Not to be Overshadowed

Fabian Nunez got his chance at center-stage last night, joining Leiber and Levine in the national parody of the State Legislature.

It is always fun to poke fun at our elected officials, and they give us plenty of material, but you've got to wonder how this affects the important work they are trying to complete, and the things that are only important to them, like extending term limits.

Good liberals agree that we need to do something to improve the legislature. The post-term limits environment has coincided with the appalling lack of leadership in Sacramento. You know something is up when the greatest accomplishments are passing measures that place things on the ballot, the equivalent of taking credit for passing the buck.

But look at the ethnic and gender diversity of the Legislature and you can see some positive changes. Legislators seemingly care more about appealing to their constituents than working on their racquetball game with the chair of the Ways and Means committee. If term limits are extended, we should ensure that there is continued incentive for legisltors to care about the voters in their district, and additional pathways for all kinds of people to obtain elected office.

The best shot for a term limits extension would be to put a pure version on the ballot. Starting in 2008, all newly elected legislators would be bound to the same 14 years total, but could serve them all in one house. Going beyond 14 years would have a hard time on the ballot, and allowing current members to benefit from the extension would be too self-serving.

Unfortunately, the current proposals being discussed would be cast as a 12-year limit, but allow some current Senators to receive up to 16 years. It would also allow all current members to be grandfathered-in. This will doom the proposal and probably kill future term-limits changes for the next decade.

So, here's a prescription for the Legislature. Get Serious. Stop writing the scripts for Comedy Central and SNL. Focus on the health care crisis, education, transportation, prison reform, and put your own visions of extended terms on the back-burner for now - at least until after you've shed the label of National Joke.