INTERNATIONAL: Guam

Another Guam article:

Guam's leadership is obese -- shrink it down

Pursuant the poll question "Should Guam have a part-time Legislature?" The answer is "YES" and the Legislature should be made up of the 21 village mayors whom are elected by the people they represent and not "at large," like the senators who do not represent any particular block of voters. The Guam Legislature is not a representative democracy but more an oligarchy.

FYI: Be advised that the Municipality of Anchorage (265,000 people, 1,400 square miles) is run by 11 city councilmen and a mayor (12 people). The Councilmen are considered part time and are paid $22,000 a year, where as Guam (195,000 people, 320 square mines) has 48 elected officials -- 15 senators, governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, public auditor, 21 mayors and eight vice-mayors, (not including the Guam Education Policy Board) -- to do what 12 people do in Anchorage.

Conclusion: The elected leadership of Guam is obese and should be cut back in size to 24 or less (governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, 21 mayors/senators) to save millions of dollars and make Guam a representative democracy.

INTERNATIONAL: Guam

Members of the Senate in Guam (a US territory) have introduced legislation to convert their legislature to a part-time one. There have been three articles on this in their local media: one in Local Television KUAM, and two in the Guam Pacific Daily News (first article link, second article link).

Here is a good quote from one of the articles:
Do our 15 senators even need to be full-time employees? Do we need to pay them $55,000 salaries, give them retirement and health-insurance benefits, as well as money to rent offices and pay a full-time staff in order for them to do their jobs? According to a bill introduced by Republican Sen. Robert Klitzkie, the answer to that question is an emphatic "NO."

Other States: California

In a letter to the editor, a citizen of California says that nothing can motivate him to sign a petition for a ballot proposal with only one exception: a part-time legislature. His reasons: "a part-time Legislature that would truly represent the taxpayers of the state. This alone would save the state billions of dollars in fat salaries, expense accounts, unneeded legislation and inflated legislature office budgets. "

Well said!

INTERNATIONAL: Saipan CNMI

Saipan, part of the US Territory of CNMI (Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands), is considering moving to a part-time legislature for all of the same good reasons we are advancing the idea: downsizing the government, saving on unneeded legislation, and improving the overall financial situation.

OTHER-STATES: Tennessee

In Tennessee, some legislators are trying to bypass the committee process to bring certain legislature directly to the floor of the legislature. One lawmaker correctly disagreed with that approach, arguing that the committee system is in place to ensure that the part-time Legislature can complete its business and that "if we open that gate up, we might as well bring everything up to the floor, every controversial issue."

OTHER STATES: Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate

Independent candidate Russ Diamond has entered the Pennsylvania gubernatorial race. Among his issues:

"Let's talk about term limits ... part-time Legislature, eliminating the pensions and perks after they retire, and eliminating the career politician track," Diamond told reporters.

We're rooting for you, Russ! Clean up your state and help lead the nationwide elimination of corruption and waste in all of our legislatures.

OTHER STATES: Kentucky

Another example of part-time legislatures being the right system in this article from Kentucky:

Michael Baranowski, a political scientist at Northern Kentucky University, said developing a state spending plan is a time-consuming process _ and often very contentious. In fact, the General Assembly adjourned in 2002 and 2004 without passing a budget.

"That really is just part and parcel of being a part-time legislature with strict constitutional limits on how long you can meet," Baranowski said.

...

"It probably reflects a settling in, you know, a transition where we have a two-party system here in Frankfort," he said. "And so I think that's a very positive thing regarding the legislature."

OTHER STATES: Iowa

Another great comment in another article from Iowa:

Some leaders indicated this week that they have doubts the Legislature will be able to wrap up its session work before Easter. Legislators' daily expense money is slated to end April 18 - a benchmark that usually builds more pressure for the part-time Legislature to adjourn.


That's the way it should be for the legislature - come into town, do their business as quickly as possible, and get right back out of town!

OTHER STATES: Iowa

There are some important lessons for us to learn as we move to a part-time legislature. Among them is the need to create firm rules on the timing of the legislative session so that it isn't abused, as is happening in Iowa:

Republican leaders' problem lies in the makeup of their average member. Many of them just want to go home. They are traditional conservatives and mossbacks who believe in minimalist government, and they come to Des Moines intending to do just that — not much. When the daily expense money runs out, they're hot to leave, especially the farmer-members who have spring farm work to do.

Democratic members understand that. Many of them have no other jobs besides the so-called part-time Legislature. At the end of a session, they often get what they want by going into the basketball equivalent of a stall as they simply try to wait out Republicans, who want to adjourn.

Soon, GOP members grow tired of sitting around and cave in. That's particularly true when tax revenues are improving. Republicans eventually say, "Oh, what the heck. Give 'em the money. I want to get out of here." It's one reason state spending continues to grow.

So Republicans need to hunker down. While raises are needed to attract and keep teachers, our schools aren't going to be fixed with just more money, and they know it.