South Dakota latest state to second-guess term limits

(CNN) -- As a volunteer activist and lobbyist in South Dakota in the early 1990s, William Napoli went door-to-door to collect signatures to establish term limits for elected officials.

"I wanted to get the old guys out of there and get some fresh blood in. I wanted term limits worse than anybody," said Napoli, the owner of an antique car museum in Rapid City.

The measure passed in 1992, and Napoli became one of its "beneficiaries" after he was elected to the House in 1994. He served the maximum of four two-year terms in the House before switching to the Senate in 2002.

Under South Dakota's term limits, he could seek re-election this year one last time, but he's not going to. On his way out, he is hoping to undo the term limits legacy by sponsoring a constitutional amendment to remove them.

"We've seen the results of term limits, and they have decimated the legislative process. They put too much power in the hands of the government, bureaucrats and lobbyists, and they've neutered the third branch," Napoli said.

Like many opponents of term limits, Napoli said they destroy the legislature's institutional memory by replacing experienced lawmakers with untested rookies.

The cost to the legislature is a shift of power to the executive branch, where members are appointed, not elected, and therefore, able to stick around longer and develop policy expertise, Napoli said.

"I've seen my legislative body turned into a circus, and I'm so sick of it. My heart is broken," Napoli said.

South Dakota is the latest state to have second thoughts about term limits, which 21 states established in the early 1990s amid frustration with state government. On November 4, South Dakotans will vote on a constitutional amendment to repeal term limits.

"The idea was that you would remove long-serving, entrenched members from state legislatures who might not be doing the best job for their constituents," said Jennie Bowser, a senior elections analyst for the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Most of the initiatives passed by a strong majority in the 21 states, but it didn't take long for opposing forces to take root. Since then, six states have done away with term limits.

In Massachusetts, Oregon, Wyoming and Washington, the state Supreme Courts repealed them based on technicalities related to the way they were instituted.

In Idaho and Utah, where term limits fall under state law, the legislatures repealed them.

The public response to efforts to revive term limits in those states also yielded surprises. In 2006, voters in Oregon rejected a citizen initiative to bring them back. In Idaho, voters also backed the legislative repeal.

In 2008, six bills have been introduced in state legislatures to repeal term limits and 11 bills introduced to extend them. In 2007, eight bills were introduced to repeal them and 15 to extend them. Watch a roundup of state ballot initiatives this year »

Most recently, on the municipal level, the New York City Council voted to extend term limits for its elected officials, making it possible for Mayor Michael Bloomberg, now in his second term, to run again next year.

The decision sparked lawsuits from several groups, including members of the council and teachers' unions. The public outcry was not as resounding, despite polls showing that 51 percent of New Yorkers opposed extending term limits.

Eighty-nine percent of New Yorkers said they thought the decision should go before voters, a measure that the City Council rejected.

"We live in a democracy, that's the bottom line. The voters should decide," said Luke Crisalli, a freelance photographer from Staten Island.

Several states have attempted to address the competing interests of term limits in a similar fashion.

In recent years, Bowser said, four states -- Arkansas, Maine, Montana and California -- put term-limit extensions to ballot tests. In each case, voters rejected them.

"It seems like there is some disconnect between the voters and legislatures in terms of knowing what their legislators are doing down there in the Capitol," Bowser said. "Most people believe that my legislator is a good guy, and he or she does a good job for me, but the rest of them are a bunch of lazy of bums, and we need to throw them out."

Bowser said her organization attempts to help legislatures adjust to term limits by promoting rigorous training, ongoing mentorship and state-of-the-art record keeping so that members of the old guard pass on their knowledge to incoming lawmakers.

"Turnover is not the problem. There's always been turnover in the legislature. What's different is that before term limits, you always had a handful of people who stuck around for a long time and got to know the rules and procedures," Bowser said.

"These people became the heart of the legislature, the glue that held it together, and term limits remove that.

"But it's our position to help legislatures learn to live with the changes," Bowser said.

In South Dakota, efforts to maintain term limits are being waged with equal passion. Lee Breard, spokesman for Don't Touch Term Limits, the ballot committee opposing the repeal, said he doesn't buy Napoli's claims.

He argues that incoming legislators are educated people who are capable of getting up to speed if they have adequate leadership to help them transition.

"The limits encourage fresh perspectives and force a government that's representative of the people by bringing in new legislators every eight years to represent changing demographics," Breard said.

"Our country was founded on the principle of a citizen government. We're not meant to have career politicians. You're meant to go into public office, work as hard as you can to create fair laws and then return to public life to live under the laws you created."

All About South Dakota • Michael Bloomberg