“A slap in the face is more effective than 10 lectures. It makes you understand very quickly.” – Leopold Von Sacher-Masoch

Let me tell you about one of my more unusual social media viewing habits.

Yes, I plan to discuss government at some point, but bear with me. I have stumbled upon a newer sport – and calling this a sport may be generous – known as slap fighting.

The premise is as simple as it gets. Two people stand in front of each other, and each competitor delivers an open-handed slap to the other over the course of several rounds with the intent to knock each other out.

It is quick, simple, brutish and dumb. In other words, it is a sport perfect for a social media feed. And despite the whispers of admonishment from my better angels, I watch every time I scroll by a post of someone getting slapped really hard.

Alabama State Sen. Gerald Allen, R-Tuscaloosa, has also come across this sport and has already prefiled a bill for next year’s legislative session to ban the sport in Alabama. If passed, the bill would bring about penalties for promoters and combatants.

Of course, the risk of head injury is obvious, and the possibility of kids and teenagers copycatting slap fights are likely drivers behind the legislation. Though I watch the video clips, I do not have a problem with legislation preventing slap fights in Alabama because of these dangers.

In fact, the Alabama Athletic Commission, which “oversee(s) and regulate(s) boxing and mixed martial arts in Alabama” banned slap fighting in the state back in 2022.

This brings me to my larger point, and it is not actually about slap fighting. Does the Legislature even need to step in and get involved at all?

I am no expert in combat sports law, so maybe the answer is yes in this case, but it seems like giving the Commission the authority to enforce their policies to begin with might have been the simplest way to do this.

According to data from Legiscan.com, Alabama passed around 300 laws this year when not including resolutions and commendations that have no real legal effect.

If you will allow me the leeway to make some very inexact estimations, around one-third of those laws were local legislation dealing with only one county or municipality. So my fuzzy math says the Legislature passed around 200 laws this year that apply statewide.

You can expand this out over this group of legislators’ four-year term and roughly guesstimate they will pass 800 laws.

At the same time, the Alabama Secretary of State’s Office lists 383 state boards and commissions. Most of these boards set policies to regulate specific subjects, like the Alabama Athletic Commission does for combat sports, and those policies affect the whole state or a significant region of the state.

Laws passed by the Legislature often are adjustments to laws already in place. Why not empower boards to adjust their own rules more often without the Legislature’s involvement?

So far, the U.S. Congress has passed seven real laws this year, according to Legiscan. Congress represents over 330 million people while the Alabama Legislature only represents over 5 million people. Government can function without 200 bills a year being passed.

Additionally, the people who serve on these boards and commissions are usually experienced and knowledgeable with the subject area the boards regulate, much more so than most legislators.

Now, there is a legitimate downside to this idea many people will point out. Empowering these boards to make decisions and rules puts more power in the hands of people who are not elected, making government less directly accountable to the population.

I do not want to suggest the Legislature should give up its power of oversight nor its ability to make changes to how boards and commissions operate. Sometimes it is necessary to act when commissions lose their connection to what is best for the public.

Legislators should just be more discerning about when to use their power to change the law.

Part of the problem lies with us as the public. Legislators face criticism for not vigorously representing their constituents when they do not introduce many bills. Introducing legislation also brings them attention, which can help win elections.

Maybe if the public and the media focus more on what legislators vote for and against instead of the volume of legislation they introduce, this could lead to more effective government.

Or maybe someone should slap the taste outta my mouth. Though, you better do it before the slap fighting legislation passes next year.