For immediate release
January 18, 2018
Contact: Scott Tillman, U.S. Term Limits
Phone: (321) 345-7455
U.S. Term Limits Applauds Arizona Senate for Filing Bill for Article V Term Limits Application
The Arizona Senate has filed SCR-1005 a resolution applying for a Term Limits Convention, a national, nonpartisan initiative to place term limits on members of Congress. Through 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 drive was launched by the grassroots group U.S. Term Limits in December 2015.
The state senate resolution (SCR-1005) is sponsored by Senator Warren Petersen (R -Gilbert) and enjoys bipartisan support from its twelve co-sponsors, eight Republicans, and four Democrats. Co-sponsors of SCR-1005 are: minority whip, Lupe Contreras (D -Cashion), Sylvia Allen (R-Heber), Nancy Barto (R-Phoenix), Sean Bowie (D-Ahwatukee), Judy Burgess (R-Sun City West), Andrea Dalessandro (D-Green Valley), Karen Fann (R-Prescott), John Kavanagh (R-Fountain Hills), Sine Kerr (R-Buckeye), Jamescita Peshlakai (D-Cameron), Steve Smith (R-Maricopa), and Bob Worsley (R-Mesa).
The resolution makes its first committee stop before the Committee on Government on Wednesday, January 24th at 2pm in room SHR-109.
The President of U.S. Term Limits, Philip Blumel commended the Arizona State Senators for working together on such an important issue. Blumel said that “The people of Arizona 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 help resolve the dysfunction we see in Washington, DC.”
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 initiatives. The Supreme Court ruled in the 1995 case, U.S. Term Limits v. Thornton, that these measures were unconstitutional and that congressional term limits may only be imposed by a constitutional amendment.
Upon successful passage of the resolution through both chambers of the Arizona legislature this session, Arizona 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.
Since 34 states must apply for the Term Limits Convention to initiate the call, U.S. Term Limits has spread its grassroots resources throughout the country. In addition to Arizona, the group is also targeting Alabama, Georgia, Colorado, Maine, Maryland, Missouri, New Hampshire, Tennessee, Utah and Vermont.
Read the bill as introduced here.
See Committee on Government agenda here.
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U.S. Term Limits is the largest grassroots non-profit organization with the sole mission of imposing term limits on all elected officials at all levels of government. Our main focus is to pass Article V applications in 34 states to prompt a congressional term limits proposal convention and ultimately add the term limits amendment to the U.S. Constitution.