Missouri lawmakers seek term limits for all

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Calling it an oversight in Missouri government's current term limit requirements, a pair of state senators offered up legislation that would impose term limits on all statewide elected officials.

Currently, members of the state legislature can serve only eight years in either chamber, which means no one can serve longer than 16 years in total.

Similar rules apply to the governor and treasurer, who can only serve a maximum of two four-year terms. But proposals from Sens. Brad Lager and Jason Crowell would extend the rules to the lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state and auditor. Lager is running as a Republican candidate for lieutenant governor in 2012.

"I believe our founding fathers and the citizens of our state actually envisioned and get best government whenever we don't have life-long people [in the capitol]," Lager said while testifying before the Senate elections committee Monday.

But Crowell told the committee it shouldn't matter whether they support term limits in principle. He said it was about fairness in implementing the term limit rules that already exist and which were approved by voters.

Only one witness testified on the legislation, with a spokesman from the Eastern Missouri ACLU signaling his organization's opposition to any term limits.

The elections committee is expected to vote on this issue in two weeks, but the legislation would have to be approved by Missouri voters before it could take effect.