Just because you can doesn’t mean that you should.

State lawmakers are able to look at issues that matter to them, propose changes and even grind axes. They can have pet projects that they make the focus of their time in office. After all, everyone’s perspective is refracted through the lens of their own experiences.

For some legislators, that means lots of education bills. For others, it might mean women’s rights. Someone with aim at a higher office might propose bills specifically designed to appeal to the voters needed to win that race. Let’s be honest — most of them do that.

But sometimes it can just make a lawmaker look out of touch for putting an issue out there as important enough to merit state attention.

Enter state Rep. Aaron Bernstine, R-Butler/Beaver/Lawrence.

The Penn State graduate saw an opportunity to slip a little something extra into Senate Bill 1283 with an amendment he deemed important enough to make law. In fact, he didn’t just craft the amendment, he sent out a press release.

What was so important to the funding of state-related universities, the topic of the bill?

The location and condition of a statue of the late Joe Paterno, the longtime Penn State football coach who was fired as the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal broke 11 years ago. The press release went out June 22 — one day after the 10-year anniversary of Sandusky’s conviction.

The statue was erected in 2001 and removed July 22, 2012, with the university saying it was being stored in an undisclosed location after public focus on it, including a plane that flew over the university flying a banner that demanded “take the statue down or we will.” It has been a rallying point for a portion of Penn State alumni who want to reclaim the deceased coach’s legacy.

The amendment is ludicrous.

The state has many means of imposing checks on the land-grant university, the largest of the four state-related institutions. Slipping a ridiculous means of tracking a piece of art that was a donation and not a state-funded asset shouldn’t be one of them.

Lawmakers, regardless of their alma mater, should focus on funding the universities or reforming the way they are funded. Demand better ways to prepare students for the world. Work on crushing education debt. Do any of the many, many things that would actually benefit students, educators and taxpayers.

But just because you can try to find a football coach’s missing statue doesn’t mean you should insert it into state law.

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