29 Comments - South of Sherman - Monday, Aug 1, 16 @ 1:01 pm: You beat me to the punch, Rich. I hope someone will ask Durkin if he is stepping down immediately, since he has clearly outlived his usefulness and cannot possibly be a responsible and responsive representative of his district and the state, after having served well beyond an arbitrary and meaningless time limit. - Demoralized - Monday, Aug 1, 16 @ 1:04 pm: I’d respect elected officials who call for term limits a lot more if they would term limit themselves. - Oswego Willy - Monday, Aug 1, 16 @ 1:04 pm: All this is, for me… “Rauner wants what Rauner wants. Get. On. Board.” - Saluki - Monday, Aug 1, 16 @ 1:04 pm: Is this a Monty Python skit? - I wonder - Monday, Aug 1, 16 @ 1:07 pm: I agree. If he really believes in term limits then why doesn’t he resign instead of running for reelection. If a person really believes in term limits then why do they reelect office holders over and over again? Term limits seem to be for your person and not mine. - crazybleedingheart - Monday, Aug 1, 16 @ 1:11 pm: Hmm. So John Anthony’s seat might be in play. - Oswego Willy - Monday, Aug 1, 16 @ 1:13 pm: Lemme guess, the downstate event will have Congressman Shimkus introduce the state legislators? - AlfondoGonz - Monday, Aug 1, 16 @ 1:15 pm: Next up, Republican Rep. Avery Borne demands all appointed representatives must be at least 35 years old. - MOON - Monday, Aug 1, 16 @ 1:19 pm: If the roles were reversed and Durkin was Speaker for as long as Madigan would he hold the same position regarding term limits? The GOP is pushing term limits because they cannot match Madigan’s hard work and ability to win elections, therefore they need to change the rules. - Big Muddy - Monday, Aug 1, 16 @ 1:21 pm: I give Durkin a pass on this one. He was not in office Jan of 2003 to Jan of 2006. He stepped away and then came back. I would call that a healthy pause and I bet if most other legislators did this they would never come back. - illini - Monday, Aug 1, 16 @ 1:24 pm: Willy beat me to it!!!!! - anon123 - Monday, Aug 1, 16 @ 1:26 pm: For Durkin that is going to be a weird press conference. What’s he going to say? “look, I’ve been here way too long. I’m not even a real person anymore; just an artifice of special interests and party politics. I want to stop myself but I just can’t, and nobody can beat me. This bill is my way out. Please, please let me go.” - MOON - Monday, Aug 1, 16 @ 1:26 pm: BIG Durkin didn’t step away, he was sent to the “showers” as a result of his loss to Durbin for the US Senate seat. His 3 years absence was due to the fact he had to wait for an open seat he could run for. - Jake Brigance - Monday, Aug 1, 16 @ 1:27 pm: ==I would call that a healthy pause== Healthy pause my foot. He decided to run against Durbin for Senate in 2002 so he had to give up seat. When Lyons resigned he was right back. - Anonymous - Monday, Aug 1, 16 @ 1:30 pm: Muddy, he ran for US Senate, lost, moved to a new House district with a vacancy and returned to office as fast as he could. David Harris, ok, but Durkin? - Big Muddy - Monday, Aug 1, 16 @ 1:32 pm: To be fair I would give Hoffman the same pass. Regardless of why someone took a few years/terms off I look at that as a reset on tenure. - South of Sherman - Monday, Aug 1, 16 @ 1:35 pm: So a couple years off resets all of the evils that accumulate by serving for too long? MAGIC! - Michelle Flaherty - Monday, Aug 1, 16 @ 1:39 pm: Is Durkin going to announce his resignation? - Jay - Monday, Aug 1, 16 @ 1:48 pm: Jim Durkin has been in office 18 years and now all of a sudden he wants to call for term limits? How about term limiting yourself first and not be a hypocrite? The voters know how to term limit. E don’t need Rauners gimmicks. - Big Muddy - Monday, Aug 1, 16 @ 1:57 pm: As a reference point to Durkin: Madigan has been in since 1971 45 years Currie since 1979 37 years Lang since 1987 29 years Jimmy isn’t the problem. - Rabid - Monday, Aug 1, 16 @ 2:12 pm: Can he explain how him going away will balance the budget? - JS Mill - Monday, Aug 1, 16 @ 2:27 pm: =Jimmy isn’t the problem.= Is that what he told you at the family barbecue? - Annonin' - Monday, Aug 1, 16 @ 3:21 pm: And of course the shiny poster for term limits is right across the miississippi where several newbie leaders have been sent home for bangin’ more than their drums. - Sense of a Goose - Monday, Aug 1, 16 @ 4:02 pm: https://capitolfax.com/2014/06/27/this-just-in-283/ Pandering for pandering’s sake? Isn’t this part of the reason people hate politicians? Unconstitutional then, what has changed? - Shemp - Monday, Aug 1, 16 @ 4:40 pm: Oh come on. Why would one side give up all their institutional knowledge and seniority to the other side of the aisle? This isn’t difficult to understand. It’s not hard to understand supporting term-limits while being a well-tenured rep. - siriusly - Monday, Aug 1, 16 @ 5:37 pm: They are really talking about Madigan. What Rauner wants is Madigan. The issue is Madigan. They would have a lot more credibility with me if they just talked about limits for constitutional officers and legislative leadership posts - not for all members. Most voters willingly concede that it takes time to get stuff done and if you are constantly throwing your own legislators out - you can expect a lot more of nothing. Despite what The Raunerites say and some voters believe, we are lucky to have very smart, experienced and dedicated legislators in Springfield. If they want Madigan - make it about leadership. Getting rid of effective members for the sake of “change” does not help. It will likely make things worse and make new members more beholden to lobbyists and wealthy candidates for Governor. Things can get worse people, really they can. - Langhorne - Monday, Aug 1, 16 @ 10:27 pm: With all the real problems we have this is total poll driven bull. More influence of staff and lobbyists. Less institutional knowledge among legislators. Nah, dont talk about budget, social svs, higher ed. - HRC2016 - Tuesday, Aug 2, 16 @ 12:20 pm: The voters of each district can vote for a new representative every 2 years in the House and every 4 years in the Senate-that is what I call term limits. - Mad Brown - Tuesday, Aug 2, 16 @ 1:22 pm: Term limits are elections and as a little insurance, how about don’t run for office again. We don’t have to prescribe how long you serve, if you don’t like it don’t run. Or run now Jim, to the door. Start the commitment to term limits NOW. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.