The South Carolina 
General Assembly has filed resolutions that would help bring about the Term Limits Convention, a new initiative to place term limits on members of Congress. By using Article V of the U.S. Constitution, 34 state legislatures can team up for a convention to propose a congressional term limits amendment. The Term Limits Convention campaign was launched by the grassroots group U.S. Term Limits in December, and is targeting 13 states for passage of the resolutions this year.
The House resolution (H-4739) is sponsored by Rep. Eric Bedingfield (R-Belton) and the Senate resolution (S-1046) is sponsored by Sen. Larry Grooms (R-Daniel Island).
Sen. Grooms remarked, “With each passing day, our nation moves closer and closer to reaching the edge of financial abyss. Because Congress is unwilling or unable to act, it becomes the duty of the states under Article V to step up and restore balance. Congressional Term Limits will restore the balance of power to We The People.”
The President of U.S. Term Limits, Philip Blumel commended Bedingfield and Grooms for working together on such an important issue. Blumel said that “The people of South Carolina are lucky to have public servants who see what is going on in Washington and are willing to take action to fix it. By using Article V to term limit Congress, they can restore balance between states and the federal government as our Founders intended.”
Blumel also noted the high popularity of congressional term limits, which receive 82% support from Republicans, 79% support from Independents and 65% support from Democrats nationwide, according to the most recent survey from Gallup.
In the 1990s, U.S. Term Limits assisted in successful campaigns to term limit 23 states’ congressional delegations by individual ballot measures. The Supreme Court ruled in the 1995 case U.S. Term Limits v. Thornton that these measures were unconstitutional, and that congressional term limits can only happen by constitutional amendment.
If successful, South Carolina will be among the first states in the nation to pass an Article V resolution for the exclusive purpose of putting term limits on Congress. In nearby Florida, the legislation has cleared the State House and could get a State Senate vote anytime.
Since 34 states must call for the Term Limits Convention to make it happen, U.S. Term Limits has spread its grassroots resources throughout the country. In addition to South Carolina, the group is also targeting Alabama, Alaska, Florida, Georgia, Colorado, South Dakota, West Virginia, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, Tennessee and Utah.