| 41 | | - | WHEREAS, when the United States Supreme Court decided in Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U.S. 1 (1976), that certain campaign spending limits were unconstitutional, the ability of nonincumbents to challenge elected officials was substantially impaired; and WHEREAS, in 1974, the year of the only Hawaii election that observed spending limits, twenty-two new members were elected to the House of Representatives and eight new members were elected to the Senate; in other words, forty-three percent of the representatives and thirty-two percent of the senators elected in 1974 were new to the Legislature; and WHEREAS, fifteen states have imposed term limits on state legislators: Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, and South Dakota; and WHEREAS, thirty-six states have imposed term limits on their governors; and WHEREAS, thirty-three states have imposed term limits on their members in the United States Congress; and WHEREAS, the legislatures of Idaho and Utah have repealed term limits on state legislators; and WHEREAS, the supreme courts of Massachusetts, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming have invalidated term limits on state legislators due to procedural concerns, and not the merits of the applicable laws; and WHEREAS, the expenses for nonincumbents seeking election to the Legislature and the small chance of winning reduce the number of seriously contested races, which may increase voter apathy and undermine the entire foundation and process of representative democracy; and WHEREAS, from 2001 through 2004, a Joint Project on Term Limits was conducted as a cooperative effort by the National Conference of State Legislatures, Council of State Governments, State Legislative Leaders Foundation, and a number of legislative scholars; and WHEREAS, the massive project assessed the effects of term limits on state legislatures and identified approaches for coping with term limits; now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirty-second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2023, that the National Conference of State Legislatures and Council of State Governments is requested to update the findings of the 2004 Joint Project on Term Limits on the potential positive and negative consequences of implementing term limits for members of the Legislature; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the President of the Executive Committee of the National Conference of State Legislatures and National President of the Council of State Governments. Report Title: Legislators; Senators; Representatives; Term Limits; Study |
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| 41 | + | WHEREAS, when the United States Supreme Court decided in Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U.S. 1 (1976), that certain campaign spending limits were unconstitutional, the ability of nonincumbents to challenge elected officials was substantially impaired; and WHEREAS, in 1974, the year of the only Hawaii election that observed spending limits, twenty-two new members were elected to the House of Representatives and eight new members were elected to the Senate; in other words, forty-three percent of the representatives and thirty-two percent of the senators elected in 1974 were new to the Legislature; and WHEREAS, fifteen States have imposed term limits on state legislators: Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, and South Dakota; and WHEREAS, thirty-six states have imposed term limits on their governors; and WHEREAS, thirty-three states have imposed term limits on their members in the United States Congress; and WHEREAS, the legislatures of Idaho and Utah have repealed term limits on state legislators; and WHEREAS, the supreme courts of Massachusetts, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming have invalidated term limits on state legislators due to procedural concerns, and not the merits of the applicable laws; and WHEREAS, the expenses for nonincumbents seeking election to the Legislature and the small chance of winning reduce the number of seriously contested races, which may increase voter apathy and undermine the entire foundation and process of representative democracy; now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirty-second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2023, that the Legislative Reference Bureau is requested to conduct a study of potential positive and negative consequences of implementing term limits for members of the Legislature; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislative Reference Bureau is requested to report its findings to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2024; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a certified copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the Director of the Legislative Reference Bureau. OFFERED BY: _____________________________ Report Title: Legislators; Senators; Representatives; Term Limits; Study |
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