Learning to live with limits

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By Jim Kreider

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Legislative term limits have been a hot topic for a decade as advocates have pushed for a return to the days of a citizen legislature, as opposed to career politicians.

Missouri voters approved a ballot initiative in 1992 limiting lawmakers to no more than eight years in each legislative chamber. That law went on the books in 1994. This means that starting in 2002 life under term limits will be upon us.

At last count, 75 out of 163 state representatives will be ousted by term limits, while 12 of our 34 state senators will be replaced. And considering that term limits in Missouri will kick in at the same time that the district lines for representatives and senators are redrawn, next year's election should be particularly interesting.

To get an idea on how term limits will affect the citizens of Missouri, two not-for-profit organizations, the Ewing Marion Kaufman Foundation and the Danforth Foundation, sponsored a conference specifically focusing on the issue. Speakers included lawmakers from states where term limits are already in force as well as political scholars on the national level.

And if our experiences in Missouri are anything like those in the 19 other states with term limits, one thing is certain: We are in for some interesting times.

According to national experts, term limits tend to totally revamp the political structure of a state. County and city officials run for state representative seats. Representatives are more likely to run for Senate seats, and state senators tend to run for Congress or statewide posts. It's the political version of musical chairs.

As a result, elected officials tend to be more concerned with issues that will call attention to themselves rather than focusing on issues that are more important but less glamorous. This is presumably because they are more concerned with the next run on the ladder rather than doing the job they are in now.

The experiences in other term-limit states is that the governor's office is strengthened at the cost of the legislature. Likewise, bureaucrats tend to gain more power as less experienced lawmakers are more dependent on legislative staff and state agencies to get the information they have failed to gain by experience.

But term-limit advocates have certainly achieved their objective: the creation of a more citizen-oriented legislature. With that, though, there has been a loss of experience that has led to mistakes in legislation and confusion in the legislative process. And as experienced House members move to the Senate and newcomers come into the House, many states have seen a weakening of the House's influence.

It makes no difference if we lawmakers are for or against term limits. The people have spoken, and term limits for legislators are the law of the land in Missouri. It is our job as elected officials to implement term limits for the betterment of Missouri.

With a continuous supply of new faces in the House and Senate chambers, there should be an ample stream of fresh ideas that will hold us more accountable to the people of our state. We should look at term limits not as an obstacle, but as an opportunity to do things even better.

Jim Kreider of Nixa, Mo., is the speaker of the Missouri House of Representatives.