I just returned from the Wheeler Center Conference on legislative reform. A number of interesting proposals were discussed to return power to the "people's branch," bring new ideas to the table and just generally make the legislative branch of government work better. Whether or not anything will come out of these discussions is a whole other question.
Term limits definitely occupied a majority of the discussion on the first day. Many people agree that term limits have negatively impacted the legislature and elevated the power of the executive branch, but a small minority present stood up for term limits. Let me summarize the pros and cons as discussed at the meeting:
Pros: Term limits have allowed new people to enter the process, eliminated the "good old boy" system, brought new ideas to the legislature
Cons: Term limits have pushed people into leadership that aren't ready, diminished the amount of institutional knowledge in the legislature, created more dependence on bureaucrats and lobbyists, encourages debate of issues already previously resolved, made it harder for legislators to rise above political posturing due to a lack of personal relationships
Montana voters had the opportunity to extend term limits from 8 to 12 years in 2004, but that proposal was soundly rejected. I think a proposal to repeal term limits, unless accompanied by a substantial education program, would meet a similar fate.
There are proposals out there, however, that may solve a few of the downsides of term limits without giving up and of the positives. Take for example a proposal to enact true term limits (currently a legislator can serve in the House for 8 years, switch to the Senate for 8 year, switch back to the House for 8 years, etc...) by allowing a legislator to serve 16 years in either house of the legislature, but making 16 years the total time any one person can serve during their lifetime. This proposal would allow people to gain more experience in one body of the legislature and build more institutional knowledge. Any other ideas out there besides more of the same or complete repeal?
In the next few weeks, I'll also have some posts on a few other issues discussed at the conference, including redistricting, annual sessions, rule changes, and more.
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