A reality based independent journal of observation & analysis, serving the Flathead Valley & Montana since 2006. © James Conner.

15 January 2017

Montana’s legislators should show the U.S. Coast Guard some respect

Is a member of your family, or a friend, serving in the United States Coast Guard? As a matter of common practice, not to mention respect, you undoubtedly treat United States Coast Guard as a proper noun and capitalize it.

You would not write:

…one personal flotation device that is approved by the United States coast guard and that is in good and serviceable condition…

That’s an excerpt from House Bill 234, “AN ACT REVISING LAWS RELATED TO THE USE OF PERSONAL FLOTATION DEVICES.”

Thanks to tradition, if you’re a legislator, a drafter of bills for the legislator, or another employee of the government of the State of Montana you dutifully set aside everything you’ve learned about proper English and follow the peculiar dictates of the Montana Legislative Services Division’s Bill Drafting Manual 2016:

Capitalization rules for bill drafting represent an exception to standard usage. In drafting bills, capitalize as little as possible. Capitalization has no legal significance, and the lower case is easier to read and write.

The big exception, of course, is that the title of every bill is in all uppercase capitals — see the title for HB-234, above — which is very hard to read. All lowercase is hard to read, too.

The drafting manual’s dictate leads to some ludicrous results:

Capitalize geographic names, such as Flathead Valley (but not “community college”) in “Flathead Valley community college”.

Are Montana’s peculiar capitalization rules similar to those of other states? Who cares except people who believe that two wrongs make a right?

Our state’s bill drafting manual is an embarrassment that needs to be revised. It’s time to show the United States Coast Guard and Flathead Community College proper respect.