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I lived in Florida for most of the 90s and had to deal with a part-time
legislature there where the revolving door between legislative and
corporate employment was more pronounced there than here, and lawmakers
even more under the influence of corporate lobbyists. If you think our
current legislative class is too captive to corporate interests, then
you will not like a part-time legislature. It would be great to end or
modify term limits, but given the public mood these days there's little
chance voters would reward lawmakers with additional terms in office.
So there's no silver bullet, but if we could come up with a proposal
that made more legislative districts competitive at election time that
would go a long way toward holding both parties more accountable to
voters. dwelker@up.net wrote: ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Enviro-Mich message from dwelker@up.net ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Regardless of any changes in the status of the Michigan legislature, I will require year-round access to my legislators. Do citizens have that in states with part-time legislatures? -doug- On Tue, 25 Dec 2007 09:04:34 -0500, dana <dschindler@jackpine.net> said:----- Original Message ----- From: Shirley Skiera To: Undisclosed-Recipient:; Sent: Saturday, December 22, 2007 10:10 PM Subject: Fw: Michigan legislature ----- Original Message ----- From: Tom and Karen Kubanek To: bob taylor ; Bob & Jan ; marge ; Chuck Keil ; Phyllis Krol ; Midge Kubanek ; Lois Boonstra ; jetyson@jackpine.com ; Joel & Kate ; jane s oliver ; susan stoel ; Shirley Skiera ; Tom Kubanek Sent: Saturday, December 22, 2007 8:20 PM Subject: Fw: Michigan legislature Subject: Michigan legislature Sounds like a very good idea to me! Me too... According to an article in the 'Detroit Free Press' (Nov. 14, 2007), editorial section, page 10 A, attorney and business owner, Henry Woloson, from Clarkston, MI, is heading a movement to place a proposal on the 2008 ballot for a part-time legislature in Michigan. Some facts he provided: 1 - 46 states have part-time legislatures. 2 - Michigan has 148 full-time legislators. 3 - Michigan has 23% more legislators than California. We have a population of 10 million. California's is 36 million. 4 - California is the only state in the US that pays its lawmakers more than Michigan. 5 - $115 million-plus is allocated each year for the operation of the legislature. This does not include lifetime health benefits for former legislators. Under the new proposal: 1 - Legislative sessions would be limited to 90 days between Jan. 1 and April 30 each year. 2 - Special sessions could be ca lled - no additional compensation. 3 - Elimination of lifetime benefits for legislators. 4 - Freezing salaries pending later review. 5 - Downsizing from 148 members to 100 members. (75 representative and 25 senators) 6 - Estimated annual savings - more than $30 million. Other current considerations: 1 - Extending term limits to 12 years for voters who value legislative experience. 2 - Having terms of both representative and senators be 4 years with 1/2 of each group standing for election every 2 years. Quote: 'Michigan needs our state government to become more productive and less expensive with greater accountability. We hope concerned Michigan citizens will support our efforts to let the voters decide if they wish to join the vast majority of states effectively operating with a part-time legislature.' Please forward to all that you t hink might be interested. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database: 269.17.6/1192 - Release Date: 12/21/2007 1:17 PM============================================================== ENVIRO-MICH: Internet List and Forum for Michigan Environmental and Conservation Issues and Michigan-based Citizen Action. Archives at http://www.great-lakes.net/lists/enviro-mich/ Postings to: enviro-mich@great-lakes.net For info, send email to majordomo@great-lakes.net with a one-line message body of "info enviro-mich" ============================================================== |