EXPERIENCE MATTERS

As they have with term limits, lawmakers are likely to be quick to dismiss a bill that would lengthen their terms of office. That would be a mistake for the Senate.

LD 1238 as written would amend the constitution to extend to four years the terms of all state lawmakers. The bill should be amended to have four-year terms for senators, but not representatives.

The Maine Senate, like the U.S. Senate, has fewer members and is set up to be a more deliberative body. To help ensure thoughtful deliberations take place while skillful leaders are developed, senators should have more time in office.

Maine is one of a dozen states, including all its New England neighbors, that has two-year terms for both its Senate and House of Representatives. Five states have four-year terms for both chambers, with Nebraska having four-year terms for its unicameral legislature.

The majority have four-year terms in the Senate and two in the House.

This model makes sense, says University of Maine political science professor Amy Fried. The U.S. House of Representatives, where the 435 members serve two-year terms, was set up as the people’s body that can react fairly quickly to changes in public sentiment. The Senate, which has 100 members with six-year terms, is “meant to cool down the emotion of the moment,” says Professor Fried, recalling the words of the Founders. The longer terms were also meant to allow senators to develop expertise and judgment on often-complex issues.

In Maine, longer terms for senators could help them build relationships with their colleagues, which could decrease the partisanship that has bogged down negotiations on many issues, such as health care and public investment infrastructure.

Further, increasing the expertise and judgment of Maine senators could make up for some of the negative consequences of term limits. These include larger numbers of bills being filed, often by newcomers who don’t know what ideas have already been rejected. More divided reports, due to a lack of compromise, are being issued.

By removing experienced legislative leaders, more power has been ceded to the executive branch. Term limits have increased the influence of lobbyists, a popular perch for those who have been termed out. And they have kept rural Maine from using the seniority system to offset urban centers’ advantage in numbers.

Although extending senators’ terms to four years would not violate current law that limits legislators to four terms, it changes the intent. Although lawmakers must consider this, the benefits of longer terms are substantial.

The added time of four-year terms would give senators, and especially the chamber’s leaders, a chance to learn enough about how state government functions and then apply what they learned to Maine’s benefit. It is worth further consideration.