‘Come back’ clause added to term-limits under Issue No. 2

Approval would stretch Terms in State House and State Senate to 16 years

The second of three Amendments to the Arkansas Constitution referred from the Legislature to the voters this November changes the status of ‘term limits’ in the Arkansas General Assembly.

The biggest change is a ‘come back’ clause, meaning once a legislator has reached the maximum of term limits — that legislator must lay out of the legislature for four years — but then, under this proposal, is eligible to “come back” and run for the Legislature again.

Currently, once a legislator has reached the ‘term limits’ the legislator is forever prohibited by the Arkansas Constitution from ever serving in the General Assembly again.

However, this new ‘come back’ clause found in Issue No. 2, does not say how long the ‘come back’ provision of terms could be. It appears to reset the term limit barrier, allowing, if elected after a four-year prohibition of service, the legislator another full set of terms under the proposal.

Another significant change found in Issue No. 2 is stretching

the current term limits from 12 years to 16 years before a term limits prohibition kicks in for legislators.

The title of Issue No. 2 is: A Constitutional Amendment to be known as the ‘Arkansas Terms Limits Amendment:’ and amending the term limits applicable to members of the General Assembly.

The current term limits for state House of Representatives is 12 years and the same, 12 years, applies to the State Senators. Currently, a combination of House and Senate terms cannot exceed 12 years total.

Should Issue No. 2 pass with voter approval in November that all will change.

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, the national average of term limits for states that have term limits is 16 years per each office.

That equates into eight (2 year terms) in the House and four (four year terms) in the State Senate.

The National Conference of

State Legislature study on term limits does limit those ‘come back’ solons to only about fiveto-10 percent of all term-limited politicians.

Issue No. 2 was adopted as some national term limits groups from out of state are urging citizens and public policy groups in the state to seek to drastically dial back term limits to as few as 6 years for House members and 8 years for state Senators.

Arkansas tried those meager term limits back in the early 1990s and have since twice changed that module — each time by Referred Act — to lengthen term limits for members of the General Assembly.

Voters may seem confused, but need to stop and consider this:

Would some elected state House or state Senators be “reelectable” by voters after laying out four years after being term limited under the new rules?

It is possible.

Could a term-limited House member with 16 years of pervious legislative service come back after a two-term layoff and defeat a two-termed incumbent?

Could a former state Senator after 16 years in the senate defeat a new one-term Senator for re-election?

Could these legislative seats,

become political dynasties, held by the same politician’s “family members” — i.e. wives, husbands, children of the former solon during the four year hiatus?

And the “new family member” simply does not seek re-election, when the old solon, who is now past the prohibitive term, files to run again?

Anything, of course, in Arkansas politics, is possible.

Does Arkansas need to add four more years to the terms of its state House and State Senators?

Remember this has absolutely nothing to do with the federal offices of United States Senators and Congressmen.

Issue No. 2 also does not affect the term limits of Governor, Lt. Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, State Land Commissioner, Auditor of State or State Treasurer — just state House and state Senators in Arkansas’ General Assembly.

More term limit considerations to chew on.

Next week: Referred Issue No. 3