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Term limit extension losing its support among legislators

By STEVE BOUSQUET
Published April 5, 2006

TALLAHASSEE - Eight is enough, the people of Florida decided in 1992, when they limited legislators and statewide elected officials to eight years in office.

Wait: Make it 12 years instead, the Legislature voted last year. The switch would be subject to voter approval this November.

But after passing the 12-year-limit bill last year, some lawmakers have changed their minds and want to take it off the 2006 ballot.

"The Legislature made a mistake," said Sen. Bill Posey, R-Rockledge, sponsor of a bill that would wipe the 12-year proposal off the ballot and keep terms at eight years. Extending terms is "a slap in the face" to voters who approved Eight Is Enough.

The bill, because it addresses a constitutional amendment, will require a three-fifths vote of both houses, or at least 24 of 40 senators and 72 of 120 House members. Its first airing Tuesday was rocky. It was defeated in committee, 3-2, but was resurrected a few minutes later.

Sen. Walter "Skip" Campbell, D-Fort Lauderdale, first voted against Posey's bill in the Senate Ethics and Elections Committee. Then he changed his mind and voted for it, using a parliamentary maneuver to freeze the bill pending another vote Thursday by the same committee.

"I'm betwixt and between," said Campbell, a candidate for attorney general. "This is a tough one."

It wasn't such a tough call for Sen. Jim Sebesta, R-St. Petersburg. A principal sponsor of the change a year ago, Sebesta voted for Posey's eight-year proposal after announcing "I have changed my mind."

Sebesta described his Pinellas constituents as resoundingly opposed to lengthening politicians' careers.

Sen. Dennis Jones, R-Seminole, supported 12-year terms last year and said he still thinks it's a good idea. Jones disagreed with fellow Republicans Sebesta and Posey and said the eight-year limit is a mistake.

"Quite frankly, I think we lose a lot of good people with the "Eight Is Enough,"' Jones said. "If voters want to have another choice, give them another choice. But I think a lot of the public out there realizes that lobbyists are a lot more powerful than they ever were."

Posey's bill (SJR 2788) has no similar House version. But House Speaker Allan Bense, R-Panama City, could schedule the bill for a floor vote if it passed the Senate later this session.

Gov. Jeb Bush has said it was a mistake for the Legislature to push for longer terms for future members, and he has predicted it will fail miserably at the polls.

No current legislators would be affected by the proposal to extend terms to 12 years, because the term-limit clock would not start until after the 2006 election.

[Last modified April 5, 2006, 00:37:15]