Bill Text: HI SR180 | 2022 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Requesting The Legislative Reference Bureau To Conduct A Study Of Potential Positive And Negative Consequences Of Implementing Term Limits For Members Of The Legislature.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-03-16 - Referred to JDC/GVO. [SR180 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2022-SR180-Introduced.html

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THE SENATE	S.R. NO.	180
THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2022
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE RESOLUTION

 

 

REQUESTING THE LEGISLATIVE REFERENCE BUREAU TO CONDUCT A STUDY OF POTENTIAL POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES OF IMPLEMENTING TERM LIMITS FOR MEMBERS OF THE LEGISLATURE.

 

 

     WHEREAS, when the United States Supreme Court decided in Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U.S. 1 (1976), that certain campaign spending limits were unconstitutional, the ability of nonincumbents to challenge elected officials was substantially impaired; and

 

     WHEREAS, in 1974, the year of the only Hawaii election that observed spending limits, twenty-two new members were elected to the House of Representatives and eight new members were elected to the Senate; in other words, forty-three percent of the representatives and thirty-two percent of the senators elected in 1974 were new to the Legislature; and

 

     WHEREAS, fifteen States have imposed term limits on state legislators:  Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, and South Dakota; and

 

     WHEREAS, thirty-six states have imposed term limits on their governors; and

 

     WHEREAS, thirty-three states have imposed term limits on their members in the United States Congress; and

 

     WHEREAS, the legislatures of Idaho and Utah have repealed term limits on state legislators; and

 

     WHEREAS, the supreme courts of Massachusetts, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming have invalidated term limits on state legislators due to procedural concerns, and not the merits of the applicable laws; and

 

     WHEREAS, the expenses for nonincumbents seeking election to the Legislature and the small chance of winning reduce the number of seriously contested races, which may increase voter apathy and undermine the entire foundation and process of representative democracy; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2022, that the Legislative Reference Bureau is requested to conduct a study of potential positive and negative consequences of implementing term limits for members of the Legislature; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislative Reference Bureau is requested to report its findings to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2023; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a certified copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the Director of the Legislative Reference Bureau.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________
		By Request

Report Title: 

Legislators; Senators; Representatives; Term Limits; Study