# 3 On My Bucket List:

Legislative Housing In Washington, D.C.

To promote more collaborative opportunities and unfetter our Representatives from the nagging need to raise funds, just to get by... I'd like to promote the idea of building a Legislative Housing in Washington, D.C.

I believe it is “necessary and proper” to take a cue from how our Forefathers stayed in a tavern when they hammered-out their differences and wrote our Declaration of Independence and create an atmosphere where our Representatives could focus on their job of Representation, rather than fundraising.

A Legislative Housing Complex on government land in Washington, DC., with apartment-like accommodations, a law library, meeting rooms, an auditorium. cafeteria, gym, pool, spa, hair salon, a few restaurants maybe even a small convenience store would promote community and relieve distractions. Representatives (and their families) could live there relatively inexpensively (Maybe 1/4 of their salary for the room & 5% more for each member in a family to have meals at the cafeteria).

I’d like tomorrow’s legislators to have the opportunity to commune with each other and afford a nice place to live without having to sell their political souls to moneyed interests or sleep on a couch in their official office.

I personally know 2 members of Congress, who sleep on a couch in their office and go to a gym to bathe and dress for work! Creating a place which combines living and socializing opportunities would help those from different parts of the country more easily afford living in expensive DC and facilitate more opportunities for legislators to share ideas, collaborate and focus more time on their jobs, and less on raising funds to live comfortably and/or re-run for office.

This idea goes hand-in-hand with the idea of reducing (or eliminating) the influence of special interest money in our governance.

-MichaelArlen #MikeDrop