AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — A legislative committee has dealt a blow to an effort to repeal term limits for lawmakers.

The State and Local Government Committee voted 10-1 on Monday in favor of rejecting Democratic Rep. John Martin’s bill.

Martin, who returned this year for his 24th term in the Legislature, told the committee last month that term limits put too much power in the hands of the executive branch and lobbyists because lawmakers don’t hold institutional knowledge.

Maine lawmakers approved term limits at the ballot in 1993. Lawmakers are currently limited to four consecutive two-year terms in the House or Senate. But once they’re term limited in one chamber, they can run for a seat in the other chamber.

The bill will now be considered by the full House and Senate.