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Capitol Perspectives: Term Limits
By Phill Brooks

If you had to pick one factor to explain the difficulties encountered during the 2012 session of Missouri's legislature, it would have to be term limits. That's the consensus from almost every senior lobbyist and former legislator with whom I've discussed the session.

Missouri's General Assembly of today is a very different institution from what I had covered before members were limited to eight years in each chamber.

Because there has been so much attention on the negative aspects of term limits, I'll start with a couple of the positive changes.

A big winner has been local governments that have gained the service of term-limited legislators with a deep reservoir of knowledge about state government and public policy. Prior to term limits, it was rare that a state lawmaker would give up a legislative seat for local office.

St. Charles County got as its administration director Chuck Gross, who had been a skilled Senate Appropriations Committee chairman. Franklin County got as presiding commissioner John Griesheimer, who had been the Senate's top expert on local government.

Another positive effect is the reduction in the arrogance of power that developed among some legislators who had been in office for decades. I've watched two House speakers marched off to federal prison for corruption charges that reflected that arrogance. I've seen that arrogance displayed when long-term legislators belittled and humiliated agency officials in committee hearings.

As for the negative effects of term limits, they are far too numerous to cover them all in this column. Among the most significant that have been mentioned to me:

As always, let me know (at column@mdn.org) if you have any comments. If you would like your comments, or a portion of them, included in a future column, let me know and be sure to include your full name in your email.

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[Phill Brooks has been a Missouri statehouse reporter since 1970, making him dean of the statehouse press corps. He is the statehouse correspondent for KMOX Radio, director of MDN and an emeritus faculty member of the Missouri School of Journalism. He has covered every governor since the late Warren Hearnes.]