Spence, What is your Platform? Part 4: Sunset Clauses & Term Limits

Continuing with discussing issues which I feel are important, today we will discuss Sunset Clauses and Term Limits, which are the same thing but focusing on different areas.

Sunset Clauses date back to the Roman Republic, when Senators would issue a mandate for certain items. These mandates were restricted to a specific length of time, so that the Senate would be forced to review it for validity in the future.

Sunsetting has a long history in politics, and is used frequently within our own system of government. The Patriot Act, for example, had numerous sunset clauses for things such as wiretapping and voicemail evidence collection.

The Texas Constitution utilizes sunsetting on a continuous basis. Starting in 1977, Texas established a Sunset Advisory Commission which has the duty to review almost all State agencies, departments, and programs. The Commission is made up of representatives from the House and Senate, as well as a few members of the public for a fair and balanced evaluation of need.

This system helps to eliminate wasteful agencies, and helps to curb 'big government'. Now, imagine coupling this Commission with a Zero Based Budget, and a temporary hiring freeze, and imagine the efficiency that would be created!

Sunset clauses inserted in certain laws/statutes are extremely wise. Revenue bills, licensing requirement statutes, and laws involving non-violent crimes should be reviewed periodically or automatically sunset at certain periods to reduce the oppressive hand of government on its citizenry.

I would push for strict adherence to sunset provisions and look to work with the Sunset Advisory Commission to help shrink our state government to the appropriate, efficient size.

TERM LIMITS

There are legitimate arguments both for and against term limits on any level of government. Some folks say that we need to refresh the pool of Congresspersons every x amount of years, while others state that in doing so we are stripping our government of some of the wisest lawmakers and thus handicapping ourselves.

Fresh ideas via fresh faces in government (whether local, state, or federal) is always a good idea, provided the term limits imposed are not ridiculous. Some folks believe that politicians should only serve one term; others state that 6 years is plenty. On a federal level, I would say that 6 year stints for the Congress (that is both the House and the Senate) is a fair term. 6 years is plenty of time to accomplish the goals needed by the citizenry.

Furthermore, I would say that these are only blocks for consecutive terms, not lifetime limits. Let me use an example:

Joe Smith runs for State Senate, and wins. He serves 6 years in that body. At the end of that term, he runs for the House of Representatives, and wins. After serving 2 terms there (4 years), he decides to run for the Senate, and serves a 6 year term there. He finishes out his 'political career' by returning to his home state to serve out a final 2 years as a State Representative.

Essentially, our example above was a 'career politician', but he did not park himself in a seat for 20+ years as lord and master over a select few Committees...and thus would not have enough time in each body to have any special interests/lobbyists sink their claws into him (creating that co-dependent relationship we see festering in our system today).

Think about the benefits of this system; serving in multiple bodies gives this legislator a tremendous exposure to different needs, duties, and requirements. He can now see the 'wide angle view' of serving one's constituents, and would (in theory, at least) be better prepared for each successive position.

So, I believe in modified term limits that allow the 'wise' to stick around and still serve the government, but placing realistic limits that act like a thumbtack on the seat of power...uncomfortable, to be sure, but prodding just enough to remind you that while you do your job, that term limit is still there.

I would love to sit down with the citizens of my District that believe in strict term limits and hear out their reasoning, suggestions, and concerns. If elected to the State Legislature, I would do my best to make sure sunset clauses and appropriate term limits are introduced and carried forth.