[Update: (3:40 p.m.) – I just got off of the phone with Paul Jacob — and he is definately committed to fighting any effort to loosen term limits. You can hear the resolve in his voice. – Flash]
I have said before that I think it is very unlikely that any ballot measure would pass muster with the California to loosen term-limits for State Legislators. Unlikely, in my opinion, shifts to down-right impossible if that measure is not only placed on the ballot BY legislators, but also EXTENDS THE TERMS of current members of the legislature. That will appear so self-serving to the public that it might eclipse the debate completely.
Well, the ante has just been upped considerably for legislators thinking about noodling with the voter-imposed limits — today in Sacramento, U.S. Term Limits President Paul Jacob (pictured to the left) made it clear that if legislators move forward with an effort to weaken term limits, U.S. Term Limits will move forward with a ballot measure that will both restrict the amount of tax-free per dium that legislators can collect, and will also require any future salary-adjustments from the ‘independent’ commission that adjusts legislative pay to go before a vote of the public.
Needless to say, Jacob’s’ warning to legislators will hit deaf ears when it comes to the termed-out legislators — they have nothing to lose as they will be out of office come this December. But this kind of ‘offensive maneuver’ by Jacobs could have an impact on Freshman and Sophomore members of the legislature.
We’ll see how this plays out. You can read more thoughts from Jacob’s in a piece he penned for the FlashReport here.
Shane Goldmacher penned a piece for Capitol Weekly today on Jacob’s line in the sand:
By Shane Goldmacher, Capitol Weekly
A leading figure in the national term-limits movement arrived in Sacramento Monday to head off the ongoing discussion to alter legislative terms. U.S. Term Limits President Paul Jacob said if the Legislature tries to tweak the current term-limits law, his group will fund an initiative that would eliminate legislators’ tax-free, $153-per-day stipend, and force any future legislative pay to be approved by a popular vote.
"If they mess around with term limits, we will be much more inclined to say we need to go on offense," said Jacob. "The public has made up their mind but we continue to get legislators who ignore the public and decided they are going to do what’s best for their careers."
U.S. Term Limits has spent millions on initiative campaigns across the country for more than a decade. In 2002, when then-Senate President Pro Tem John Burton, D-San Francisco, qualified a term-limits extension for the California ballot, Americans for Limited Terms, a sister organization, poured $1 million to defeat the measure.
"We will fight any effort to hoodwink the voters and mess around with term limits," says Jacob, who works closely with Howard Rich, a New York developer and driving force behind Proposition 90, an eminent-domain measure on the November ballot.
A draft of the per-diem initiative has already been submitted to the attorney general’s office, where it is awaiting an official ballot title and summary. The measure would require any future pay increases granted by the California Citizens Compensation Commission be approved by a popular vote. It would also stipulate that legislators receive a housing allowance–not to "exceed the median monthly rental cost" for a single family–in lieu of the current per-diem system.
Read the rest of the piece here.
August 7th, 2006 at 12:00 am
I would not want to be standing on the tracks staring at the Paul Jacob/Term Limit freight train barrelling down upon me.
I am not sure if this thing was ever going to get off the ground, but if this announcement by Jacob didn’t put the nail in the coffin, the legislature is going to rue the day they tangled with him.
Assuming the legislature doesn’t try to push the envelope, I wouldn’t mind seeing Jacob go ahead and carry out this punitive measure just to send a message for even having the audacity to contemplate such a move.
August 8th, 2006 at 12:00 am
I worked for the campaign of a Congressman who had reconsidered his earlier voluntary
pledge to serve just three 2-year terms. Paul Jacob and his group were all over that
race, making it a significant issue. We eventually won anyway, but Mr. Jacob made
the Congressman’s political life much more complicated.