Proposes a constitutional amendment to increase the terms of office of members of the legislature to four years and limiting the terms of office a member of the legislature may serve.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A3273
SPONSOR: Rabbitt (MS) TITLE OF BILL: CONCURRENT RESOLUTION OF THE SENATE AND ASSEMBLY
proposing an amendment to section 2 of article 3 of the constitution, in
relation to increasing the terms of office of members of the legislature
to four years and limiting the terms of office as a member of the legis-
lature any person may serve
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL: A constitutional amendment to
increase the terms of office of members of the legislature to four years
and limiting the number of terms a member of the legislature may serve
to three terms.
JUSTIFICATION: When our founding fathers created the Constitution of
the state of New York, they never included term limits and ethics
reforms, and I am sure they never dreamed they would need to. In today's
world, with the improvements in technology and public demand for trans-
parency in government, legislators can no longer hide from themselves or
the public. We must work together with the checks and balances our
founding fathers had the foresight to put in place to ensure that fraud,
corruption, or unethical or illegal behavior is rooted out. The Legisla-
ture, in my opinion, owes the people even more. Each legislator should
hold themselves accountable to a higher standard. As elected officials,
we have chosen a life in public service and should spend our time doing
just that - serving the public, not ourselves or special interests.
However, I believe implementing term limits is a step the Legislature
can take now to help restore the integrity and the public's trust in
government. It seems the longer some legislators are in the "game," the
more they break the rules, and that is why I have introduced this bill
that would enact terms limits.
PRIOR LEGISLATION: 2011-2012: A.6919; held for consideration in
governmental operations.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS: None
EFFECTIVE DATE: This act shall take effect after being referred to the
first regular legislative session convening after the next succeeding
general election of members of the assembly, and, in conformity with
section 1 article 19 of the constitution, be published for 3 months
previous to the time of such election.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
3273
2013-2014 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 24, 2013
___________
Introduced by M. of A. RABBITT, FINCH -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A.
CROUCH, McLAUGHLIN -- read once and referred to the Committee on
Governmental Operations
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION OF THE SENATE AND ASSEMBLY
proposing an amendment to section 2 of article 3 of the constitution, in
relation to increasing the terms of office of members of the legisla-
ture to four years and limiting the terms of office as a member of the
legislature any person may serve
1 Section 1. Resolved (if the Senate concur), That section 2 of article
2 3 of the constitution be amended to read as follows:
3 § 2. The senate shall consist of fifty members, except as hereinafter
4 provided. The senators [elected in the year one thousand eight hundred
5 and ninety-five shall hold their offices for three years, and their
6 successors] shall be [chosen] elected for terms of two years; provided,
7 that senators elected in the year two thousand fourteen and in subse-
8 quent years shall hold their offices for four years. The assembly shall
9 consist of one hundred and fifty members. The assembly members [elected
10 in the year one thousand nine hundred and thirty-eight, and their
11 successors,] shall be [chosen] elected for terms of two years; provided,
12 that assembly members elected in the year two thousand fourteen and in
13 subsequent years shall hold their offices for four years.
14 No person shall serve as a member of the legislature for more than
15 three consecutive four-year terms, whether such service is as a senator,
16 assembly member, or consecutive terms as a senator and an assembly
17 member; provided that any partial term of office held as a member of the
18 legislature prior to the election to a consecutive four-year term shall
19 not be used to calculate any term limitation imposed pursuant to this
20 paragraph.
21 § 2. Resolved (if the Senate concur), That the foregoing amendment be
22 referred to the first regular legislative session convening after the
23 next succeeding general election of members of the assembly, and, in
24 conformity with section 1 of article 19 of the constitution, be
25 published for 3 months previous to the time of such election.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD89064-01-3
