Grand Rapids Pundit

Term Limits: Leave Them Alone

Posted by: GRPundit on Wednesday, 12th Sep, 2007

Last week saw a Grand Rapids Press article on legislators debating the extenion of the current state term limits. Members of the state House are limited to three terms of two years and members of the state Senate are limited to two four year terms. A proposal, which may appear on the ballot in January for the newly-moved primary, would extend those term limits to 12 years for Representatives, but not effect the limits on Senators.

Some folks have even blamed the “inexperience” of legislators, due to terms limits, on the current budget morass. They say that lobbyists are running Lansing and that our legislators somehow don’t know what they’re doing.

Don’t buy it. A study by the Cato institute has shown that there are numerous benefits to term limits:

• Term limits remain popular with state electorates long after their introduction.
• Term limits stimulate electoral competition in state legislative elections.
• Term limits enable nontraditional candidates to run for seats in state legislatures. Female, Hispanic-American, and Asian-American candidates find it easier to enter term-limited legislatures than non-term-limited bodies. The record is more mixed for African Americans.
• Term limits weaken seniority systems in state legislatures.
• Term limits tend to weaken the leadership of a state legislature.
• Term limits have not strengthened interest groups, state bureaucracies, or legislative staffs as predicted by critics of term limits.
• Some evidence suggests that term limits foster public policies compatible with limited government.

There’s even evidence that term limits lead to lower taxes in the long run. In other words, term limits foster a citizen-run government, not a government run by the political class. We need to protect that at all cost. The so-called arguments against term limits don’t hold water.

The current budget problem is a sign of the health of term limits and a citizen legislature. The very fact that the legislature and governor are fighting so long over the issue is good for the state. It forces a very sincere debate on some very important issues. Instead of focusing on quick fixes and budgetary gimmicks, they are finally looking at real, long-term, systemic changes to make sure that our state operates effectively and efficiently in the future.

Long live term limits!