Term Limits Constitutional Amendment Proposed In Legislature

A resolution calling for an amendment to the Wyoming Constitution to term limit elected officials in the state has been proposed in the Wyoming Legislature.

You can read House Joint Resolution 10 here.

It's sponsored by Representative Gray and Senator Salazar.

If eventually approved by the voters, the proposal, Wyoming state senators would be limited to 12 years or three four-year terms. Representatives would be limited to 10 years or five two-year terms. The five statewide elected officials--governor, treasurer, secretary of state, auditor, and state superintendent--would be limited to eight years or two four-year terms.

To be approved as a Wyoming constitutional amendment, a proposal be approved by two-thirds of both houses of the legislature and a majority of the voters in the next election. That majority, by the way, means a majority of people voting in the election, not just those voting on the proposal. That means that people who vote but bypass the proposed constitutional amendment count as "no" votes.

In 1992, Wyoming voters overwhelmingly approved a term limits initiative by a 77-23 percent margin. But that initiative was struck down by the Wyoming Supreme Court, which said the issue had to be presented as a constitutional amendment rather than a ballot initiative.