Editorial:

Proposition 28 would change the term limits of the State Legislature to a total of 12 years in office in either the State Assembly or the State Senate. Under current term limits, politicians are limited to a total of 14 years in office—including a maximum of six years in the State Assembly and eight years in the State Senate.

When term limits were passed in 1990, voters were fed up with career politicians who through the fortune of incumbency, influence, and money were able to carve out political legacies, providing little opportunity for fresh faces and ideas. The poster child for the term limit movement was Willie Brown, who served 30 years as Assemblyman, 15 of those as Speaker of the House. Brown was undoubtedly the most powerful politician in Sacramento. Even Governors had to seek him out for support.

It was with this backdrop that the voters voted in term limits.

Now two decades later, glaring problems with term limits have persisted and they need to be addressed. These ugly problems are most pronounced whenever State Legislators try to pass a budget, which are usually extremely late and look more like piece meal plans than a meaningful, effective budgets.

We have learned that experience and trusted working relationships is a valuable commodity at the State level. At present with the constant turnover of elected officials, inexperienced politicians rise to leadership positions with little knowledge, fixed ideologies, and a lack of willingness to compromise. And due to the lack of experience and knowledge, these elected officials, now more than ever, become dependent on bureaucratic establishments and lobbyists. Lobbyists and special interests with institutional knowledge and deep pockets exert great influence over California’s state legislators. They not only help them to get elected but also are a key part in “educating” them about how to do their jobs.

Term Limits are needed, but in the present form they are not working in the best interest of voter or the state. State politics has become nothing more than a battle ground for the left and the right with neither willing to cross the proverbial line drawn in the sand. The art of compromise and working together is absent and becomes magnified during budget talks.

Term Limits need to be tweaked in order to better serve the voter and the State. Prop 28 is a step in the right direction. Something has to change because what we have now is not working.

We support a Yes Vote on Prop 28 – State of California.