York, PA - Nearly every year, you can count on at least two things from U.S. Rep. Todd Platts:
A handshake photo-op with the president during the state of the union address, and a proposed amendment limiting the terms of members of Congress.
The York Republican's support for forcing legislators from their seats after they've served a set number of years goes back to his days in Pennsylvania's state house of representatives. The annual Platts term-limit bill was part of his agenda, then, too, and was just as unsuccessful as later versions.
To Platts, term limits mean fairer elections. Entrenched incumbents can't use "obscene" amounts of political cache to squash challengers -- they're out before they can collect too much power. Opponents, however, say different reforms would accomplish what Platts wants without requiring the ouster of lawmakers with valuable experience.
Platts is serving his sixth term, which would be his last under the law he's advocating.
Will he seek a seventh?
Uh, probably.
"Without any unforeseen circumstances," Platts said, he plans to vie for Pennsylvania's 19th district again in 2012. Passage of his bill, which would amend the U.S. constitution to hold House members to six two-year terms and Senate members to two six-year terms, wouldn't preclude him from running again.
The bill wouldn't require members of Congress who have already served their limit to be cast from office. Instead, the terms starts the term after the amendment becomes law.
That accomplishes two things, Platts said. One, it makes the bill more attractive to members who otherwise would vote themselves out by voting for it.
Two, it levels the playing field for seniority purposes. The longer each member serves, the greater his or her standing in committees and subcommittees. By allowing the current regime to stay in place, Platts explains, the seniority structure will continue, allowing members to remain on their respective committees until their terms have expired.
Like every year, Platts' term limits bill is drawing little attention. The proposal always dies in committee. This year, it has no co-sponsors.
Sen. Robert Casey, D-Pa., believes term limits "should be up to the voters," said Larry Smar, his deputy chief of staff. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., could not be reached for comment.
Melvin Kulbicki, a York College professor of political science, said the idea of legislative term limits has become passe, and there is little interest in Washington. "The votes aren't there," he said.
Still, Platts isn't the lone voice on term limits. Other bills, including one forthcoming from South Carolina Republican Sen. Jim DeMint, call for giving each member of Congress an expiration date.
"The idea is to return a system of rotation in office that was envisioned by our founders," said Philip Blumel, president of U.S. Term Limits, a Fairfax, Va., advocacy group.
Fifty-six candidates for office in state and federal legislatures signed a pledge from Blumel's group in 2010 supporting amending the U.S. Constitution to create term limits in the Congress.
Legislators who support term limits say they want to eliminate incumbents' unfair advantage for reelection.
Incumbents often raise more money than their challengers, Platts said. Also, the job allows them to meet with constituents, giving them a built-in way of campaigning, giving them a head start over their challengers in many cases.
Kulbicki calls term limits a "gimmick." Problems like the ones Platts illustrates are better handled through campaign finance reform, changes to the election system and revamping how districts are mapped.
Term limits often have "unanticipated consequences," Kulbicki said. They limit the experience of lawmakers. When experienced lawmakers are replaced by newcomers, a power vacuum can result. As a result, sometimes non-elected bureaucrats and political appointees can become more powerful. That can mean the real power brokers in the government aren't the elected officials, but appointees who weren't elected to their positions.
Fifteen state legislatures limit the amount of time their legislators can serve. The last to ink such a law was Nebraska in 2000. Six states adopted term limits laws but later repealed them, most recently Wyoming in 2004. There, two lawmakers challenged the law as unconstitutional and the state supreme court agreed.
"I think there's a lot of regret" from states that enacted term limits laws, Kulbicki said.
Platts' bill
Section 1. No person who has been a Senator for two full consecutive terms shall again be a Senator until the date that is one year after the end of such second full consecutive term.
Section 2. No person who has been a Representative for six full consecutive terms shall again be a Representative until the date that is one year after the end of the sixth full consecutive term.
Section 3. For the purposes of this article, any term that began before the date of the ratification of this article shall not be included in determining the number of full consecutive terms that a person has been a Senator or Representative.
