulation can remain in force for no longer than 90 days.

The Committee can also review Acts after they have been enacted and regulations after they have been made and make a report on them to the Assembly