TERMS OF EXTENSION

A decade ago, a “throw the bums out” mentality swept Augusta. Fed up with scandals and entrenched leadership, voters approved limits on the amount of time lawmakers could serve in the State House. The bums left, some only temporarily, but problems persist. Now, instead of leadership that stays too long, state government has become less efficient due to leaders who can’t stay long enough. Since term limits were enacted in 1993, there have been five Speakers of the House. The number of bills submitted has increased as novice lawmakers put forth measures that have no chance of passage. Increasing numbers of bills are held over and some kept alive by just one vote in their favor.

Sensing this problem, the Legislature’s Legal and Veterans Affairs Committee endorsed, by an 11-2 vote, a proposal from freshman lawmaker Rep. Hannah Pingree, D-North Haven, to put out to public referendum a proposal to increase term limits to 12 consecutive years up from the current eight. Rep. Pingree wisely required lawmakers who will be termed out next year to take two years off before running again. The committee, however, changed her bill to allow sitting lawmakers to run for four more years.

The House, on Monday, threw all of this to the wind and voted 82-61 to keep the eight-year term limits. This is shortsighted and the Senate, which will take up the bill later this week, should consider all the evidence, not political expedience, and support the extension.

The best evidence comes from the Margaret Chase Smith Center for Public Policy at the University of Maine. Two political science professors there reviewed the effects of term limits for the center’s Maine Policy Review. They found that a lack of consistent, seasoned leadership was having a deleterious effect in Augusta. Committees had to process greater number of bills and often issued divided reports – a result of lawmakers not compromising, a learned trait that comes from years of legislative service, according to the professors.

If this isn’t convincing, senators should remember they’re not making the final decision. They are only voting to send the matter to the voters in November when Mainers can decide whether an extension makes sense.

Who knows – maybe they’ll want to let the bums stay a while longer.