Bill Text: HI SB632 | 2012 | Regular Session | Introduced

Hawaii Senate Bill 632 (Prior Session Legislation)

Introduced

Bill Title: Constitutional Amendment; Legislative Term Limits

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-12-01 - Carried over to 2012 Regular Session. [SB632 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2012-SB632-Introduced.html

THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	632
TWENTY-SIXTH LEGISLATURE, 2011
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

proposing an amendment to article iii, section 4, of the hawaii constitution to establish legislative term limits.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that the decision of the United States Supreme Court in Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U.S. 1 (1976), disallowing certain campaign spending limits, substantially impaired the ability of nonincumbents to challenge elected officials. It is instructive to compare the election of 1974, the only state election with mandatory spending limits, with the 1990 election.

In 1974, twenty-two new members were elected to the house of representatives (forty-three per cent) and eight new members were elected to the senate (thirty-two per cent). As this election was held under the 1973 reapportionment plan, some of the turnover may be attributable to changes in district boundaries. However, there can be no doubt that this was an extraordinarily fruitful election for bringing new blood into the process. Among the twenty-two new faces in the house of representatives that year were a future governor and congressman from the first congressional district. Eighteen years later, four others were still members of the legislature.

In contrast, the 1990 elections saw the election of only one new senator. Even the solitary member of the senate's freshman class had prior elective experience and replaced a senator who did not seek reelection. Eleven incumbent senators ran in 1990; all were reelected. Of the ten incumbent candidates from the majority party, five faced no opposition in the primary or general election (but still spent between $17,328 and $41,632) and three others faced no general election opposition. This includes one race that was technically contested, but the opponent made no expenditure beyond the filing fee of $25.

Things were only a little better for challengers in the fifty-one-member house of representatives in 1990. Seventeen incumbents were elected, without opposition, by merely filing their nomination papers, although they still spent an average of almost $30,000 per candidate. Thirteen more incumbents faced only token opposition. Of forty-nine incumbents running, only four were defeated. Ninety-two per cent of the incumbents successfully retained their seats.

The high cost to nonincumbents running to become a member of the legislature and the small chance of winning has lead to a reduction in the number of seriously contested races. This, in turn, has increased voter apathy. It is a cycle that is undermining the entire foundation and process of a representative democracy.

The purpose of this Act is to propose an amendment to article III, section 4 of the Hawaii Constitution to limit the total length of time during which a member of the legislature may serve in the state house of representatives and the senate to twelve consecutive or non-consecutive years per chamber, with years counting toward the limit beginning on the day of the general election of 2010.

It is not the intent of the legislature to unseat current legislators or interfere with existing terms of office but rather to allow the electorate of Hawaii to weigh the benefits and detriments of term limits on a moving forward basis and, upon due consideration, choose whether or not the Hawaii constitution should be amended to apply them.

SECTION 2. Article III, section 4, of the Constitution of the State of Hawaii is amended to read as follows:

"ELECTION OF MEMBERS; TERM

Section 4. Each member of the legislature shall be elected at an election. If more than one candidate has been nominated for election to a seat in the legislature, the member occupying that seat shall be elected at a general election. If a candidate nominated for a seat at a primary election is unopposed for that seat at the general election, the candidate shall be deemed elected at the primary election. The term of office of a member of the house of representatives shall be two years and the term of office of a member of the senate shall be four years[.]; provided that a member of the legislature shall be limited to serving in the house of representatives and the senate for twelve consecutive or non-consecutive years per chamber, with years counting toward the twelve-year limit beginning on the day of the general election of 2010; provided further that a member of the legislature may complete a term if the member reaches the twelve-year limit before that term has ended.

The term of a member of the legislature shall begin on the day of the general election at which elected or if elected at a primary election, on the day of the general election immediately following the primary election at which elected. For a member of the house of representatives, the term shall end on the day of the general election immediately following the day the member's term commences. For a member of the senate, the term shall end on the day of the second general election immediately following the day the member's term commences."

SECTION 3. The question to be printed on the ballot shall be as follows:

"Shall members of the legislature be limited to serving in the house of representatives and the senate for a maximum of twelve consecutive or non-consecutive years per chamber, provided that years counting toward the twelve-year limit shall begin on the day of the general election of 2010?"

SECTION 4. Constitutional material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New constitutional material is underscored.

SECTION 5. This amendment shall take effect upon compliance with article XVII, section 3, of the Constitution of the State of Hawaii.

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title:

Constitutional Amendment; Legislative Term Limits

Description:

Proposes a constitutional amendment to limit members of the legislature to serving in the house of representatives and the senate to twelve consecutive or non-consecutive years per chamber, with years counting toward the limit beginning on the day of the general election of 2010.

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