Alaska Files Resolution to Term Limit Congress

The Alaska State House has filed House Joint Resolution 13 (HJR13), that would impose term limits on Congress.

Introduced on March 31, the Resolution states:

“Requesting the United States Congress to call a convention of the states to propose an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to set a limit on the number of terms that a person may be elected as a member of the United States House of Representatives, and as a member of the United States Senate; and urging the legislatures of the other 49 states to request the United States Congress to call a convention of the states.”

The legislation also lets Congress know that Alaska intends to participate in an amendment proposal convention. The single-issue convention specifies limiting the terms a member of Congress may hold office.

HJR13 is being sponsored by Representatives Tom McKay and Frank Tomaszewski. There are four Alaska state lawmakers in the current legislature who have committed their support to this resolution by signing the term limits pledge.

Philip Blumel, the president of U.S. Term Limits (U.S.T.L.), a nonprofit that focuses solely on term limits, commended Reps. McKay and Tomaszewski for working on this important electoral reform.

“The people of Alaska are lucky to have public servants who see what is going on in D.C. and are willing to take action to fix it. By using Article V to term limit Congress, the states can restore citizen representation on Capitol Hill,” said Blumel.

According to the most recent poll by Voice Broadcasting, 88% of the voters in Alaska are in favor a constitutional amendment that would place term limits on members of Congress.

In addition, a majority (90%) of the voters would want their state senator or representative to vote “yes” if an amendment for term limits on Congress was proposed.

If HJR13 passes both chambers of the state legislature this session, Alaska will join other states calling for a convention exclusively to propose term limits on the U.S. Congress.

Currently, 16 states have legislative term limits, with North Dakota adding to that list just last year, limiting Senators and Representatives to serving 8 years.

Once 34 state legislatures apply for the convention and approve the term limits amendment language, it must be ratified by 38 states to become part of the U.S. Constitution.

Copies of this resolution are set to be sent to the President, Vice-President, Speaker of the House, and other high-ranking members of the house and senate, including Senators Lisa Murkowski and the Dan Sullivan, Representative Mary Peltola, and the presiding officers of the legislatures of each of the other 49 states.

Meanwhile, earlier this year, House Joint Resolution 11 was introduced that proposes an amendment to the Constitution to limit the number of terms that a Member of Congress may serve.

Specifically, no person who serves 3 terms as a Representative shall be eligible for election to the House of Representatives. For Senators, no person who serves 2 terms as a Senator shall be eligible for election or appointment to the Senate.

Currently, it is running along party lines, with 84 republicans and 4 democrats sponsoring the bill. It is currently waiting for the House Judiciary Committee to vote on it.

According to the last nationwide poll on term limits conducted by RMG Research, term limits enjoys wide bipartisan support. Rasmussen’s analysis states, “Support for term limits is broad and strong across all political, geographic and demographic groups. An overwhelming 82% of voters approve of a Constitutional Amendment that will place term limits on members of Congress.”