This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Oct. 5, 2012 - On Saturday, major political figures – past and present – involved in Missouri’s 20-year tenure with legislative term limits will gather at the University of Missouri-St. Louis to discuss its impact on state government.
The one-day conference, open to the public (registration information here), will “explore the effects of term limits on the legislative process and state policy, and help develop strategies for legislative success in the new term-limited reality.”
The conference begins with registration at 8 a.m. and runs through 4:30 p.m.
Missouri voters approved term limits of four two-year terms in the House and two four-year terms in the Senate in the 1992 election. But the real impact of the generally eight-year limit (legislators voted later that a partial term doesn’t count) didn’t come into play until after the 2000 and 2002 elections.
The limits get some of the credit for the General Assembly’s switch in political control to the Republican Party by 2003, because of the dozens of veteran Democratic legislators who were turned out.
Voters in 1992 also approved term limits for members of Congress if at least 25 other states do the same. So far, that hasn't happened, leaving those limits in limbo.
According to the conference’s schedule, “Saturday’s program will include: a panel discussion with current and former legislators (including the just term limited Speaker of the House Steven Tilley); political scholars presenting their in-depth research into the effects of term limits on policy and the legislative process; discussions with some of the original architects of the term limits policy; and a discussion of next steps for the best legislative outcomes.”
Aside from Tilley, R-Perryville (who’s becoming a lobbyist), the featured speakers are to include former state Sen. (now lobbyist) Franc Flotron, outgoing state Sen. Robin Wright-Jones, and state Rep. Chris Kelly (who previously served in the House before term limits.)
Also to speak are Paul Jacob, past President, U.S. Term Limits; and Greg Upchurch, past chairman, Missourians for Limited Terms.
The conference is presented by the university's Center for Ethics in Public Life, in cooperation with the univery's Public Policy Administration Program and the Department of Political Science.
Co-sponsors include: the Sue Shear Institute for Women in Public Life, the university's Public Policy Research Center, the Harry S Truman School of Public Affairs at the University of Missouri-Columbia, East-West Gateway Council of Governments, the League of Women Voters, Focus St. Louis, the Missouri Budget Project, St. Louis Public Radio and the St. Louis Beacon.
