At least 2 Lexington County lawmakers favor Statehouse term limits.

Rep. Mac Toole of West Columbia favors term limits.

Sen. Dick Harpootlian who represents Irmo favors limits if it does not give bureaucrats more power than elected officials have.

Harpootlian said state lawmakers have no staff to help with complex bills unless they chair committees.

Without that, he fears state bureaucrats and lobbyists would have an advantage over lawmakers.

“I’m not talking about someone to go for coffee but someone who can do research,” he said.

“At my own expense I hired Chris Sheflton who has a masters in public administration from Vanderbilt to help figure out issues.”

Without staff, he said, the professional bureaucrats are going to have more power than the elected officials.

The term limits issue resurfaced when 1st-term Republican state Sen. Richard Cash of Anderson filed a bill S. 944 to let voters change the state Constitution to allow lawmaker term limits.

66% of the House and Senate have to approve.

“The longer legislators are in Columbia, the harder it becomes to unseat them,” Cash told The State.

Earlier term limit bills have failed to pass.

“It’s always debated,” said Senate President Harvey Peeler, a 39-year veteran. “As someone who has been re-elected as many times as I have, I think I’ve served my constituents well and it’s shown at the ballot box.”

Rep. Chip Huggins of Irmo said he agrees with Peeler.

“Our constituents in each House district have the opportunity to term limit us by not electing us if we are not serving them,” he said.

Sen. Katrina Shealy of Lexington said Cash’s bill is confusing because it does not list actual term limits for the House or Senate.

Rep. Chris Wooten of Lexington said, “It takes an incredible amount of knowledge and relationships to get any task completed. Limiting terms may not be as smart as one thinks.

“Take the speaker of the House. Trying to keep order in the body while knowing the rules of order and proper protocol comes only with years of experience.

“Term limits are truly at the ballot box and I feel that we should concentrate on getting more people to realize how incredibly important it is to exercise your right to control who is in these positions. I am not a huge fan of people staying in an elected position for 40 years, but on the other hand, isn’t that up to us to decide every 2 or 4 years?”

Sen. Cash said his bill would not force out lawmakers but start the clock when term limits begin.

The governor is limited to 8 years. Cash wants to limit senators and House members to 12 years.

According to The State’s analysis, senators’ median tenure is 12 years and House members’ is 7 years.