An Act To Extend Term Limits
Maine Legislature, Session 122, LD 0496
Committee Amendment CA_A-HA_A_H733 (House)

MAINE STATE LEGISLATURE 
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L.D. 496 
DATE: I .... /D -b (p 
(Filing No. H-733 ) 
Reproduced and distributed under the direction of the Clerk of 
the House. 
t22ND LEGISLATURE 
HOUSE AMENDMENT ·If" to COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "A" to H.P. 371, 
L.D. 496, Bill, "An Act To Extend Term Limits" 
Amend the amendment by striking out the substitute title and 
replacing it with the following: 
'An Act To Amend the Law Concerning Term Limits' 
Further amend the amendment by striking out everything after 
the 
2nd 
indented paragraph 
and 
inserting in its place 
the 
following: 
. PART A 
Sec. A·t. 21·A MRSA §553, as enacted by IB 1993, c. 1, §1 
and affected by §2, is amended to read: 
§553. Limitations on terms 
Notwithstanding 
any 
other 
prov~s~on of 
law, 
consecutive 
terms in office are limited as follows. 
1. 
State Senate. 
A person may not serve more than -4- .a 
consecutive terms as a state Senator. 
2. 
State Representative. 
than -4-
.§. consecutive terms as 
Representatives. 
A person may 
not serve more 
a member of the state House of 
HOUSE AMENDMENT 
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HOUSE AMENDMENT "/f,, to COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "A" to H. P . 371, L. D. 
3. 
Secretary of State. 
A person may not serve more than 4 
consecutive terms as Secretary of State. 
4. 
Treasurer of State. 
A person may not serve more than 4 
consecutive terms as Treasurer of State. 
5. 
Attorney General. 
A person may not serve more than 4 
consecutive terms as Attorney General. 
6. 
State Auditor. 
A person may not serve more than 2 
consecutive terms as State Auditor. 
This section applies to terms of office that begin on or 
after December 3, 1996, except that, beginning December 1, 2008, 
a person may not serve more than 8 consecutive terms as a state 
Senator or as a member of the state House of Representatives. 
PARTB 
Sec. B·l. 2l·A MRS A §553, sub·§l, as enacted by IB 1993, c. 1, 
§l and affected by §2, is repealed. 
Sec. B·2. 2l·A MRSA §553, sub·§2, as enacted by IB 1993, c. 1, 
§1 and affected by §2, is repealed. 
PARTe 
Sec. e·l. Statutory referendum procedure: submission at general 
election; form of question; effective date. 
This Act must be submitted 
to the legal voters of the State at the next general election in 
the 
month 
of 
November 
following 
passage of this 
Act. 
The 
municipal officers of this State shall notify the inhabitants of 
their respective cities, towns and plantations to meet, in the 
manner prescribed by law for holding a statewide election, to 
vote on one of the following questions: 
Question A: 
"Do you favor increasing term limits to 16 
years for Legislators?" 
Question 
B: 
"Do 
you 
favor 
repealing 
term 
limits 
for 
Legislators?" 
Question C: 
"Do you favor retaining the existing law that 
establishes term limits of 8 years for Legislators?" 
The legal voters of each city, town and plantation shall 
vote by ballot on these questions and designate their choice for 
or against only one of the questions by a cross or check mark 
placed wi thin a 
corresponding square below the word "Yes" or 
HOUSE AMENDMENT 
HOUSE AMENDMENT .. If· to COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "A" to H. P . 371, L . D . 
"No." 
The ballots must be received, sorted, counted and declared 
in open ward, town and plantation meetings and returns made to 
the Secretary of State in the same manner as votes for members of 
the Legislature. 
The Governor shall review the returns. 
If it 
appears that a plurality of the legal votes are cast in favor of 
Question A, the Governor shall proclaim that fact without delay, 
and Part A of this Act takes effect 30 days after the date of the 
proclamation. 
If it appears that a plurality of the legal votes 
are cast in favor of Question B, the Governor shall proclaim that 
fact without delay, and Part B of this Act takes effect 30 days 
after the date of the proclamation. 
If it appears 
that 
a 
plurality of votes are cast in favor of Question C, the Governor 
shall proclaim that fact without delay, and neither Part A nor 
Part B of this Act takes effect.' 
SUMMARY 
This amendment presents 3 questions to the voters of the 
State to vote on at the general election held in the year 2006. 
The first question is whether the voters wish to extend the 
number of years of service authorized under the term limits law 
from 8 to 16 for Legislators. 
The 2nd question is whether the 
voters wish to repeal term limits for state Senators and members 
of the House of Representatives. 
The 3rd question is whether the 
voters wish to retain the existing law that establishes term 
limits of 8 years for Legislators. 
SPONSORED BY: 
L-------., 
TOWN: 
Dixfield 
HOUSE AMENDMENT