It’s been a while.
In the early 1990s, citizens in a slew of states succeeded in term-limiting their state legislators. In a few of those states, politicians or the courts managed to kill the term limits despite the popular support for them. Nevertheless, today 15 state legislatures are term-limited.
The last legislature to be term-limited was that of Nebraska, where voters imposed two-term (or eight-year) limits on their unicameral legislature in 2000.
Since then, progress has been slower than we’d like.
Why? Because many politicians work so very hard to keep term limits from being established. Their dastardly tactics include undermining the right of citizen initiative where it exists and blocking statewide citizen initiative rights from being enacted in states that currently lack such rights.
Now North Dakota is about to show us how limiting terms gets done: with the help of widespread public support and dedicated signature gatherers.
A term limits measure has been approved for distribution by North Dakota’s secretary of state. Petitioners need to collect more than 31,000 valid signatures in order to get a constitutional term limits question on the November 2022 ballot.
If the amendment gets to the ballot, it will pass. If it is passed, it will establish term limits of eight years on state representatives, state senators, and the governor. And lawmakers would be barred from proposing a change or repeal of the term limits themselves — only citizens through the initiative process could do so.
Signatures first.
Maybe yours. If you live in North Dakota, you know what to do.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
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