The reign in Maine.

• Author: Brunelle, Jim
• Position: Effect of term limits in Maine Legislature

Term limits have wrought many changes in the Maine Legislature, but legislators themselves disagree as to whether the changes are beneficial.

The election of Representative Elizabeth "Libby" Mitchell as speaker of the Maine House of Representatives last December was remarkable in two important respects. For one thing, she is the first woman ever to hold the position. Second, regardless of how well she may perform in the job, she will be stripped of her speakership - and her House membership as well - at the end of next year.

In choosing Mitchell as speaker, majority Democrats selected the most knowledgeable lawmaker now in the House and its most senior member, one with 16 years of experience under her belt. That will never happen again, thanks to the passage of legislative term limits - an idea hugely popular in Maine.

In November 1993, Maine voters approved a popular initiative limiting state legislators to four consecutive two-year terms. Under a retroactive provision, the first official impact of the law was to be felt in 1996. In fact, dramatic changes began to take place almost immediately, helped along by the announcement in March 1994 by U.S. Senator George J. Mitchell (no relation to Libby Mitchell) that he would not run for re-election.

The Maine Democrat's decision set off a political scramble back home. The state's two congressmen, a Democrat and a Republican, promptly announced plans to compete for Mitchell's seat. In turn, about 20 candidates surfaced for the congressional vacancies, many of them state legislators.

GOING AWAY MAD

In addition, several long-time legislators, apparently offended by their constituents' endorsement of term limits, decided to retire even though they could legally have served one more term. The result was a turnover of something approaching half of the legislative membership - 68 of 151 House members and 13 of 35 senators - in the 1994 election. (The normal turnover rate ranges from one-fourth to one-third.)

Last year, when the new term-limits provisions kicked in, another 56 representatives and 13 senators were ousted. Libby Mitchell took charge of a House lacking much of a past. Only 40 of its members could claim more than a single term of previous legislative experience when they were sworn in last December.

Over on the Senate side, the picture was a little brighter. Two-thirds of its members had served at least two terms. Senate President Mark W. Lawrence was in his third term and had served two...