Why Should Teachers Be Put Under a Pay for Performance Plan, But Not the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and Legislators?
Public service in elected office really should be sacrificial. Today, it isn’t. The current political system isn’t working for us. Change is needed.
Back in 2023 when I was exploring a run for Ohio Governor, my proposed agenda included several political reforms needed in Ohio to substantially increase accountability among our elected officials. These reforms ran the gamut all aimed at trying to create a political ecosystem in which the performance of our elected officials mattered. Today, it doesn’t (and don’t come at me with the "elections are accountability” crap as incumbency is simply too powerful). Here were the key reforms I proposed:
Replace Ohio’s term limits with a 20-year time limit for all statewide elected officials and legislators in which anyone elected to any of those positions would be put on a 20-year clock that would require their permanent retirement upon the clock striking midnight;
Put the governor, lieutenant governor, and all 132 legislators on a pay for performance system in which their current pay would be cut in half while allowing them to earn 100% of that pay if Ohio’s private sector hit the top ten in net percentage job growth each year—I pledged to live by this commitment from day one had I become governor;
Close the “Husted” loophole that allows the governor and lieutenant governor to receive pay from private companies while serving in those offices;
Put all elected officials in Ohio on a defined-contribution plan (i.e., 401(k)) instead of a defined-benefit plan (i.e., gold-plated government pension);
Provide all elected officials in Ohio with health insurance options from the federal exchange versus the government health insurance system; and
Move Ohio to a biennial legislature that only meets for six months every two years with no meetings or official business done outside of those six months.
These six political reforms would accomplish several goals.
First, too many elected officials constantly seek elected office at some level simply to accrue time in the government pension system and to get government health insurance. They aren’t seeking office to make Ohio better. They are seeking office to make THEIR lives better, not ours. By forcing all elected officials into the federal health insurance exchange and into a 401(k)-type retirement system, not only will they start living like the rest of us do, but fewer elected officials will clog the system just for the benefits. Similarly, by eliminating the “Husted” loophole re having private sector jobs while serving, we won’t have to worry about elected officials creating untold conflicts of interests and constantly seeking additional job opportunities to feather their nests while they should be working 24/7 for us.
Next, for many elected officials, what they earn in politics is more than they are capable of earning in the “real world.” Though they will deny it, most real estate agents, insurance agents, and lawyers don’t make that much money. For every politician who claims while in elected office that he could make “far more in the private sector,” I’d like to see their annual tax returns from before they entered office to verify exactly how much they made before getting elected. In fact, all elected officials should be required to release their tax returns going back ten years so we can see if they are as talented as they like to claim they are. The results won’t be pretty.
Ohio needs elected officials who truly aren’t in it for the perks or pay. By putting all legislators, the governor, and the lieutenant governor on a pay for performance system as noted above, we will attract better citizen legislators who are in it for the right reasons AND, more importantly, hold them accountable for getting the results they heretofore have failed to get for two decades plus. As I said on the campaign trail:
We conservatives have often said that pay for performance would be good for teachers to drive results in the classroom. If it is good for teachers in the classroom, I can’t fathom how it won’t be as powerful a tool for the men and women whose job it is to deliver results for Ohioans. If they hit the mark, they get paid in full; if they don’t, they won’t. The current system ensures they get paid regardless of whether we the people get paid. We need a system like the lawyer who advertises during OSU footballs games in which they only get paid when we get paid. By tying their pay to net percentage job growth each year, we will ensure they do what needs to be done to earn their pay, which will provide Ohioans with increased opportunities and broad-based prosperity.
That speech blurb typically earned the greatest level of applause across the state.
Finally, by replacing term limits with a defined time limit, the days of career politicians finally will come to an end. I mean no disrespect, but what exactly has Ohio gotten in return for the sixty-five combined years in office by office swappers Kirk Schuring and Scott Oelslager? Too many elected officials have figured out how to game the system to avoid term limits. Legislators swap house and senate seats back and forth to get around term limits, as statewide elected officials play musical chairs with statewide offices until they can grab the gold ring of the governor’s office. We see that now as statewide elected officials routinely collect two-to-three offices (i.e., Treasurer, Secretary of State, Attorney General, Auditor, and Lieutenant Governor) so they can bide their time to run for governor when the right opportunity presents itself. All of these men and women who claim to be staunch defenders of the free market and the private sector apparently will do anything they can to avoid actually joining the private sector full time. By putting a clock on these men and women, we will get higher turnover thereby providing more opportunities for new blood and people with fresh ideas to represent us. As I see it, if you can’t get done what you want to get done in twenty years, then you just aren’t that talented and SHOULD GET THE HELL OUT OF THE WAY!!!
Likewise, by having legislative sessions every year with official business occurring even when the legislature isn’t in session, legislators snag per diems and mileage reimbursements to bump up their total compensation. All of Ohio’s business can be done over six months every two years. If an emergency arises, the governor can call a special session to address it. Otherwise, instead of swimming in the Capital Square swamp of lobbyists and lawyers, our legislators need to go home, get real jobs, and live amongst the people they represent.
Public service in elected office really should be sacrificial. Today, it isn’t. Donald Trump is a great example of this sacrificial aspect. In every year he has served as president, he has donated his salary. Every year. He doesn’t need it given his personal wealth. Neither does multi-deca-millionaire Mike DeWine, but, to my knowledge, he has never donated his gubernatorial salary. I hope Vivek Ramaswamy or Amy Acton adopts the above political reforms and donates his or her salary should he or she become governor. The current political system isn’t working for us. Change is needed.
P.S. See the Wall Street Journal map below showing three aspects of all fifty states. For ease of analyzing, you should know that being blue in the first map and grey in the second and third maps aren’t good. Those colors mean (1) growth only comes from immigrants, (2) losses came from not attracting the best and brightest from other states, as you are losing people to other states, and (3) more of your residents are dying than are being born. It is a vivid representation of my “dead state walking” concept. If you look closely, you will see there are only six states that hit the negative color trifecta across all three maps. These states are: Oregon, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and, yes, Ohio. It isn’t coincidental that all six of these states are forced unionization states, with five out of six located in the Mid-East (sorry, folks, Ohio isn’t in the middle west of America anymore so let’s ditch the Midwest thing) and Northeast. These six states are in deep trouble, while the elected officials in those states whistle through the graveyard. If Ohio wants to escape its dead state walking moniker, it needs to adopt serious political reforms that will finally allow for even more serious policy reforms.
I like your 20 year sunset, but here's another idea: your pay goes down 5% for each year you're in office. That would certainly encourage people not to stay.