by Stacey Selleck
Last week, term limits initiatives scored major successes. The Tennesse state house passed the U.S. Term Limits on Congress convention resolution, as did a committee in the Wisconsin senate. Term limits for local offices were on the ballot for a vote of the people in Madison, Wisconsin and Crestwood and Orland Township, Illinois.
Tennessee State House
HJR8, our term limits on Congress resolution sponsored by Rep. Chris Todd, passed the Tennessee state house by a bipartisan margin of 53 yeas – 34 nays, overwhelmingly in favor of passage. It is a major step forward advancing our movement to get 34 states to put Congress on notice. The sister resolution must pass through the state senate in order for the application to be official.
Wisconsin State Senate Committee
The Government Operations Committee of the Wisconsin senate passed SJR12 calling for a national convention to propose term limits on Congress. Sen. Duey Stroebel (district 20) is sponsoring the election reform resolution. AJR16, the sister resolution in the Wisconsin state house, sponsored by Rep. Timothy Ramthun (District 59), is scheduled for a committee vote next week.
Madison, Wisconsin
Last week, 70% of the voters in Madison, Wisconsin agreed to term limit the Common Council to a mximum of 12-years. Currently, city alders serve two-year terms with no limit to the time they may serve. They were also asked whether those terms should be four years instead of two. Voters said “no” with more than 55% of the vote.
Unfortunately, the questions were non-binding advisory referenda, meaning the changes won’tbe implemented. Rather, they could be used as the city decides how to make its government more representative.
Crestwood and Orland Park Illinois
Two cities just outside of Chicago voted on term limits. In Crestwood, 79% of voters supported term limits of two four-year terms for village president, clerk and trustees. In Orland Township, nearly 89% of voters limited the township supervisor, clerk, highway commissioner, assessor and trustees to no more than three four-year terms.
As you can see, when put to a vote of the people, term limits initiatives consistently win with between 70-89% of the vote. Now, if we can just get state legislators to listen to their constituents who demand we pass the term limits convention resolution through the states! That, my friends, is the major focus of our mission. Take action at termlimits.com/takeaction.