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The best example was Proposition 140 in 1990, which made California one of the first three states to adopt term limits for legislators. Fifteen states now have these in some form, but California’s are among the strictest: six years in the assembly and eight years in the Senate. At a casual glance on a ballot paper, term limits might seem like a great idea. If legislators can’t be trusted, why let them get entrenched? Fixed terms might bring in fresh faces.
In practice, however, term limits too have had unintended consequences. First, they banish expertise from the capitol on a regular basis. In the days when William Muir praised California’s “school for politics”, new lawmakers often spent years learning their trade in various committees before becoming leaders of their party or chamber. They had well-paid permanent staff who researched the various policy areas.
Such learning has become impossible. In every election cycle, at least ten senators and 27 assembly members are termed out. So term limits, says Ms Bass (who was termed out last year and is now a national representative in Washington, DC), really mean that “the first two years you’re trying to figure out where the bathroom is, the last two years you’re running for something else. That leaves two years in the middle.”

A. 어휘
term limits 임기제한. legislators 議員(의원). strict 엄격한.
assembly 州 의회 하원. casual 무심결의, 우연한.
glance 一見(일견). entrench 정착시키다, 참호를 구축하다.
unintended consequences 의도하지 않았던 결과. banish 추방하다.
expertise 전문기술, 전문지식. capitol 議事堂(의사당).
trade 業務(업무). chamber 상하 兩院(양원) 중 한 쪽.
permanent staff 상임직원(참모). national representative 국회의원.
figure out 이해하다, 계산하다.