Republicans rescue light bulbs with 10th Amendment

Another bright idea from the Legislature.

​Keeping their eye on what's really important to a recovering economy, the GOP-controlled Legislature today let it be known that nobody in Washington, D.C., can tell Minnesotans whether they can sell incandescent light bulbs.

Those would be the energy-hog light bulbs the Bush administration banished back in 2007, and that Ikea just announced it's pulling from shelves across the country.

The fight isn't really about energy efficient light bulbs, though. It's about states' rights, and it started in the last session with state Reps. Dean Urdahl and Tom Emmer.

Urdahl is a sponsor of the new bill, too. It says:

An incandescent light bulb that is manufactured commercially or privately in Minnesota and that is not exported to another state is not subject to federal law or federal regulation under the authority of Congress to regulate interstate commerce and is not considered to have traveled in interstate commerce.

Notwithstanding any other law, a person may possess, use, manufacture, purchase, install, transport, sell, or internationally export an incandescent light bulb that is manufactured commercially or privately in this state if the light bulb is not exported to another state.

All they need now to test that 10th Amendment argument is an actual incandescent light bulb manufactured in Minnesota.

There aren't any.