Document text
--> --> Repeal of term limits passes Senate SALEM (AP) - Two measures to give voters a chance to repeal or loosen Oregon's term limits law won approval Tuesday in the Oregon Senate despite warnings from one lawmaker that voters will take a dim view of any such move. The measures gained approval after supporters said the current term limits law has hurt the legislative process by forcing many of the best and brightest lawmakers into early retirement. "It's just nuts," Sen. Ginny Burdick, D-Portland, said of the 1992 law that limits senators to eight years and House members to six years with an overall limit of 12 years. But Sen. Ted Ferrioli said Oregon voters overwhelmingly approved term limits and would view any effort by the Legislature to repeal or otherwise change term limits as a politically self-serving exercise "It's a breach of contract with the voters," the John Day Republican said. One of the measures approved by the Senate, SJR24, would throw out the term limits law outright. The other, SJR40, would repeal the limits on House and Senate terms while keeping the overall 12-year limit on legislative service. Both measures now go to the House, which has passed its own version of a ballot measure allowing a 12-year overall stay in the Legislature with no "internal" limits on House and Senate service. A key difference between the measures is that the House-passed measure would put the issue on the November 2002 ballot while the measures endorsed by the Senate would go to voters at a special election this November. Ending or modifying term limits this fall could allow some lawmakers to seek re-election next year who otherwise couldn't due to the limits. Unless the law is changed, 13 senators and 13 representatives would be barred from running for re-election next year. Sen. Steve Harper, a leading advocate for loosening the term limits, said he believes the House and Senate will be able to agree on a term-limits rewrite to submit to voters. Further, the Klamath Falls Republican said he still is hopeful that business and labor groups will bankroll and manage a campaign to try to persuade voters to retool the term limits law. Some of those groups have expressed concern, however, about the political fallout from another House-passed measure being considered in the Senate that would pave the way for a speeded-up legal assault on term limits. The grounds likely would be that the 1992 measure was improperly on the ballot because it contained multiple constitutional amendments that should have been submitted to voters separately. Harper, for his part, said it's important for the Legislature to send the issue back to voters because the current term limits set-up has forced too much turnover and drained the Legislature of veteran leadership and institutional memory. Measures to repeal or loosen term limits are pending this year in 10 of the 19 states that have adopted the restrictions in the past decade. Email your... Technical questions & comments to: WebMaster Daily Tidings editorial comments & questions to: Editor Visit our other Oregon Newspapers... | Albany Democrat-Herald | Ashland Daily Tidings | Corvallis Gazette-Times | | Lebanon Express | Newport News-Times | Springfield News | Cottage Grove Sentinel | Ashland Daily Tidings 1661 Siskiyou Blvd. Ashland, OR 97520 Telephone 541-482-3456 © Copyright 2001 Lee Northwest Publishing