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Michigan Needs A Part-Time Legislature

Dick Campbell of the Argus Press has a great editorial today about the part-time legislature. This was an idea that I used to hate.

My objection to the part-time legislature is that good government is a full-time job. You simply couldn’t do the work part-time. I did, however, support a unicameral legislature. This is a one-chamber model, which would eliminate the Senate. After watching Lansing closely in 2007, my opinions on these two proposals have reversed.

I’ll start with the simple one; I don’t support unicam anymore because I watched Mike Bishop obstruct everything that the House and the governor put forth. I can’t imagine what the legislature would be like if he were in charge of the whole thing. We just can’t risk something like that. Admittedly I’m a little biased, since he’s the guy who cut off access to my other blog. But still, Bishop was nothing but an obstructionist, as evidenced by the fact that he wouldn’t even vote for his own tax cuts. He was just trying to stop progress and show off his swagger.

So, unicam is definitely a no-go for me. (I’m sure there are plenty of people who also would not like to see an Andy Dillon in charge of the whole thing either)

As for the part-time legislature, I still think that good government is a full-time job. But honestly, these people don’t work full-time anyway. Even when we were looking at a state shutdown, they were on vacation. I’m not going to revisit the whole thing, but it’s a disgrace how much time these people were not working. (No, I don’t count campaigning in their districts as working, but even if I did, they already get every Mon & Fri to spend in their districts … so I don’t see why they need those extra two weeks every 2-3 months …)

And let’s not lose sight of the fact that these people are grossly overpaid & over-benefitted. (Is that a word?) If we have to transition to a part-time legislature to scale back these perks, then I’m all for it.

So in short, part-time legislature = good. Unicam = bad.

According to Dick Campbell’s editorial,

In Shiawassee County, petitions may be found at Grantham Mortgage and The Elegant Touch in Owosso, Lloyd Miller and Sons in Corunna, Darling Hardware in Perry and Meal and More in Morrice.

…

Those who want additional information on the project may contact Dodge by e-mail at mdodge@kazoochamber.com or visit www.TurnMichiganAround.com.

Thanks to DC & the Argus for the info.