Tag: McMillin

Friday, July 3, 2009
Commentary: Don't extend term limits
Michigan's 'citizen Legislature' works just fine
Rep. Tom McMillin
There is yet another attempt afoot by politicians in Lansing to undermine the will of Michigan voters by changing -- and extending -- term limits.

The arguments of these politicians are usually centered on this notion that "institutional knowledge" is lost when state representatives can "only" stay six years or state senators "only" eight years. Many claim that by the time they figure out how Lansing works, they are term-limited.

Let's analyze this. If you are fortunate enough to get a new job in this economy, could you in good faith turn to your boss and say, "You know, it may take me a few years to figure out how to do my job?" I don't think very many would take that risk. But those who do would likely be out of a job pretty quickly.

I can tell you as a freshman state representative that, with a little effort and some God-given knowledge, figuring out "how Lansing works" doesn't take very long. We need legislators who aren't looking for excuses to be able to do their job. They just need to make the tough decisions necessary to rightsize our burdensome government. Besides, the "institutional knowledge" excuse makes it appear that legislators are being run by the "institution" known as Lansing bureaucrats. The fact is that the men and women we send to Lansing, our representatives, should tell the bureaucrats how things are going to be done to best serve our citizens, not the other way around. Yes, this takes leadership. Surely that's not too much to ask of our elected leaders.

Thanks to term limits, the purpose of democracy is preserved. All citizens are assured that a spirited primary and/or general election will regularly give them good alternatives.

Because of term-limits, the days where a few long-serving legislators are powerful kings and princes are gone. Gone are the days when long-serving politicians always get 95 percent of PAC and lobbyist campaign money and get re-elected 99 percent of the time. Very few current legislators would be serving in Lansing if it weren't for the current term-limits law.

Term limits have helped our state to bring in fresh blood, keep government honest and allow for the free flow of new ideas. It would be a shame to change that now, when new ideas are needed most. Term limits keep Lansing a "citizen's Legislature," and I firmly believe that we need to keep our current term-limits law in place.

Approved today, Senate Bill 93, sponsored by Senator Alan Sanborn prevents mandatory ergonomics standards in the work place that would severly harm the viability of Michigan job providers.  SB 93 prohibits the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration from establishing mandatory ergonomic rules and standards.  

The legislation was needed because, well, the Granholm-Cherry administration is a big fan of following in California's footsteps on this issue.  The Sunshine State is the only one in the union with these sorts of onerous "standards" and the cost to job makers is expected to reach $500 million or more.

"Michigan's economy remains the worst in the nation, and if we're serious about recovery, we need to enact this bill," said Sanborn, R-Richmond Township. "Despite the lack of evidence that these rules are necessary, the administration has spent more than six years crafting mandatory standards. It's just plain bad policy, but to foist this on us during a recession borders on negligence."

"Just the specter of joining California in implementing mandatory ergonomics rules could affect job-provider decisions to locate, expand--or even to survive--here in Michigan,"

And before the bleeding hearts start belly-aching about carpal tunnel syndrome... Michigan's repetitive stress injury rate decreased by nearly 40 percent since 1998 without mandated ergonomic standards--better than the nationwide drop of 32 percent during that time.

We're not talking about a choice between healthier work places or more dangerous work places.  We're talking about work places (period) or no work places (period).

Props to the Senate for doing the right thing.  Again.  And the clock is now officially ticking on the state House.

And speaking of the House... the Republican caucus apparently isn't as interested in wasting the taxpayers' time as Andy Dillon is.  Minority Leader Kevin Elsenheimer, Paul Opsommer, Kim Meltzer and Tom McMillin joined Attorney General Mike Cox today in calling on the Granholm-Cherry administration to provide a healthy dose of desperately needed transparency to their wild spending.

Read on...