Bill Would Double Legislator Terms Four-Year Terms Proposed To Limit Constant Campaigning

Idahoans are tired of elections every two years, so it’s time to give legislators four-year terms, four state senators said Wednesday.

“This is a good way to limit the every-other-year fund-raising and the amount of negative campaigning and signage you see,” said Sen. Judi Danielson, R-Council, one of four co-sponsors of the bill.

The measure would amend the Idaho Constitution, so it would need two-thirds approval of both houses of the Legislature and voters’ approval to become law.

It would move both senators and representatives to four-year terms instead of two years, but it would stagger the elections, so only half the legislative districts would have elections at a time.

Sen. Sheila Sorensen, R-Boise, a co-sponsor, said staggered terms would ensure some continuity in the Legislature.

“There would always be some people around that will carry on that perspective and knowledge of what we have done in the past,” she said.

The Senate State Affairs Committee, which Sorensen chairs, unanimously agreed to introduce the bill today. The committee will schedule a public hearing.

Danielson said the measure wouldn’t change the existing term limits on legislators. They’d still be limited to eight years.

Jim Weatherby, a Boise State University political scientist and longtime observer of the state Legislature, said the idea is worth considering in an era of term limits.

Local government offices such as county commissions already use staggered terms to create continuity, Weatherby said.

“Legislators in competitive seats - though there aren’t a lot in this state - are in a virtual campaign mode throughout their legislative careers, looking to the next election, beginning to raise money to look ahead to the campaign,” Weatherby said.

Many Idaho Legislature seats aren’t competitive, he said. In the last general election, 55 of 105 legislative seats went uncontested, including eight of the 15 Panhandle races.

“I think in the era of term limits, a lot of legislators are going to be entering de facto eight-year terms in safer seats, where people won’t challenge them and will wait until they are term-limited,” Weatherby said.

That means term limits may, paradoxically, lead to less competition for legislative seats much of the time, but when the limits remove the incumbent, Idahoans are likely to see competitive races, he said.

Idaho has long stuck with the two-year terms for both House and Senate, meaning the entire Legislature is up for election every two years, even though most states have four-year terms for senators. Until the late 1940s or early 1950s, Weatherby said, even Idaho’s governor served two-year terms.

“I think we’re fairly unique,” he said. “It’s probably our populist nature … wanting to hold their feet to the fire and being able to confront them at every general election.”

The new bill is co-sponsored by Sens. Robert Geddes, R-Soda Springs, and Dean Cameron, R-Rupert.

A similar bill passed the Senate on a 25-10 vote in 1995, but never came up for a vote in the House.

Sen. Gordon Crow, R-Hayden, said he supported that bill his freshman year, and would back it again.

“I think it would allow legislators to develop much more expertise without worrying about re-election,” he said.