Compromise On Term Limits Bogs Down Governor Refuses To Go Along With Outright Repeal

A compromise between Gov. Dirk Kempthorne and legislative leaders on how to change Idaho’s term limits law has received mixed reviews in the Legislature and may be losing steam.

The legislative leadership had been pressing Kempthorne to go along with an outright repeal of term limits voters enacted in 1994. The governor has refused, arguing that an advisory vote last fall showed 53 percent of Idahoans want to keep the limits.

The compromise would:

Increase legislators’ and other state officials’ term limits from eight years in office to 12.

Put a moratorium on term limits for all local officials, until another statewide advisory vote can be held in 2000 strictly on the local limits.

“I’m not in favor of the compromise, I’m just not,” Sen. Shawn Keough, R-Sandpoint, said. “I have mixed feelings about term limits. The voters in my district have overwhelmingly passed the question twice now.”

Five bills have been introduced to change the term limits law, including everything from a full-blown repeal to one letting communities vote to remove the limits from their local officials.

Rep. John Tippets, R-Bennington, chairman of the House State Affairs Committee, said he’s still planning to conduct hearings on the three bills sitting in his committee. He is the sponsor of one of them, the full repeal of term limits.

“I’ve said all along that I intend to give them a hearing,” Tippets said. “We’ve been waiting to see what all our options are. They’re not dead.”

Tippets said some other proposals may surface and also be included in the hearing.

Rep. Jim Stoicheff, R-Sandpoint, co-sponsor of the local-vote bill, said he hasn’t seen the compromise deal in writing, but, “Right off the top of my head I don’t like it.

“I think the people are getting tired of voting,” he said. “I don’t mind a vote where they want to change what they have. But to ask them to vote again, saying, `Are you really, really sure?’ … I think the people have spoken.”

House Speaker Bruce Newcomb, R-Burley, on Friday described the chances for the compromise as “mixed, mixed, mixed.”

Melanie Welburn, executive director of Hayden Lake-based Citizens for Term Limits, called the deal “a slap in the face to Idaho voters.”

“Twelve-year term limits are not term limits,” she said. “The people voted twice for eight-year term limits and they meant it, and they knew exactly what they were voting for.”

Some have argued that the 1994 vote was really aimed at Congress. It set limits from Congress all the way down to school boards, but the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that congressional terms can’t be limited by state laws. That left Idaho with only state and local term limits.

Welburn’s group this year endorsed Stoicheff’s bill, saying communities should be allowed to opt out of term limits if they want. The measure is a bipartisan effort, co-sponsored by Rep. Jeff Alltus, R-Hayden.

Sen. Gordon Crow, R-Hayden, said, “I’m still supporting an outright repeal - I don’t know if we’ll get there this year.”

“It seems to me it would be less controversial to extend it than to repeal it,” said Sen. Jack Riggs, R-Coeur d’Alene. “I’ve always thought eight years was a little short just because of the learning process.”

Twelve years might be a better limit, Riggs said.

When Coeur d’Alene School Board trustees Edie Brooks and John Goedde made a recent trip to the Capitol to meet with legislators, they wore big anti-term limits buttons.

“It takes a long time really to learn everything that’s going on in the school district,” Brooks said. “I feel after three years I’m just starting to have a good handle on everything going on.”

Said Goedde: “If they want to fix something, fix campaign finances. That’s supposed to be the problem.”

This sidebar appeared with the story: TERM LIMITS BILLS HB 77 would allow cities, counties or school districts to vote to remove the term limits for local officials. Sponsored by Reps. Jim Stoicheff, D-Sandpoint, and Jeff Alltus, R-Hayden. Pending in House State Affairs Committee. HB 114 would repeal all term limits in Idaho. Sponsored by Rep. John Tippets, R-Bennington, and legislative leadership. Pending in House State Affairs Committee. HB 115 would remove term limits from county officials. Sponsored by Rep. JoAn Wood, R-Rigby. Pending in House State Affairs Committee. SB 1049 would remove term limits from any city, county or school officials who serve without salary. Sponsored by Sen. Clint Stennett, D-Ketchum. Pending in Senate State Affairs Committee. SB 1001 would exempt school board members from term limits. Sponsored by Sen. Gary Schroeder, R-Moscow. Pending in Senate State Affairs Committee.