In Alabama, there are no term limits for members of the Alabama Legislature. There are also no term limits for the governor as long as no more than two terms are consecutive.
Gubernatorial candidate Lew Burdette said it was time for that to change in the Yellowhammer State.
Thursday on WVNN’s “The Yaffee Program,” Burdette discussed why he was pushing for term limits in the legislature.
“We’ve got to move our state forward,” he said, “and you get entrenched with money flowing in to Montgomery and it’s just got to stop. People have heard me talk about this all over the state that we got to stop the favors and the influence.”
The candidate then explained how many terms were enough for legislators in the state.
“I’m open,” he responded, “Is 12 years enough? Is 16 years enough? It just wasn’t meant to be a lifetime job. I’m in favor of 12 years. Twelve years in the Senate, 12 years in the House, and if you serve 12 years in the House and you can get elected to the Senate, then you can serve 12 years in the Senate. That’s 24 years! I mean, how long is enough to be a lifetime politician? It was supposed to be public service.”
Burdette reemphasized that term limits would be a way to limit the power of lobbyists in Montgomery.
“Special interests get their claws in everybody in Montgomery over time,” he argued, “and that’s why we never get anything done. People say ‘why are we at the bottom?’ It’s exactly that. All these special interests gets their claws in folk in Montgomery, and say, ‘Oh I can’t make this group mad. Oh I can’t make that person mad,’ and that’s why we never have change down there. That’s why we can’t move Alabama forward.”
He also continued to reinforce the idea that Alabama needed a true outsider to lead the state.
“We need tough folks that aren’t bought and paid for,” he continued. “That’s the way it was set up and designed to be, and so have smart people that will work to get things done and they don’t need to be down there for a lifetime.”
Burdette also posted his push for term limits on Twitter, saying, “As governor, I will fight to enact term limits so career politicians can no longer make a living out holding our state back.”
Alabama Needs Term Limits. As governor, I will fight to enact term limits so career politicians can no longer make a living out holding our state back.#LEWin22 #alpolitics #Alabama #BurdetteForGovernor #termlimits #reels #conservative pic.twitter.com/7afXfrmJft
— Lew Burdette for Governor (@VoteLEWin22) April 26, 2022
Yaffee is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” Weekdays 9-11am on WVNN. You can follow him on Twitter @Yaffee
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