Coming to Terms on Limits

The Maine House is expected to consider a bill to give Maine voters a chance to extend term limits. Legislators should pass the bill and voters should increase term limits to 12 years.

A referendum to limit legislators to four consecutive terms, or eight years, in the House or Senate was approved by the public in 1993 on the premise that it would improve the atmosphere in Augusta and the decisions that were made there. This hasn’t happened. Instead, constant turnover in the State House has resulted in a loss of policy and lawmaking expertise. This has been evident in recent discussions – and lack of meaningful action – on tax reform, school funding and health care financing.

After studying the effect of term limits on the Maine Legislature, three political scientists, two from the University of Maine and one from the University of South Dakota, found they had many detrimental effects. These range from committee chairs who don’t know how to run meetings to a more than tripling of the number of bills that have only one supporting vote in committee, resulting in a floor debate and other administrative procedures for a bill that will ultimately die. They also found that the number of women in the State House dropped after term limits were enacted and that many House members simply moved to the Senate when their eight years was up.

Worse, lawmakers report having to rely more on legislative staff members and lobbyists for a sense of history and procedure.

A bill sponsored by Rep. Marilyn Canavan, D-Waterville, would help. LD 496 calls for a referendum on extending term limits to six consecutive term or 12 years. Current lawmakers would still be subject to the four-term limit. The Legal and Veterans Affairs Committee changed the bill to a referendum on the repeal of term limits, which the Legislature is unlikely to pass.

Another proposal, from Rep. Randy Hotham, R-Dixfield, would ask voters to consider three options: keeping term limits as they are, extending them to eight terms or repealing term limits. This proposal is unnecessarily confusing and ups the limit to eight terms, which has not been discussed because the focus for years has been an increase to six terms. Given these choices, voters would likely opt to keep things the way they are.

Rep. Canavan’s proposal makes sense. Term limits are interfering which lawmaking in Augusta, which is a disservice to the public. Her bill gives the public the chance to improve the situation.