The Tennessee Senate voted 18-11 on Thursday to pass a resolution applying for a national convention to propose term limits on Congress.
The resolution, HJR5, will now be counted towards the 34 state applications required to call a term limits convention as the Tennessee House of Representatives passed the measure last year.
Read the full story
A bill that would put term limits on Florida county commissioners passed a key hurdle in the Senate Committee Rules on Monday.
Senate Bill 438 is sponsored by state Sen. Blaise Ingoglia, R-Spring Hill. It would introduce term limits for county commissioners and would require certain counties to hold a referendum election to ask voters if they approve or disapprove of term limits in their county.
Read the full story
After sailing through the Tennessee House of Representatives in March, a resolution proposing congressional term limits via constitutional amendment stands a solid chance of passing in the Senate, according to resolution proponents.
“I think it will go okay,” State Senator Richard Briggs (R-Knoxville), who recently announced that he will serve as Senate sponsor of House Joint Resolution 5, told The Tennessee Star.
Read the full story
A Florida lawmaker has filed a new bill to impose term limits on county commissioners.
House Bill 57 is sponsored by Rep. Michelle Salzman, R-Cantonment, and would introduce a term limit for county commissioners, limiting them to two four-year terms.
Read the full story
Tuesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed Tennessee State Representative Chris Todd of Jackson to the newsmaker line to discuss his proposed resolution to call an Article Five convention to set Congressional term limits.
Read the full story
Michigan voters in November will decide whether state legislators will have a shot at longer terms in office.
Proposal One, the Michigan Legislative Term Limits and Financial Disclosure Amendment, was approved by the Michigan legislature for inclusion on the Nov. 8 ballot. If voters approve, term limits for state legislators would expand to 12 combined years in both the Senate and House of Representatives.
Read the full story
As three national political third parties proceed with a merger they announced last week, several independent state-legislative candidates are seeking approval to run under the Forward Party banner in Pennsylvania.
The expanding centrist political organization includes the Forward Party, founded by former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang; the Renew America Movement, founded by several former Republican public officials; and the Serve American Movement (SAM), currently led by former Republican Florida Congressman David Jolly. Yang and former Republican New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman will co-chair the newly consolidated party.
Read the full story
The vote of five members of the City of Hendersonville Board of Mayor and Alderman (BOMA) halted a ballot initiative that would allow residents to vote on term limits for the city alderman and mayor.
The vote on Ordinance 2202-09 relative to term limits for members of the board of mayor and alderman, which was up for a second reading on Tuesday, June 28 and required a two-thirds majority to pass, failed for receiving just eight of the necessary nine positive votes.
Read the full story
Wednesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed TN5 Republican candidate Beth Harwell to the newsmaker line to discuss her commitment, if elected, to a six-year term and slowly dismantling the Department of Education and bringing money back to local governments in the state.
Read the full story
Former Speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives Beth Harwell, a candidate for the TN-5 GOP nomination, announced on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy that if elected, she will limit herself to three terms of service totaling six years in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Harwell has additionally signed the U.S. Term Limit’s pledge which states “that as a member of Congress I will cosponsor and vote for the U.S. Term Limits Amendment of three (3) House terms and two (2) Senate terms and no longer limit.”
Read the full story
On Tuesday, the Pennsylvania House Judiciary Committee approved term limits for the Philadelphia District Attorney as well as a bill allowing state prosecutors to pursue Philadelphia gun violations.
Both measures have the secondary effect of rebuking the performance of the city’s top prosecutor, Larry Krasner (D), under whose watch violence and crime have skyrocketed. In 2017, 315 murders occurred in Philadelphia and the number rose to an all-time high of 562 last year. Many attribute the increase in crime to Krasner’s tendency to release many defendants charged with illegal gun possession and violent offenses.
Read the full story
Friday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed the original all-star panelist Crom Carmichael in-studio to discuss the recently proposed legislation by Senator Frank Nicely reestablishing candidacy requirements for public office.
Read the full story
The Florida House of Representatives voted to pass a bill that will enact term limits on elected public school board members. CS/BS 1467 by Florida Representative Sam Garrison (R-District 18) originally included a provision that would have eliminated salaries for school board members. However, that provision was axed after an late-arriving amendment.
Read the full story
U.S. Representative Tim Burchett (R-TN-02) on Friday introduced new legislation that would impose term limits on members of Congress.
If enacted, the bill would amend the Constitution and only allow House members to serve three two-year terms, and Senators could serve two six-year terms.
Read the full story
Wednesday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Tennessee State Rep. Chris Todd of Jackson to the newsmakers line to discuss the recent Southern Legislative Conference and the probability of his term limits resolution passing.
Read the full story
Manny Sethi, orthopedic trauma surgeon and former candidate for U.S. Senate, urged the Tennessee State Legislature to fully support congressional term limits.
In an opinion piece written in The Tennessean, Sethi argued that unlimited terms allow career politicians to gather support from establishment figures and run with limited competition.
Read the full story
Thursday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed State Rep. Chris Todd of Jackson in the studio to discuss his current resolution to enact term limits for members of the U.S. Congress.
Read the full story
A group trying to alter the way term limits work in the Buckeye State filed petition paperwork with Attorney General Dave Yost Wednesday. A group called Ohioans for Legislative Term Limits (OLTL) wants to limit the number of years state elected officials can serve to 16. Currently, an amendment passed by Ohioans in 1992, allows politicians to serve eight continuous years in either chamber. However, elected officials can return to the Senate or House after sitting out four years. “This initiative would institute a 16-year lifetime ban that would close the current loophole that allows legislators to shuffle back and forth between the House and Senate indefinitely,” Columbus attorney Don McTigue told the Toledo Blade. If Ohioans pass this initiative, term limits would be counted on January 1, 2021. This means it will affect politicians being elected this November. McTigue also told the Toledo Blade this group has supporters from both political parties. “A campaign structure is being organized now,” he said. “You will be hearing more from the campaign as things develop in the weeks and months ahead.” Yost has until March 2 to determine if this proposal can move forward. If he does approve the proposal’s language,…
Read the full story
Republican Congressman George Holding (NC-02) has proposed an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that will create term limits for members of Congress. Holding’s proposed amendment would limit members of the U.S. House of Representatives to six two-year terms or 12 years. U.S. Senators would be limited to two six-year terms or 12 years. Today, I introduced a Constitutional amendment imposing #termlimits on Congress. Term limits will end politics-as-usual in Washington & help fix D.C.'s broken culture. It’s time for elected officials to start making a difference, not a career. >>https://t.co/QdHJ9s07kj pic.twitter.com/s0UWyupIz2 — George Holding (@RepHolding) January 15, 2019 “Since the government shutdown began, we’ve seen plenty of posturing and finger-pointing – but not much common-sense. Sadly, this is the new normal in American politics,” said Congressman Holding in a press release. “Term limits will put an end to politics-as-usual in Washington, help restore a citizen legislature, and encourage elected officials to do what’s best for their constituents, instead of special interests.” Representative Holding’s statement pointed to a recent survey which found that 82% of voters support a Constitutional amendment for congressional term limits like the one he has proposed. “It’s time for elected officials to start making a difference, not…
Read the full story
Gubernatorial candidate Bill Lee a relative newcomer and self-described “outsider” to Tennessee state politics, is trying to use this status to distinguish himself from the other candidates: There are four people running for the Republican primary in this race. The others are politicians. They all either worked for the government or been long involved in politics. Threading this theme through his campaign, Lee wants to reform state government by imposing terms limits on state legislators although it’s not clear whether he wants to impose consecutive or lifetime term limits. Opponents of term limits consider the governor term-limited in Article III, Section 4 of the Tennessee Constitution which limits the Governor to serving two consecutive four year terms. Article II, Section 3 of the state’s Constitution limits House members to two year terms and Senators to four year terms. While state legislators are not limited to either consecutive or lifetime terms, they are forced, at regular intervals to re-run for their office if they want to continue to serve. Opponents of term limits consider the voting booth to be the most definitive statement on the matter. Six states have repealed their term limit restrictions – Idaho, Massachusetts, Oregon, Utah, Washington and…
Read the full story
Without a legal mandate to do so, U.S. Sen. Bob Corker is reportedly wondering whether it’s in his best interests to avoid a third term in office and, thus, term limit himself. If that’s true, then Corker, possibly without meaning to, will do something many other politicians at the federal level have thus far never considered — put the best interests of his constituents ahead of his ego. As you already know, the problem with career politicians is a pervasive one in Washington, D.C. Our elected officials seemingly keep their feet bolted to the floors of Capitol Hill because they believe no one else can do their jobs. Do you think I’m exaggerating? When Arizona voters sent John McCain to the U.S. Senate 30 years ago Atari video games were still a hot commodity. When Thad Cochran of Mississippi assumed his seat in the U.S. Senate in 1978 disco was all the rage, Col. Sanders was still alive, and most people didn’t even own VCR’s. That’s right. Cochran’s tenure in the Senate pre-dates and exceeds the mass market’s use of the VCR. Of course, those men have nothing on Strom Thurmond or Robert Byrd, both of whom served roughly half…
Read the full story
The idea of a citizen-legislator has gone by the wayside and been replaced by the career politician. Unless there is more transparency and inclusion, there may well be a demand for change in leadership. For certain in 2019 there will be great change, and quite possibly the “drain the swamp” echo from 2016 will filter down to state politics in 2018. It may be time for the state to consider term limits.
Read the full story