We can't say our state Legislature does nothing.

That wouldn't be fair.

Occasionally, a meaningful bill slips through and becomes law.

There was the, um ...

And the one that fixed that thing with the ... oh, what was it now?

Sexting!

OK, not earth-shattering, but state Rep. Seth Grove's bill, recently signed into law, allows teens who take naughty pictures of themselves or each other to avoid a charge that should be reserved for pedophiles.

Also, state Rep. Keith Gillespie authored a new law that let's the state Department of Transportation suspend the driver's licenses of people who don't pay their court-ordered restitution.

Of course, there are other examples.

But when it comes to the big-ticket, all-important issues that affect so many people, these elected officials can't seem to get the job done.

How long has the report issued by Gov. Tom Corbett's blue-ribbon commission on transportation infrastructure funding been gathering dust in someone's desk drawer?

About 15 months by our count. Meanwhile our bridges and roads continue to crumble and the inevitable bill to repair them gets bigger.

Then there's property tax reform -- the No. 1 issue for most people around here and a good part of the state -- and the related task of fixing the broken school funding formula.

Lawmakers tell us it's just a tough nut to crack.

Apparently.

It's been about 15 years, and we're still waiting.

Now we can add charter school reform to the list of important tasks our lawmakers can't "quite" manage.

A compromise bill backed by Corbett and passed by the Senate would have addressed some of the issues that have been vexing school districts like York City's, which is home to five charter schools.

It wasn't perfect, but it included ethics standards for charter school officials and put the schools under the same sunshine law requirements as other public institutions.

The bill also would have overhauled special education funding for all school districts.

It did not fix the funding formula for charter schools, but would have created a commission to deal with that problem somewhere down the line.

Again, not the best solution, but a start.

When the bill died in the House last week, some lawmakers in both chambers were surprised and disappointed.

We're disappointed, too. But not surprised.

This issue has been on the table for two years, since Corbett was elected and made it a priority.

Yet the Senate dropped it in the House's lap last week just days before the end of the session. Were the representatives just supposed to rubberstamp it?

How about we give them -- all of them, not just the leadership that might have been involved in negotiations -- a chance to read the bill? Maybe even -- imagine this -- a chance to propose changes?

That's how we get the best possible law.

This was simply business as usual for this body.