Pointing to an increasingly dysfunctional Capitol and the enormous influence of lobbyists over the legislative process, a bipartisan duo of lawmakers have filed measures to allow voters to decide if Florida's 23-year-old term limits for state legislators should be loosened.
The joint resolutions, by Sen. Rene Garcia (R-Hialeah) and Rep. Mark Pafford (D-West Palm Beach), would place a proposed amendment on the November 2016 ballot to lengthen term limits for state representatives and senators to 12 consecutive years, from the current eight-year limit.
"I get it, how people feel about elected officials and politicians, especially with what's happening in Tallahassee and some of the dysfunction you see here and in Washington, D.C.," Garcia said, referring to recent legislative meltdowns over redistricting and the budget. "But, the reality is if you had members with a little bit more knowledge and experience, I think you may see a different temperament amongst both chambers."
In addition to fostering closer relationships among legislators, term limit reform advocates say having more experienced lawmakers in Tallahassee could diminish the power of lobbyists. Popularly known around the halls of power as the 'Gucci loafing' crowd, the Capitol's lobby corps has grown in influence in recent years, with some lobbyists writing bills for less seasoned legislators.
When term limits were overwhelmingly approved by Florida voters in 1992, supporters argued special interests would have less swagger in Tallahassee, not more, because lobbyists wouldn't have the deep personal relationships with veteran lawmakers they'd always enjoyed.
For all the power of today's lobbyists, however, Rep. Richard Corcoran (R-Lutz) believes lobbyists exerted significantly more sway with legislators in the years before term limits were enacted.
"They would be in each others' weddings, they would go to their children's bar mitzvahs, whatever, I mean, they were like, that symbiotic relationship," Corcoran said. "And what term limits did is it broke all those relationships. Now, a new guy like me who gets elected, and I never would have gotten elected but for term limits, but I get elected, I don't have any of those relationships with those guys."