Michigan is one of 11 states in the country that operates with a full-time legislature, and some Michigan lawmakers are attempting to change that.
Michigan Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop, R-Rochester, supports a plan to make a switch from full-time to part-time work in order to save money by reducing pay rates, benefits and staff members.
California and New York have full-time legislatures, and the other states that operate full-time tend to be larger as well.
But switching to a part-time legislature won't fix Michigan's problems.
Michigan is the eighth most populous state in the nation with a high population density.
On top of that, the state faces crippling unemployment rates, poverty and cyclical budget deficits.
We need our legislature to work as efficiently and as often as possible to try and pull the state out of the many holes it has dug for itself.
Michigan's Legislature is full time to create a system of checks and balances between the legislative, executive and judicial branches. A part-time legislature would create a flux between the branches and result in an imbalanced government.
Rep. Mark Meadows, D-East Lansing, said switching to a part-time legislature would throw off the system's balance and put too much power in the governor's lap.
Currently, Michigan legislators make almost $80,000 a year, the second highest salary for legislators in the country, after California.
California's cost of living is significantly higher than Michigan's, making Michigan lawmakers' high salary superfluous.
Lawmakers have cut jobs and funding from education and the arts, while simultaneously raking in more money than most other state lawmakers across the country.
With the estimated $1.6 billion deficit for the 2008 fiscal year, it's irresponsible and avaricious for lawmakers to continue to rob the state in such a time of need.
Some Michigan lawmakers do support a pay cut without switching the legislature to a part-time operation. Meadows proposed a constitutional amendment to reduce salaries while requiring lawmakers to be in session four days a week. In exchange, he wants to see Michigan's term limits repealed.
Meadows' plan is a good one - it would require lawmakers to keep working hard while paying them a more reasonable amount.
It's time for our state lawmakers to stop making hypocritical, damaging cuts to important, funding-starved state organizations while robbing the state coffer of our much-needed tax dollars.
They need to be held accountable to their constituents by lowering their own salary to a reasonable sum in a state with such perpetual, and yet-irreparable, financial woes.
