Sen. Rick Jones tries to squeeze blood from a turnip

We here at the Shiitake Awards love political blowhards that misbehave while in office. MI State Senator Rick Jones apparently loves making nasty comments to constituents. He compared one person he disliked to a "prostitute" and asked another if she was "taking meds". I guess he feels giving "20 Gallons of Blood" balances out his bad behavior. Now he wants to bleed more constituents dry. He has already harassed registrants by adding more to the public registry, now he expects Michigan registrants to pay a $50 annual fee.

http://www.freep.com/article/20130324/NEWS06/130324006/Michigan-s-sex-offenders-could-face-annual-fees


A bill to require the more than 40,000 people on Michigan's sex offender registry to pay an annual fee is igniting a debate over who should bear the costs for operating and maintaining the state's system used to track offenders.

Registered sex offenders already are required to pay a one-time $50 fee, but some lawmakers want to charge them $50 every year to cover the $600,000 a year cost to operate the database. The state says the move could bring in about $540,000 more in revenue each year.

Sex offenders "put themselves onto this registry by their actions," said Republican Sen. Rick Jones of Grand Ledge, who is sponsoring the legislation that is headed to the Senate floor, but not yet scheduled for a vote. "Therefore, they need to pay a fee to maintain it."

But opponents, which include the American Civil Liberties Union, say it's merely a feel-good measure that ignores experiences in other states where the promise of more revenue falls well short of expectations and is an overly burdensome cost for registered sex offenders who already struggle to find housing and jobs.

I agree, Shelter Pets deserve better than being held by this guy