February 9, 2022
Contact: Scott Tillman, U.S. Term Limits
Phone: (321) 345-7455
stillman@termlimits.com
Tennessee State Senator Joey Hensley Honored for Term Limits Support
Nashville, TN — Tennessee’s state Senator Joey Hensley (district 28) was honored with a plaque for his support of term limits on Congress. U.S. Term Limits (USTL), the nation’s oldest and largest pro-term limits group, presented the distinction to Hensley at the Tennessee capitol last week.
A group of USTL volunteers gave the state senator the “Champion of Term Limits” wood plaque which reads, “In recognition of a steadfast commitment to restore citizen government through term limits.” Hensley has pledged to support house joint resolution 8 (HJR8) which successfully passed through the lower chamber last year. The convention bill does not set the specific length of term limits, rather, it simply starts a discussion among the states on what the ideal term limits of Congressmembers should be.
Under Article V of the U.S. Constitution, the states are the only government entity with the authority to amend the Constitution. In this situation, Congress would have a conflict of interest to propose term limits on itself. Recognizing this, the founders assured the states could both propose and ratify amendments without the approval of Congress. HJR8 leverages this power so the states may act in the best interest of the people.
Sponsored by Tennessee state Senator Mike Bell, the measure’s summary reads, “House Joint Resolution 8 applies to the United States Congress for a Convention of the States to propose an amendment to the United States Constitution to impose term limits on members of Congress.”
Once HJR8 is approved by the state senate, Tennessee will be counted in the states calling for a national convention to propose a term limits amendment.
According to a 2020 poll of voters in the state conducted by RMG Research, term limits enjoy wide bipartisan support. In Tennessee 77% of Republicans, 90% of Democrats, and 71% of independents strongly approve of placing term limits on members of Congress.
In addition to the Tennessee House passing this resolution, there are four members of Congress from the Tennessee delegation, including Senator Hagerty, who have signed USTL’s term limits pledge.
Once the amendment is proposed by either Congress or the states at a national convention, it must be ratified by 38 states in order to become part of the U.S. Constitution.
View Hensley’s signed pledge here.
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U.S. Term Limits is the largest grassroots term limits advocacy group in the country. We connect term limits supporters with their legislators and work to pass term limits on all elected officials, particularly on the U.S. Congress. Find out more at termlimits.org.