The basis for selection is best made for each
district in the state by the means that is used to select juries. Depending on the history of the state's jury selection
process, jury lists may have to be cleaned up, in consultation with and
probably requiring approval, possibly by the state Attorney General's
office. A first round of
selection needs to be run several months before the national election.
A person, selected by lot, the "selectee" for the job
of Colleague ("initial cap" for legal document referral
purposes), is notified by a letter with a congratulatory tone, signed by
a state official that includes material explaining the recipient's
options, the financial benefits, salary, term, expenses and duties and
an employment agreement form. Unlike
jury selection, the selectee may freely opt out.
The selectee has, say, 20 or 30 days to seek the position or
reject it. There is no "voir dire" or challenging of selectees.
If the selectee wishes to become a Colleague, he or
she would fill out the employment agreement form and return
it. For most
selectees, the assistance of an aide, probably in the state Office of
the Attorney General will be necessary. The form when filled-out and signed by both a legal
representative of the state and the selectee is an Employment Agreement
that makes the selectee a state employee with the position of Colleague.
The duties of a Colleague must be compatible with whatever the
state has determined from a governor's directive, or as necessary, from
enabling legislation.
Salary and permitted reimbursement of expenses must
be specified. Roughly it is
suggested that the salary should be half of what a Member gets and
generally less. Some
important benefits can be gained by considering the selectee's previous
salary or net income.
For example, the Colleague salary (SC)
proposed to the selectee is made somewhat dependent on the selectee's
previous salary, (SP), as ascertained by the most recent
selectee's tax return. No
current federal income tax return might be a good reason to disqualify a
selectee, unless the reason for the selectee not having filed a return
is income below the minimum for required filing.
Required is a fair and reasonable formula for maintaining a good
balance of selectees, not disqualifying the poor for having little
income or loosing the few rich that come from a random selection by
insisting on a single salary for all.
Here is a sample formula to accomplish this. When SP is less than the Members salary (assume
this is $160,000/yr.) the Colleague's salary, SC, is less
than half the members salary according to the formula:
SC=16
+2SP/5 ($,
'000), but not less than $20,000.
For those very few Colleagues who may have previous
salary greater than a Member's salary, then the Colleague is paid half
of his previous salary up to some cap, such as $100,000.
SC=SP/2,
but not more than $100,000.
Wealthier/poorer states may adjust these figures up
or down as they see fit.
It is suggested that, unless duty requires more
travel, Colleague expenses for something like four round trips a year to
Washington should be paid by the state under the Agreement. Colleagues should not be expected to have any paid-for staff.
If the state feels that there is so much worthwhile work that
Colleagues need to be doing, then instead of adding staff, it is
suggested that the state enlarge the number of Colleagues enough to get
all the work done that is worth doing.
The selectee on becoming a Colleague must agree to
serve to the best of his/her ability for the length of service that
might be a two-year period co-terminus with the Member's term in
Congress (or some variation of the length of service provision).
Some states may choose to allow exemplary Colleagues to continue
during a further term. The
contract should make clear that the Colleague will use his/her best
judgment on behavior and decisions, similar to the oath of office that a
Member takes, and with no other controls over the Colleague by
the state. Any such
controls would be tampering with the random selection process and tend
to nullify the whole Colleague concept.
Prior to election or inauguration day, all
Colleagues in a state may be required to meet in person with the
governor and take the oath of office in the presence of the entire group
and other officials in order to reinforce the idea that this is the
beginning of a serious undertaking.
Very important, under the contract the Colleague
agrees not to serve in, or run for Congress, during his/her term or for
some period like one or two years after his/her term ends.
This will eliminate Members looking at Colleagues as potential
competitors, which might well compromise the success of the concept.
After, say, a thirty day period, during which all
the first round selectees have made their decisions on signing or
rejecting a contract or the time allotted for signing has run out, there
is enough time for a second or third round for filling the docket with
replacement selectees. Obviously,
if the state has say 20 places, the round one selection process will
select a larger number, like 50, who, in the sequence can be called upon
as soon as each successive vacancy (turn-down) occurs to immediately
begin the 30 day notice period. The extra time allows the overseers of the jury-like
selection process, enough to seek replacements for those not choosing to
sign on. The sample still
remains random.
Cost The annual cost of ten colleagues salary and expenses can be kept under one million dollars, essentially the cost of the colleague program for a small state. For a large state, it is suggested that there be as many colleagues as Members, bringing the program annual cost up to three to five million dollars.
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