You realize you're a veteran of the legislative process when you can remember when the Democrats held the majority in the House and Senate and the use of a computer system to track bills was still in its infancy. It was also the beginning of term limits that restricted lawmakers to just eight years of service. Overwhelmingly approved by the state's voters, the prevailing theory behind the constitutional amendment was that term limits would end the careers of professional politicians who spent years gathering political power in one's hand and then put it to use in their own way. Instead, the amendment was designed to bring the voice of the common man and woman to Tallahassee, ala Frank Capra's “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.”

At the time no one could speculate with any certainty how the dynamic of term limits would play itself out. At best there was the old adage that power abhors a vacuum and therefore legislative staff and industry lobbyists would quickly gather up the available political power since they would possess the institutional knowledge lacking among the newly elected officials. But strangely enough, the legislature of the last several years has not followed any of those paths. Yes, there are still times when the state's voters pull the lever for an old-school pol whose votes in the legislature seem to consistently come when another vote is needed to guarantee a project in his jurisdiction. But to a certain degree, even this type of horse-trading has brought a measure of rationality to what can be the most irrational of processes.

The reason for the change in the legislature over the last decade has several sources. Number one, instead of term limits being viewed as a negative influence on the legislative process, many think the limits rein in a considerable amount of ambition, which would have been used to gain this-or-that committee chair. Likewise, term limits make lawmakers less indebted to some special industry group or large employer within the lawmaker's district who otherwise would have to be coddled to ensure there is enough money for the next re-election campaign.