More to consider before we pay our legislators

This is in response to Heath Haussamen’s Sept. 16 column, “We need to pay our legislators.”

While I’m not opposed to the idea of a salary for our representatives, governments and the unintended consequences of policy are far too complicated to simply suggest that we pay our legislators. Before we use more of our taxpayer dollars to support these guys there are a few issues that should be addressed.

One of the major problems on the federal level is the existence of career politicians. It has become far too lucrative to make a living as an elected official. Our academic system has grown to support this. Colleges and universities all over the country offer degrees in public policy and political science. Also of note is the number of lawyers who end up in public service.

Too many of our representatives come out of college intending to go into public service. Jeff Bingaman is a perfect example. He graduated from Harvard with a degree in government and then went to law school at Stanford. After a short time in private law he entered public service. He will have served almost 30 years as our U.S. senator when his term is up in 2012, after which he will not seek re-election.

Pete Domenici served for 36 years and was then replaced by Tom Udall, who had previously served as U.S. representative for 10 years. A cursory look at other senators reveals similar trends, some more pronounced than others. This doesn’t include their time in different offices at the municipal or state level.

When are our politicians no longer ‘people?’

Whether you support them or not is irrelevant to the case. They are career politicians. I like the notion of government by the people and for the people. But this forces us to wonder when politicians no longer qualify as “people.”

“People” to me are self-supporting, working individuals who have had to struggling to find jobs, advance their careers, and pay taxes, and have to worry about budgeting in to finances the ever-growing medical insurance premiums.

They have also tried, and possibly failed, to start their own businesses while competing with the increasing demands of government regulation. When I think of a government by the people I imagine a chamber full of business owners, plumbers, farmers, doctors, teachers, etc. I like the idea that our current state representatives have been in the private sector. I like the idea that they are still in the private sector and will return to it when they are no longer in office.

How much does a career politician truly understand the impact of the policies enacted on the everyday working man and women, on business owners and agriculturalists and especially on families?

I can agree that when people are elected to office they should be able to support themselves and not struggle to make ends meet, especially if they don’t have any sources of passive income. We should also have an idea of precedent we are setting and what future representatives will want. Once we allow for a salary, how much farther behind are the debates about raises and benefits? The potential for this to grow exists. How do we keep it in check?

One solution is term limits. The federal government itself needs to consider this. There are numerous benefits to term limits, one of which would be a constant turnover of people into public office who would more likely come from a variety of backgrounds and more adequately represent the general population. It would also overcome the disadvantages, both perceived and real, of unseating an incumbent and encourage more people to run for office.

Why are our representatives so busy?

The second question that our legislators and the citizens of New Mexico should address is, why are our representatives so busy? In other words: Has the state government taken on too many responsibilities that should be left to the private sector?

Advocates of limited government, of which I am one, would argue this is the case. Naturally some of this is tied to the growth of the federal government. As the federal government takes more and more control of different things (see education and health care) they pass the burden of their policies on to the states. This requires more and more time from our representatives.

This is not to say that we haven’t created some of our own. A thorough review of our state government’s agenda and responsibilities, in order to resolve which issues could be better left to the private sector or municipal and county governments, would be advisable. I understand that there is a huge disparity in opinion on the proper role of government and how much control it should have. It’s a debate that may be long and painful, but it is worth having.

Increased demands on our representatives will eventually lead to increased demands on taxpayers. As the responsibilities of elected officials increase, their demand for help will increase. How far do we go before there is a need for assistants, research resources, and office staff, all of this at the expense of taxpayers?

A government that governs least governs best

In conclusion, we first need to consider the consequences of our actions before we throw money at a problem. Before we agree to pay our legislators we should consider the potential for growth. After giving the mouse a cookie how many glasses of milk will be asked for in the near and long term?

Second: Policy should be enacted to protect the integrity of a government for the people by the people. How do we avoid creating career politicians, even at the state level?

Third: Creating a salary could encourage more people to run for office. This can only benefit the citizens of New Mexico by increasing debate and options for potential candidates. The debate about whether to pay our legislators needs to happen. I hope before we do so we address some issues, before we open a can of worms that gets harder to contain as it grows.

I believe that a government that governs least governs best, and the smaller we can keep our state government the better it is for citizens, especially in the pocket book. Erring on the side of lower taxes and smaller government is probably a wise course.

Julian Laws is a native New Mexican. He earned bachelor’s degrees in public relations and Spanish from Southern Utah University. He also graduated from Boston University with a master’s degree in international relations. He currently lives in Las Cruces and works at WSMR as a test operations officer.