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Politics

Florida Backs Article V Convention for Constitutional Amendment on Congressional Term Limits

February 11, 2016 - 9:45am
Larry Metz and Aaron Bean
Larry Metz and Aaron Bean

An effort to establish congressional term limits gained steam this week as Florida became the first state in more than two and a half decades to back a constitutional convention under Article V to solely tackle the subject of federal term limits.

On Wednesday afternoon, the Senate backed a memorial from State Sen. Aaron Bean, R-Jacksonville, and Florida Rep. Larry Metz, R-Groveland, supporting an Article V convention on term limits. The memorial passed by voice vote. The House passed its version of the memorial at the end of last month. 

The legislation proposes a “convention under Article V of the Constitution of the United States with the sole agenda of proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to set a limit on the number of terms that a person may be elected as a member of the United States House of Representatives and to set a limit on the number of terms that a person may be elected as a member of the United States Senate.”

For the convention to be convened, 34 states must agree to it. If the convention proposes an amendment, 38 states must ratify it for it to be added to the U.S. Constitution.

U.S. Term Limits President Philip Blumel, who is based in Palm Beach, pointed to polls showing most Americans support congressional term limits. 

“Seventy-five percent of Americans support term limits on Congress, including huge majorities of Democrats, Republicans and independents,” Blumel said. “This is a rare, truly bipartisan issue with national support.”  

“Rep. Larry Metz and State Sen. Aaron Bean have been an integral part of the process in Florida and in making Florida the first state in the nation to call for term limits,” Blumel added before showcasing his group’s work across the nation.  “There are now 11 states hot on Florida’s heels, and the progress here has laid the groundwork for their success.”

Back in 1992, almost 77 percent of Floridians backed Amendment 9 which enacted eight year term limits on federal and state officials but, in 1995, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states could not enact congressional term limits. The same year, despite Republicans taking over the House in 1994 by calling for congressional term limits, U.S. Rep. Bill McCollum, R-Fla., attempted to push a proposed amendment though Congress limiting members of the U.S. House and Senate to serving 12 years but it fell far short of the two-thirds needed to pass the chamber. 

Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN

Comments

I agree. And I asked. The majority believe that term limits are the least of this country's problems. They believe if the people in office truly cared about the people the time they are in office wouldn't matter. Term limits want save us. Good people, good candidates are what will make us better.

Pray tell....it's been decades...just when do you suppose someone "good" will run and make it without being corrupted once in office? Do you not know how it works in Washington? If you don't "go with the flow", that is, do what is expected of you, none of the other members will back or vote for your proposals. You hafta scratch their backs in order for them to scratch yours and it has absolutely nothing to do with "good" people. Good people get drummed out quickly. Somebody needs to put a stop to lobbyists spending billions bribing our Congress to pass what they want them to pass, regardless of whether it's good for the country or not. Big business has our Congress wrapped up. Crooked as heck.

As an independent, all should know this is a good and legal attempt by Republicans to gain further advantage over their Democratic counterparts. Repubs typically have 3 times more money and spending to support their campaigns as they are usually supported by big business and a tremendous cash influx from lobbyists. Without name recognition, Dems will be hard pressed to compete. Just want everyone to know the facts, so they can choose the best candidate from both parties instead of choosing the party prop like good sheep. Choose wisely and vote!

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