MUSICAL CHAIRS IN CAPITAL MANY POLITICIANS JUST TRADE SEATS IN TERM-LIMITS GAME.

Byline: HARRISON SHEPPARD Sacramento Bureau

California's Legislature faces the highest turnover in at least a decade this November, about 40 percent, as more than one-third of lawmakers are being forced out by term limits and others plan to leave.

The number could soar even higher if some incumbents are unseated, resulting in a Legislature that will be one of the least experienced in years.

``The Legislature that meets in December will have over one-third of its members having never served a day in state government,'' said Tim Hodson, director of the Center for California Studies at California State University, Sacramento.

``Therefore, no matter how good they are, they do not have the knowledge, the experience, that's needed to be able to tell the good bill proposals from the lousy bill proposals.''

Twelve out of 40 members are being termed out this year in the Senate and 29 out of 80 in the Assembly. That is the highest figure since voters enacted term limits in 1990.

Additionally, some members are leaving before they are forced out in order to run for other offices.

While some lawmakers are swapping legislative houses, analysts said loss of experience in the Legislature will leave those with institutional memory in Sacramento -- namely lobbyists and bureaucrats -- with more influence than ever.

``Committee chairs turn over so quickly that you don't have time to develop the same expertise as the bureaucrats sitting across from you at a budget hearing,'' said Hodson.

Based on projections of current races, the demographics of the Legislature also are expected to change. There could be more African-American members, for instance, potentially making the Legislative Black Caucus the largest in its history.

The caucus currently has six members, all from Los Angeles County. But the three to five new members could hail from the Bay Area, the Inland Empire and San Diego. Such growth would make it larger than the caucuses for Asian and gay legislators.

``Just at the point that pundits were suggesting that African-American political influence was waning, here we have a scenario where it is increasing some 50 percent in the state Legislature,'' said Assemblyman Mark Ridley-Thomas, D-Los Angeles, a member of the Black Caucus.

``In a worst-case scenario, there will be as many African-Americans in the Legislature as there have been in history, and potentially more.''

The Legislature, meanwhile, is expected to lose one or two women members.

Overall, 17 women are leaving the Legislature, although most are expected to be replaced, either by women from the same districts or in seats now held by men.

There are currently 25 women in the Assembly and 12 in the Senate.

Still, Assemblywoman Patty Berg, D-Santa Rosa, the incoming leader of the women's caucus, said the Legislature still feels like a ``good-old-boys network.''

She noted that there are no female statewide officers and only one woman running for major statewide office in November: Sen. Debra Bowen, D-Redondo Beach, who is seeking California's secretary of state post.

``My feeling is we have to get more women not only registered to vote but voting -- and more women in elected office,'' Berg said.

``My hope is with the women's legislative caucus next year, we develop the first legislative platform for the women's caucus in history that will focus on working families and specifically target working moms, which is a group that is terribly discriminated against.''

Voters enacted term limits in 1990, with supporters arguing that it would increase the diversity of officeholders in Sacramento and reduce the corrupting influence of those who have held power for decades.

But some critics now maintain it has resulted in a less knowledgable Legislature.

And a side effect has become a game of musical chairs played by legislators who are forced out of one office -- and then simply seek another.

There are about 10 Assembly members running for Senate, and two senators are running for Assembly in November.

State lawmakers this year had worked toward a deal to place a measure on the November ballot to ease term limits.

One suggestion was to combine the limits for both houses, so that rather than have three two-year terms in the Assembly and two four-year terms in the Senate, a lawmaker could serve 12 years in any combination.

That would stabilize the movement between Assembly and Senate and allow some expertise to develop in each house, supporters said.

A deal was not struck but the effort could be resumed in the next session.

Sacramento's most experienced legislator, Assemblyman Mervyn Dymally, D-Compton, said term limits have resulted in a Legislature that feels much more partisan than it was decades ago.

Dymally served in the Assembly and Senate in the 1960s, then was lieutenant governor and a congressman before returning to the Legislature in 2002.

In the past, he said, he could have ideological differences with conservative legislators and lobbyists, but still end up having a pleasant dinner with them at the end of the day.

Now, he said, legislators are focused on partisan differences and on angling for their next job.

``As soon as they arrive, they begin looking at what office they can run for,'' Dymally said. ``They are influenced by that mission.''

harrison.sheppard(at)dailynews.com

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SOURCE: National Conference of State Legislatures 

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