Term Limits Group Threatens Legislators With New Initiative Supporters Say They Could Put Measure On The Ballot This Fall

Citizens for Term Limits says it has enough signatures to put an initiative for tougher term limits on the November ballot.

Under Idaho’s restrictive rules to qualify initiatives for the ballot, the group had to gather at least 39,686 signatures representing 6 percent of the population in each of 22 counties.

“They’ve made it virtually impossible to get an initiative on the ballot,” said Don Morgan, campaign chairman of Citizens for Term Limits in Hayden Lake. “It’s impossible to get an initiative on the ballot in the same year that the Legislature does something you don’t like.”

The group is holding the petitions as a safeguard against any action that the Legislature may take on term limits. It will hold off on a new initiative as long as legislators leave term limits alone, Morgan said.

“If the Legislature does the right thing, we won’t have to put this on the ballot,” he said

The initiative, if passed, would limit combined service in either house of the Legislature to 12 years. The official would have to take a three-year break before his or her name could be printed on the ballot again.

That’s different from the current term limits law, which allows lawmakers to serve out their limit in one house, then move to the other and serve the limit again. The secretary of state’s office said it has not received the petition.

“If the legislators so much as touch their own term limits, we’ll have this measure qualified for ballot in a matter of days,” Morgan said.

The state’s term limits laws affect elected officials from local government all the way to the state Capitol.

“If they want to do something about local term limits, they need to do it in such a way that the local people make the ultimate decision,” Morgan said.

Idaho’s term limit law was passed in 1994. In 1998, the state had an advisory vote to make sure people wanted term limits. It passed, although by a narrower margin than the original measure.

“We hope the Legislature will respect the will of the people, who sent a clear and convincing message that they want to do away with lifelong legislators,” Morgan said.

In American Falls, Idaho, local officials are suing the state, trying to overturn their term limits.

Legislative leaders who oppose the limits have said the lawsuit may end the debate, as they believe Idaho’s current term limits law is unconstitutional. Rather than actually restricting service in office, the law says an official can no longer appear on the ballot after the specified number of terms.