Have a great vacation this summer, should you and your family find the time and money to get away from it all. Still, forgive Arkansans if they don't express fond wishes for their own state legislators, who are vacationing all across the country this summer...

....and sending taxpayers the bill.

Legislators in Arkansas, like in many states, moan about finding enough money for all their schemes. Last year, legislators barely found the dough to give themselves a nice pay raise. This year, well, legislators argued they had no choice but to pass the largest tax increase in state history.

Last month, 38 Arkansas legislators attended a National Conference of State Legislatures convention in Utah. Next month, 57 legislators will attend conferences in Alaska. That’s taxpayer-paid vacations for 70 percent of the entire legislature, at a cost to taxpayers of about a quarter million dollars.

Moreover, many term-limited legislators, who will not even be returning to the next legislative session, are junketing on the taxpayers' tab. Fifteen term-limited legislators traveled to Utah and 24 more are headed to Alaska.

Several term-limited legislators justify the cost of their attendance at these conventions because they might run for office again or be involved in state government. Tim Jacob, chairman of Save Term Limits, says, "There are over 2 million Arkansans that fit that description, and we certainly aren't paying for everyone’s summer vacation."

Legislators are also asking voters to water-down the state's term limits law this November. Apparently, they need more time to "See the world."

This is Common Sense. I'm Paul Jacob.

Common Sense, by term limits advocate Paul Jacob, is aired by radio stations throughout the country. Get Common Sense in your mailbox by e-mailing commonsense@termlimits.org