The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW), America's largest taxpayer watchdog group, today announced its support for a Missippi referendum this November to impose eight-year term limits on all state legislators.

Initiative Measure 9, as it will appear on the ballot, would amend the state constitution "to limit the number of consecutive terms a person can serve in the state legislature to no more than two terms in the House and two terms in the Senate."

"Our research has shown that legislators become more and more prone to pork-barrel spending the longer they are in office," said CCAGW President Thomas Schatz.  "Term limits is a simple and fundamental reform that will rein in some of the worst government waste.  The people of Mississippi would be wise to support Initiative Measure 9.  They'll be glad they did the next time they pay their taxes."

An analysis of the CCAGW's 1997 Congressional Ratings shows that term limits would help curb the wasteful spending tendencies of Congress.  CCAGW rated every member of Congress according to how they voted on issues that were important to taxpayers.  For the House, the ratings were based on 28 votes, and for the Senate, the ratings were based on 20 votes.  CCAGW found that members of the House who served six terms or less scored an average of 52.64 percent (out of 100 percent), while those who served for more than six terms scored only 39.84 percent.  CCAGW also found that members of the Senate who served two terms or less averaged 53.31 percent, while those who served more than two terms scored 44.24 percent.

CCAGW is a 600,000 member nonpartisan, nonprofit lobbying group dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse in government.