Update: Honest Pint Petition

So, it's been a little while since I've checked in on this with you. During my time in Hawaii, folks from the state got back to me with roughly the same response they gave to Dave (which actually set off the petition drive). Here it is, in total:

Mr. Alworth,

Thank you for your comments and questions about authenticating standard pint glasses. The Measurement Standards Division has the responsibility to ensure that commercially used weighing and measuring devices are licensed, tested, accurate, suitable and used correctly. This testing ensures the consumer gets what they pay for when buying commodities across these devices, such as verifying that a gallon of gas is really a gallon of gas. We also have funding for the testing of motor fuel Quality. This ensures the consumer that the quality of gasoline meets national standards. Weighing and measuring device license fees cover the cost of these programs.

In addition, we receive a small amount of funds for transaction verification. This would be verifying the net contents of packaged products. Due to very limited funding, at this time we are focusing on checking in-house packed items such as packaged meats at your local market. There are other areas that we would like to have a presence in the marketplace; if at some point additional funds become available we will look at expanding our current inspection program. In the meantime, we will continue to use the funds available to us as efficiently as possible. At this time that does not include checking all of the restaurants and bars to ensure that a pint sized glass is in fact 16 fluid ounces. While this does not solve your problem I hope you will understand our position.

This seems both predictable and probably accurate. It's one of those things that falls under the Measurement Standards Division's balliwick, but for which there is neither a policy directive nor funding mechanism. Since I dabble in politics, maybe I'll see if I can track down someone who could tell me how we'd go about getting policy drafted for this.

As always, thanks to everyone who signed the petition--I have not abandoned the cause.