It may require a Constitutional amendment since there is no way this Congress will pass any law that truly holds their feet to the fire regarding their budgetary responsibilities, but I think two reforms could be worth it. 1) Let’s adopt the rule that Israel has. If the legislature does not agree on a budget at the designated date automatically 1/12 of the previous years budget is allocated for each month so there is no threatened shut down. That seems sensible, but this is even better.
If they do not reach an agreement after six months (I would happily reduce that to 1 or 2 months) EVERYONE in the legislature has to stand for re-election. That’s right, they lose their jobs! (I would also add that they are not permitted to draw any salary in any month in which there is no official budget. 2) My second reform would be to outlaw gerrymandering and redraw the districts on some logical geographical formula — another benefit is all would have to stand for re-election with a constituency that is not a guaranteed re-election. So, what do you think? How do we get this started?may require a Constitutional amendment since there is no way this Congress will pass any law that truly hold their feet to the fire re: their budgetary responsibilities but I think two reforms could be worth it. 1) Let’s adopt the rule that Israel has. If the legislature does not agree on a budget at the designated date automatically 1/12 of the previous years budget is allocated for each month so there is no threatened shut down But this is even better. If they do not reach an agreement after six months (I would happily reduce that to 1 or 2 months) EVERYONE in the legislature has to stand for re-election. That’s right, they lose their jobs! (I would also add that they are not permitted to draw any salary in any month in which there is no official budget. 2) My second reform would be to outlaw gerrymandering and redraw the districts on some logical geographical formula — another benefit is all would have to stand for re-election with a constituency that is not a guaranteed re-election. So, what do you think? How do we get this started?It may require a Constitutional amendment since there is no way this Congress will pass any law that truly hold their feet to the fire re: their budgetary responsibilities but I think two reforms could be worth it. 1) Let’s adopt the rule that Israel has. If the legislature does not agree on a budget at the designated date automatically 1/12 of the previous years budget is allocated for each month so there is no threatened shut down But this is even better. If they do not reach an agreement after six months (I would happily reduce that to 1 or 2 months) EVERYONE in the legislature has to stand for re-election. That’s right, they lose their jobs! (I would also add that they are not permitted to draw any salary in any month in which there is no official budget. 2) My second reform would be to outlaw gerrymandering and redraw the districts on some logical geographical formula — another benefit is all would have to stand for re-election with a constituency that is not a guaranteed re-election. So, what do you think? How do we get this started?