COMING TO TERMS: CLOCK TICKING ON TERM LIMIT

The clock is ticking for Missouri state lawmakers who will be shown the door when term limits hit the General Assembly with full force in 2002.

Voters approved a constitutional amendment in November 1992, that limits state lawmakers to eight years or four terms in the House and eight years or two terms in the Senate.

But the constitutional amendment didn't take effect until 30 days after the election. So the terms of lawmakers elected in November 1992, such as state Sen. Peter Kinder, R-Cape Girardeau, didn't count toward the limit.

Kinder was re-elected last November and could run again in 2000 for a third and final term.

"We are the last group to do it," said Kinder, who supports term limits.

For House members, who are elected every two years, the term-limits clock started ticking in 1994. That was also true for half of the state Senate.

Senators from odd-numbered districts are elected in presidential election years; senators from even-numbered districts are chosen in the off-year elections.

Some lawmakers view term limits as a ticking time bomb.

State Sen. Danny Staples, D-Eminence, said term limits could result in the election of 140 new lawmakers to the 163-member Missouri House in 2002.

The 34-member Senate can expect a 50 percent turnover.

That doesn't happen today. Staples estimated turnover is about 35 legislators in the House every two years.

Last November, two new members were elected to the Senate.

"When term limits kick in, the most powerful people in government -- even more powerful than the governor of the state of Missouri -- will be the special-interest groups," he said.

Staples said there are some 300 professional lobbyists who walk the halls of the State Capitol every day.

There are no term limits for lobbyists. "They know every angle. They know every in. They know every out, and they will be running your government," said Staples.

Directors of state agencies and departments will wield more power because there won't be any longtime lawmakers around to balance it out, he said.

Sen. Bill McKenna, D-Barnhart, also worries about the balance of power.

"I don't want the bureaucracy to run this state," McKenna told reporters last month. McKenna heads the Senate as president pro tem.

McKenna will be the first senator directly affected by term limits. He was elected in a special election in 1993 to fill an unexpired term. He was elected to a full term in 1994. The term ends in 1998.

He won't be able to serve another four-year term after that because he would end up exceeding the eight-year limit, said Mark Hughes, Senate communications director.

Hughes doesn't like term limits. "It takes away voter accountability as a prerequisite for holding your office," he said.

Staples said that with term limits senators would spend the first four years learning the legislative ropes and the last four years serving as lame ducks.

Staples would prefer to scrap term limits entirely. But he said, "I don't think there is a chinaman's chance that voters will repeal term limits."

So Staples is considering introducing legislation next year to change legislative term limits from eight years to 12 years.

The measure also might include phased-in salary increases for lawmakers up to a cap of $35,000 or $40,000.

Any change in term limits would require voters to approve a constitutional amendment.

At 62, Staples said he isn't looking to his own future, but that of the legislature.

Under the current limit, Staples could run again in 1998. But he said he hasn't decided if he will run one final time.

Staples has served in the House and Senate for 21 years combined. He has been in the Senate for 15 years and ranks eighth in seniority.

Rep. David Schwab, R-Jackson, has served in the House since 1988. He said the impact of term limits already is felt in the House where younger members don't want to wait for years for good committee assignments. But Schwab said, "I have no problems with term limits."

Rep. Mary Kasten, R-Cape Girardeau, has mixed emotions about term limits. Kasten has served in the House since 1982.

She said there is a danger that bureaucrats will run the show in the absence of veteran lawmakers. Seniority counts in the legislature, she said. "It takes a long time to learn the system and how to be effective."

But she said term limits also would bring in new people with new ideas.

"It keeps it from becoming a career," Kasten said. It also keeps the reins on unscrupulous lawmakers because it prevents them from building power bases, she said.

Regardless of term limits, Kasten said the key to good government is to elect good people.