Many View Term Limits Bitterly as End Nears for 34 Lawmakers

Almost 400 years of legislative experience will be heading for the Assembly and Senate exits this month and not coming back.

The legislative term limit law, making its biggest hit on the veteran ranks since voters approved the measure six years ago, is removing 34 California lawmakers all at once.

Counting down the final days, the centuries of cumulative experience extend from the 38 years served in the two houses by Sen. Nicholas C. Petris (D-Oakland) to the five years served by Assemblywoman Barbara Friedman (D-North Hollywood).

Under the limit law, approved by voters in 1990, Assembly members are permitted to serve a maximum of three two-year terms. Senators are allowed two four-year terms.

Some are closing out careers with sadness, a few with rage, and more than a dozen are doggedly refusing to give up. Twelve “termed out” members are running for another office in November; others say they will mount campaigns in coming years.

And two departing legislators, among the most senior, are hanging on to the glories of the game by proxy. Sens. Alfred E. Alquist (D-Santa Clara)--age 88, 34 years in the Legislature--and Milton Marks (D-San Francisco)--age 76, 37 years experience in the two houses--are actively aiding the Assembly and county supervisor campaigns of their wives.

Also on the list are three Republican senators from Southern California: Robert G. Beverly of Long Beach, Don Rogers of Tehachapi and Newton R. Russell of Glendale.

Most of those forced out are returning to private businesses and careers, or simply retiring.

As they pack their bags, the argument persists over the wisdom of term limits. Departing veterans, most of them Democrats, say they did their best work after years of seasoning. It would continue, they argue, if only they could stay on.

But defenders of the limits, most of them Republicans, say the law is working exactly as the voters intended.

Conservative Republican Howard Kaloogian, a freshman assemblyman from Carlsbad and a term limit enthusiast, illustrates the partisanship associated with the law, which now applies to legislatures in 20 states.

In making the argument that “you need to infuse the system with fresh ideas once in a while,” Kaloogian cites the California Legislature’s longest serving member, a Democrat, and levels a judgment.

Sen. Ralph Dills, 86, of El Segundo, first elected to the Legislature 58 years ago, though “a nice man,” said Kaloogian, “ran out of the ideas that he came here with years ago.”

Dills was not available to respond, but an associate said the charge was not worthy of comment.

Voters approved term limits, Kaloogian said, to revive the notion of a citizen Legislature. “You can’t do that unless you have continuous recycling,” he said.

In about a week, barring an overtime session, 24 Assembly members will be “recycled” out the door, a lopsided 18 of them Democrats. Among departing senators, the toll is more balanced: five Democrats, four Republicans and one independent, Lucy Killea of San Diego.

But in the Assembly, the pronounced imbalance gets even worse for Democrats in the category of those leaving and not running in November for Senate seats or other elective office.

By that measure, the Democrats lose 12 members and the Republicans just one--David Knowles of Placerville.

Assembly Speaker Curt Pringle (R-Garden Grove)--safe from term limits for another two years--described the situation as a consequence of the Assembly Democrats’ previous long hold on power.

Until the Republican takeover of the Assembly in 1994, Democrats had ruled continuously since 1969 with powerful Speaker Willie Brown of San Francisco in charge most of that time.

Now, said Pringle, “yes, it’s true many Democrats who were members of Willie Brown’s team are leaving.” The reason is, he said, “they wanted to stay as long as they could” and wound up hitting the 1996 term limit wall all at once.

Brown avoided hitting the term limit wall by choosing to leave last year to run for, and win, election as mayor of San Francisco.

Pringle said minority Republicans “looked for other options” during the Brown years, leaving far fewer GOP veterans vulnerable to 1996 term limits.

But Republicans were not completely spared, he noted, and said he was “saddened” to be losing David Knowles.

“There are certain bad effects of moving people out through the term limit process,” the speaker said. “But then every single voter understood the consequences. Some people that they liked would be term-limited, and some they disliked. They knew that.”

Not that the forced departures are expected to signal big changes in the partisan makeup of the Legislature.

Despite intense battles shaping up in some “target” districts, the great majority of outgoing members are likely to be replaced from within their party in the November elections.

For example, political analysts agree that the Republican Knowles’ northern Sierra Assembly district is expected to remain in Republican hands, and Marguerite Archie-Hudson is all but assured of a Democratic successor in her South-Central Los Angeles district.

What will be lost, said a number of term limit victims, is all those years of Capitol experience.

Assemblywoman Jackie Speier (D-Burlingame), often cited for effective lawmaking, will be forced out this year after 10 years’ service. She is the author--so far--of 161 consumer-oriented bills, all signed into law by Republican governors.

She plans to run for the state Senate in 1998 and is considering hosting a radio or TV talk show in the meantime.

She could support term limits, she said, if the law allowed more than six years for Assembly members and eight years for senators and did not impose a lifetime ban on running for the same office.

Assembly Minority Leader Richard Katz (D-Sylmar), on the way out after 16 years as an Assembly member, criticized term limits as an inhibitor to legislative progress.

One of his proudest accomplishments, he said, was leading the way to passage six years ago of a blueprint for a far-reaching, $20-billion state transit plan.

The road to success required achieving consensus among competing interests, which took all the negotiating skills that Katz had learned over 10 years in office, he said.

“I truly believe that if term limits had been around at that point, that would not have gotten done,” he said.

Sen. Petris of Oakland said that at age 73 he was “overdue” to retire. But for the voters who elected fellow liberal Assemblyman Tom Bates (D-Berkeley) for five terms, term limits robbed them of their chosen representative, Petris said.

“People in Orange County [who voted to approve term limits] are telling people in Berkeley, ‘You can’t have him anymore because we don’t want you to have him,’ ” Petris said.

“Well, who the hell are you? You are supposed to elect your people. We elect ours,” he said, noting that in Berkeley, the 1990 vote went against term limits.

As for Bates, he has brought a lawsuit in federal court challenging the constitutionality of legislative term limits. Assemblywomen Friedman and Martha M. Escutia (D-Huntington Park) have joined in the court challenge. Despite setbacks in the lawsuit, Bates continues to press his case and is scheduled to receive a court hearing in Oakland next month.

The lone termed-out Assembly Republican who has no announced plans for a political future is Knowles of Placerville.

As a freshman in 1991, Knowles rose on the floor during a debate over a gay rights bill known as AB 101 and denounced homosexual practices using vivid, derogatory descriptions of sexual acts. Democrats immediately tagged him a right-wing extremist.

In the years since, Knowles changed. Still a strong conservative, he nevertheless toned down his approach and become expert in the fields of health and insurance.

Liberal Democratic Assemblyman John Burton of San Francisco recently praised Knowles publicly as an articulate, informed lawmaker who will be missed.

Said Knowles in an interview: “I may be a good case against term limits because, while I never retracted any of those remarks I made in the AB 101 speech, on the other hand I probably wouldn’t give that same speech again today.

“I have to be the first to confess,” he said, “I’ve grown up here, probably more than any period in my adult life.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Leaving Office

Term limits will be forcing 34 California legislators out of office this year. The following 22 are out of politics, at least for the time being. (12 others are running for another office in November):

FROM THE SENATE

* Alfred E. Alquist (D-Santa Clara), age 88; 34 years in Assembly and Senate; retiring; will campaign for wife, Elaine, who is running for the Assembly.

* Robert G. Beverly (R-Long Beach), age 71; 29 years in Assembly and Senate; retiring.

* Daniel E. Boatwright (D-Concord), age 66; 24 years in Assembly and Senate; retiring.

* Lucy Killea (I-San Diego), age 74; 14 years in Assembly and Senate; retiring; will work for a nonprofit organization.

* Milton Marks (D-San Francisco), age 76; 37 years in Assembly and Senate; retiring; will campaign for wife, Carolene, who is running for a San Francisco supervisor seat.

* Henry J. Mello (D-Watsonville), age 72; 20 years in Senate; retiring.

* Nicholas C. Petris (D-Oakland), age 73; 38 years in Assembly and Senate; retiring.

* Don Rogers (R-Tehachapi), age 68; 18 years in Assembly and Senate; retiring from Legislature; may return to career as a geologist.

* Newton R. Russell (R-Glendale), age 69; 32 years in Assembly and Senate; retiring.

FROM THE ASSEMBLY

* Marguerite Archie-Hudson (D-Los Angeles), age 58; six years in office; running for state Senate in 1998.

* Tom Bates (D-Berkeley), age 58; 20 years in office; retiring from Legislature; bringing suit seeking to outlaw term limits.

* Robert J. Campbell (D-Martinez), age 58; 16 years in office; lost a Senate primary, retiring from Legislature; setting up educational consulting business.

* Sal Cannella (D-Ceres), age 53; six years in office; running for state Senate in 1998; seeking position with public policy foundation.

* Barbara Friedman (D-North Hollywood), age 46; five years in office; may work in children’s or health care fields.

* Thomas M. Hannigan (D-Benicia), age 56; 18 years in office; retiring from Legislature; going into real estate business.

* Dan Hauser (D-Arcata), age 54; 14 years in office; retiring from Legislature; exploring private sector options.

* Phillip Isenberg (D-Sacramento), age 57; 14 years in office; retiring from Legislature; may teach.

* Richard Katz (D-Sylmar), age 46; 16 years in office; plans unannounced.

* David Knowles (R-Placerville), age 43; six years in office; returning to private sector, possibly mortgage banking.

* Willard H. Murray Jr. (D-Paramount), age 65; eight years in office; lost a congressional primary; may run in future for unspecified office.

* Jackie Speier (D-Burlingame), age 46; 10 years in office; running for Senate seat in 1998.

* Curtis R. Tucker Jr. (D-Inglewood), age 42; seven years in office; lost a state Senate primary; returning to private sector.