What’s “that sad little scrap of paper?” John Sheldon asks in the 1976 Schoolhouse Rock! segment, “I’m Just a Bill.”

“I’m just a bill; yes, I’m only a bill; and I’m sitting here on Capitol Hill.”

Those of a certain age sang those words in their heads. There’s a good chance that they will run on a loop in your mind for the rest of the day. You’re welcome.

The animated cartoon depicts “Bill” as a dejected piece of legislation as it languishes in Congress awaiting its opportunity to become law.

“How I hope and pray that I will, but today I am still just a bill.”

A Sad PAST

The Prevent All Soring Tactics (PAST) Act is beginning to resemble “that sad little scrap of paper.” The legislation was first introduced on April 12, 2013, in the 113th Congress with the intention of stamping out the application of substances or devices to horses’ limbs to inflict pain to achieve an exaggerated high-stepping gait, known as The Big Lick, in Tennessee Walking Horse show rings. The companion bills in both houses of Congress never made it out of committee.

It’s evolving into something of a tradition. Sens. Mike Crapo, an Idaho Republican, and Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat, reintroduced the bill for the sixth time in 11 years. Is there reason to believe that the PAST Act emerges from the halls of the 118th Congress and finds itself in the Oval Office?

The Democrat-controlled House changed a key rule in…