Do you favor extending term limits for legislators from 4 to 6 terms?

Term limits have shifted power away from the Legislature to lobbyists and the executive branch, ensured that lawmakers repeatedly debate the same issues, and reduced the power of rural areas. Extending the limit from four terms to six would not magically transform the Legislature into a highly efficient body, but it would add experience in key positions without creating an entrenched political class in Augusta. Voters should support the change.

Legislative term limits were strongly approved by voters in 1993, although like this year, it was an off-year election and turnout was low. The term-limits campaign, funded largely by the late philanthropist Elizabeth Noyes, said limiting the time people could serve would improve government. A leading advocate at the time promised that term limits would “be a major catalyst for change, encouraging more good people to run for and serve in the Legislature, altering the chemistry and the atmosphere at the top of state government, and creating a sense of urgency around the state’s major problems.”

Did that happen? No one who watched the Maine Legislature over the last six or eight years should think the chemistry has been improved or a sense of urgency has blossomed because of term limits. After studying the effect of term limits here, 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 chairmen 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 were up.

Worse, lawmakers report having to rely more on legislative staff members and lobbyists for a sense of history and procedure. And they have kept rural Maine from using the legislative seniority system to offset urban centers’ advantage in numbers.

In 2005, the Governance Performance Project faulted the state’s eight-year term limits for not allowing lawmakers enough time to gain in-depth understanding of specific subject areas, which worsened the state’s financial situation. It’s true, as opponents to this question claim, that other procedural changes to the way the Legislature does business could help fix these problems. But they aren’t before voters, who next month have a chance to improve on an idea that was focused on a few longtime politicians rather than the overall workings of Augusta with a yes vote on Question 5.