Statewide elected officials, including the governor, would be limited to two consecutive terms in office under a proposed constitutional amendment approved 27-4 on Tuesday by the Texas Senate.
Gov. Rick Perry, Texas' longest-serving governor, and other current officeholders affected by the measure would be “grandfathered” and allowed to seek two more terms if it were enacted.
Senate Joint Resolution 13 by Sen. Kevin Eltife would require Texas House approval by a two-thirds vote before being put on a statewide ballot. If both chambers approved, the proposal would not require Perry's signature, only voter approval. If passed, it would apply only to officials in the state executive branch.
The bill's supporters claim it has nothing to do with Rick Perry's lenghty service as governor, but ....
Perry's long service is the undeniable elephant in the room when term limits are discussed.
“No Texas governor before Rick Perry ever served two full four-year terms consecutively, but Perry's threat to run for a fourth full term in 2014 opens the prospect of him serving as governor for eighteen years,” said Southern Methodist University political scientist Cal Jillson. “This has everybody, including Sen. Eltife, wondering whether this is a good idea and whether future governors should have this option.”
Jillson said two-thirds of states restrict statewide elected officials to two four-year terms. He said Texas is one of a dozen that have four-year terms with no limit.
Lobbyist and consultant Bill Miller said, “Regardless of whether you say it is not about Perry, he is the poster boy for the bill.”
Miller was critical of the measure, saying it “is a candidate talent killer and enhances immeasurably the power of staff who are beyond the reach of voters.”
Jillson and Rice University political scientist Mark Jones took note that after Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected president four times, Congress passed and states adopted the 22nd Amendment limiting presidential service.
“Just as FDR's unprecedented tenure in office helped generate support for a two-term limit for the U.S. president, Perry's equally unprecedented tenure has bolstered the efforts of term limits advocates in Texas,” Jones said.
