“We have to pass this bill so that you can find out what is in it.”

Those words from then-U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi still raise the hackles of Republican opponents of Obamacare. Justified or not, they’ve become a meme for ill-informed lawmakers voting on half-baked legislation without proper vetting.

But voting in a bum’s rush on major policy that hasn’t been thoroughly formed, vetted or debated — or, at times, even read — is becoming more common on both sides of the aisle, and it isn’t limited to Congress and D.C.

It’s become the norm in the Mississippi Legislature in recent years. Bills that normally would have been debated, tweaked and debated and tweaked some more either zip quickly through the process and become law, or are killed without hearing or explanation.

More:What the Legislature has here is a failure to communicate

I’ve referred to this phenomenon in the past as “voting blind.” My colleague Jeff Amy with the Associated Press calls it “legislation by ignorance.” The committee process of legislation appears to be overtaken more and more by the leadership’s secret-squirrel process, or the just hurry-up-and-pass-it or kill-it process.

The results, often are not good, and unintended consequences abound.

'The Accidental Sports Betting Act of 2017'

For instance, many lawmakers in the last couple of weeks have said they were shocked — shocked, I tell you — to learn they accidentally legalized sports betting in Mississippi back in March when they passed House Bill 967. It was, ostensibly, a fantasy sports regulation bill. (Sports betting is still banned under a federal law up for review by the U.S. Supreme Court). The bill didn’t even mention regular sports betting.

I covered the initial “vetting” of this bill in the House Gaming Committee. It lasted about 10-15 minutes, tops, and consisted of a lawmaker rattling off a few talking points about fantasy sports and the bill, a quick voice vote, then a vote to “rise and report,” sending the bill to the full House.

I don’t recall any lawmakers actually reading copies of the bill, which were handed out at the beginning of the quick set-to. But one lawmaker, before the committee voted, did have the wherewithal to ask if the fantasy sports bill was a step towards regular sports betting. He was told it wasn’t.

When it went before the full House, the only debate on the bill was whether it could be amended to create a state lottery (that move failed).

Most legislative committees don't hold true hearings or debates any more. They've become quick huddles called shortly before deadlines, where bills are handed out and votes called minutes later. Instead of vetting or improving legislation, committees either pass bills by acclamation or they die without being taken up at all.

Passage of the Accidental Sports Betting Legalization Act of 2017 pales in terms of legislation by ignorance (I’ll defer to Amy’s term) compared to the imaginary bills passed by House Ways and Means back in February.

In a hastily called meeting, Ways and Means Chairman Jeff Smith, R-Columbus, convinced his committee to pass three bills that — technically — didn’t exist. Not only were there no printed copies of House Bills 1731, 1732 and 1733, they weren’t even in the Legislature’s computer system. Smith explained House Speaker Philip Gunn had just assigned the bills — to borrow money for bridge repair and other work and allow lawmakers at a later date to raise fuel taxes — and wanted them passed quickly. They were.

The next day, Smith — without explanation — had the House send the fuel tax bill back to his committee so he could kill it. The Senate killed the other two (by then, they existed in writing).

But this, too, pales in comparison to the opaque, non-inclusive way the Legislature decides how to spend roughly $6 billion a year in taxpayers’ money these days.

Spending $6 billion on the fly

That process is essentially this: A handful of House and Senate leaders and staff get together on a Saturday near the end of the legislative session and haggle out a rough agreement on funding state government. They give out very few details that night and often claim not to know many details (I believe them). Then, lawmakers come in on Sunday and start passing the 100 or so appropriations bills that make up the bulk of the state budget.

Usually a good portion of these are just “dummy bills” full of zeros and blanks. At some point over the next couple of days, a handful of negotiators and staff put real numbers into the budget bills. But by this time, as the session is drawing to a close, things are harried and confused and there is little time or inclination to make major budget changes. At best, if enough lawmakers are concerned over a particular budget, they can throw a wrench in the skunkworks and hold up or kill a bill. Then they get accused of wasting taxpayer dollars by preventing the Legislature to finish its work on time.

In years past, lawmakers at some point would at least be given a sheet showing the funding levels on which they were voting for agencies and how it compares to the prior year. But in 2016, a special fund sweep bill (officially titled Budget Transparency Act) confused the numbers to the point no clear year-over-year figures could be divined for the last two budgets, at least not by the time lawmakers had to pass them.

Longtime Sen. Hob Bryan, D-Amory, has complained loudly and frequently about getting the mushroom treatment on legislation and spending on which he is asked to vote. The leadership mostly ignores him.

At one point this session when he got really lippy about wanting copies of bills and wanting to see the numbers for the budgets on which the Senate was voting, he was given a spreadsheet. When he pointed out that the numbers on the spreadsheet didn’t match those in the bills being passed, he was ignored again.

Legislating shouldn't be efficient

The top leaders in the House and Senate, enjoying a Republican supermajority, have tightened their grip on the legislative process. Rank and file members, and even committee chairman, have less sway and input on bills and spending, and the Democratic minority might as well not even be there.

This gives a small group of policy advocates and lobbyists that have the ear of the speaker and lieutenant governor and a few other top dogs increasing power. Most of the public carping about this has been from legislative Democrats, but I’ve been hearing more from Republicans.

Some could — some do — argue that this makes legislating run more efficiently and quickly.

I’m all for government running more efficiently in most cases. But not legislation. I suggest it should be relatively difficult to pass laws and spend tax dollars, and the more people with a hand in the process, the better.

ContactGeoff Pender at 601-961-7266 orgpender@gannett.com. Follow him onTwitter.