Something happened on November 3 that went unmentioned, as best we can tell, by the mainstream.

State Rep. Myron Dossett announced that he was returning cash from his legislative postage fund to the state’s General Fund. This is apparently his second year to do so.

“Every day many families across Kentucky have to make tough decisions to cut costs and live within their means as a result of the current economy,” said Rep. Dossett. “We in the General Assembly should be no different, which is why I once again will be returning the money set aside for mailings from my office to the General Fund. Instead of using state money to mail questionnaires, I instead will be utilizing my time to get feedback directly from my constituents through face-to-face conversations, phones call, and e-mails.”

Dossett is right. As silly as it may seem to make a big deal out of this, it’s nearly 2012. There’s no need to send out mailings on the taxpayer dime. And if a legislator wants to communicate with folks – or campaign to them, like Tom Riner – there’s no reason they can’t use their actual campaign funds to do so. If all 138 legislators in the General Assembly returned the $750 Dossett is returning? That’d be $103,500. And that’s not a laughable amount when you’re talking about taxpayer dollars.

“While I understand that in the political sense the amount I’m giving back may not seem like much, in the average Kentucky household this money would be considered a large amount toward paying bills and in some cases pay for needed medicine,” added Rep. Dossett. “As we prepare to draft Kentucky’s next two-year budget, we need to operate within our means just like all of our citizens have to do in their own households.”