Quite the bite

Ohio might be saying "night, night" to what's left of responsible government. A bipartisan (but seriously misguided) third of the Ohio House of Representatives wants to let bed bugs bite you in the wallet.

Citing what one journal refers to as a resurgence of bed bugs in the Cincinnati area, state Rep. Dale Mallory, a Democrat from the Queen City, has introduced a bill that would allocate $335,000 to bed bug awareness.

Perhaps we next will devote your tax dollars to extol the virtues of eating an apple every day. Or, maybe we'll remind people of the perils (at least to their mothers) of stepping on cracks.

House Bill 590 would direct the Ohio Department of Health to "make available on its Web site information on the increasing incidences of bed bug (cimex lectularius) infestation and post notices that bed bugs are a public health nuisance dangerous to public health." It would establish a toll-free hotline to report infestations or to get information. The health department would educate hotel owners, residential dwellers and other Ohioans on the difference between bed bugs and similar types of vermin. It also would encourage people to monitor their floors, carpets and bed linen for signs of infestation.

What's driving all this? Aside from the apparent belief on the part of 33 state representatives that their constituents aren't smart enough to change and wash their sheets is this: The number of bed bug complaints in Cincinnati could double this year from last year's 737, according to Columbus legal publication The Daily Reporter. An extremely small number like that should not drive legislators to replace individual common sense with outpourings of tax dollars.

Mallory's bill would force taxpayers to shell out $227 per anticipated bed bug complaint in Cincinnati, or $454 per reported case last year. Laundry detergent is much more reasonably priced.

One would like to write this off as just the latest Democratic attempt to play nanny. Unfortunately, 10 of the bill's 32 co-sponsors are Republicans, including Lynn Wachtmann, the legislator from Napoleon who represents Putnam and Van Wert counties. The Nanny State has become increasingly bipartisan in Ohio.

Bed bugs are real. They live on blood alone, never were eradicate in the U.S., have increased in number because consumer-friendly bait traps have no effect on them, and they can transfer disease from one host to another, we learned from the Columbus legal publication. But, state government has no reason to spend $335,000 to reinforce the importance of good hygiene. Government exists to protect people's rights, not to take money from some to teach others to be sanitary. Ohio's struggling economy would make this waste of money all the more irresponsible.

The two-thirds of the Ohio House that hasn't yet signed on should turn out the lights on this bill.