The state would be wasting its time and our money attempting to ban junk mail. The broad, overreaching law proposed by two state representatives tosses out the good with the bad, while not addressing the real problem.

The problem, according to chief co-sponsors Careen Gordon, D-Coal City, and Lisa Dugan, D-Bradley, is junk mail that is deceptive or misleading.

"I'm not against legitimate advertisements. I'm against the misleading, false ads," Dugan said.

So, let's go after the deceptive or misleading mail.

Unfortunately, House Bill 4539 doesn't make that distinction.

Instead, people would put themselves on the equivalent of a do-not-call list for bulk mail, to be maintained by the Illinois Commerce Commission. However, the Restricted Mailing Registry would not cover mailings sent by a business to existing customers. Not-for-profit groups, real estate businesses and insurance companies also would be exempt.

The program would be financed by administrative fines levied against violators. But the bill doesn't say what happens if there are not enough fines to cover the costs - especially the start-up costs to publicize the existence of the registry.

There's some doubt whether it could even cover businesses outside the state. Therefore, Illinois-based businesses could be hurt while the law would have little overall effect on the perceived problem.

That problem seems to be businesses with phony come-ons, including those that design their material to appear to come from the government.

If current anti-fraud laws are inadequate to go after those who mislead the public, then strengthen those laws rather than stamping all bulk mailers as bad guys.

Bulk junk mail can be inconvenient, especially for people who shred material that could lead to identity theft. But it is not as intrusive as telephone solicitors, the focus of the federal do-not-call list. Just toss it out. It's even easier than hanging up on a caller because there is no human interaction.

If that's not enough, you can tell the Direct Marketing Association to put you on its "do-not-mail" list. Members of the trade organization agree not to mail material to anyone on the list unless the individual has ordered products from them.

This action will stop 75 percent of national mailings, according to the organization.

Government can't protect us from every inconvenience. Individuals must take responsibility to screen their mail for deceptive sales pitches or use tools, such as the Direct Marketing Association's do-not-mail list, to block unwanted mail.