Amendment Might Bar Term Limits

Its sponsor tried to keep the issue at arm’s length, but eliminating term limits on elected office was at the heart of the debate over a proposed constitutional amendment endorsed by the House.

A 51-19 vote on Monday forwarded to the Senate a proposal to amend Article XX of the Idaho Constitution by making qualifications for constitutional office subject to change only by constitutional amendment or constitutional convention.

“The primary purpose of HJR5 is not, by itself, to kill term limits,” its sponsor, Republican Rep. Jim Kempton of Albion, said.

The measure needed the support of at least 47 representatives, and it still must receive two-thirds support from the Senate to win a place on the Nov. 7 general election ballot.

Term limits on all state and local elected officials were enacted by ballot initiative in 1994 and reaffirmed by statewide advisory vote in 1998. Legislators have been trying to extend or eliminate the limits on themselves and, more openly, on local officials for whom the restrictions promise to diminish the pool of qualified candidates available to serve.

Kempton insisted his proposal would only indirectly address that effort and was aimed more at preventing future attempts to make what might be troublesome changes to qualifications for office.

Even if the amendment were approved by voters in November the term limits law would remain in place unless a subsequent legal challenge found it had been rendered unconstitutional, he said.

But term limits supporters were not fooled.

“This is, in fact, an anti-term limits bill,” GOP Rep. Jeff Alltus of Hayden said, warning that other statutory requirements on elected office, such as age or deadlines for candidacy, also could be challenged if the amendment were to pass.

“There’s no problem to fix,” Rep. David Callister, R-Boise, said, arguing that voters already have affirmed repeatedly that they want term limits. “There is absolutely no reason to tinker with Idaho’s Constitution here.”

Meanwhile, 6th District Judge Randy Smith promised after a two-day hearing last week to rule on a challenge to the term limits law by Friday, just three days before the official two-week candidate filing period opens.

Twenty-one local elected officials challenged the initiative in January, claiming it unconstitutionally restricts individual rights to hold public office.