Maybe the CA Legislature shouldn't be workin' nine to five
Image from Dolly Parton’s 9 to 5 music video.
California is one of 10 states to employ a full-time legislature, while the remaining 40 others propose and pass bills part-time. In the OC Register, Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association president Jon Coupal argues that full-time lawmakers—effectively “professional politicians"—haven't proved they're worth the extra cost to taxpayers. More beneficial than allocating extra time for legislature (a fair promotion?), says Coupal, would be ensuring they make informed, grounded decisions.
The process is clearly broken and needs reform and, for that reason, we should return California to a part-time legislature. This isn’t as crazy as it may sound. Before the passage of Proposition 1A in 1966, California had a part-time legislature. According to the Legislative Analyst’s Office, “the Legislature met in general session (at which all subjects could be considered) in odd-numbered years and in budget session (at which only state budget matters were considered) in even-numbered years.”
Plus, most states do not have full-time legislatures. In fact, only ten states do: California, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, Alaska, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Ohio, and Wisconsin. The rest of the states meet part-time, and some states (like Montana, Nevada, Texas and North Dakota) only meet in odd-numbered years.
Ironically, the argument for a full-time legislature is that they have more time to deliberate, make better informed decisions, and that their higher compensation allows them to focus solely on the job of governing. But six of those (California, New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan) are among the seven states that lost congressional seats in the 2020 Census. If those states truly governed more effectively, people would flock to them. Instead, they are fleeing.
California’s current full-time legislature has not lived up to the promises that “experts” told us would accompany the change. Because we have one-party supermajority rule, apparently there is no need for deliberation. Whether a bill lives or dies is decided in closed door caucus meetings, not in Legislative hearings.
They do not make informed decisions. In the supermajority, you vote as you are told – or else. They routinely pass bills they have not read with fiscal impacts they do not know.
As for being a full-time legislator, recall the observation of William F. Buckley about preferring to be governed by the first two thousand names in the Boston telephone directory than by the two thousand faculty members of Harvard University.
Citizens with real jobs, who have skin in the game and will share in the consequences of their actions, are preferable to professional politicians. Or, as the argument against Proposition 1A ends, “[p]rescribing laws which other people are to be forced to obey can never be a primary occupation for any man who loves liberty.”
Read the whole thing here.
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