JEFFERSON CITY — One proposal that soared out of the House this week would ask Missouri voters to consider loosening the term limits law they enacted more than 30 years ago.
That constitutional amendment, which three-fourths of voters statewide approved in 1992, limits state legislators to eight years in the House and eight years in the Senate, or 16 years of total service.
The resolution the House sent to the Senate on Wednesday would still limit lawmakers to 16 years of total service.
But beginning Dec. 5, 2030, the amendment would remove the eight-year limits for serving in one chamber. Time in office due to an election before that date would be counted against a legislator.
The measure passed on a 134-14 vote, with five lawmakers voting present.
The resolution sponsor Rep. Mike Stephens, a term-limited Republican from Bolivar, said Wednesday that “for all of us who have gone through this experience,†seeing “what really turns out to be a brief time that we have here, is not the best governance.â€
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He added that while he believed the change is an improvement, convincing the voters “is another thing.â€
“This will have to kind of ride on its own merits on the ballot,†Stephens said.
Rep. Eric Woods, D-Kansas City, said individuals close to the process have seen how term limits “can be harmful to the institution†and can give “some undue and unbalanced influence to special interests.â€
Woods said that because term limits are popular, legislators would have the job of “convincing our constituents of why it’s important†if the question made it to the ballot.
“People believe in term limits because they have concerns about corruption and entrenchment and bad actors in the Legislature,†Woods said, adding the amendment honors the people’s desire for term limits while providing more flexibility.
Public polling has shown overwhelming support for term limits. A Pew Research Center conducted in July found nearly 9 in 10 U.S. adults supported term limits for members of Congress.
But recent Missouri history has shown reluctance toward enacting new term limits. Among statewide officials, only the governor and treasurer are limited to two four-year terms.
Amendment 1, which appeared on the 2020 general election ballot, would have also applied the limits to the lieutenant governor, the attorney general, secretary of state and auditor.
But the question was defeated, with only 47% of voters supporting it.
With only three weeks left in session, and with the Senate facing a long to-do list, the question may not ultimately make the ballot this year.
Stephens said Wednesday hopes of getting the question on the ballot “are riding on a lot of improbabilities.â€
Senate President Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia, referred Stephens’ measure to the Senate Rules, Joint Rules, Resolutions and Ethics Committee on Thursday.
That committee has not voted on a similar resolution by Sen. Travis Fitzwater, R-Holts Summit, that would also allow 16 years of service in one chamber if enacted.
If approved by voters, Fitzwater’s resolution would also shrink the size of the Missouri House from 163 members to 102 members, a plan that a nonpartisan estimate predicted would save the state millions of dollars annually.
The House legislation is Hous