Tennessee House Resolution Joins Other States In Call For Congressional Term Limits
Image: Graphic depicts current progression of the term limits convention. View the most updated version here. Image Credit: termlimits.com
The Tennessee Conservative [By Kelly M. Jackson] –
According to PEW research center, 87%, an overwhelming majority of Americans, favor term limits for members of Congress.
Considering the members of congress have yet to impose these limits on themselves, no matter how many times the issue has been raised, the states are resorting to an alternative method to achieve the same end: an Article V convention to propose a Constitutional Amendment.
Last General session, Representative Chris Todd (R-Madison County-District 73) filed House Joint Resolution 5 (HJR0005) to be considered in the 113th General Assembly.
The resolution states: “A RESOLUTION to make application to the Congress of the United States pursuant to Article V of the United States Constitution to call a convention for proposing amendments to set a limit on the number of terms to which a person may be elected as a Member of the United States House of Representatives and to set a limit on the number of terms to which a person may be elected as a Member of the United States Senate.”
The resolution would add Tennessee to a list of 6 other states (and counting) calling for a single-topic limited Article V convention for proposing one amendment to the Constitution for term limits on Congress. FL, AL, MO, WV, WI, and OK have also passed similar legislation. There are also a couple of dozen other states who have similar legislation being readied for filings next year.
While there are some in Congress including several of our Tennessee delegation that do support term limits, many more are accustomed to an indefinite stay, and are impermeable to any efforts to shorten that stay if those efforts begin with the federal government.
Single topic resolutions like the one presented by Representative Todd have a distinct advantage of pressuring Congress into proposing term limits themselves, albeit reluctantly. When the number of states on board with calling the convention approaches the number 34 mark, the inevitability of a convention may force Congress to act on their own power or run the risk of having the states act on their behalf.
Representative Todd’s resolution was carried through the Tennessee House by an overwhelmingly favorable vote of 66-27.
The next challenge is getting the resolution to pass through the Tennessee State Senate, where state Senator Richard Briggs (R-D7-Knoxville) is the lead sponsor of the legislation and also happens to be the Chair for the Senate State & Local Government Committee where the resolution currently sits.
Also of note, the state of Tennessee had a proposal this past general session for an amendment to the Tennessee State Constitution, that would have imposed a 16-year term limit on all state level elected officials.
HJR0045 sponsored by Representative Bryan Richey (R-D20-Maryville) states: “Constitutional Amendments – Proposes amendment to establish a term limit of 16 years for all state and local public officials, except for the governor, for whom a term limit is established of eight years.”
That resolution was killed in the Public Service House Subcommittee, which communicated that they felt there was no need for there to be term limits on them, because if their constituents have an issue with how they do their job, they have an opportunity to personally confront them at the grocery store, or any other place they may happen to run into them while they are home in their districts.
Additionally, they indicated that because they only work for their constituents on a part time basis, going to work at their “regular jobs” the rest of the year, in that their service isn’t a full-time gig, they don’t feel a limit on how long they can run for and stay in their seats is necessary.
Neither argument addresses the fact that, based on polling, a copious number of their constituency are in favor of term limits. In case any readers would like to know who their state representatives are, so when you do see them about town, you can ask them about any decisions they make, you can find your legislator here.
As for the resolution that will assist in imposing term limits in Congress, its next step is to make its way through the Senate State & Local Government Committee, and then if passed, onto the Senate floor for a vote.
If readers would like to see a list of states and their legislators who have signed onto this effort, including those in the state of Tennessee, you can find the list of pledge signers here.
General Session begins in the New Year and The Tennessee Conservative will continue coverage of this issue as it makes its way through the process.
About the Author: Kelly Jackson is a recent escapee from corporate America, and a California refugee to Tennessee. Christ follower, Wife and Mom of three amazing teenagers. She has a BA in Comm from Point Loma Nazarene University, and has a background in law enforcement and human resources. Since the summer of 2020, she has spent any and all free time in the trenches with local grassroots orgs, including Mom’s for Liberty Williamson County and Tennessee Stands as a core member. Outspoken advocate for parents rights, medical freedom, and individual liberty. Kelly can be reached at kelly@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
Term limits are a cure looking for a problem to solve. It is anti-democratic in that it deprives the voters of the ability to choose otherwise perfectly eligible individuals who have been doing a good job and warrant re-election. It enhances the power of the deep state insofar as you have an artificially enhanced turnover of experienced elected officials who oversee the bureaucrats. And it certainly doesn’t change the ideology of elected officials as in the vast majority of cases the successors are ideological clones of their predecessors. Finally, whenever you are deluded to thinking term limits are such a great idea pay more attention to the adventures of the Nashville Metro Council – that’ll cure you.
If you can’t do anything other than to vote yes or no on someone’s else’s bill then you don’t deserve to be an elected official. President’s of the US are term-limited because many if not most voters don’t want another FDR who didn’t know when to quit. Ditto for people like Schumer, Pelosi, Biden – geriactrics all.
FDR didn’t need to die or quit. He was President, not King. He would have been out of office just as soon as the people voted him out. The voters didn’t do so that one time because we were in the middle of a World War and “you don’t change horses in mid-steam” I believe was the campaign theme he used and centrist candidates that the Republicans put up were decidedly uninspiring.
Term limiting a President succeeds in making him a lame duck as soon as he takes his oath of office the second term. He therefore is no longer accountable to the voters much like Tennessee Governors. Does that make him more responsive to the voters? OF COURSE NOT!
Term-limits, a truly terrible idea that does nothing positive wherever it is tried but refuses to die.
I agree with Stuart Anderson. Look at the people recently elected and compare them to Jim Jordan and James Comer – no comparison. It’s like any other job – experience matters.
I have been in favor of Term Limits for many years. But,I changed my mind after realizing that the DEEP STATE was in essential control now,and TL would give them free rein for all sorts of idiocy if our Representatives were not up to speed on long and recent History of the Institution. If enacted ,sufficient controls need to be in place to avert substantial damage. IMO.
He needs to sponsor an amendment for term limits in the STATE house and STATE senate. If we’re going to have millions of corporate dollars interfering with our elections (“corporations are people too”), then bring on the term limits.
Do dollars from public interest groups like Club For Growth PAC “interfere with our elections” Lily? And if conservative voters can get together and financially support candidates why can’t shareholders of companies do the same thing especially considering those shareholders pay quite a bit of income taxes on the corporate level AND AGAIN on the personal level on their corporate income? Finally Lily, why do you think corporations that contribute to incumbents running for office would be any less ready to do so for the stream of new candidates that will run after term limits who promise to vote in an agreeable fashion?
Again, “term limits are a cure looking for a problem to solve”.
I was into Convention of the States for while but it seemed to be a Mark Levin cult club of sorts with a power center all its own that wasn’t entirely clear.
No doubt, getting rid of people like McConnell and Pelsoi wouldn’t be bad but it became apparent to me that the party apparatus and huge amounts of money required to run a campaign were really the problem and term limits wouldn’t do anything to fix that. Likely enough, it’d just transfer more power to the party chairs and the big donors since people who could run and fund raise on their records like Rand Paul or MTG would vanish.
The recent brouhaha about AIPAC said it all and that is probably the worst of the lobbies, the agent of a foreign power in all but name and no doubt close to Mark Levin’s heart. (“The Israel Lobby” Mearscheimer, 2007)
Check out Ted Cruz’s new book on Israel-Palestine-so far off he isn’t even wrong-it’s entirely Isreali propganda and counter to established history.
Koch Brothers funding Nikki Haley and coopting FOX News is another example of it. She’s hopelessly unappealing but another warmonger, as though Joe Biden weren’t already bad enough. But, once in power, you run into the reality of rest of the world hence “Genocide Joe’s” floundering.
This was all predictable. Oct. 7 was an ambush and it’s working out as Hamas probalby intended. Lots of people saw it.
The answer is to get the money out of campaign finance and with the internet, that is easier now than it’s ever been. More people find alternate news sites that may not have the staff but pick up on what’s important vs “lamestream” controlled media, and it is very controlled.
The GOP could have consulted people like John Mearscheimer, Doug McGreggor and Scott Ritter on Israel-Palestine, who’d already predicted the Ukraine War well enough. Tucker Carlson was headed that way when FOX fired him and still hangs.
Candidates could basically run Zoom campaigns, take questions from a variety of SMEs vs the “Lamestream” hacks or even Live Chats : something like that : where we’d get ideas and policy crafted in debate rather than slogans, sound bites, predatory pundits and hacks, all under the Evil Eye.
In a multi-polar world, we need a mutli-polar system vs the “Uniparty” where big money is the gate keeper.