One of the most regrettable byproducts of term limits has been that with fresh faces come uneducated minds. New legislators take a while, sometimes years, to get up to speed on complicated topics such as multi-billion-dollar state budgets. The result, a new study indicates, is that more and more lawmaking power in states with term limits is being consolidated in the executive branch or in the hands of lobbyists. The study, a comprehensive multi-state study of the effects of term limits compiled by the Joint Project on Term Limits, finds that "term limits in states have done more to limit rather than enhance the effectiveness of the legislative branch," according to Karl Kurtz of the National Conference of State Legislatures, which was involved in the study.
Term limits, supposedly put into effect to offer more citizen leadership, instead has offered us a government that exists to serve special interests.
2 comments:
We already have term limits, all we have to do is go vote and vote them out. Its so sad that only a very small percentage of the voters decide the fate of the people of Missouri and the Nation. Until such time as enough people care enough to go vote I suppose it will remain that way. 16% voter turn out should be against the law. I think sometimes a vote should be mandatory or their property taxes would be trippled. Bet that would wake some up!
Drust
Seventy five percent of the turn out voted in favor of term limits in Missouri. The JTPL report mentioned in the editorial listed possible changes to the legislative process given the new environment. The professional politicians gave themselves thirteen years (1992-2005) to clean out their desks but none of the changes have been implemented in that time because the authority to make it happen resides with the very people it affects. Read the report.
Post a Comment