FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Lisa Brown
Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2008
Phone: (248) 953-1050

House Hopeful Lisa Brown Calls for Change to Move State Forward
Candidate in 39th House seat calls for action to enact comprehensive reforms

WEST BLOOMFIELD – With an important set of reforms designed to cut state spending languishing in the Michigan Senate – including cutting lawmakers’ pay and ending free lifetime health care benefits for elected officials – State House candidate Lisa Brown (D-West Bloomfield) today called for change to bring an end to the political games in Lansing.

“It seems that those people in Lansing are more interested in scoring political points than moving Michigan forward, which is why we need change,” said Brown, who is running in the 39th House District. “The reforms that have been stalled in the Senate are common-sense cost-cutting measures that Michigan desperately needs. Our residents are sick and tired of the back and forth that impedes progress and holds our state back.”

Earlier this year the Michigan House passed a series of reforms aimed at cutting government spending and restoring residents’ faith in government. One plan cuts lawmakers’ pay by 5 percent. Another plan ends free lifetime health care for lawmakers, an expensive and costly perk that should not be funded with taxpayer dollars. A third plan ends the revolving door between lawmakers and lobbyists by prohibiting legislators from joining the lobby corps for one year after leaving office. The Michigan Senate has refused to take action on any of these three measures since they were passed by the House in March 2007.

“We need to cut wasteful spending from our state budget, and starting with the salaries and costly perks of the people who got us into this is a good first step,” Brown said. “We need more good-paying jobs for our workers. We need better schools for our kids. What we don’t need is more of the same. We need real change, and that’s what I will bring to Lansing as the next State Representative for West Bloomfield, Commerce Township and Wolverine Lake.”