Winona Model Legislature

Session 2019

Authors of the Bill

Senate Author House Author

[Senate Author] [House Author]

Committee Hearing Legislative Action

1. General Legislation
2. Judiciary Bill Number [House Action]
3. Ways and Means HF529 House
4. [Committee 4] SF127
[Senate Action]
Action Taken in Committee Senate
Bill Introduced By
Payton Lund [Governor Action]
1. No Action Taken WSU
Governor
2. [Committee 2 Action] Senate
3. [Committee 3 Action] [Override Veto]
A Bill For an Act Relating To
Override Veto
4. [Committee 4 Action] Term Limits

Bill text

1.1 A bill for an act

1.2 proposing an amendment to the Minnesota Constitution, article IV, section 4;
1.3 article V, sections 2, 4; placing limits on the terms of office of legislators and
1.4 executive officers.
1.5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.6 Section 1. CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT PROPOSED.

1.7 An amendment to the Minnesota Constitution, article IV, section 4, and article V, sections
1.8 2 and 4, is proposed to the people. If the amendment is adopted, article IV, section 4, will
1.9 read:

1.10 Sec. 4. Representatives shall be chosen for a term of two years, except to fill a vacancy.
1.11 Senators shall be chosen for a term of four years, except to fill a vacancy and except there
1.12 shall be an entire new election of all the senators at the first election of representatives after
1.13 each new legislative apportionment provided for in this article. No person may file to be a
1.14 candidate for election to a term in the house of representatives or senate that, if served,
1.15 would cause the person to serve more than 16 years in the legislature. The governor shall
1.16 call elections to fill vacancies in either house of the legislature.
1.17 article V, section 2, will read:

1.18 Sec. 2. The term of office for the governor and lieutenant governor is four years and
1.19 until a successor is chosen and qualified. No person may file to be a candidate for election
1.20 to a third term as governor or to a third term as lieutenant governor. Each shall have attained

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1.21 the age of 25 years and, shall have been a bona fide resident of the state for one year next
1.22 preceding his the person's election, and shall be a citizen of the United States.
2.1 article V, section 4, will read:

2.2 Sec. 4. The term of office of the secretary of state, attorney general, and state auditor
2.3 is four years and until a successor is chosen and qualified. No person may file to be a
2.4 candidate for election to a third term in one of the offices of secretary of state, attorney
2.5 general, or state auditor. The duties and salaries of the executive officers shall be prescribed
2.6 by law.

2.7 Sec. 2. APPLICATION; SUBMISSION TO VOTERS.

2.8 (a) The amendment must be submitted to the people at the 2020 general election.
2.9 The question submitted to the people shall be:
2.10 "Shall the Minnesota Constitution be amended to place limits on the terms of office of
2.11 state legislators and executive officers?

2.12 Yes ........

2.13 No ........ "

2.14 (b) The amendment applies to terms beginning in 2021 and thereafter. Legislative office
2.15 terms ending before or in 2021 and executive office terms ending before or in 2023 must
2.16 not be counted for the purposes of term limits imposed by section 1.

Amendments
Amendment 1
Delete this text and insert amendment here.

Amendment 2
Delete this text and insert amendment here and create more as needed.

Essay
Term limits is the idea that representatives should not be allowed to hold public office for more than a
certain period of time. Term limits first started in the United States Presidency after Franklin Roosevelt
served more then two terms of office. Since then, term limits have been enacted in some state
governments, “15 states currently (as of 2015) have term limits for legislators” (NCSL). This includes
limits on both state house representatives and senators, and of these limits, most of them are eight-year
limits. To go along with the fifteen states that have term limits, “voters in six additional states voted to
have term limits, only to have those votes nullified” (Ballotpedia) either by the legislature or the courts in
their state. Being that term limits is a rather new idea, the first state passing a bill for it being in 1990, the
idea has rapidly grown public and legislative support over the past 30 years.

Opponents to term limits argue that they will have too many negative effects. They would argue that term
limits would result in an unexperienced legislature and create instability. “Nothing renders government
more unstable than a frequent change of the persons that administer it” (Burgat). They would also argue
that having term limits takes away options for voters and can result in effective legislatures being taken
out of office. Taking legislatures out of office “deprive(s) voters of the fundamental right to choose their
representatives” (R Street). Also, incoming legislatures have an enormous learning curve to overcome,
and term limits would only increase the number of legislators going through this learning curve which
could result in less getting done.

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Sources
Pro:

NCSL. “The Term-Limited States.” National Conference of State Leguslatures, 13 Mar. 2015,
www.ncsl.org/research/about-state-legislatures/chart-of-term-limits-states.aspx.

Ballotpedia. “State Legislatures with Term Limits.” Ballotpedia,

ballotpedia.org/State_legislatures_with_term_limits.

Con:

Burgat, Casey. “Five Reasons to Oppose Congressional Term Limits.” Brookings, Brookings, 18 Jan.
2018, www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2018/01/18/five-reasons-to-oppose-congressional-term-
limits/.

R Street. “The Case Against Congressional Term Limits.” R Street, 18 July 2019,
www.rstreet.org/2019/07/18/the-case-against-congressional-term-limits/.

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