A letter to the editor in the Columbia Daily Tribune suggests that we should allow people to serve as state legislators only if they are at least 40 years old:

Anyone younger probably does not have the life experience, job experience or kids they’ve put through college needed to fully comprehend legislative repercussions.

First, most 40-year-olds haven’t put kids through college either — unless they had kids at age 18. And what if a legislator doesn’t have kids, or his kids decided to work after high school? Does that mean he isn’t fit to serve?

What we really need is legislators who have common sense. Someone who didn’t have this quality at age 25 or 35 is unlikely to gain it suddenly when he turns 40.