Summary
Law limiting office tenure of legislators - Includes related article on term limits
Colorado enacted the term-limits law in 1990 which limits the tenure or legislators to a maximum of eight consecutive years. Thus, 27 members of the state Legislature are leaving to go back to private life or to seek higher office. However, the law also provides that a legislator who has consumed the eight years in one house can opt to run for a slot in the other house. This may have lasting negative implications for the law which include more tension between the chambers and more powerful politicians.See the full content of this document
Extract
The clock strikes 12 in Colorado.
The term-limits law has just about wiped out the top legislative leadership in the Centennial State.
At 31, Representative Todd Saliman of Boulder looks as if he belongs in a high school honors course rather than on the Joint Budget Committee of the Colorado General Assembly. But the legislature's most powerful committee is exactly where he belongs - put there last May by House Democrats to replace one of the many veteran lawmakers leaving office because of term limits. To prepare for the job, Saliman has observed nearly every budget committee meeting for the past year and a half and has studied under the tutelage of his predecessor, Representative Gil Romero - an eight-year committee veteran. "I think I'll be able to hit the ground running," says Saliman. Then with a laugh, he adds, "The more you learn, the more you know that you don't know anything." But ready or not, pupil must become master. Under Colorado term limits, the clock never stops ticking, and it still amazes Saliman how late the hour is. "I know that w...See the full content of this document
Sponsored links
