HOT SPRINGS -- Tim Jacob, chairman of Arkansas Term Limits, said Monday that a constitutional amendment that will be on the Nov. 4 general election ballot is a "deception" and an attempt to fool the voters of Arkansas.
Known as Issue 3, the subtitle of the House Joint Resolution states it is "The Arkansas Elected Officials Ethics, Transparency, and Financial Reform Amendment of 2014." It would change state ethics rules, set up a commission to set elected officials' salaries and adjust the state's term limits.
The term limits portion of the bill is included as Section 3 on Page 16 of the proposed amendment. It would allow a representative or a senator to serve a total of 16 years in either or both chambers.
Amendment 73 currently sets a limit of no more than three terms in office, or six total years of service, in the state House, and two four-year terms in the Senate, although constitutionally a senator could serve a total of 10 years if he had to serve a two-year term because of redistricting, which takes place every 10 years.
"We hear that this is an ethics bill, but how ethical is it to hide a term-limit extension in the middle of the bill?" Jacob asked while addressing a meeting of the Garland County Republican Women in Hot Springs on Monday.
"I'm not anti-Legislature and have enormous respect for the legislators, but I don't respect this. This is a deception and an attempt to deceive the voters and they have done it on purpose. The Legislature knows the only way to overturn term limits is through a constitutional amendment because term limits are in the Constitution," he said.
Jacob said the full ballot title of Issue 3 does not inform voters that the term limits would be lengthened.
"The title voters will see claims to be 'establishing term limits' for Arkansas legislators, with no mention that they would actually be weakened. Since voters overwhelmingly support term limits, this false title is likely to deceive many into voting against their own beliefs," he said in a news release.
Jacob said having term limits keeps power from being concentrated in one person's hand and is "a very American idea."
"Before term limits passed, we never had more than half the Legislature that had opponents in the November general elections. When you only have one person on the ballot, what kind of choice is that? That was the situation we had in the state before we had term limits," he said Monday.
According to Issue 3, a member of the General Assembly "shall serve no more than 16 years, whether consecutive or nonconsecutive."
"A member who completes his or her 16th 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," it said.
"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," the measure says.
"A partial legislative term served as a result of a special election ... 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."
"This is a manifest fraud against the public. It's very unethical for the Legislature to hide longer term limits -- that the voters don't want -- deep inside of a so-called 'ethics' amendment. To keep Arkansas from becoming a haven for career politicians, this needs to be defeated," Jacob said in the release.
"That's a deception; that's fooling the voters," he said Monday.
"If you disagree with term limits, stand up and say why we should vote your way, but you can't hide it on Page 16 of an unrelated amendment," he said.
Metro on 07/15/2014