Ky. lawmaker's bill proposes congressional term limits

FRANKFORT, Ky. (KT) - Legislation has been introduced in the Kentucky House for the state to join other states calling for a convention for proposing a congressional term limits amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Rep. William Lawrence, R-Maysville, has filed House Joint Resolution 66 as part of an effort being spearheaded by the nonpartisan, nonprofit organization known as U.S. Term Limits (USTL).

"I am proud to file this resolution," Lawrence said. "As a political outsider, I see the importance of term limits in our representation. I do not believe our forefathers ever intended for these offices to be held by career politicians."

According to the latest RMG Research poll, 74 percent of likely voters in Kentucky support term limits on Congress, with strong support among Republicans, Democrats, and Independents alike.

HJR 66 has strong support in the Kentucky legislature with several state lawmakers committing their support by signing a pledge to cosponsor Lawrence's resolution.

USTL Kentucky State Chair Rachel McCubbin says, "Our Kentucky legislators should tackle something that everybody agrees on, term limits for Congress. We can't sit back and wait for Congress to term limit itself."

The resolution has not yet been assigned to a House committee. An affirmative vote by the committee during a hearing would send the measure to the House floor. If adopted by both the House and Senate during the 2024 session, Kentucky would join other states in the call to for a national convention for the exclusive purpose of proposing term limits on the U.S. Congress.

The process is known as an Article V Convention, since that is where the mechanism for such an action is contained in the U.S. Constitution. Once 34 state legislatures pass similar resolutions and approve the term limits amendment language, the measure would then then have to be ratified by 38 states for it to become part of the U.S. Constitution.

According to USTL, 15 states have passed resolutions that would impose term limits on Congress.