Arkansas State Legislative Term Limits Initiative (2020)

Arkansas State Legislative Term Limits Initiative
Election date November 3, 2020
Topic Term limits and State legislatures measures
Status Not on the ballot
Type Constitutional amendment	Origin Citizens
List of Arkansas measuresArkansas Issue 1Arkansas Issue 2Arkansas Issue 3Submit

The Arkansas State Legislative Term Limits Initiative was not on the ballot in Arkansas as an initiated constitutional amendment on November 3, 2020.

This measure was identical to Issue 3 of 2018. Issue 3 was certified for the ballot but later removed from the ballot when certain signatures on the initiative petition were ruled invalid by the state Supreme Court.

Overview

What are term limits?

A term limit is a legal restriction that limits the number of terms a person may serve in a particular elected office. There are different types of term limits. Sometimes, there is an absolute limit on the number of terms a person can serve, while in other cases, the restrictions are merely on the number of consecutive terms.

What would this measure have changed?

As of 2019, Arkansas legislators could serve up to 16 years throughout their lifetimes in the House or Senate. The passage of Issue 3 in 2014 permitted legislators to serve a total of 16 years in the House or Senate - thereby doubling and more than doubling the amount of time a lawmaker can stay in the Arkansas Senate and House, respectively. Previously, representatives could serve up to three two-year terms, while senators could serve up to two four-year terms.

This measure would have imposed term limits of six years for members of the Arkansas House of Representatives and eight years for members of the Arkansas Senate. Specifically, the measure would have allowed representatives to be elected to no more than three two-year terms and senators to be elected to no more than two four-year terms. Under the measure, no member of the state general assembly would have been able to serve more than 10 years in total.

Comparison of term limits on the ballot in Arkansas

The chart below shows legislative term limit requirements in Arkansas (1) before 2014, (2) current requirements after the adoption of Issue 3 in 2014, (3) requirements proposed under the 2020 legislative amendment, and (4) requirements proposed under the 2020 citizen initiative.

Term limits for state legislators in Arkansas
Requirement	Before 2014	After 2014 (current)	With 2020 legislative amendment	With 2020 citizen initiative
For Representatives	Six years	16 year lifetime limit	12 consecutive years; ability to return after 4-year breaks (no lifetime limit)	Six years
For Senators	Eight years	16 year lifetime limit	12 consecutive years; ability to return after 4-year breaks (no lifetime limit)	Eight years

What is the history of term limits in Arkansas?

In 1992, Proposed Amendment 4 was approved, which attempted to establish term limits for U.S. Congress members and succeeded in establishing term limits for state executives, state representatives, and state senators. In 1995, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton, overturning the portion of Proposed Amendment 4 that attempted to establish term limits for members of Congress. A 2004 attempt to extend term limits for state senators and state representatives, Proposed Amendment 1, was defeated. In 2014, Issue 3 was approved, which overturned the existing term limits established under Issue 4 in 1992, allowing state senators and state representatives to serve up to 16 years in the Arkansas General Assembly.

Measure design

This initiative was designed to impose term limits of six years for members of the Arkansas House of Representatives and eight years for members of the Arkansas Senate. Specifically, the measure would have allowed representatives to be elected to no more than three two-year terms and senators to be elected to no more than two four-year terms.

Under the measure, no member of the state general assembly could have served a total of more than 10 years, including time served due to a special election to fill a vacancy in either house of the general assembly. If a partial term was served due to a special election, only full years would have been been counted.

Under the measure, the 10-year term limit would have applied to members of the general assembly serving on and after January 1, 1993, and years served after January 1993 would count towards the 10-year limit. The measure would not have, however, cut short or invalidated the term of any assembly member elected before the amendment took effect.

The amendment would have prohibited the general assembly from amending or repealing the term limits and would have only been able to be amended or repealed by the people through the initiative and referendum process.

Text of measure

Ballot title

The ballot title would have been as follows:

Arkansas Term Limits Amendment 2020 ballot title

“ A proposed amendment to the Arkansas Constitution concerning term limits for members of the Arkansas General Assembly; to provide that no person may be elected to more than three (3) two-year terms as a member of the House of Representatives, to more than two (2) four-year terms as a member of the Senate, or to any term that, if served, would cause the member to exceed a total of ten (10) years of service in the General Assembly; to repeal Section 2( c) of Amendment 73 that established a years-of-service limit on members of the General Assembly of sixteen (16) years; to provide that the ten-year service limit shall include all two (2) and four ( 4) year terms, along with full years of any partial term served as a result of a special election to fill a vacancy; to apply the limits to terms and service in the General Assembly on and after January 1, 1993; to provide that this amendment shall not cut short or invalidate a term to which a member of the General Assembly was elected prior to the effective date of this amendment; to provide that notwithstanding the General Assembly's constitutional authority to propose amendments to the Constitution, the General Assembly shall not have the authority to propose an amendment to the Constitution regarding term limits for the House of Representatives or Senate, and to continue reserving that power to the people under Article 5, Section 1, as amended by Amendment 7; and to declare that if any provision of this amendment should be held invalid, the remainder shall stand. ”

Constitutional changes

See also: Arkansas Constitution

The measure would have added the following amendment to the state constitution. The following underlined text would have been added, and struck-through text would have been deleted: Note: Use your mouse to scroll over the text below to see the full text.

SECTION 1. Term Limits.

(a) No person may be elected to:

(1) More than three (3) two-year terms as a member of the Arkansas House of Representatives;

(2) More than two (2) four-year terms as a member of the Arkansas Senate; or

(3) Any term which if served would exceed a total of ten (10) years in the General Assembly.

(b) In calculating the ten-year limit:

(1) Two-year House terms and two-year and four-year Senate terms shall be included; and

(2) A partial term served as a result of a special election under Article 5, § 6 shall not count toward the limit unless service in that term is longer than one (1) year in duration. Only full years of a partial term shall be counted.

(c) Members service in the General Assembly on and after January I, 1993 shall be included in calculating allowable terms and service under this Amendment.

SECTION 2. Temporary application. Notwithstanding the limits established in SECTION l(a), this Amendment shall not cut short or invalidate a term for which a member of the House of Representatives or Senate was elected prior to the effective date of the Amendment.

SECTION 3. Section 2(c) of Amendment 73 of the Constitution, as added by Section 3 of Amendment 94, is repealed. (c)(1) A member of the General Assembly shall serve no more than sixteen (16) years, whether consecutive or nonconsecutive. (2) A member who completes his or her sixteenth year of service during a term of office for which he or she has been elected may serve until the completion of that term of office. (3) The years of service in both the Senate and the House of Representatives shall be added together and included to determine the total number of years in office. (4) A partial legislative term served as a result of a special election under Article 5 § 6, or a two year term served as a result of apportionment of the Senate shall not be included in calculating the total number of years served by a member of the general assembly.

SECTION 4. Amendment. Notwithstanding the General Assembly's authority to propose amendments to the constitution under Article 19 § 22 of the Constitution, the General Assembly does not have authority to propose an amendment to the Constitution to amend or repeal term limits for the House of Representatives or Senate. The power to propose an amendment to the Constitution to amend or repeal term limits for the House of Representatives or Senate is reserved to the people under Article 5, Section 1 of the Constitution, as amended by Amendment 7.

SECTION 5. Severability. The provisions of this Amendment are severable, and if any provision should be held invalid, the remainder shall stand.

SECTION 6. Effective date. This Amendment shall be effective on the first day of January immediately following passage by voters.

Sponsors

Arkansas Term Limits led the campaign in support of the measure.

Arguments

• On its website, Arkansas Term Limits made the following arguments:

“

Arkansas now has the weakest term limits in the nation, written by politicians, for politicians. Politicians can stay in the Legislature for up to 22 years. Arkansas voters like term limits, Arkansas politicians do not. The citizens of Arkansas have already done this once, in 1992. We intend to repeat the feat. We simply cannot allow the politicians' dishonesty to stand. Won't you join our team?

”

• Tom Steele of Arkansas Term Limits BQC said, "Of the states with legislative term limits, Arkansas sits alone at the top in terms of how many consecutive years a senator or representative can serve in the same office. Written by politicians for politicians, Arkansas now has the weakest term limits in the nation."

Opposition

Opponents

• Senate President Pro Tempore Jonathan Dismang (R-Searcy)
• Speaker of the House Matthew Shepherd (R- El Dorado)
• Sen. Will Bond (D-Little Rock)

Arguments

• Senate President Pro Tempore Jonathan Dismang (R-Searcy), said limiting state lawmakers to serving 10 years in the Legislature "is very restrictive and there is value in having members here that [have] some continuity and understanding of the process, in particular when agency heads and others don't have that same time limitation in place. We should have term limits, but from what I understand, that would be more restrictive than we should. If we are going to be straightforward, term limits exist ... every single time someone comes up [for election], and I think that's an important thing to remember."
• Sen. Will Bond (D-Little Rock) said, "You always hear people say, ‘We want to run government like a business'. All right, well, find a great business who changes out their accountants or their fiscal people every time they get essentially one year of experience under their belt.”

Background

Term limits

See also: Term limits on the ballot

A term limit is a legal restriction that limits the number of terms a person may serve in a particular elected office. There are different types of term limits. Sometimes, there is an absolute limit on the number of terms a person can serve, while in other cases, the restrictions are merely on the number of consecutive terms.

History of term limits in Arkansas

Timeline, Arkansas state legislature term limits measures

• 1992: Proposed Amendment 4 approved
  • Established term limits for state executives, state representatives, and state senators; attempted to establish term limits for U.S. Congress members

• 1995: U.S. Supreme Court ruled in U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton
  • Overturned portion of Proposed Amendment 4 that attempted to establish term limits for members of Congress

• 2004: Proposed Amendment 1 defeated
  • Attempted to extend term limits for state senators and state representatives

• 2014: Issue 3 approved
  • Extended term limits for state senators and state representatives to a maximum of 16 years

Proposed Amendment 4, 1992

In 1992, Arkansas voters approved Proposed Amendment 4, establishing term limits for state officeholders through an initiated constitutional amendment that passed with 60 percent of the vote. Under the amendment, state executives and state senators were limited to two four-year terms, while state representatives were limited to three two-year terms. The amendment was also designed to impose limits on members of the U.S. House and Senate from Arkansas. However, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton in 1995 that states could not impose stricter qualifications on members of Congress than those established by the U.S. Constitution.

Proposed Amendment 1, 2004

The Arkansas General Assembly referred a measure known as Proposed Amendment 1 to the ballot in 2004 that would have extended the term limits for state senators to three four-year terms and for state representatives to six two-year terms. The measure was defeated by 70 percent of voters, leaving the limits established under Amendment 4 in place.

Issue 3, 2014

In 2014, the Arkansas General Assembly referred Issue 3 to the ballot, a constitutional amendment designed to extend term limits for members of the state House and the state Senate and to limit lobbying efforts by former legislators as well as campaign donations and gifts from lobbyists. The measure also established an appointive seven-member commission to determine the salaries of state officials. The measure was approved with 52 percent of the vote.

Issue 3 overturned the existing term limits established under Issue 4 in 1992, allowing state senators and state representatives to serve up to 16 years in the Arkansas General Assembly.

Issue 3 of 2018

This initiative is identical to Issue 3 of 2018. Issue 3 was originally filed by Thomas Steele. The attorney general certified the ballot title in Opinion 2016-105 and approved the initiative for signature gathering on October 28, 2016. On August 3, 2018, the Arkansas Secretary of State's office announced that Issue 3 had qualified for the 2018 ballot after proponents submitted 93,998 valid signatures. A total of 84,859 were needed to qualify. On October 19, 2018, the Supreme Court ruled that thousands of signatures gathered to qualify the measure for the ballot were not valid and should not have been counted. The Supreme Court ordered elections officials not to count any votes cast for Issue 3 in the 2018 general election.

Term limits in state legislatures across the U.S.

As of 2018, fifteen state legislatures had term limits for legislators.

Hover over the map below to compare term limits by state.

All votes on state term limits in Arkansas

The chart below shows all state ballot measures related to term limits that have gone before Arkansas voters.

Year	Measure	Type	Primary purpose	Outcome	"Yes" vote percentage
1944	Proposed Amendment 38	Initiative	4-year limit for governor/lieutenant governor	d	42.18%
1950	Proposed Amendment 44	Initiative	4-year limit for state and county officers	d	35.42%
1984	Proposed Amendment 64	Initiative	4-year limit for state executive offices	a	64.25%
1992	Proposed Amendment 4	Initiative	2-term limit for state executives/senators; 3-term limit for state representatives	a	59.91%
1996	Proposed Amendment 9	Initiative	Term limits for U.S. Congress members; notation for candidates who decline to support term limits	a ot	61.21%
2004	Proposed Amendment 1	Referral	Extend limits to six terms (House) and three terms (Senate)	d	29.86%
2014	Issue 3	Referral	Extend limits to 16 years (House and Senate)	a	52.43%

Early history of term limits

See also: Term limits on the ballot#Use of term limits

Term limits have a long history: ancient Greece and ancient Rome, two early civilizations which had elected political offices, both imposed limits on some positions. In ancient Athenian democracy, no citizen could serve on the boule more than twice or be head of the boule more than once. In the Roman Republic, a law was passed imposing a limit of a single term on the office of Censor.

Many modern presidential republics employ term limits for their highest offices. The United States, one of the first countries of the modern era to have elected political offices, has a limit of two terms on its presidency, and on a number of other political offices as well, such as state governors and some state legislators. Formal limits date back to 1776, when limits were placed on serving as Governor of Delaware. Term limits are also common in Latin America, where most countries are also presidential republics. In some countries, such as Mexico, it is strictly forbidden for a person to serve as president on more than one occasion, even if one of the appointments was only temporary.

Countries which operate a parliamentary system of government are less likely to employ term limits on their leaders. This is because such leaders rarely have a set "term" at all — rather, they serve as long as they have the confidence of the legislature, a period which could potentially last indefinitely. Nevertheless, such countries may impose term limits on the holders of other offices. In republics, for example, a ceremonial presidency may have a term limit, especially if it has reserve powers.

Path to the ballot

See also: Laws governing the initiative process in Arkansas

The state process

In Arkansas, the number of signatures required to qualify an initiated constitutional amendment for the ballot is equal to 10 percent of the votes cast for governor in the most recent gubernatorial election. Proponents must collect signatures equaling at least half of the designated percentage of gubernatorial votes in at least 50 of the state's counties. Signatures remain valid until the date of the next general election following the certification of ballot language. Signature petitions must be submitted four months prior to the election at which the measure is to appear.

The requirements to get initiated constitutional amendments certified for the 2020 ballot:

• Signatures: 89,151 valid signatures were required.
• Deadline: The deadline to submit signatures was July 3, 2020.

If the secretary of state certifies that enough signatures were submitted in a petition, the initiative is put on the ballot. If a petition fails to meet the signature requirement, but the petition has at least 75 percent of the valid signatures needed, petitioners have 30 days to collect additional signatures or demonstrate that rejected signatures are valid.

Details about this initiative

• This initiative was filed with the Secretary of State on March 14, 2019.
• Sponsors did not publish the initiative in a newspaper of general statewide circulation before the June 3, 2020, deadline. Therefore, the initiative did not qualify for the 2020 ballot.

See also

2020 measures

• 2020 ballot measures
• Term limits on the ballot
• State legislatures measures on the ballot

Arkansas

• Arkansas ballot measures
• Arkansas ballot measure laws

News and analysis

• Ballot measure lawsuits
• Ballot measure readability
• Ballot measure polls

External links

• Arkansas Term Limits 2020 initiative petition
• Attorney General's Office Opinion No. 2016-105

Support

• Arkansas Term Limits website
• Arkansas Term Limits Facebook

Opposition

Submit links to editor@ballotpedia.org.