Arizona Four-Year Terms for State Legislators Amendment (2018)
| Arizona Four-Year Terms for State Legislators Amendment | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 6, 2018 | |
| Topic State legislatures measures | |
| Status Not on the ballot | |
| Type Constitutional amendment | Origin State legislature |
The Arizona Four-Year Terms for State Legislators Amendment was not on the ballot in Arizona as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment on November 6, 2018.
The measure would have increased the length of terms for both state senators and state representatives from two years to four years beginning in 2021.[1]
The measure would not have changed the length of term limits in years. Both state senators and state representatives would have continued to be limited to serving eight years.[1]
Text of measure
Constitutional changes
- See also: Article 4, Arizona Constitution
The measure would have amended Section 21 of Article 4 of the Arizona Constitution. The following underlined text would have been added and struck-through text would have been deleted:[1]
Note: Hover over the text and scroll to see the full text.
A. The members of the first legislature shall hold office until the first Monday in January, 1913. Through the fifty-fourth legislature, the terms of office of the members of succeeding legislatures shall be the House of Representatives and the members of the Senate are two years. No A state senator shall not serve more than four consecutive terms in that office, nor shall any and each state representative shall not serve more than four consecutive terms in that office. This limitation on the number of terms of consecutive service shall apply applies to terms of office beginning on or after January 1, 1993.
B. Beginning with the fifty-fifth legislature in 2021, the terms of office of the members of the House of Representatives and the members of the Senate are four years. Beginning with the fifty-fifth legislature in 2021, a state senator shall not serve more than two consecutive terms in that office and each state representative shall not serve more than two consecutive terms in that office. This limitation to two consecutive terms of service applies to terms of office that begin on or after January 1, 2021.
C. No A legislator, after serving the maximum number of terms, which shall include includes any part of a term served, may not serve in the same office until he the legislator has been out of office for no not less than one full term.
D. The increase to a four-year term beginning with the fifty-fifth legislature in 2021 applies as follows:
- 1. A legislator who serves three consecutive terms in one house of the legislature and whose first term began in January, 2015 is eligible to serve one additional consecutive term in that house that begins in January, 2021 and is not eligible for a fifth consecutive term in that house.
- 2. A legislator who serves two consecutive terms in one house of the legislature and whose first term began in January, 2017 is eligible to serve one additional consecutive term in that house that begins in January, 2021 and is not eligible for a fourth consecutive term in that house.
3. A legislator who serves one term in a house of the legislature and whose first term began in January, 2019 without prior consecutive service in that house is eligible to serve two additional consecutive terms in that house that begin in January, 2021 and January, 2025.[2]
Background
During the 2017 legislative session, the Arizona State Senate voted on a constitutional amendment to increase the length of a term for state senators from two years to four years. The amendment would not have increased the length of a term for state representatives. While the state Senate approved the proposal 19-11, the state House did not vote on the measure before the session adjourned.
Path to the ballot
- See also: Amending the Arizona Constitution
In Arizona, a constitutional amendment must be passed by a simple majority vote in each house of the Arizona Legislature during one legislative session.
Rep. Drew John (R-14) introduced the constitutional amendment as House Concurrent Resolution 2006 (HCR 2006) during the 2018 legislative session. On March 5, 2018, the Arizona House of Representatives voted 33 to 22 with five members not voting to pass HCR 2006. The vote divided both Democrats and Republicans, with 48 percent of Democrats and 60 percent of Republicans voting "yes" on the amendment.[3] On May 4, 2018, the Arizona State Legislature adjourned the 2018 legislative session without a vote on the measure in the state Senate.[4]
| Vote in the Arizona House of Representatives | |||
| Requirement: Simple majority vote of all members in each chamber | |||
Number of yes votes required: 31  | |||
| Yes | No | Not voting | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 33 | 22 | 5 |
| Total percent | 55.00% | 36.67% | 8.33% |
| Democrat | 12 | 10 | 3 |
| Republican | 21 | 12 | 2 |
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Arizona State Legislature, "House Concurrent Resolution 2006," accessed March 6, 2018
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source.
- ↑ Arizona State Legislature, "HCR 2006 Overview," accessed March 6, 2018
- ↑ Associated Press, "The Latest: Arizona Legislature adjourns 2018 session," May 4, 2018
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