Term Limits Amendment Proposed In Wyoming Legislature
A proposal to put a constitutional amendment on term limits for state officeholders before voters has been filed for the 2019 session of the Wyoming Legislature.
House Joint Resolution 4 is sponsored by Rep. Chuck Gray [R-Natrona County].
If approved by voters, it would impose a limit of two four-year terms on Wyoming's governor, secretary of state, state superintendent of public instruction, state auditor, and treasurer.
The proposal would also limit state senators to no more than 12 years in office, and members of the state house of representatives would be limited to ten years in office.
But time served prior to January 4, 2021, would not count against the limits for any of the offices.
Wyoming's governor is currently limited by law to no more than two four-year terms in a 16-year period.
Wyoming voters in 1992 overwhelmingly approved a ballot initiative term limiting state officeholders. But the Wyoming Supreme Court later struck down that law, saying such a change needed to be done through a constitutional amendment rather than a ballot initiative.
In order to make it on the ballot, the proposal will need a 2/3 majority vote of both the house and senate. It would then have to be approved by a majority of the voters.
Under Wyoming law that means a majority of all people voting in a given election, so voters who don't on a proposed change in the state constitution, but do vote in the election are essentially counted as voting ''no.''