08:26 PM CDT on Monday, June 5, 2006

Associated Press

BATON ROUGE -- One lawmaker from Shreveport and another from Baton Rouge would have the chance to sidestep voter-imposed term limits and run for a fourth term in the Legislature, under changes made to a bill in the Senate on Monday.

The elections bill with a convoluted history won passage in the Senate after an alteration affecting the basic question of when a lawmaker really takes office. That change could affect whether Sen. Cleo Fields, D-Baton Rouge, and Rep. Wayne Waddell, R-Shreveport, are term-limited in 2008.

The measure originally would have allowed Fields and Waddell to run again. Then a Senate committee changed a provision to prevent the two from running again. But the full Senate approved an amendment that would change it back to its original form.

The House must approve the changes, otherwise Fields and Waddell would be prevented from running for re-election. It would also need approval from Gov. Kathleen Blanco.

The bill, by Rep. Peppi Bruneau, R-New Orleans, was designed to make technical changes to elections laws. It would have defined the start of a lawmaker's term as when he or she takes the oath of office in the House or Senate, rather than when the Secretary of State's Office finalizes the election returns and the new lawmaker files an oath of office with the Secretary of State.

In other words, the term-limit clock could start ticking much later than when a person is elected if a legislative session is months away.

The Louisiana Constitution limits legislators to three consecutive, four-year terms. Lawmakers elected to fill an unexpired term are considered term-limited if they have served 10 years or more of the 12-year limit.

The distinction determines whether Waddell and Fields would be eligible for another term because both were elected in special midterm elections.

Bruneau has said he didn't introduce the term limit provision in the bill to help any person seek another term. He said he believes lawmakers are not officially in office until they are sworn in before the body with which they will serve, a ceremony in which the chamber deems the new lawmaker suitable to serve.

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House Bill 909 can be found at www.legis.state.la.us

(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)