( Note: I will be forwarding all comments regarding the proposal to Mr. Bouchard. Please leave your thoughts below) 

When it comes to Michigan lawmakers, right now, it's a full time job, with full time pay and benefits. But Republican Mike Bouchard, a candidate for governor here in Michigan, says he wants to change that. As Bouchard see it "there were 637,000 government employees in the state of Michigan, and only 500,000 engaged in the manufacturing business. We are upside down in terms of government not having reflected the changes our economy and our state have gone through."

Michigan's government is way too big according to Mike Bouchard who is hoping to get a job in Michigan's government as the next governor. But he says if he takes office, something needs to change and it starts in the chambers where he once served as a representative and a senator. As Bouchard explains it "I think its time based on return on investment, based on the budget capabilities of this state and based on a variety of needs to reform this state that we switch to a part time legislature."

Part time lawmakers, that's what Bouchard wants. He says Lansing is broken, and the state can no longer afford or needs to pay for full time lawmakers. Bouchard says "You are going to save money on staff and also certainly the salaries of the legislators, and no more legacy costs, health care, these kinds of things will be done. You are going to save millions on that right out the door. Also there is a cost associated with every bill that is introduced and people are introducing bills and legislation that really aren't reflective of today's reality."

So how would part time work? Instead of everyday and all year around, Michigan's new lawmakers would have full time jobs elsewhere and then in Lansing serve 120 days every other year. If Bouchard had his way in that time the legislature would actually pass a two year rolling budget. A plus according to Bouchard because it would avoid the threat of last minute shut downs, or unpredicted funding cuts. Schools would now a year in advance if their budgets would drop.

So how much would this save taxpayers? Bouchard couldn't provide hard numbers, but said by trimming staff, reducing introducing legislation, and cutting lifetime health benefits, would it easily trim millions of dollars a year.

I did a little digging and found some interesting numbers. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures there are 10 states that have full time legislatures like Michigan. The conference considers full time lawmakers as those who spend 80% or more hours of what would be considered a full time job working as a lawmaker. These 10 states average $68,000 in salaries for lawmakers and each lawmaker has a staff of around 9 members. There are 23 states that have what is often described as a hybrid legislature, (the hours are about 2/3 of a full time job, and the paycheck of around 35 thousand dollars staff drops to 3.) Then there are part time legislatures. 17 states have legislators that work about half the hours of a full time job, and the pay drops to just under 16-thousand dollars and average just over 1 staff member per lawmaker.

So what would it take to make it happen? Parts of the changes are based on the state's constitution. So according to Bouchard a change would take a constitutional amendment and "that would allow the people of this state to vote on it, be heard, I think overwhelmingly they would support it and vote it."

And while it may be popular with taxpayers, Bouchard has this message for current lawmakers who might oppose the plan, "if they don't feel like they are up to the task maybe they need to find a different job."

So what do you think about this one? Should lawmakers here in Michigan be part time? Should they have to give up their health care coverage for life? Let me know.

Please leave a comment below.

To see the National Conference of Legislatures data regarding full time and part time lawmakers click on the following link:

http://www.ncsl.org/?tabid=16701