Term-limits amendment proposal said in works

A leading term-limits proponent said Thursday that he will propose a constitutional amendment limiting state representatives to serving six years in office, senators to eight years and lawmakers to serve a maximum of 10 years in the Arkansas Legislature.

But Tim Jacob of Little Rock said he won't include in the amendment a repeal of the pay raises for elected officials approved by a citizens salary commission.

Amendment 94 to the Arkansas Constitution -- approved by voters in November -- increased the length of time that lawmakers would be allowed to serve to a maximum 16 years in the House, the Senate or a combination of terms in both.

Lawmakers had been limited to six years in the House and eight years in the Senate. Some senators had been able to serve 10 years if they drew a two-year term after winning in the election after once-per-decade redistricting.

Jacob -- who led a group that opposed Amendment 94 -- said he'll be part of a group that submits a proposed popular name and ballot title for the proposed amendment to the attorney general's office in the next few weeks.

The approval of the attorney general's office is required for the proposed popular name and ballot title before Jacob's group can begin collecting signatures.

Jacob said he estimates that term-limits supporters will have to gather 100,000 to 110,000 signatures of registered voters to get the 82,000 or so valid signatures required to qualify the proposed amendment for the 2016 general election ballot.

He said the proposed amendment has "a great chance" of being approved by voters because term limits have been politically popular in the past 20 years.

"I'm sure a lot of people still don't know [the amount of time lawmakers can serve] was extended," Jacob said.

He said he hopes the group will get financial help from the U.S. Term Limits committee.

The Palm Beach, Fla.-based organization reported spending more than $550,000 in its attempt to defeat Issue 3, which became Amendment 94 to the Arkansas Constitution.

Among other things, Amendment 94 shifted authority for setting pay raises for state elected officials to a seven-member salary commission appointed by the governor, House speaker, Senate president pro tempore and chief justice.

The commission in March granted substantial pay raises for elected officials, which will cost the state about $4.9 million a year, according to the budget office.

Jacob called the pay raises "ridiculous." But he said his group doesn't intend to try to repeal the raises through the proposed amendment because "there's only so much we can do at one time."

When asked about Jacob's term-limits plans, Sen. Jon Woods, R-Springdale, said, "Wow."

"I think we already have term limits, and they are called elections," said Woods, who proposed Amendment 94 along with Reps. Warwick Sabin, D-Little Rock.

"Term limits work against what people want" and their ability to decide whether to re-elect a lawmaker, he said.

Jacob's proposed constitutional amendment would impose the strictest term limits in the nation on Arkansas lawmakers and place more power in the hands of bureaucrats and lobbyists, Woods said.

He said he would be surprised if somebody tried to repeal the new pay raises through a ballot measure.

"I don't know why anybody would," Woods said.

In February, Nicolas Tomboulides, executive director of the U.S. Term Limits committee, wrote in a column in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that "citizens have an opportunity now to personally restore sane salaries, term limits and the balance of power. They must use the initiative process to roll back these aspects of Issue No. 3 that voters never really approved in the first place. As for the politicians who foisted all of this on Arkansas? The entire state is awaiting your apology."

Amendment 94 also prohibits elected officials from accepting certain gifts from lobbyists, prohibits direct campaign contributions from corporations and unions, and increased the cooling-off period for lawmakers before they can register as lobbyists from one year to two years.

Metro on 05/01/2015

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