Every year, Idaho legislators waste precious time trying to solve a problem that doesn’t exist. It usually doesn’t happen this early, though.

But here we are, in the second week of the 2012 session, with a bill in the works to shut down the Occupy Boise demonstration. Today, the House State Affairs Committee is expected to get its first look at a bill to ban camping on the Capitol Mall and nearby state property.

What’s the point?

Two months ago, and to their mutual credit, the state Department of Administration and Occupy Boise leaders negotiated in good faith and came up with a common-sense compromise — accommodating peaceful protest while protecting public property.

Two weeks ago, when asked about Occupy Boise, House Speaker Lawerence Denney downplayed the impact of the tent village visible from his Statehouse office window. “I think the Occupy is more tents than people,” said Denney, R-Midvale, who added that he hadn’t seen more than a couple of demonstrators on the scene at any time.

But now a member of Denney’s leadership team, Assistant Majority Leader Scott Bedke of Oakley, is leading the effort on the anti-Occupy Boise bill. His reasoning: Camping is not a proper use of Capitol Mall property, but state law is silent on the matter. Bedke’s bill would align the state with the city of Boise, which has a similar ban in place.

“This is not intended to infringe on anybody’s First Amendment rights,” Bedke said Tuesday. But if his bill passes, the state will face an inevitable and taxpayer-funded date in court, defending this law on freedom of speech and freedom of assembly grounds.

Even if it never comes to that, there’s no getting past perceptions. As a response to Occupy Boise, this bill makes its sponsors look like they are out to quash public protest. Not that it’s likely to work. By trying to criminalize protest, the Legislature just might give Occupy Boise a little shot of momentum.

It’s unrealistic to expect Occupy Boise protesters and Idaho legislative leadership to share a common worldview about matters of social and economic inequality. But from their working vantage point inside the Statehouse, lawmakers have the evidence in front of them. Facts like those presented Monday by the Department of Health and Welfare. In November, a record 235,000 Idahoans received food stamps. Meanwhile, the cost of the state’s catastrophic medical program will approach $40 million this year, up $5 million from the previous year.

Solving these problems through legislation is difficult. Cracking down on an encampment is simple, if superfluous. In a solution-in-search-of-a-problem approach to things, Bedke and his legislative co-sponsors are pursuing the latter path.

“Our View” is the editorial position of the Idaho Statesman. It is an unsigned opinion expressing the consensus of the Statesman’s editorial board. To comment on an editorial or suggest a topic, email editorial@idahostatesman.com.