UNITED UTAH PARTY BACKS TERM LIMITS INITIATIVE
UNITED UTAH PARTY BACKS TERM LIMITS INITIATIVE
Launches new website at unite4termlimits.org
The United Utah Party announced today in a Live Facebook event on its Facebook page held at 9:30 am that it is submitting an application for a ballot initiative that would place term limits on state elected officials in Utah.
Under the proposed initiative, state legislators would be subject to a 12-year limit that would allow state senators to serve three consecutive terms, while House members would be limited to six consecutive terms. However lawmakers would not be banned from running again after a “time-out” period. The initiative also would exempt all elected officials currently serving on those positions.
Statewide officials - governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, state treasurer, and state auditor - would be limited to two four-year terms. Federal officeholders would not be affected.
Statewide officials - governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, state treasurer, and state auditor - would be limited to two four-year terms. Federal officeholders would not be affected.
“The goal is to restore the ideal of citizen service and discourage career politicians,” said Richard Davis, United Utah Party Chair. “What we are proposing is a reasonable term limit that still allows elected officials to serve long enough to make a difference, but not so long their career becomes more important than their constituents.”
Fifteen other states have term limits on their legislators, including Arizona, California, Montana, and Nevada, and twenty-eight other states have term limits on the governor, including Wyoming, Montana, Arizona, and Nevada.
“We prefer the legislative process, but we know that legislators will not seriously limit their own terms," Davis said. “The last time they did so, they repealed it before it affected anyone."
In 1994, in response to a citizen initiative, the Utah legislature limited its terms to 12 years. However, in the last two hours of the 2003 legislative session, with no debate, the legislature repealed its own term limit. Governor Mike Leavitt signed the repeal.
"We believe an initiative will make it harder for the legislature to play games with the voters since it will be the voters who impose the term limit system," Davis explained.
The UUP has launched a website - unite4termlimits.org - that outlines several reasons for the initiative, including eliminating a sense of entitlement to an office, rotating office holders to bring in new and fresh ideas, and decreasing incumbency advantage in elections. The website also will offer information about upcoming public hearings and allow supporters to donate time and money to the cause.
The UUP has launched a website - unite4termlimits.org - that outlines several reasons for the initiative, including eliminating a sense of entitlement to an office, rotating office holders to bring in new and fresh ideas, and decreasing incumbency advantage in elections. The website also will offer information about upcoming public hearings and allow supporters to donate time and money to the cause.
“If it gets on the ballot, we are confident it will pass,” Davis said. “Surveys show that the voters want term limits. We will need the help of many Utahns to get this on the ballot.”
More information is available at unite4termlimits.org.
More information is available at unite4termlimits.org.
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