ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia voters could get a chance to limit state lawmakers to 12 years per chamber and extend state senators’ terms to four years from two under a constitutional amendment advancing in the Senate.
The Senate Government Oversight Committee voted to approve Senate Resolution 37, sending it to the full Senate for more debate. Before it could be added to the state constitution, two-thirds of both the House and Senate would have to approve and voters statewide would have to ratify it.
The measure would also impose a two-term limit on the lieutenant governor’s office. Republican Lt. Gov Geoff Duncan has said he favors such a move, saying the post should carry the same eight-year maximum as Georgia’s governor gets.
“We should come down here and do our work and accomplish our work and have it be a season of life as opposed to, perhaps, the entire book of our life,” the measure’s sponsor, Republican Sen. Greg Dolezal of Cumming, said during a hearing earlier this month.
The measure’s prospects in the House are unclear, where House Speaker David Ralston has been a representative since 2002 and speaker since 2010. The measure could be particularly unappealing to House members because they would continue to run for office every two years while senators would now get longer terms. House members get two-year terms and Senate members get four-year terms in most states.