When Floridians voted to limit the terms of various state officials to eight years, many opponents predicted it would hand over government to the legislative staff and lobbyists.
They were only half right.
A recent study of term limits across the nation indicates that legislative staffers are disappearing with the members who are forced out of office. That's true in Florida too. New legislative leaders have tossed out some of the most influential staffers and turned to new faces.
Gone are many of the veterans who knew what the problems were 10 years ago and knew whether what lawmakers tried to do actually worked.
Now only the lobbyists remain. And many of them are saying the biggest impact of term limits on their lives is the one thing no one expected: even more pressure to raise money for campaigns that never end.
A new lawmaker cannot depend on being known well enough in his district to coast for awhile, so many of them start putting their hands out before they put their hand up to take the oath of office for their first term.
Most longtime observers of the legislative process didn't think it would be possible to emphasize money even more. Now lawmakers come to town for committee meetings and stage four and five fundraisers a night to build their campaign war chests.
House and Senate rules forbid members from fundraising during their annual 60-day legislative session, but this year we're going to see a big difference. Legislative lawyers have determined that the rules don't apply to federal candidates. So hold onto your pocketbooks.
House Speaker Johnnie Byrd is likely to be one of the worst abusers, strong-arming lobbyists constantly for more and more campaign money as he runs for the U.S. Senate seat Bob Graham is giving up.
Over in the Senate, Republican Dan Webster of Winter Garden is opposing Byrd for the GOP Senate nomination. Sen. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, D-Weston, and Rep. Carole Green, R-Fort Myers, are running against former Rep. Connie Mack for the seat being vacated by U.S. Rep. Porter Goss of Sanibel.
Without counting the money that is poured into federal races, campaign finance records already show us what has happened since term limits were enacted in 1992.
In 1990, the last election year before term limits, legislative candidates raised about $20-million for all races. In 2002, with term limits celebrating a decade of life, the total reached $37.8-million.
It will go higher this year.
Term limits were adopted in 21 states. Only one state legislature voluntarily adopted term limits - Louisiana. That happened after several lawmakers were caught taking bribes on the floor of the Legislature from casino interests. An effort to repeal the measure last year failed.
The other 20 states imposed term limits after a vote of the people. In many cases voters were angry because lawmakers failed to take care of issues that were within their control.
Five states have eliminated term limits: Idaho, Massachusetts, Oregon, Utah and Washington. In most cases term limits were outlawed in court decisions. Now Wyoming legislators are trying to overturn that state's 12-year limit.
Several organizations have launched studies of term limits. So far they are finding that in most states the House becomes the junior chamber because more experienced senators who once served in the House can outmaneuver the less-experienced newcomers.
One startling result of the study found in most states is that fewer women and minorities are winning legislative seats.
That hasn't happened in Florida, but fewer women seem to have made it into the top leadership. A decade ago, before term limits came along, the Senate president was a woman and some of the most influential members in both houses were women.
