Term Limit Advice Sought Legislature May Ask Voters If Limits Should Be Repealed

Faced with several conflicting bills on term limits, a House committee gave preliminary approval Friday to a proposal to pass the issue on to voters.

The State Affairs Committee approved a request from the Republican leadership to put an advisory question before voters in the November general election, asking whether they want to repeal the term limits law approved by initiative in 1994.

The result would be nonbinding; subsequent action would be up to the Legislature.

Rep. Jeff Alltus, R-Hayden, voiced the only opposition and was alone in opposing introduction of the advisory question. He noted that a survey released Friday by Boise State University showed less than 20 percent of those questioned favored getting rid of term limits. More than 61 percent said they wanted to keep term limits the same.

“The people twice have voted for term limits,” Alltus said. “I really feel like the people have spoken.”

GOP Caucus Chairman John Tippets, of Bennington, said it would be a “bad habit” for the Legislature to pass policy decisions on to the voters. But since the term limits law came from the voters it should go back to them for possible repeal.

Voters would be asked in the advisory vote if term limits should be repealed for all public officials.

Shortly after Idaho approved term limits by a 266,118-to-210,448 vote in 1994, courts declared that they could not be applied to members of Congress. A 1996 vote produced a provision that anyone who did not support term limits would receive a special designation on the ballot, but it was quickly struck down by the courts.

Rep. Bruce Newcomb, R-Burley, the GOP floor leader, told committee members the result would be a hodgepodge of laws if it were left up to local option whether term limits should be repealed.