It is not even campaign season, and yet once again, out-of-state special interest groups are spending money to convince Maine voters what they should do. The only problem is they do not have accurate information.

The attack mailers many of us have received accusing Sen. Linda Baker, R-Topsham, of sponsoring legislation to extend term limits from eight to 16 years is blatantly false.

First, they accuse Sen. Baker of being the primary sponsor of L.D. 1012, which is not true. She is one of 33 co-sponsors of the bipartisan legislation. Second, they say that Sen. Baker wants to do away with Maine term limits. This is also untrue.

The bill is a constitutional amendment to change the term length of senators from two to four years. They’d still only be allowed to serve a maximum of eight years, as they are now.

Four-year terms would cut down on the amount of campaign money spent every two years, especially tax-funded Clean Election money, which, like term limits, the public voted for through the referendum process.

I, for one, would be thrilled if our area were spared the hassle of at least one campaign every two years. I would request that if the Palm Beach, Florida-based organization sending out the mailers, U.S. Term Limits, is going to tell Maine voters what to do, they should at least get their facts straight.

Don’t trust your opinions to some group of people from away. Look up the bill on the Legislature’s website. The primary sponsor, Sen. Amy Volk, R-Scarborough, is clear in her testimony that no senator should be allowed to serve more than eight years.

There is still a debate about whether senators should serve terms of two or of four years, but extending term limits was never in question.

Nathen Cloutier

Bowdoin