Term Limits, Citizen Initiatives Make Politics Different BY PAT MURPHY SPECIAL TO THE TRIBUNE SUN VALLEY, Idaho -- Lawmakers from 13 Western states were told in no uncertain terms Saturday (July 17, 1999) that the days of carefree legislative politics in state government are changed forever, ended by the twin demons of term limits and lawmaking by citizen initiatives. California state Sen. Joe Baca, who moderated a panel discussion on the issues at the annual meeting of the Conference of State Governments-West, lamented that term limits are robbing government of what he called `institutional memories' -- the loss of experienced, longtime officeholders who remember the history of legislation. Attempting to overturn term limits and derail the spreading popularity of ballot initiatives that takes lawmaking out of the hands of legislators probably is futile, three academics told a standing-room-only audience. Boise State University political science Professor Gary Moncrief, BYU political science Professor David Magleby and assistant professor of political science Elisabeth Gerber of the University of California at San Diego spelled out consequences of term limits and initiatives to legislatures, plus strategies for coexistence. Long-term consequences of term limits won't be known for years, Moncrief said. But initial conclusions, he told the group, indicate term limits will encourage more minorities and women to run for office; more bills will be filed during legislative sessions by a larger crop of first-year lawmakers; legislative staffs will become increasingly important and influential and governors will have increased influence over agendas as legislators lose their influence. Trying to abolish term limits through legislative action would be futile, Moncrief suggested. Instead, lawmakers might try "civic education" to convince voters they were wrong about imposing term limits on state and local officials, and should vote to repeal the laws. "Initiatives provide no checks or balances," he said, "they're poorly written and often are unconstitutional, are very powerful in setting the political agenda, and reflect a core social problem -- public distrust of legislators." Ballot initiatives also have created a whole new industry, Magleby said. Backers have found they can control a political message, they can make millions of dollars collecting signatures for per-head fees, and media prefer covering initiatives rather than politicians. Moncrief and Magleby also predicted that the Internet's high-speed features may further shift power to citizens and away from legislators -- ballot initiatives can be drawn up and endorsed by voters in a matter of days. Utah state Sen. Lyle Hillyard, however, told the group he sees opportunities in the Internet. He told the group of how posting Utah's proposed legislation on the Internet led to a voter pointing out an error in one of his bills, and a quick amendment to correct it. More initiative activity is just ahead, Magleby said. "You are test markets for policy ideas that a few individuals want to market," he said, noting that many of the most expensive initiatives were mounted not by local grassroots groups, but by national organizations. Gerber warned lawmakers that trying to drive ballot initiatives out of business by enacting stiff new laws limiting campaign spending, requiring disclosure of backers and geographic distribution of signers would backfire, and probably be unconstitutional. She said a more effective strategy would be to enact reasonable laws requiring public hearings on initiatives and allowing for amendments and even repeal. This would meet constitutional tests and be considered reasonable even by initiative backers. Magleby also chastised the lawmakers about their own occasional attempts to confuse voters with initiatives that use convoluted language and reverse yes-means-no choices. "Require initiatives to be straightforward. Just ask the question, yes or no," he said. ___________ M. Dane Waters Initiative & Referendum Institute 1825 I Street, NW, Suite 400 Washington, DC 20006 Phone: 202.429.5539 / Fax: 202.986.3001 / Email: mdanewaters@iandrinstitute.org visit our websites at http:\\www.iandrinstitute.org and http:\\www.ballotwatch.org ___________ The Initiative & Referendum Institute is a 501(c)(3) non-profit non-partisan tax-exempt educational organization dedicated to educating the people on the initiative and referendum process.