San Diego Union Tribune Editorial: Term limits

[question everything]

UNION-TRIBUNE EDITORIAL
Term limits

Now, only rookies roam the legislative halls

September 3, 2004

Term limits for elected officials are fundamentally anti-democratic, a presumption that voters aren't smart enough to make intelligent choices. The passage of Proposition 140 in 1991 locked in these arbitrary limits for state officeholders. And California now is paying the price in a Legislature that ducks tough issues. This wrongheaded reform has greatly diminished the institutional memory of the legislative branch, while allowing long-entrenched lobbyists to call the tune on crucial public policy matters affecting millions of people.

Rather than "remove the grip that vested interests have over the Legislature" and "put an end to the Sacramento web of patronage and favors," as the ballot argument promised, Proposition 140 transformed the Legislature into a third-rate institution. Lawmakers no sooner gain the expertise and the experience to make them effective than they are compelled by term limits to leave.

Sen. Dede Alpert, D-San Diego, who is termed out this year, laments that the turnover is unhealthy for an institution that is becoming more and more wary of confronting complex issues, much less resolving them. Noting that it took her several years to get up to speed on how to get things done, she won high marks from her colleagues on both sides of the aisle for being a problem-solver. The high esteem in which she is held prompted The California Journal to cite Alpert as Senator of the Year.

Senate Minority Leader Jim Brulte, R-Rancho Cucamonga, will be missed as well due to term limits. The savvy lawmaker, who plans to run for the state Board of Equalization, proved to be very adept at keeping his troops together during the recent budget battles. Brulte's genial manner masked a steely resolve that allowed him to produce the votes needed to shepherd Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's economic recovery plan through the Senate despite the reservations of fiscal conservatives.

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http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20040903/news_lz1ed3bottom.html

[DBoon]

1. I'm cynical

I think that's what the proponents of term limits wanted all along - an inexperienced legislature that would take direction from corporate lobbyists. An ineffective state government run by amateurs - another way to accomplish Gover Norquist's "drownign in a bathtub" vision.