August 16, 2006

Newsflash: Association of Legislators Doesn't Like Term Limits

The National Conference of State Legislatures is meeting in Nashville this week (partly on the Tennessee taxpayer's dime, sad to say), with various seminars on how to raise more taxes and spend more money and stuff like that for the approximately 1,000 legislators and 2,000 lobbyists in attendance.

And lo and behold the NCSL released a "study" which found that term limits in the 15 states that have them for their state legislators have not led to significant increases in female or minority representation in state legislatures. Michael Silence has the the AP story:

"Term limits have not led to the new breed of diverse, citizen legislators proponents expected," said a study released Tuesday by the National Conference of State Legislatures at its annual meeting.

Term limits in state legislatures have not accomplished many of the changes proponents promised - greater social, gender and racial diversity in legislatures and a decrease in political careerism. Instead they have given rise to inexperienced lawmakers and polarized legislatures. ... Proponents claimed term limits would lead to a new breed of diverse citizen legislators, but the study found that did not occur.

Wikipedia has a pretty good summary of the history of term limits in American democracy, and the arguments pro and con. The phrase "female or minority representation" occurs only once in the Wikipedia entry - and it's a newly added reference to today's news release from the NCSL.

Why would NCSL focus on "female or minority representation" when it wasn't a big selling point for proponents of term limits? Perhaps because the NCSL doesn't like term limits. Perhaps it is trying to convince female and minority voters that term limits aren't good for them, that term limits are just another tool that keeps state legislatures overwhelmingly white and male, so that female and minority voters will be less likely to vote to implement term limits in the 35 states that don't have them or retain them in the 15 states that do.

If so, it is a cynical and misleading play as term limits are entirely neutral on the issue of race and gender, limiting white, male lawmakers to the same number of years in office as they do female and/or minority lawmakers. You won't get more female and minority legislators by doing away with term limits - you'll just get fewer open seats where female and minority candidates might stand a better chance to win than if they took on a powerful, entrenched incumbent.

Instead of trying to gin up a gender-and-racial controversy over limits, the NCSL should have researched whether the opponents of term limits were right when they argued that term limits on lawmakers would have the perverse effect of enhancing the power of legislative staffers and of lobbyists, neither of whom are or can be term-limited.

But I guess with the NCSL convention attracting double the number of lobbyists as it does legislators, we can't expect the NCSL to be putting out press releases about how term limits haven't negatively impacted the cozy relationship between legislators and lobbyists.

Incidentally, those 2,000 lobbyists are paying anywhere from $590 to $890 per person to attend the convention, generating $1 million or more in attendance fees for the NCSL. And yet, sad to say, those 2,000 lobbyists and their 1,000 lawmaker buddies from around the country in Nashville this week are getting the following "freebies" paid for by you, Mr. and Mrs. Tennessee Taxpayer: Backstage tours of the Grand Ole Opry, A Franklin Battlefield tour, Lunch at the Wildhorse Saloon, Sightseeing on Music Row, A visit to the Country Music Hall of Fame, Carnival attractions, 2,000 Tennessee-themed T-shirts, A tour of Andrew Jackson's home, The Hermitage; Ice skating, Transportation between Opryland and downtown Nashville, and a video game contest.

The NCSL's bias against term limits is understandable - after all, the members of the NCSL are legislators who, presumably, like being legislators or they wouldn't be in Nashville hobnobbing with other legislators, cozying up with the lobbyists and sucking up the taxpayer-funded tickets, tours and trinkets. Legislators who like being legislators would prefer not to be term-limited out of office. The bias of the study is evident from its title, Coping With Term Limits, A Practical Guide.

Among the negative impacts of term limits to be "coped" with, according to the NCSL: "inexperienced lawmakers and polarized legislatures."

Inexperienced lawmakers? Polarized legislatures?

Well... in states with term limits people may well have elected new legislators inexperienced at the art of raising taxes and spending more and more money, and probably replaced some longtime incumbents with new legislators from the other party, leading to "polarization" which, of course, makes it harder for NCSL careerists to raise taxes and spend more money.

If you're one of my Tennessee readers, here's something to think about: Tennessee House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh has a lot more experience in the legislature than does state Rep. Stacey Campfield, the freshman blogging legislator from Knoxville. Which one tried to ram an unconstitutional income tax down your throat a few years ago? Which one broke House rules to pass an incumbent protection bill? And which one blew the whistle?

Which one is a roadblock to needed reforms to combat illegal immigration? And which one right now is doing all he can to make sure you know all there is to know about which legislators helped Naifeh prevent meaningful legislation to address illegal immigration?

Naifeh has loads of experience. I'll take Campfield's passionate, polarizing, partisanship - and his commitment to doing the right thing and doing it out in the open - any day and thrice on Monday. If Tennessee had term limits and it lead to Naifeh being replaced with someone like Campfield, that would be a good thing.

Speaking of Campfield, he is attending the NCSL convention - for free as he's a freshman legislator. Writes Campfield:

This conference is touted as non partisan but I think most will agree that for the most part it has a more liberal/Democrat slanted point of view.

Even though taxpayers coast to coast pay for the salaries of the NCSL's legislator members, you can't see the NCSL's term-limits study because they're only emailing it for free to "credentialed reporters." Legislators and legislative staff members can also get a freebie.

I've emailed them to request a copy. I'm not holding my breath.