Last week, in our "Bipartisan Guide to Ridiculous Legislation," we wrote about some of the incredibly stupid bills that often preoccupied the — and we're quoting the Gainesville Sun's editorial page here — "political romper room" that is the Florida Legislature this year. The session (mercifully) ended last week, and here is a follow-up on which bills passed and which didn't. Since most of the trivial measures died a lonely and deserved death, the question arises: Is this outcome a hopeful sign of sensible governance or proof that most of the issues were raised purely for vote-mongering, publicity-getting purposes and thus represent an egregious waste of lawmakers' time and our money?

Passed

HB 1363 Salvia Divinorum is criminalized, and possession or sale becomes a felony with a five-year prison sentence. Only four legislators in Tallahassee had the guts to vote against this silly and unnecessary addition to our "War on Drugs." They included two Bay area lawmakers: Rep. Rick Kriseman of St. Petersburg and Rep. Keith Fitzgerald of Sarasota. Bravo, guys.

Failed

SB 1992 Anti-Truck Nutz provision in a larger transportation bill. It passed 37-2 in the Senate, but House members cut the Nutz out of the bill they passed, leaving the ban dead.

SB 744 Sexual Activities Involving Animals. This bill criminalized bestiality, which is not a crime in Florida. The bill, backed by animal rights groups and St. Pete Rep. Bill Heller, failed.

HB 257 Ultrasounds before abortions. By Rep. Trey Traviesa of Tampa. This thinly veiled attempt to stop women from having legal abortions passed the House 70-45 but died in the Senate on a rare 20-20 tie vote.

SB 302 "The Saggy Pants Bill." Would have forced schools to ban the exposure of your boxers or bloomers. It failed in the House after passing the Senate 28-11.

HB 401/SB 2010 "I Believe," Christian license plate. Failed despite several attempts to, ahem, resurrect it by Sen. Ronda Storms.

SB 2692 Academic Freedom bill (allows teaching alternative theories to evolution). Sen. Storms' bill passed the Senate, but failed after the House adopted an altered version that was unacceptable to her and hard-liners in the Legislature.

HB 73 Immigration. This bill — a wide-ranging crackdown on undocumented workers similar to an Oklahoma law — failed, along with 10 other immigration-related pieces of legislation. That includes SB 1118, which would have banned the use of the term "illegal aliens."

SB 1354 Florida Commercial Anti-Pornography Act. Didn't even get a hearing in committee.

HB 977 Public Transit Safety. Requiring more frequent bathroom breaks for bus drivers. Went nowhere, kind of like the drivers.

SB 386/HB 437 Food Service Restroom Inspections. The "I can't spare a square" bill by Tampa's Sen. Victor Crist would require toilet paper and clean restaurant bathrooms. It was flushed down the drain.

SB 2464 Implanted Microchips. Making it a felony to implant microchips in someone without their consent. This sci-fi plot device is safe in Florida; the bill failed.

SB 504/HB 193 (and four others) Cell phone prohibitions. Bills cracking down on under-18s, prohibiting texting while driving and requiring hands-free headsets all failed.

This article appears in May 7-13, 2008.