Since session began, I have received several requests from various parties to co-sponsor various bills.  Some requests have come from constituents, some from outside groups, and some from fellow State Reps.  In all cases, I have thusfar refrained from co-sponsoring, as I did not want to do so without a clear and uniform policy in place indicating what standards I would use to make that kind of decision.  While it is tempting to co-sponsor any bill that I generally like or otherwise would vote for, it's important that I not delute the meaning of the action by co-sponsoring too many bills.

Moving forward, I have decided to use the following criteria to determine if I will co-sponsor a bill:

• The bill must be Constitutional.
• The bill must be consistent with the purpose of government: to protect individual liberty.
• The bill must be primarily focused on a subject, area, or policy that I have a particular interest in or care about especially.  Generally this means I'd probably consider carrying the bill myself under different circumstances.
• It must not contain any provisions that I strongly object to - meaning nothing that would keep me from voting for a finalized bill with such a provision still included.
• It must not contain an abundance of provisions that I find extraneous or distracting from the core purpose of the bill, even if said provisions are not generically objectionable.
• It must not result in a net increase in taxes.

Of course I reserve the right to stray from these guidelines if appropriate in an unusal instance, in which case I will explain my reasoning at that time.