Friday, 01 February 2008 00:44

Election 2008

Today on TSPN news, our continuing look at what’s on the February 5th Presidential Primary Ballot. Yesterday we reviewed Propositions 91 and 92. Today’s topic, Proposition 93, concerns legislature term limits. Under the state's 1990 term limits law, legislators are limited to six years in the Assembly and eight years in the Senate. Proposition 93 would change this formula by reducing the total time legislators could serve from 14 years to 12 years. Furthermore, it would allow them to spend all of those 12 years in a single chamber.

It would also "grandfather in" sitting lawmakers; allowing some current members to serve more than the current total time allowed, including Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata and Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez. Proponents believe the revisions would allow legislators more time to work for the taxpayers and less time worrying about which office to run for next. They reference the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) study which indicates that rapid turnover in the Legislature has reduced “expertise in many important policy areas.”  Opponents say the Legislature promised that any term limits initiative would only come packaged with redistricting reform, which this proposition does not address. They also claim that members who serve all their time in a single chamber will increase political polarization between the Senate and Assembly and that this initiative is a sweetheart deal for Núñez and Perata.