LANSING – In a move to help reform state government and ease budget pressures, State Representative Richard E. Hammel (D-Mt. Morris Twp.) voted Thursday for a plan that cuts lawmaker salaries by 5 percent and ends free lifetime health care for legislators.
"This plan is a good start toward being more responsible with taxpayers' money, especially as we fight to help Michigan recover from these tough economic times," Hammel said. "Cutting legislators' pay will free up half a million dollars a year that can be spent on education, public safety and job creation – all services that our local communities are struggling to provide."
The House passed a resolution calling on the State Officers Compensation Commission (SOCC), the body in charge of determining legislator salaries, to decrease lawmakers' salaries by 5 percent beginning with the 2009-10 legislative year, the earliest allowed under the Constitution.
The legislation also cuts the salaries of the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, the Attorney General and Secretary of State; urges the SOCC not to enact salary increases that exceed the average increase in state employee pay; and reduces health care benefits for the Legislature and the Lieutenant Governor.
Today's resolution continues legislators' ongoing effort to reform government and cut wasteful spending. The House passed a plan earlier this year that cuts the House budget by 5 percent, or $3 million. The plan makes lawmakers and their staffers pay more for health care, prohibits State Representatives from using state funds for out-of-state travel and cuts House positions to eliminate redundancies.