This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, March 11, 2009 - U.S. Term Limits, a Virginia-based group that was one of the original boosters of legislative term limits in Missouri and 15 other states, is furious that some Missouri legislators want to make a change.
“It is obvious that the members of the committee care more about keeping power than answering to their constituents,” said U.S. Term Limits President Philip Blumel in a statement. “U.S. Term Limits will not soon forget, and we’ll make certain the people of Missouri never forget.”
Later, in a telephone interview Wednesday, Blumel said his group was prepared "to take some action'' if it looks like the Missouri proposal might gain traction.
The House Elections Committee on Tuesday voted 9-1, via voice vote, in favor of a bill that would allow Missouri legislators to serve in either the state House or Senate, or both, for a combined total of 16 years. Now, the limit is eight years in each chamber.
The bill, HJR 13 , would require statewide approval.
The proposal is fueled, in part, by Republican concerns that the state's term limits -- in place since 1993 -- could lead to the GOP's loss of control in the state House and Senate. Both parties agree that term limits helped Republicans wrest the Democrats' decades-long control in both chambers. The GOP took over the state Senate in 2001, and the state House in 2003.
A majority of the GOP's legislative leaders will be forced out by term limits in 2010.
Missouri's senior Republican, U.S. Sen. Christopher "Kit" Bond, R-Mo., shocked party activists a few weeks ago when he declared at the GOP's statewide Lincoln Days that term limits had been a disaster for his party and for state government.
"I've seen term limits decimate the leadership of our Missouri General Assembly,'' said Bond, a former two-term governor who served before term limits was in place.
Term limits has prompted more turnover in the Legislature, with many former legislators becoming lobbyists. Missouri has one of the highest percentages of legislators-turned-lobbyists in the country.
Blumel said that Bond was simply reflecting the concerns of entrenched incumbents who fear losing power. He said it was improper for Missouri legislators to seek a change in the state term limits law, which was approved in 1992 by about three-quarters of Misouri voters.
“It’s the same old story: once many legislators currently serving are term-limited, they decide to repeal term limits provisions,” Blumel said. “The motive is always the same.”
As it stands, 16 states including Missouri have legislative term limits. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, Missouri is among six who impose "lifetime'' limits, while the rest of the states allow the term-limit clock to resent once an official has left office for a specific time, usually a minimum of two years.
Blumel noted that three states -- California, Maine and South Dakota -- tried and failed to persuade voters last year to repeal or alter their term limits laws. Six states have repealed term limits, but those repeals were prompted by court action, not voters, the national conference said.
Blumel's group is particularly targeting state Rep. Gayle Kingery, R-Poplar Bluff, who sponsored the bill to alter Missouri's term limits.
“We're definitely monitoring Missouri," Blumel said, "and we're willing to take action."
