Ohio legislators beat term limits

Associated Press

CINCINNATI

Though voters put term limits on Ohio lawmakers nearly 20 years ago, a newspaper analysis has found that legislators from southwest Ohio rarely leave the political-government system.

Politicians can remain in government by switching between the Ohio House and Senate, running for a local office, finding another government job or becoming lobbyists to influence their former colleagues, The Cincinnati Enquirer reported.

The newspaper’s analysis found nearly every one of the 34 southwest Ohio lawmakers to face term limits sought or got other jobs in politics or government.

“The real politicians can beat the system,” said former Millville Republican state Rep. Shawn Webster. Webster served from 2001 to 2008 before he was term-limited out of Ohio’s House of Representatives. He returned to his Butler County veterinary practice.

State senators are limited to two four-year terms under Ohio law, while representatives can serve four two-year terms.

The Ohio term-limit law was part of a national trend by political conservatives to put an end to entrenched career lawmakers.

“Our goal was not to throw people out of public life,” David Zanotti said. He is the president and chief executive offer of conservative group The American Policy Roundtable. He was one of the leaders of Ohioans for Term Limits.

He said the goal was to give Ohioans more access to the Legislature because lawmakers facing term limits would be less interested in amassing power and more interested in helping constituents.

Critics of term limits argue that limiting how long someone can serve robs the Statehouse of experienced politicians, bipartisan spirit and a big-picture view.