Tri-City Sun

State Rep. Brian BeGole has criticized House Democrats for not supporting a measure that would increase accountability in Michigan’s state government by linking legislative and executive pay to the timely passage of the annual budget.

On Thursday, BeGole backed House Joint Resolution M, which proposes a constitutional amendment to suspend pay for state legislators and the governor if the state’s statutory July 1 budget deadline is missed.

“This vote is the smoking gun that proves Democrats in Lansing were not committed to working with us to pass and finalize a budget,” said BeGole, of Antrim Township. “They have been stoking fears of a potential government shutdown for months and have obstructed and delayed this process several times.

“This plan took the extraordinary step of cutting off pay for legislators, including my own. If every Republican who voted on this in the House is willing to do that, including myself, it shows a commitment to being accountable to taxpayers and people throughout our state if a budget isn’t done by the July 1 deadline. It’s a shame many Democrats disagreed and voted no. They were more concerned about continuing to receive a paycheck than fulfilling their duty to people they serve, and that’s not right.”

Senate Appropriations Chair Sarah Anthony indicated that Senate leadership was prepared to allow the July 1 deadline to lapse while holding up action on a K-12 budget plan passed by the House in June. The plan included increased per-pupil funding for schools as well as greater flexibility for districts regarding spending priorities. Earlier this year, BeGole and House Republicans advanced another proposal intended to prevent government shutdowns by ensuring funding for essential services such as education and public safety before finalizing other elements of the budget, but this proposal has yet to be taken up by the Senate.

“Our budget plan is committed to cutting waste, fraud and abuse. The Senate wants to spend money the state doesn’t have,” BeGole said. “This irresponsible push by the Senate has created impasse and uncertainty with the state budget and sent us past this deadline that was written into law years ago. We wanted to send a clear message by bringing this up for a vote. If state government is going to drag its feet with future budgets, hold the entire process up over unsustainable spending, and keep taxpayers hanging for weeks or months, then legislators and the governor aren’t going paid until a budget gets passed and signed.”

The resolution did not reach the required two-thirds majority needed for constitutional amendments.