A Poke In Moreno's Eye

In the California Assembly of Sacramento, an assemblyman from the County called Orange that is not the same as Los Angeles County has introduced a bill to help confused baseball fans who might not know what county they're in after they've driven to Anaheim (which is in Orange County) for an Angels (who have Los Angeles in their name) game.

Tom Umberg (disclosure: a long-time acquaintance and a good guy for a Democrat) introduced Assembly Bill 1041, which would require:

A professional sports franchise that includes a geographic location in its name and that does not participate, or is not scheduled to participate, in a plurality of its sporting events during a calendar year in a geographic location used in its name shall, on all tickets, advertisements, and promotional materials, include at the top or bottom of the front side or surface of the item a notice in at least 12-point Roman boldface fond, indicating that the franchise does not regularly participate in sporting events in the geographic location indicated by its name, and disclosing the city, county, or city and county in which the franchise participates, or is scheduled to participate, in a plurality of its sporting events during that calendar year.

The bill goes on to define type size and even radio voice for all the varied disclosures it requires.

As California balances on the brink of fiscal ruin, with schools that are a laughingstock and employees to bring greed to new levels, it's not really prudent to turn the Legislature's attention to bills like this, which passed its first committee hurdle last week.

Then again, with the mess the Legislature's made of things, perhaps it's best to keep them busy with bills like this.