By John Lindstrom
Publisher
Posted: July 24, 2019 3:48 PM

It is hardly a headline that the old leave us. It is the nature of life after all. When they do go, we remember what they accomplished and the wise among us regret what we may have yet learned from them.

In recent weeks, several former senior legislators have died, and their loss has raised the question of what in fact we have lost. Further, it goes to a question of how, especially under term limits, lawmakers and policymakers in the state find a way to recover and make good use of the value those former lawmakers and officials could provide.

Among the complaints term limits opponents have made is that our system, in place since 1992, hurts the ability of lawmakers to develop experience and build relationships.

But since the deaths recently of former Sens. Billy Sunday Huffman and Gary Corbin (and though he was not an elected official, I would add Bob Berg because of his positions with both former Governor William Milliken and Detroit Mayor Coleman Young), a number of people have complained that term limits has limited something else.

That is mentorship, the ability of former leaders, legislators, officials to provide newer and generally younger legislators and officials with insight, advice and counsel based on their experience, their victories and defeats.

Talk to former legislators, and those who served from the 1970s to the 1990s will tell you how Democrats and Republicans together would meet casually and almost always have the senior legislators talk about how issues were handled in previous sessions, how they assessed and dealt with problems, what they wished they had done differently, and how solutions had worked or hadn't. Every person who talks of those times says how incredibly valuable those sessions were, how those sessions helped them understand the background of issues, who had the best knowledge on the issues, specific legal and administrative booby traps to watch for, constituencies that needed to be consulted, how to work with the other side, and how, generally, to do the best job they could for their constituents.

The lifetime limits on legislative and state office service plays a major role in limiting the ability for mentorships. Pat Anderson, a principal author and supporter of term limits, has said now that the full effect of term limits has been realized – in other words, that no lawmakers in office prior to term limits taking effect are still in office – a reasonable change could be to alter the lifetime limits, so long as that amendment does not block the ability of newer people to serve.

Short of that, lawmakers and officials could take steps on their own to encourage current officials to meet with former officials to draw on their experience and knowledge. House Speaker Lee Chatfield (R-Levering) did this in a way when he invited the former speakers to come together before he took the post. Doing so more often, in – as much as this reporter hates to suggest it – off the record lunches or events to discuss specific pending issues, could be encouraged.

True, all the best advice in the world won't stop someone from making the worst mistakes in the world, but that lies on the person acting not the advisor. Right now, the state seems stuck on a few issues. Would it hurt to have folks who have figured how to get unstuck to make suggestions?