Quitting on the voters BY Brian Howey GNAW BONE, Ind. – If you’re a member of the Indiana General Assembly, at your next campaign event or town hall meeting ask these questions: If you elect me, should I serve a full-term? Would it be OK if I quit in the next year or so? The coda to State Rep. Eric Turner’s twisting and swerving career wasn’t his effort to create a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, nor was it the various tax policies and laws he wrote and impacted as an influential member of the Ways & Means Committee. Instead, it’s a cynical ploy to stand for reelection, then quit after the election. Instead of the 60,000 or so voters in his district choosing the next House member, in Turner’s mind it will be several dozen precinct committee men and women in an overwhelmingly Republican district who will likely make the selection. “He’s announced that he’s not going to serve in his office if people elect him. That’s an insult to the voters,” said Turner’s Democratic challenger Bob Ashley, who likened this election as running against “a ghost.” Turner’s career has been one where the priorities of the man trumped those of the voters. He was originally elected to the House as a Democrat, then switched to the Republicans in 1994. Turner lost his House GOP leadership position after an ethics probe over his lobbying against a nursing home construction bill. He was exonerated, and then made $1 million when his family sold its nursing home business. It’s this kind of situation that prompted Faegre Baker & Daniels lobbyist Ted Bristol to note on an Indiana Chamber of Commerce Fly-In panel last week, “Nobody really likes politicians at all.” If Turner was an isolated case, one might see an arising career opportunity as a compelling reason to quit. But as Fort Wayne Journal Gazette Statehouse reporter Niki Kelly wrote in October 2013, of the 150 members of the General Assembly, 28 were originally chosen via caucus. Of that group, eight came about due to death and 20 resigned for a variety of reasons, mostly career opportunities. Since Kelly wrote that article, three others, including Turner and Rep. Steve Braun, have resigned, bringing the number of initially unelected legislators to more than 20 percent. Both will be on the ballot in November with no intention of serving terms if elected. This has spread beyond the two legislative chambers. Of the seven constitutional officers in state government (governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state, auditor, treasurer and superintendent of public instruction), three have been appointed. In the auditor’s office alone, three people have held the post since Tim Berry was elected to that office in 2010 and then quit to be state GOP chairman. Former treasurer Richard Mourdock quit four months before his term ended to preserve a higher personal pension. Secretary of State Connie Lawson was appointed to replace the convicted Charlie White. In a fast food society marked by disposable items, constitutional offices and legislative seats are now treated as personal chattel or the object of political maneuvering. The idea of the voters’ choice being sacrosanct is diminished. The disposability of the constitutional offices underscores the need to consolidate the executive branch into a true gubernatorial cabinet. The auditor and treasurer’s offices should be combined into a state controller, selected by the governor and conducting business at his or her direction. The buck stops with the governor on fiscal policy. The same case can be made for secretary of state and superintendent of public instruction. All of these positions are basically bureaucratic in nature. Those holding these offices don’t create policy, they implement it. In 2012, the platforms of both Indiana Republicans and Democrats advocated that the superintendent be a gubernatorial appointee. Voters should elect policymakers. Policymakers should appoint bureaucrats to carry out policy. An independent attorney general should be elected as a check and balance on the governor and given investigatory powers. Legislators are lawmakers. They create policy in tandem with the governor. All legislators should be elected by the people, just as all members of Congress are. When a member of the U.S. House dies or resigns, a special election is held in that district. If a U.S. senator resigns or dies, the governor appoints a successor, but that appointee stands for election within two years. Legislative leaders cite the cost of special elections as a reason to throw the decision to precinct officials. Let the resigning legislator pick up the cost of the special election. Or let the second-place votegetter to assume the office. In either case, this merry-go-round would quickly stop. Running for the General Assembly requires a two- to four-year commitment. If you run for the legislature, a man or woman should be committed to serving the voters for that time span. Voters should ask their legislative candidates whether they are committed to serve their entire terms. And I think we all know what response voters would expect. The columnist publishes at howeypolitics. Find him on Twitter @hwypol.
Posted on: Thu, 25 Sep 2014 16:26:14 +0000
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