Study: Term limits compound state’s fiscal woes

A report released Monday found that Maine’s term limits law has left its Legislature “underexperienced and overworked” and has compounded the state’s financial problems.

The latest Governance Performance Project report, which scores states on four areas of management – financial, personnel, infrastructure and information – gave Maine an overall B-minus grade, the national average.

As part of its analysis, the study’s authors cited the state’s 12-year-old term limits law, which prevents lawmakers from serving more than four consecutive two-year terms, as a drawback factor in the state’s ability to develop long-range financial plans.

“Term limits create a trainee board of directors for a multibillion-dollar corporation,” former state lawmaker Marge Kilkelly, a Wiscasset Democrat, is quoted in the report. “The amount of experience in both the House and Senate goes down with every election now.”

In a Monday interview, Kilkelly, who served 16 years in the Maine Legislature, qualified her remarks by saying they were not meant to “undervalue the people serving in the Legislature.”

“But it sets up a system in which experience is a bad thing,” she continued, noting the limits’ magnified effect on the powerful Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee. “It says that once you have a certain level of experience, we’re going to kick you out.”

Maine’s term limits law, overwhelmingly approved by voters in 1993, is typical of those in the 15 other states that have them. Since its passage, there have been several attempts – including some this session – to abolish or lengthen the limits.

Former state Sen. Richard Bennett, a Norway Republican and staunch supporter of term limits, was critical of the study’s conclusions on the subject.

“[Term limits] are everybody’s favorite whipping boy in Augusta,” said Bennett, who was termed out of the Senate last year. “The reality is our fiscal problems today pale in comparison to those we were suffering when we had the longest-serving members running the affairs of the Legislature.”

Richard Powell, a University of Maine political science professor and co-author of a new book on term limits, declined to weigh in on their merits.

He did, however, discuss their effects as detailed in the book, “Changing Members: The Maine Legislature in the Era of Term Limits,” which he authored with fellow political scientists Matthew Moen at the University of South Dakota and Ken Palmer of the University of Maine.

“Term limits have created a lot of challenges, and the Legislature has tried very hard to adjust,” said Powell, contending the limits have increased the executive branch’s power and that of legislative staffers who often outlast the lawmakers they assist.

The Government Performance Project is a product of the University of Richmond and was funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts, a nonpartisan group.

Besides its mention of term limits, the report found Maine performed well or at least average on most measures. In the financial section of the report, Maine received a B-minus, with the study’s authors commenting on the instability of Maine’s budget, which faces a $733 million gap for the 2006-07 fiscal years and relies heavily on volatile revenue from the state’s income tax.

Maine received the same grade on the personnel section, with the study praising Maine’s ability to recruit and train employees.

The state received its highest mark, a ‘B,’ in the infrastructure section of the study, and a ‘C-plus’ in the information section, which measured the state’s ability to share knowledge between departments and with its residents.

Maine was one of eight states with a ‘B-minus’ grade. Twenty states scored higher.

Two states – Utah and Virginia – scored the highest in the study, each with an ‘A-minus.’ Alabama and California scored the worst, each with a ‘C-minus.’

On the Net: www.governing.com/gpp/2005/intro.htm