State Rep. Karl Bohnak and state Rep. Parker Fairbairn on Thursday supported a plan, House Joint Resolution M, that would suspend legislator pay if a state budget is not signed into law by the statutory July 1 deadline.
“I came to Lansing to get things done, and that starts with finishing a state budget on time,” said Bohnak, R-Deerton. “It’s been incredibly frustrating to see a lack of urgency from my fellow lawmakers as we try to finalize a bipartisan budget so our schools, critical services, and local units of government can begin to prepare for next year. If I had just stopped doing the weather but still showed up to collect my check, there is no way I would’ve kept getting paid. Similarly, politicians in Lansing shouldn’t keep getting a check after a critical deadline has long passed. I was proud to support this effort to stop rewarding lawmakers who just aren’t doing their job.”
“When state lawmakers miss the July 1 deadline for passing a budget, every facet of our state is put at risk,” said Fairbairn, R-Harbor Springs. “Schools, local municipalities, corrections officers, state agencies, and many others need us to do our most important job – passing a budget – in order to have the information they need to prepare their own. If any of those officials – superintendents, department directors, law enforcement, or others – fail to finalize a budget, they wouldn’t just lose their pay, they’d be fired. The fact that lawmakers can skirt their constitutional duties and still collect their checks is absurd.”
The change would require an amendment to the Michigan Constitution, which requires two-thirds support in both the state House and Senate. The measure failed to meet that mark in the House, due to a lack of bipartisan support.
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