Terms Limits, A Step in the Right Direction for Iowans

As the debate about term limits for Iowa’s lawmakers heats up, it is important to acknowledge the ways in which term limits promote a healthy democracy. House Joint Resolution 10, calls for a constitutional amendment limiting legislative service to a total of 16 consecutive years. This legislation if adopted, would promote a better way of governing. The effects of which would be getting rid of career politicians, which would result in less corruption and fresh ideas from citizen legislators.
There are more benefits than drawbacks for a state that institutes term limits. Term limits create a more meritorious legislative body and prevent the creation of a spoils system that favors seniority instead of good ideas. At the federal level voters only need to be reminded of the 22 term U.S. Congressman Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.) to see how corrupt a senior member of Congress can get, using political power to steer money to organizations named after him and use taxpayer resources to fundraise. Term limits help root out corruption like this by doing away with career politicians who develop close ties to special interests. Instituting term limits also enables power to be spread among more members of a legislative body and create a continuous crop of new legislators to bring new perspectives and ideas to the business of governing.

Voters also favor term limits. In a 2010 survey that Our Generation distributed to six million voters across the country, 96.4 of percent of respondents favored terms limits for members of the U.S. Congress. While Iowa’s House Joint Resolution 10 will not limit terms for their federal representatives, the results reflect a trend: voters across the country favor legislative bodies that support citizen legislators and not career politicians.

After the U.S. Constitution was drafted Thomas Jefferson was critical of what was left out of the document. When the document was silent on term limits for members of Congress, Jefferson warned, “the abandonment in every instance of the necessity of rotation in office." would create, "an officer for life.” Our founders never thought that a politicians getting elected to office meant that he or she had suddenly found a new career, which is the case today.

Iowa has a historic opportunity to adopt changes to its state constitution that promote a great way to create oversight over elected legislators. The Iowa General Assembly would be wise to pass legislation and adopt term limits for its members and join the 15 other states across the country whose term limits foster a better democratic process.