LANSING – Sen. Hansen Clarke (D-Detroit) has announced a plan that would give incentives to state legislators to complete the budget effectively and on time, basing salaries on certain performance measures.

“Finishing work on time is something every employer expects of his or her employees, and taxpayers have the same expectations of our State Legislature,” said Clarke. “I am suggesting that by tying pay to performance, we can encourage Michigan lawmakers to work more effectively to enact policies that improve the lives of the people in our great state.”

Sen. Clarke has asked the Chair of the State Officers Compensation Commission to consider reducing the salaries of the Speaker of the House and Senate Majority Leader by a rate of at least $3,000 per day for each day after the end of the fiscal year that the Legislature has not enacted a balanced budget for that current fiscal year.

He has also suggested the Commission consider linking legislative salaries to appropriate employment measures and Michigan’s median personal income. This would include tying increases in legislator pay to increases in Michigan’s employment level, and not increasing salaries if that level drops.

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