Assembly Kills Bid to Ease Term Limits

Despite passionate pleas from some of the Legislature’s leading Democrats, a drive to soften the term limits law approved by California voters a decade ago died swiftly in the Assembly Monday.

The bill by veteran Assemblyman Lou Papan (D-Millbrae) would have placed on the fall ballot a measure to lengthen the time politicians could serve in the Assembly and Senate to 12 years each. It needed a two-thirds vote for passage.

It failed to gather even a simple majority, as a bloc of Republicans rallied in opposition and was quickly joined by several vulnerable Democrats representing swing districts. Nearly one-fourth of the lower house’s 80 members declined to vote at all on the controversial election-year measure.

“If you think one issue like this is going to defeat you” during reelection, Papan forcefully told his colleagues, “then you don’t belong up here to begin with.”

An identical bill by Sen. Don Perata (D-Alameda) is still alive on the floor of the upper house, but Monday’s defeat in the Assembly signaled that efforts to tamper with term limits will not clear the Legislature this year. Lawmakers are currently bound to three two-year terms in the Assembly and two four-year terms in the Senate.

A growing chorus of critics, from the League of Women Voters to the California Chamber of Commerce, has been calling for a softening of the limits, imposed by voters a decade ago in a backlash against the rule of former Speaker Willie Brown, nicknamed the “Ayatollah of the Assembly.”

Critics argue that although limits have clearly added racial diversity and youthful energy to the Legislature, they have proven draconian, hurting the quality of government by perennially flooding the Capitol with inexperienced rookies.

“I know for one, I will never forget becoming the majority leader after two years of being here,” said Assemblyman Kevin Shelley (D-San Francisco), one of several ruling Democrats to voice support for Papan’s measure. “We don’t need to be afraid. We have all seen the polling data on this. Yeah, the public supports term limits, but the public also supports lengthening term limits.”

But supporters of leaving the limits alone argue that the limits have done their job--and that nothing proved that better than politicians scheming to soften them.

“Isn’t it entertaining that the power brokers are rising on the floor in favor of changing term limits,” mused Assemblyman Howard Kaloogian (R-Encinitas), who will be forced from his post by term limits this year. “It is appropriate that you leave this building and go live in the real world.”

Upon hearing of the efforts underway in Sacramento, U.S. Term Limits, a national organization with a reputation for tough tactics, quickly swept into California. It began running commercials touting the positive effects of the term limits law and targeting those rumored to be weighing a vote against it.