U.S. Term Limits (USTL) will honor eight Florida legislators this week for pledging not to change term limits in the Sunshine State.
In 1992, more than 75 percent of Floridians voted to amend the state Constitution to include the current term limits provision. USTL President Philip Blumel, a West Palm Beach resident, insisted term limits remained popular, pointing to polls on the matter, and promising his group is ready to fight if legislators attempt to alter the current ones.
Even though voters passed eight-year term limits in a landslide, aspiring career politicians in Tallahassee havent stopped scheming to get rid of them, Blumel said on Monday. By standing up for the peoples term limits, these legislators have taken a truly courageous stand and we applaud them for it.
USTL will honor Rep. Amanda Murphy, D-New Port Richey, and Rep. Cary Pigman, R-Sebring, on Monday. On Tuesday, USTL will recognize Sen. Aaron Bean, R-Jacksonville; Rep. Frank Artiles, R-Miami; Rep. Larry Metz, R-Groveland; and Rep. John Tobia, R-Melbourne Beach. USTL also plans to honor Sen. Joe Negron, R-Stuart, and Rep. John Wood, R-Winter Haven, this week.
In the 2014 election cycle, more than 20 congressional candidates across Florida backed USTLs pledge to support an amendment to the U.S. Constitution limiting members of the U.S. House to three terms and members of the U.S. Senate to two terms, but only one of those candidates -- U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Fla.-- was elected. Businessman and religious conservative Jay Bonner, the Republican candidate who was buried in a 63 percent landslide by U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Fla., in November, is the only politician in Florida so far who has signed USTLs pledge for 2016.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
