Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, June 6, 1995 TAG: 9506070021
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RICHARD SINCERE
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
So it is with term limits. Even though the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last month that the Constitution does not permit citizens to set the terms of employment for their servants in Congress, the term-limits movement - the most successful grass-roots political effort in this century - will continue to move.
The Supreme Court's ruling is a setback, not a defeat. The court's narrow (5-4) majority said that only a constitutional amendment would permit states and their citizens to set term limits for Congress, as 23 states already have done. This decision is a disappointment, but it does not end the term-limits movement. Across the nation, grass-roots term-limits activists will react to the Supreme Court's ruling with renewed vigor and fresh ideas.
Term limits have never been intended only for Congress, and it is only congressional term limits that the Supreme Court addressed. Forty states (including Virginia) now limit the terms of their governors, and 20 states limit the terms of their state legislators. In hundreds of jurisdictions across the country, laws limit the terms of local officials.
State and local experience with term limits has brought about more competitive elections. Term limits create open seats, eliminating the heavy advantages of incumbency and opening up the political process to new participants. Responsible, talented citizens who want to serve their communities face a brick wall when they run against entrenched incumbents. In open-seat races, "amateur" politicians do as well as or better than the "professionals." Open-seat races also cost less money, meaning that special interests and political-action committees have fewer opportunities to corrupt the process.
Term limits at the local and state level, by channeling the energies of elected officials in new directions, will necessarily make congressional races more competitive. When elected officals who want to continue serving as legislators come to the end of their terms, they will try to move up. They will challenge incumbents at the next level, forcing officeholders to defend their records.
Thus, for instance, county board members will run for the House of Delegates; delegates will run for the state Senate; state senators will run for the U.S. House. Of course, "rotation in office" means that the reverse also could happen. President John Quincy Adams left the White House and was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Daniel Webster and Henry Clay served in state offices, Congress, and the president's Cabinet. Warren Rudman, once a U.S. senator from New Hampshire, now serves in his state's legislature. Former Republican Congressman Stan Parris of Northern Virginia is seeking a seat in the state Senate this year. Why couldn't a member of the General Assembly decide to run for county supervisor?
We cannot deny that elected officials are talented and dedicated people who have much to offer their communities. But experience has shown that the longer people serve in a legislative body, the less responsive to their communities they become. Members of Congress get what is called "Potomac Fever," which means they pay more attention to what is best for the inside-the-beltway crowd than to what is best for their constituents or for the nation as a whole. Similar phenomena exist in every state capital and at every city hall and county courthouse. The details may differ, but the process remains the same.
So what practical effect will the Supreme Court ruling have on the term-limits movement? In Virginia, at least, it means that the broad-based term-limits coalition - which includes Virginians for Term Limits, United We Stand America/Virginia, the Patriot Party, the Libertarian Party, the Virginia Independent Party, and individual Republicans and Democrats who want to see legislative reform - will focus on state and local term limits. We want an amendment to the Virginia Constitution that limits the terms of the General Assembly (ideally, to four terms in the House of Delegates and two terms in the state Senate) and also puts a limit on the terms of the lieutenant governor and attorney general. Local activists across the commonwealth will work to limit the terms of their school boards, county boards, city councils, and town councils.
At the same time, we will join with term-limits activists across America to press for a constitutional amendment permitting states to set the terms of their representatives in Congress.
Our agenda is simple and clear. We will not back down because the Supreme Court ruled against the will of the people. In the words of Martin Luther: "Hier stehe ich. Ich kann nicht anders." Here we stand; we cannot do otherwise.
Richard Sincere is chairman of Virginians for Term Limits and a member of the Term Limits Leadership Council, a coalition of 43 state groups.
by CNB