Former lawmakers are challenging Michigan’s term limits law, claiming it makes state government ineffective and prevents knowledgable politicians from holding office.

Five Democrats and three Republicans, all but one of whom is precluded from running again, filed the complaint in the U.S. District Court Western District in Grand Rapids Wednesday morning. It seeks a court order to throw out a 1992 term limit law voters added to the Michigan Constitution through a ballot initiative.

Lead attorney and former Michigan Solicitor General John Bursch said plaintiffs are not opposed to some cap on how long politicians can hold office but believe the current term limits are too strict. State representatives are restrained to three, two-year terms and state senators to two, four-year terms.

The lawsuit does not apply to limits set on the governor’s office.

Proponents of term limits claim the measures protect the public from entrenched politicians, reduces the emphasis on reelection efforts and opens the door for diverse candidates from various backgrounds.

Plaintiffs argue term limits instead produced a stream of inexperienced lawmakers who rely on lobbyists and partisans to craft legislation. Michigan’s term limits created a less professional, less organized and less competent Legislature, they argued in the lawsuit.

“In short, term limits have proved a failed social experiment,” plaintiffs stated in court documents.

The legal action comes soon after Voters Not Politicians, Republican legislative leaders and the Michigan Chamber of Commerce announced they are considering putting the question to voters through a ballot initiative.

The lawsuit is not meant to circumvent the will of voters, Bursch said. However, he claimed a ballot initiative “would almost certainly be defeated" due to the influence of out-of-state spending.

“We don’t see these as mutually exclusive routes, we see these as parallel routes,” Bursch said. “Just based on the polling and the amount of money that the other side spent back when this was passed in the early 90s, we think that it’s going to be very difficult for a ballot initiative to pass.”

Plaintiffs include Democrats David Nathan, Scott Dianda, Clark Harder, Mary Valentine and Douglas Spade, and Republicans Roger Kahn, Paul Opsommer and Joseph Haveman. The lawsuit is backed by Michiganders for Good Government, a donor-funded nonprofit.

Valentine, who is allowed one two-year term in the House, said term limits prevent legislators from having enough time to learn how the lawmaking process works.

The former lawmakers argue the term limit law violates their First and 14th amendment rights, particularly barring their access to the ballot. Plaintiffs also claim the law denies the right of voters to a “republican form of government, as guaranteed by the United States Constitution.”

“I feel that my ability to run, and one of my ideals in life was to be able to do this sort of thing, has been lost and abridged, and I’m treated no better than if I was a felon,” Kahn said.

The goal is to remove what plaintiffs consider an ineffective system so the Legislature can find a better solution.

“It’s when you’ve got the shortest duration with a lifetime ban that’s harshest in the nation where it’s problematic,” Bursch said. “There’s probably a healthy mix somewhere in the middle that would be perfectly constitutional.”

Opsommer, a DeWitt Republican who served in the state House from 2007 to 2013, hopes the court will help determine a more equitable standard for term limits. Opsommer said the lawsuit could help elected leaders craft a better term limit law in the future.

“What we want to do with this is find out what is permissible, where is that line?” Opsommer said. “If we come up with another ballot initiative and it’s still too far and permissible, we haven’t accomplished anything.”

Bursch said “a number of different people on both sides the aisle" expressed a desire to change the term limit law.

“Nearly everyone in Lansing wants it to change," Bursch said. "Whether it’s done through a lawsuit, through a ballot initiative or through some combination of both of those, I think most people would support that.”

House Democratic Leader Christine Greig, D-Farmington Hills, expressed some support for the lawsuit in a statement Wednesday. Greig said the Legislature must implement “common sense, good government measures,” to prevent the erosion of public trust in elected officials.

“It’s undeniable that term limits have a negative impact on the policymaking process in Lansing, and this issue will ultimately be decided by the voters or the courts," Greig said.