Committee shelves term limits for state legislators

From the Alamogordo Daily News - SANTA FE -- By Milan Simonich Texas-New Mexico Newspapers - A proposal to limit state legislators to 12 years in office failed Tuesday in a committee of the House of Representatives. Members of the Voters and Elections Committee voted 6-5 to block the proposal by Rep. Dennis Kintigh, R-Roswell. Every Republican voted to keep the Kintigh's resolution alive, and every Democrat voted to block it. But the issue was not so simple as that. Rep. Thomas Anderson, R-Albuquerque, actually agreed with the Democrats. He said he opposed term limits because that system would give more power to lobbyists and legislative staff members. Anderson told of one of his bills being changed, without his knowledge, by a legislative staff member. The bill failed, but Anderson said he was upset that an employee meddled with a proposed law. That experience, he said, taught him that unelected people could seize power if term limits were enacted. Even so, Anderson voted with the unsuccessful minority in trying to keep Kintigh's proposal alive. Anderson said term limits deserved more discussion than a hearing in a single committee. Read more

Committee shelves term limits for state legislators