HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION I
April 22, 1999, Introduced by Reps. Stallworth, Basham, Vaughn and Hardman and referred to the Committee on Constitutional Law and Ethics. A joint resolution proposing an amendment to the state con- stitution of 1963, by repealing section 10 of article II, section 54 of article IV, section 30 of article V, and section 4 of arti- cle XII, to repeal term limits of certain state and federal officers. Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the state of Michigan, That the following amendment to the state con- stitution of 1963, to repeal term limits of certain state and federal officers, is proposed, agreed to, and submitted to the people of the state: 1 ARTICLE II 2 Sec. 10. No person shall be elected to office as represen- 3 tative in the United States House of Representatives more than 4 three times during any twelve year period. No person shall be 5 elected to office as senator in the United States Senate more 01072'99 JLB 2 1 than two times during any twenty-four year period. Any person 2 appointed or elected to fill a vacancy in the United States House 3 of Representatives or the United States Senate for a period 4 greater than one half of a term of such office, shall be consid- 5 ered to have been elected to serve one time in that office for 6 purposes of this section. This limitation on the number of times 7 a person shall be elected to office shall apply to terms of 8 office beginning on or after January 1, 1993. 9 The people of Michigan hereby state their support for the 10 aforementioned term limits for members of the United States House 11 of Representatives and United States Senate and instruct their 12 public officials to use their best efforts to attain such a limit 13 nationwide. 14 The people of Michigan declare that the provisions of this 15 section shall be deemed severable from the remainder of this 16 amendment and that their intention is that federal officials 17 elected from Michigan will continue voluntarily to observe the 18 wishes of the people as stated in this section, in the event any 19 provision of this section is held invalid. 20 This section shall be self-executing. Legislation may be 21 enacted to facilitate operation of this section, but no law shall 22 limit or restrict the application of this section. If any part 23 of this section is held to be invalid or unconstitutional, the 24 remaining parts of this section shall not be affected but will 25 remain in full force and effect. 01072'99 3 1 ARTICLE IV 2 Sec. 54. No person shall be elected to the office of state 3 representative more than three times. No person shall be elected 4 to the office of state senate more than two times. Any person 5 appointed or elected to fill a vacancy in the house of represen- 6 tatives or the state senate for a period greater than one half of 7 a term of such office, shall be considered to have been elected 8 to serve one time in that office for purposes of this section. 9 This limitation on the number of times a person shall be elected 10 to office shall apply to terms of office beginning on or after 11 January 1, 1993. 12 This section shall be self-executing. Legislation may be 13 enacted to facilitate operation of this section, but no law shall 14 limit or restrict the application of this section. If any part 15 of this section is held to be invalid or unconstitutional, the 16 remaining parts of this section shall not be affected but will 17 remain in full force and effect. 18 ARTICLE V 19 Sec. 30. No person shall be elected more than two times to 20 each office of the executive branch of government: governor, 21 lieutenant governor, secretary of state or attorney general. Any 22 person appointed or elected to fill a vacancy in the office of 23 governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state or attorney 24 general for a period greater than one half of a term of such 25 office, shall be considered to have been elected to serve one 26 time in that office for purposes of this section. This 27 limitation on the number of times a person shall be elected to 01072'99 4 1 office shall apply to terms of office beginning on or after 2 January 1, 1993. 3 This section shall be self-executing. Legislation may be 4 enacted to facilitate operation of this section, but no law shall 5 limit or restrict the application of this section. If any part 6 of this section is held to be invalid or unconstitutional, the 7 remaining parts of this section shall not be affected but will 8 remain in full force and effect. 9 ARTICLE XII 10 Sec. 4. If any section, subsection or part of Article 2, 11 Section 10, Article 4, Section 54 or Article 5, Section 30 is for 12 any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional, the remaining 13 sections, subsections or parts of those sections shall not be 14 affected but will remain in full force and effect. 15 Resolved further, That the foregoing amendment shall be sub- 16 mitted to the people of the state at the next general election in 17 the manner provided by law. 01072'99 Final page. JLB