State Rep. Parker Fairbairn on Thursday voted for a plan, House Joint Resolution M, that would suspend legislator pay if a state budget is not signed into law by the statutory July 1 deadline.

“When state lawmakers miss the July 1 deadline for passing a budget, every facet of our state is put at risk,” said Fairbairn, R-Harbor Springs. “Schools, local municipalities, corrections officers, state agencies, and many others need us to do our most important job – passing a budget – in order to have the information they need to prepare their own. If any of those officials – superintendents, department directors, law enforcement, or others – fail to finalize a budget, they wouldn’t just lose their pay, they’d be fired. The fact that lawmakers can skirt their constitutional duties and still collect their checks is absurd.”

The proposal to withhold lawmaker pay would require an amendment to the Michigan Constitution, which requires two-thirds support in both the state House and Senate. The measure failed to meet that mark in the House due to a lack of Democrat support.

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