The Maryland House of Delegates passed legislation that would alert parents of children who are eligible for the Maryland Children's Health Program (MCHP) about that eligibility with their income tax returns. In future years, it would mandate that parents tell the state whether their children have health insurance.

This type of Big Brother program seems a natural outgrowth of the desire to use taxes to shape behavior. Unlike most efforts in this direction, the whims of elected officials aren't being carried out by tax deductions or credits but through co-opting revenue agents to shill for government health care. I am uncomfortable with how much information the government has collected on me through my tax forms. At least I have some assurances that this information is being collected in order to ensure I am paying my "fair share" in taxes.

Now, however, Maryland wants to use that information to promote government health care. I never thought I'd advocate for letting state revenue agents alone to accomplish their jobs, but I don't think turning them into cheerleaders for MCHP is a good use of taxpayer money.

The legislation's sponsors initially had a mechanism to punish parents who had not signed up for MCHP by denying them their child tax deduction. At least this troubling aspect of penalizing people who do not take government aid was removed from the bill.