WITH TERM LIMITS, DROP LEGISLATIVE PENSIONS

Not every legislator in Jefferson City chooses to make a career of service in the General Assembly. Under term limits that now apply to legislators, both senators and representatives are limited to eight years in each chamber. Theoretically, someone could serve, with voter approval, eight years in the House and then eight years in the Senate for a total of 16 years.

Some veteran lawmakers who took office before term limits were enacted choose to run again and again, even though they are few in number. Most legislators typically serve two or three terms in the House or a couple of terms in the Senate and then leave politics, run for statewide office or seek a seat in Congress.

Recently, the Missouri Senate took up a bill that would improve pensions for state employees. For some longtime senators the bill is particularly generous. Senators with 30 years in the General Assembly would get an annual pension of about $36,000 -- significantly more than the current $28,000 senators get in pay. Of course, legislators have some other financial perks such as per-diem payments for showing up when the Legislature is in session and mileage for those who must travel to Jefferson City from their home districts.

For as long as Missouri has been a state, it seems, there has been a never-ending debate over pay for legislators and, more recently, pensions for legislators. In a nutshell, there are arguments for citizen-legislators who rely on jobs back home for income, and there are arguments for professional legislators who devote full-time to the state's business.

While there are good points for both arguments, Missourians have tended to favor citizen-legislators over professional bureaucrats who run again and again and again. This was certainly evident in the voter approval of term limits, which should have been a clear message that most voters don't want party hacks and empire builders making laws in Jefferson City.

That same argument could certainly be made for legislative pensions. With most legislators likely to serve eight years or less as elected representatives or senators, a good question is this: Why do they need pensions at all?

Some senators, after the recent vote to increase state pensions, including their own, said the improved pensions would help attract better candidates to seek office. Many Missourians would question that line of thinking, particularly if they believe today's legislators aren't any better than those of 30 or 40 years ago when there was virtually no financial reason to run for office.

The Senate's largesse must still be approved by the House. Perhaps representatives will consider the taxpayers over their own greed when it comes to vote yea or nay. It would make good sense if they voted down plush pensions for themselves.