State Senators have shot down a measure that lets voters decide if legislative term limits are expanded. House Joint Resolution 1002 proposes letting state Representatives and Senators serve for 12 consecutive years, or six terms.
Legislators are currently limited to only four two-year terms back-to-back. Law does allow them to switch chambers, or to leave and come back in the next election. Proponents say it takes time for legislators to acclimate to the process. Senator Dan Lederman says the Senate and House lose strength when members are forced out because they’ve reached their limit.
“As a body, we have significant issues with dealing with a lot of the bureaucracy that comes along with state government. It’s not all bad, but when you have some folks that have been here for 30 or 40 years, and we get a stab at it for eight years, it puts us at a disadvantage at making significant changes for our constituents,” Lederman says.
Lederman says the resolution doesn’t change the length of the terms, so legislators will still have to be re-elected every two years. Two amendments to address single member districts and extending term lengths of Senators failed. Senators ultimately killed the entire resolution 12 to 23.