Legislators say longer House terms save money, time

Mon, Feb 9 2009

Voters would be asked to extend legislators’ terms from two years to four years under a bill that nearly 60 members of the House co-sponsored last week.

The measure raises an issue in perennial discussion over the past decade, with backers saying less-frequent elections would mean less time spent raising money to run for office.

“It would take half the money out of it,” said Rep. Hugh Holliman, a Lexington Democrat and the House majority leader. “We start the session, spend our first year here, and then we spend the whole second year campaigning.”