Times Editorial : Lousy terms
Posted on Saturday, August 19, 2006
Astudy released this week by the National Conference of State Legislatures reports that term limits have not led to an increase in women or minority groups among active state legislators. Between 1994 and 2004 a majority of states with term limits actually saw the number of women serving decrease. Although 21 states imposed some form of term limits in the last decade of the 20 th century, a combination of voters or courts have since overturned those edicts in six states. As for the Natural State, state Rep. Benny Petrus, D-Stuttgart, says that term limits are "one of the worst things we did for Arkansas' economy and everything else. "Granted, the most pro-term limits folks among us would dearly like to limit the terms in office of all our public officials at every level of government. Supporters say decades in office gradually separate representatives from understanding the truth about the people they represent. Eventually they get more interested in staying in power than actually using the power they hold to improve the lives of their constituents. Thus, term limits. Boot those fat cats from office. We couldn't disagree more. For starters, reality at all levels of government insists that some people are wonderful lawmakers. Not only do they love their jobs, they're really good at it, too. Careerists like North Carolina's Strom Thurmond don't hold onto those cushy Senate jobs for decades just because of their voting records; oftentimes staying in Washington has just as much to do with constituency work - helping people in your home district solve various entanglements with Uncle Sam. It's no accident that the longest-serving representatives take the best care of people back home. And that's not just smart politics. Such efforts also have everything to do with being a good neighbor. At the state level, the same thing true. Some folks are natural lawmakers. It's also true that it takes time to learn the business, so to speak. Just as you wouldn't expect someone to be an accomplished doctor after one day on the job, it's unfair to expect quality leadership out of Little Rock from every single freshman member of the General Assembly. During the 2003 session, 38 members of the state House were political novices that year. A victory for term limits ? Perhaps. But consider that freshmen without little knowledge about how government works - standing in for experienced types wise to the ways to passing sensible legislation - were asked to review 2, 906 bills, 1, 816 of which became law. Did Arkansas benefit from all that inexperience ? Or might a higher tally of veteran lawmakers have been preferable ? As it stands, House members can serve three two-year terms; state Senators may serve two four-year terms. Even worse is that the General Assembly only convenes in regular session for roughly three months every other year. It's a fact that legislators aren't in session nearly long enough - certainly not long enough to deal with all the issues a state in the early 21 st century has to figure out. And by the time they figure out how to be accomplished lawmakers who know the ends and outs of running a state (maybe a term or two into their respective careers ) Arkansas does the dumbest thing possible: We boot them from office and tell them to not come back. Ever. It's an utterly ridiculous system. Arkansas voters should look back at their fateful decision to create term limits for members of the General Assembly, and work to repeal it ASAP. At a bare minimum, concerned citizens who care about public affairs in this state should be contemplating how to lengthen the time legislators who manage to keep getting re-elected can serve. In Arkansas it's a sad fact that there aren't many people who are both qualified and capable of serving. It's the rare bird among us that can just drop everything for three months and move to Little Rock. When a district finds someone who is both capable of doing that and doing a good job in representative leadership, shouldn't they be able to keep an effective lawmaker working ? Term limits do more damage than they're worth. You can take that one to the bank.
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