Abstract
Term limits have existed in California for almost twenty years and during that time, many political scientists have researched the topic. However, very little research exists on the subtopic of term limits and legislative staff. In an era of term limits it is important to see if term limits have caused positive or negative impacts to legislative staff and what implications that might have for policy and process. For this research I conducted original in-person interviews with legislative staffers, supplemented by an on-line survey. Though this exploration may not be conclusive, it is one of the first attempts to analyze term limits through the lens of staff experience. I find that the California Legislature has been negatively impacted by term limits. Legislative staff are turning over at a faster rate than during the era of pre-term limits. Staff are less experienced and have become overly reliant on lobbyists.