Slash Michigan Legislators' Pay, Cut Session Length: Lt. Gov. Brian Calley

Michigan should move to a part-time legislature that meets only 90 days, and lawmakers pay should be cut by about half to match the average Michigan teacher’s salary, Republican Lt. Gov. Brian Calley said Tuesday. Calley, a likely 2018 gubernatorial candidate, is spearheading a petition drive for the “Clean Michigan Government,” which would put a proposal to amend the state Constitutions before voters.

Calley made the announcement on the eve of the Mackinac Policy Conference, an annual public policy event sponsored by the Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce for business, political and civic leaders. Michigan is one of nine states that have full-time legislatures, and Calley said in prepared marks that “really begs the question: Why?”

“We sure don’t need any more laws or regulations than other states,” Calley said. “There will just be less time for procrastination. Less time for politics and posturing. Less time for proposing thousands of new laws each year. Sometimes, less is more.”

If enough signatures are gathered, the proposal could go before voters in 2018. About 315,000 signatures would be needed. (For more local news, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts and newsletters from Detroit Patch, click here to find your local Michigan Patch. Also, follow us on Facebook, and if you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

Calley said that even with a 90-day session, legislators would have plenty of time to accomplish their work before going back to their districts to “live under the laws they make,” Calley said in an ad on the Clean Michigan Government website.

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“There’ll still be plenty of time to do the state’s business,” Calley said, noting a majority of states have part-time legislatures and lower legislator salaries. “There will just be less time for procrastination. Less time for politics and posturing. Less time for proposing thousands of new laws each year. Because sometimes, less is more.”

The proposal also would permanently ban retiree health-care and pension benefits for legislators, and impose new conflict-of-interest rules on lobbyists.

Proposals to move to a part-time legislature have been unsuccessfully floated before, and Calley supported them during two terms in the Michigan House of Representatives. “The system will always protect itself from reform, so I am taking it directly to the boss — ‘We the people, of Michigan,’ ” he said.

Calley had been expected to use the Mackinac Policy Conference as a backdrop to announce his candidacy for governor. Instead, he let the suspense build, telling reporters “we’ve still got more work to do in this term,” The Detroit News reported. An announcement could come Thursday, according to the CalleyforMichigan.com website, which invites visitors to “come back on June 1st.”

The Coalition Against Higher Taxes and Special Interest Deals, a group that helped derail a 2015 road-funding proposal that Calley backed, was skeptical of Calley’s proposal.

“Brian Calley has a history of supporting special interests and higher taxes,” Randall Thompson, the president of the group told WWJ/CBS Detroit. “When it comes to statewide proposals, he says one thing and does another.”

Thompson said he proposal would have a better chance if it were backed U.S. Rep. Paul Mitchell, a Thomas Township Republican who led the opposition to the road funding measure, or Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette, an established conservative also said to be considering a gubernatorial run.

Michigan Democratic Party Chairman Brandon Dillon said the Clean Michigan Government campaign is a “gimmick” as Calley tries to distance himself from Lansing insiders and Republicans’ record in the Legislature.

“The issues we have in Michigan are not because we have a part-time or a full-time legislature — it’s because the Legislature doesn't reflect the priorities of people in the state,” Dillon told the Detroit Free Press. “Lt. Gov. Calley has been a part of those policies for the last eight years, and this is an opportunity to distract people from what's really important. This seems to be quite a gimmick to make sure you have a platform to run for governor rather than what you've accomplished in the last eight years.”

Former state Rep. Gary Woronchak, a Dearborn Democrat who now chairs the Wayne County Board of Commissioners, suggested Calley is setting himself up for a conflict of interest.

“We're talking about the people's branch of government and if you want to be the new chief executive of the state of Michigan, you want to diminish the people's branch of government, that seems to be a conflict,” he said. “He’s been there. H’'s come from there, and the Republicans have held control of the Legislature for so long, clearly there is dissonance in this message."

Photo of Lt. Gov. Brian Calley by EpicFilibuster via Wikimedia Commons