An Act To Amend the Term Limitation Laws for State Legislators

Sec. 1. 3 MRSA §21-A,  as enacted by PL 1993, c. 403, §1 and affected by §3, is amended to read:

§ 21-A. President of Senate; term limitation

A person may not serve as President of the Senate for more than 3 2 consecutive legislative bienniums Legislatures. Service in that capacity before December 2 3, 1992 2008 is not included in the calculation of years served.

Sec. 2. 3 MRSA §41-A,  as enacted by PL 1993, c. 403, §2 and affected by §3, is amended to read:

§ 41-A. Speaker of House of Representatives; term limitation

A person may not serve as Speaker of the House of Representatives for more than 3 2 consecutive legislative bienniums Legislatures. Service in that capacity before December 2 3, 1992 2008 is not included in the calculation of years served.

Sec. 3. 21-A MRSA §553, sub-§1,  as enacted by IB 1993, c. 1, §1 and affected by §2, is repealed.

Sec. 4. 21-A MRSA §553, sub-§2,  as enacted by IB 1993, c. 1, §1 and affected by §2, is repealed.

Sec. 5. 21-A MRSA §553, sub-§2-A  is enacted to read:

Sec. 6. Contingent effective date. This Act takes effect only if a resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution of Maine takes effect to increase terms for Senators and members of the House of Representatives from 2 years to 4 years beginning with the general election held in 2008.

summary

This bill affects term limits for Legislators in the following ways and is contingent upon a constitutional amendment's being adopted and ratified at referendum to increase the number of years for a legislative term from 2 to 4.

1. Legislators would have a lifetime cumulative limit of 8 terms regardless of where those terms are serve. The limit on 4 consecutive terms in one chamber would remain intact, thereby requiring a break in service to return to service in the same chamber for a 5th term.

2. The limits for serving as President of the Senate and Speaker of the House would be 2 consecutive Legislatures.