Two Boise Cascade Corp. employees launched Citizens For Political Reform and a new initiative campaign Tuesday to impose limits on the service of Idahoans in Congress.
"We've seen things happening in the government, and we want to see some change," Vernon Banks said as he and co-worker Roland Smith submitted their initiative to the secretary of state's office for certification.It will be reviewed by the attorney general's office in the next few weeks before being returned for modification or circulation. The proposition needs nearly 32,000 signatures of registered voters to gain a spot on the 1992 general election ballot.
The announcement came as voters in Washington were deciding the fate of the toughest term limitation measure yet considered by a state. If passed, it would force all seven House members of the state congressional delegation, including House Speaker Tom Foley, to retire after only one more term.
Smith, who was the unsuccessful 1990 Republican challenger to Democratic state Sen. Karl Brooks of Boise, said the limits of four consecutive two-year terms in the House of Representatives and two consecutive six-year terms in the Senate would end careerism in politics, restore competition, reduce government spending, force legislative action on critical issues and lead to national political reform.
But Banks, who labeled himself a political independent with no elective political experience, acknowledged that while voters in Idaho appear to be frustrated with what they see happening in the federal government, nothing that has occurred in state politics specifically prompted the initiative.
"Idaho is part of the country," he said. "You have to start somewhere."
In fact, during Idaho's 101 years of statehood, only four senators and seven representatives have served longer than the limitations allowed in the initiative. The senators were Republicans William Borah, Henry Dworshak and James McClure and Democrat Frank Church. The representatives were Republicans Burton French, Addison Smith, Hamer Budge, George Hansen and Larry Craig, who is now serving in the U.S. Senate, and Democrats Compton White and Gracie Pfost.
But they cited a public opinion poll conducted last March that showed 67 percent of those surveyed statewide supported term limits for congressional service and for service as a statewide elected official.