4 ms·

Better Idea: $300k base and a performance bonus up to 100% more based on sponsored laws and an additional 100% for passed laws with an extra 100k for no votes m

by _8j50 4y ago

Better Idea: $300k base and a performance bonus up to 100% more based on sponsored laws and an additional 100% for passed laws with an extra 100k for no votes missed or abstained. So a perfectly performing congressperson gets a mil.

zeruch 4y ago
I'm not sure about the specifics you outlined, but I do think a comp package that incentivizes grown-ass behavior (read: full attendance, voting, actual participation in the legislative process) is a great idea. I don't think rewarding certain behaviors like sponsoring is good, because its too easily abused. When a KPI becomes a target, its no longer a KPI.
- thebiss 4y ago
  Can you clarify when/how a KPI ever not a target? Bonuses and promotions always go to those who exceed them, and "improvement plans" or "restructuring" is reserved to those who miss.
  - cwkoss 4y ago
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perverse_incentive#The_original_cobra_effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perverse_incentive#The_origina... Any imperfect measure that becomes a target gets pursued at the expense of the original intent.
    - zeruch 4y ago
      You restated what I meant better than I stated it. Thank you.
    - _8j50 4y ago
      It's not a perverse incentive, there is a limit to it. And it has a counter balancing incentive in the form of having to run for an election. If you passed bad laws for the sake of metrics you get voted out because there is someone else that wants to do better than you. A perverse incentive is not the same as compensation for doing your job.
- avn2109 4y ago
  If we're designing a system of incentives and constraints for legislators, let's pay bounties for laws deleted. There are probably 2 or 3 orders of magnitude too many laws currently in America (have you ever estimated trying to read and comprehend the entire law? Borderline impossible in a single lifetime even under very optimistic reading-speed assumptions etc). If this metric becomes a target and ceases to be a good metric, that sounds ideal because it'll have the side effect of drastically simplifying the legal code.
  - zeruch 4y ago
    "let's pay bounties for laws deleted." That's still a target that can be abused for self-gain, so...no. To be blunt, your whole polemic reads like a CATO fever dream, which is the opposite of what I was suggesting; ideological contrivance isn't a solve, and complexity at a nation our size and scope ain't gonna get reduced to a nice pamphlet of rules. It's the same reason you can't run a FAANG company the same way you run a 6 person A-round company.
  - _8j50 4y ago
    Repealing laws counts towards the kpi
cortesoft 4y ago
I don't think number of laws passed is a good performance metric... it is basically like paying developers per line of code.
- _8j50 4y ago
  More like bonuses for LoC . The idea is to encourage decision making and discourage gridlocks and not attempting to pass laws because they don't have support.
  - cortesoft 4y ago
    You are going to end up with a lot of meaningless laws… they will pass laws like “apple pie is now the official American dessert”
    - _8j50 4y ago
      Hopefully their opponent will use that against them on election year to prevent that
okasaki 4y ago
How about 2M per year, but at the end there's a vote and if you have less than 50% approval you have to give it back?
- Bloating 4y ago
  that would save a lot of taxpayer money for sure

by _8j50 4y ago

zeruch 4y ago

I'm not sure about the specifics you outlined, but I do think a comp package that incentivizes grown-ass behavior (read: full attendance, voting, actual participation in the legislative process) is a great idea. I don't think rewarding certain behaviors like sponsoring is good, because its too easily abused. When a KPI becomes a target, its no longer a KPI.

thebiss 4y ago
Can you clarify when/how a KPI ever not a target? Bonuses and promotions always go to those who exceed them, and "improvement plans" or "restructuring" is reserved to those who miss.
- cwkoss 4y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perverse_incentive#The_original_cobra_effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perverse_incentive#The_origina... Any imperfect measure that becomes a target gets pursued at the expense of the original intent.
  - zeruch 4y ago
    You restated what I meant better than I stated it. Thank you.
  - _8j50 4y ago
    It's not a perverse incentive, there is a limit to it. And it has a counter balancing incentive in the form of having to run for an election. If you passed bad laws for the sake of metrics you get voted out because there is someone else that wants to do better than you. A perverse incentive is not the same as compensation for doing your job.
avn2109 4y ago
If we're designing a system of incentives and constraints for legislators, let's pay bounties for laws deleted. There are probably 2 or 3 orders of magnitude too many laws currently in America (have you ever estimated trying to read and comprehend the entire law? Borderline impossible in a single lifetime even under very optimistic reading-speed assumptions etc). If this metric becomes a target and ceases to be a good metric, that sounds ideal because it'll have the side effect of drastically simplifying the legal code.
- zeruch 4y ago
  "let's pay bounties for laws deleted." That's still a target that can be abused for self-gain, so...no. To be blunt, your whole polemic reads like a CATO fever dream, which is the opposite of what I was suggesting; ideological contrivance isn't a solve, and complexity at a nation our size and scope ain't gonna get reduced to a nice pamphlet of rules. It's the same reason you can't run a FAANG company the same way you run a 6 person A-round company.
- _8j50 4y ago
  Repealing laws counts towards the kpi

cortesoft 4y ago

I don't think number of laws passed is a good performance metric... it is basically like paying developers per line of code.

_8j50 4y ago
More like bonuses for LoC . The idea is to encourage decision making and discourage gridlocks and not attempting to pass laws because they don't have support.
- cortesoft 4y ago
  You are going to end up with a lot of meaningless laws… they will pass laws like “apple pie is now the official American dessert”
  - _8j50 4y ago
    Hopefully their opponent will use that against them on election year to prevent that

okasaki 4y ago

How about 2M per year, but at the end there's a vote and if you have less than 50% approval you have to give it back?

Bloating 4y ago
that would save a lot of taxpayer money for sure