Every year it’s the same thing. The legislature spends the first half
of the
term doing next to nothing. They show up at the Capitol just enough to
collect their per diem, then break to golf with lobbyists. Throughout the
course of the legislative session, very little attention is paid to the actual
governing of the state. A few bills pass into law, but these generally fall
into one of two categories: 1) feel-good tripe (i.e. mandatory bike helmets
for minors) or 2) rewards for bribes…er…campaign contributions (i.e. a
new freeway offramp at a new Casino). Only at the very end of the legislative
session does any “work” get done, and it is done poorly. Lobbyists write
bills which are passed without analysis or debate. Logic defying schemes
are made into laws. And the budget…dear God, the Budget. The single
most important task with which the state government is charged; the
fundamental blueprint for governing the state; the very cornerstone of
everything, EVERYTHING else the Legislature does, is passed late. No
real work on the budget even begins until after the deadline.
The process is a mess, because the men and women of the Legislature
aren’t affected. The state is being driven into bankruptcy, but the individuals
who put it there still get paid. Laws are passed with no long-term
consequences in mind because there are no long-term consequences for
the legislators.
Ladies and gentlemen, I have the solution. I say that we make it worth while
to govern correctly. As propose that we pay every legislator in California
a
salary of $1,000,000 per year. The governor should get $2,000,000. In
addition, legislators and the Governor will receive the salary for eight
years
AFTER they leave office.
What? Am I daft? Did I not just say that these miserable goldbrickers aren’t
doing their jobs? Wait, fellow citizens, there is more.
I also propose that every two years, the voters determine how much of the
salary the legislators get to keep. Every ballot will have the numbers 1%
through 100%. Voters pick the percentage that seems appropriate and the
average number is used.
If there are rolling blackouts, the highways are a mess and the Legislature
is
acting like a bunch of self-serving, vindictive dingbats, you can be sure
that
the voters aren’t going to approve more than a couple bucks. If the economy
is doing fine, pollution is down, jobs are up and our government representatives
are behaving like a group of professionals, they can expect to be handsomely
rewarded.
Further, laws will be passed with an eye on the long-term. Short-sighted
schemes like the “deregulation” of the electrical markets or workers compensation
“reform” might garner a few extra bucks in our politician’s pockets at first.
But
later, when they fall apart like an Enron business plan, our legislators
will find
themselves waiting tables to make ends meet.
My plan will attract the right kind of people to run our state. I want ambitious
people. I want motivated people. I want people who will run the state with
the
idea that if they do it well, they can make a lot of money. I want the best,
brightest people competing for the job to run the state. And when they do,
I
want them paid handsomely for it.
The beauty of the system is that it pays for itself. If the country’s largest
economy
is run well, we can afford to pay its executives handsomely. If it is bankrupt,
the
voters have the power to end the fat paydays until things are turned around.
My dad always said that if what you are doing doesn’t work, try something
else.
I can’t imagine a system which has failed more spectacularly than the one
we
have now. Let’s try something else.