Phil Power: Bipartisan freshmen legislators need our support right now

When a bunch of newly elected state representatives organized themselves into the Michigan House Bipartisan Freshman Caucus – a first in state history – old Lansing hands were inclined to snigger.

Comments ranged from the merely dismissive – “freshman sewing circle” – to the outright cynical – “good try, but they’ll never break through the culture up here.”

That was in early 2009, and for a number of months, indeed, nothing happened. Last summer, however, the caucus pulled itself together and started making noise.

When the legislature again failed to pass a balanced budget by July 1 – the beginning of the fiscal year for most schools and local government units – the freshmen grumbled.

And last winter when lawmakers bogged down over budget haggling that seemed to produce much heat but very little light, the freshmen complained at the inaction and asked for a seat at the negotiating table. Michigan’s fiscal year doesn’t start till Oct. 1, but delaying a budget that long leaves other units of government in limbo. So they also started preparing resolutions that would require lawmakers to adopt a balanced budget by July 1 or get docked a day’s pay for every day they miss the deadline.

And the freshmen pointed at term limits, proposing lengthening the present ones, among the tightest in the nation, to 14 years service in either chamber. (Currently you can serve no more than six years in the House and eight in the state senate, and then that’s it — for life.) Both reforms would require amending the Michigan Constitution and, hence, a statewide vote of the people.

Nothing happened.

The freshmen urged House leadership of both parties to do something, if only to hold hearings on their proposals.

Nothing happened.

Finally, on March 3, State Reps. Bill Rogers (R-Brighton,) who had been elected co-chair of the freshman caucus, and his colleague Tim Bledsoe (D-Grosse Pointe) fired off a letter to both Democratic and Republican house leaders.

“We challenge the leadership of our chamber to overcome the inertia resulting from partisanship and timidity and immediately begin moving these resolutions through the House.” they wrote, urging that these “modest but vital” reforms be put on the August ballot.

“To succeed,” the letter continued, “our reforms must be divorced from partisan politics, but they must be divorced from rivalries for higher office as well.”
These freshmen have got more clout then you might think. They are one of the largest new classes in history — after the 2008 election, freshmen accounted for 46 of the 110 representatives.

They are bound to gain seniority rapidly, in a world where every more senior member will be gone within three years.

And members of the House Bipartisan Caucus have earned support from the last three governors. Governor Jennifer Granholm endorsed the no-budget, no-pay plan in her State of the State speech. And in February, Jim Blanchard and John Engler both cited term limits as a major cause for Lansing’s ineffectiveness.
Citizens agree. The 10,000 citizens who participated in The Center for Michigan’s community conversations put term limits at the top of their list of reforms. In a post on The Center’s web site, one Dr. Robert J. McElroy wrote: “The Michigan legislature as it has operated since I moved to Michigan ten years ago can only be said to mirror a totally dysfunctional hateful alcoholic family… The inaction of the legislature on the issues of budget reform and term limit reforms indicates a childish disregard for the interests of Michigan citizens.”

During a Bipartisan Caucus breakfast this month sponsored by The Center for Michigan, Bledsoe characterized the attitude of the current house leadership as, “Yes, but.”

I’m reasonably well acquainted with these leaders. Speaker Andy Dillon (D-Redford Twp.), Majority Floor Leader Kathy Angerer (D-Dundee), Minority Leader Kevin Elsenheimer (R-Kewadin) and Minority Floor Leader Dave Hildenbrand (R-Lowell) are all pretty sensible people. Dillon is running for governor and Angerer for state senate, so both are nervous about rocking the boat.

Republicans Elsenheimer and Hildenbrand see the partisan tide favoring their party this year, so they’re not inclined to do much, either. But the facts are overwhelming. Our strict term limits – “mandated inexperience” in the words of Lansing political sage Richard McClellan – have hobbled Michigan for years. And failure to pass a balanced budget on time is simply unacceptable.

Which means we need to tell our lawmakers: Come on, folks. Leadership entails leading. Get off your butts and do something. Back in the 60s, it was fashionable to say that if you’re not part of the solution, you’re a big part of the problem.

In this case, both problem and solution are pretty clear.