The Nebraska Legislature advanced a constitutional amendment regarding legislative term limits to the ballot. On November 3rd Nebraska voters will decide whether to change our current term limits. Presently, Nebraska state senators are limited to serving two consecutive terms of four years. The current term limits allow someone to run again for another term after being out of the Legislature for a period of four years. The proposed constitutional amendment (LR19CA), if approved, would allow members of the Legislature to run for three consecutive terms of four years. If this constitutional amendment is not approved, our current term limits of two consecutive four year terms remain in effect.
LR19CA was initially proposed by Senator Rob Dover of Norfolk. Nebraska’s constitution provides three pathways to amend it. One is by the petition process, where signatures are gathered to place a proposed constitutional amendment on the ballot. A second pathway is by convening a constitutional convention. A third pathway is via the Legislature, which introduces the proposed amendment as a legislative resolution and passes it by the same process used to consider regular bills. Constitutional amendments advanced by this process are considered legislatively referred. All constitutional amendments, regardless of their origin, require the majority approval by the voters of Nebraska to be adopted.
LR19CA was advanced by the Executive Committee by a vote of 9-0. This proposed amendment was approved by the Legislature on a vote of 39-10. I supported the referral of this constitutional amendment to the ballot. I believe that Nebraska voters should determine whether we keep our current two term limit or if we extend it to three consecutive terms of four years.
Prior to 2006, there were no term limits on members of the Legislature. Voters approved Ballot Measure 415 in 2000 to institute the current two term limit. Prior to 2006 the average length of service of state senators was just under 8 years or two terms. Supporters of this change share that it will help rectify the imbalance of institutional knowledge that presently favors lobbyists over elected members of the Legislature. They also contend that it will reduce the delays in passing important legislation caused by the regular turnover of members. Opponents contend that three terms will unfairly favor incumbent senators over new candidates. Other people contend that term limits are unnecessary in the first place since each election is a potential term limit for sitting senators.
My personal observation is that extending the limit to three terms is an improvement. When I started my first term four years ago, 29 senators out of the total of 49 had served 4 years or less. Of those 29 senators, 19 had served less than 2 years. It was difficult to find senators who had served long enough to provide a historical perspective on major issues. The lobbyists are always willing to fill this knowledge gap. However, they do so as people hired by specific interest groups. If I am reelected to a second term next month, I do not plan to serve a third term, even if LR19CA passes.
As always, if I can be of assistance to you in any way, please do not hesitate to contact my office. My staff members – Matt and Katie – are available to assist you with your needs and they pass along messages, so if you’d like a call back, please let them know!
Email: jana.hughes@leg.ne.gov
Phone: 402-471-2756
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