"A Triumph For Citizen Leadership"
MAINERS OVERWHELMINGLY REJECT ATTEMPT TO WEAKEN STATE'S TERM LIMITS
Augusta, Maine - November 6, 2007 - Maine voters overwhelmingly rejected an effort to weaken their state's legislative term limits tonight, casting their ballots 67%-33% in support of the current law, which was initially approved in 1993 and first implemented in 1996.
"This is a triumph for citizen leadership in the state of Maine as well as a huge win for term limits supporters everywhere," said former State Sen. Rick Bennett, Chairman of the No More Than 4 Committee, which led the fight to preserve Maine's existing term limits. "Once again, the will of the people has been heard on this issue. Mainers appreciate the new ideas, enhanced representation and renewed focus on service over self-interest that term limits provide."
Proponents of the referendum had sought to extend legislative term limits from four to six terms (or from eight to twelve years), but they were handily defeated by the voters, who refused to take a step backward to the pre-term limits era of budget shutdowns and partisan gridlock in Augusta.
"In just over a decade, term limits have turned Maine's legislature from 'Shutdown Street' into a boulevard of better government," said U.S. Term Limits President, Phil Blumel. "That change in direction has created tremendous benefits for the people of Maine, and they flatly refused to see those benefits compromised by this referendum.
Chávez to Propose Removing His Term Limits
CARACAS, Venezuela, Aug. 14 — President Hugo Chávez will unveil a project to change the Constitution on Wednesday that is expected to allow him to be re-elected indefinitely, a move that would enhance his authority to accelerate a socialist-inspired transformation of Venezuelan society.
The removal of term limits for Mr. Chávez, which is at the heart of the proposal, is expected to be accompanied by measures circumscribing the authority of elected governors and mayors, who would be prevented from staying in power indefinitely, according to versions of the project leaked in recent weeks. Read More
Statement to the Press by U.S. Term Limits on PA Lawmakers Rejection of Term Limits
FAIRFAX, VA (June 13, 2007) – U.S. Term Limits Director of State Government Affairs Jeremy Johnson issued the following statement at a press conference following the rejection of term limits legislation by the Speaker's Commission on Legislative Reform in the Pennsylvania State House of Representatives:
"This vote not only goes to show that politicians in power will rarely voluntarily enact term limits legislation, it also demonstrates the very reason we need them.
"The fact that a majority of Pennsylvania representatives support term limits is promising.
"Seventeen (17) of twenty-four (24) representatives appointed to the Speaker's Commission on Legislative Reform voted in support of term limits, but because of Speaker O'Brien's insistence of a three-fourths super-majority, the commission failed to recommend this critical plan.
"Clearly, with over 70% support in the Speaker's commission, the term limits battle is not over." Read More
Donations can't fail to catch Nuñez's eye
Groups with bills before the Assembly give $1.68 million to fund speaker's bid to adjust term limits.
By Nancy Vogel, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
June 4, 2007
SACRAMENTO — The law bars them from donating more than $7,200 directly to Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez (D-Los Angeles). But nothing has prevented teachers, doctors, gambling enterprises, insurers and others from giving much, much more to a cause close to Nuñez's heart.
Those interest groups wrote checks for as much as $250,000 to help bankroll a ballot measure that would tweak California's term limits to give Nuñez another six years in the Legislature. Seventeen unions, corporations, utilities and professional associations have donated a combined $1.68 million for a signature-gathering effort to put the measure before voters next February.
[Editor’s Note: U.S. Term Limits is highlighting this article to bring you yet another example of the blatant corruption among elected officials and special interests that must be stopped.]
Speaker Fabian Nunez and Senator Don Perata again give us clear illustration as to why they could be named arguably the most corrupt elected officials in America. Read More
Lots of grousing, but no challenge, to Mo. term limits
By Jo Mannies
POST-DISPATCH POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT
06/01/2007
Much of the blame for this year's chaotic and clumsy legislative session boiled down to two words: term limits.
That comes as no surprise to supporters as well as critics of the restrictions that Missouri voters overwhelmingly enacted 15 years ago. The restrictions limit legislators to no more than eight years in the state House or Senate.
Proof Anti-Term Limits Ballot Title is Inaccurate! Deceptive Wording Exposed
The situation in California is urgent. Greedy career politicians are trying to circumvent the wishes of the people they were elected to serve by amending the California Term Limits Law.
Jerry Brown, California’s Attorney General who himself is no stranger to career political families, issued a ballot title that is little more than a thinly-veiled campaign flyer in favor of the move.
United States Term Limits (USTL) has sued to stop this attack on the California Term Limits Law on the basis that the language of the initiative is inaccurate and therefore deceptive.
Now USTL is offering proof.
- The initiative does NOT reduce the number of years one may serve in the legislature from 14 to 12 years because the amendment, Prop 140 (which was approved by voters in 1990) did NOT call for a 14-year limit.
- There is no 14-year limit; there is a six-year limit in the Assembly and an eight-year limit in the Senate.
- There is no "right" to 14 years.
- 90 percent of legislators serve less than 14 years.
A Smoking Gun?
AG Brown's Titles & Summary for Initiative to Gut Term Limits Similar to Advocacy Language Used Earlier by Campaign and Posted on Its Web site
US Term Limits filed a lawsuit on Wednesday May 2nd against California Attorney General Jerry Brown's blatantly misleading and biased Title and Summary for the initiative sponsored by Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez and Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata to dramatically weaken California's term limits for state legislators.
Dan Walters: Term-limit summary's misleading
California's legislative term limits have been a mixed blessing at best. A cogent argument can be made for changing them to allow lawmakers to serve longer in one legislative house, rather than jumping back and forth.
Why, then, would legislative leaders and business and labor groups promoting a term limit overhaul mislead voters about what their ballot measure would do? Even more important, why would Attorney General Jerry Brown go along with that trickery by writing an official summary of the measure that echoes the misleading propaganda?
U.S. Term Limits Files Lawsuit Over Misleading and Biased Title and Summary for Perata/Nunez Initiative to Weaken Term Limits
Sacramento – U.S. Term Limits, the nation’s leading term limits advocacy organization, today filed suit in Sacramento County Superior Court against California Attorney General Jerry Brown’s blatantly misleading and biased Title and Summary for the initiative sponsored by Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez and Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata to dramatically weaken California’s term limits law for state legislators.
New Poll Shows Overwhelming Support for Term Limits in California
In new polling done by The Public Policy Institute of California, results show Californians of both parties overwhelmingly support term limits for elected officials.
The poll results found that 68 percent of likely voters thought that term limits were a good thing. 56% of Democrats and 75% of Republicans surveyed believed term limits were a good thing.
View Poll Here
Check Out The Arkansas Term Limits TV Commercial
"Gentleman, I don't have to remind you of the overwhelming vote against gay marriage in 2004.....well from that 2004 vote, it is clear that the people of Arkansas would rather me marry a man than serve more than three terms in the House"
OPEN LETTER TO SPEAKER PELOSI
U.S. TERM LIMITS APPLAUDS DEMOCRATS FOR KEEPING COMMITTEE CHAIR LIMITS
OREGON: BRINGING BACK TERM LIMITS
Oregon legislators sued to remove their term limits. Now, citizens are working to bring them back.
NEW AD IN CALIFORNIA
California politicians are trying to gut term limits.
We're working to stop them.
Click here to view our latest ad
NEBRASKA TERM LIMITS BATTLE ENTERS ROUND TWO
Nebraska’s politicians just won’t give up on their latest attempt to thwart the will of the people. After their attack on the state’s term limits law was rejected by the state Supreme Court, they turned around and filed yet another challenge in District Court.
Don’t Touch Term Limits and U.S. Term Limits
are fighting back . . . Read more!
MICHIGAN TERM LIMITS BATTLE HEATS UP
The Chamber of Commerce has declared war on the state's voter-enacted term limits . . . Read more!
FLORIDA GROUP SAYS, "STOP THE POLITICIANS!"
Florida politicians are working overtime to undo the will of the people . . . Read more!