Senate Joint Resolution 3 - IntroducedA Bill ForA Joint Resolution 1proposing amendments to the Constitution of
2the State of Iowa limiting years of service for members of
3the general assembly and the governor.
   4BE IT RESOLVED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
1   Section 1.  The following amendment to the Constitution of
2the State of Iowa is proposed:
   31.  Section 3 of Article III of the Constitution of the State
4of Iowa is repealed and the following adopted in lieu thereof:
   5Sec.3.  Representatives — term limitation.  The members of
6the house of representatives shall be chosen every second year,
7by the qualified electors of their respective districts, and
8their term of office shall commence on the first day of January
9next after their election, and continue two years, and until
10their successors are elected and qualified. A person shall
11not be elected for a term as representative if the term would
12result in the person serving more than a total of sixteen years
13in the general assembly. This limitation on years of service
14applies to terms of office beginning on or after January 1,
152024, and for years of service occurring on or after January
161, 2024.
   172.  Section 5 of Article III of the Constitution of the State
18of Iowa is repealed and the following adopted in lieu thereof:
   19Sec.5.  Senators — qualifications — term limitation.
  20Senators shall be chosen for the term of four years, at
21the same time and place as representatives; they shall be
22twenty-five years of age, and possess the qualifications of
23representatives as to residence and citizenship. A person
24shall not be elected for a term as senator if the term would
25result in the person serving more than a total of sixteen years
26in the general assembly. This limitation on terms of service
27applies to terms of office beginning on or after January 1,
282024, and for years of service occurring on or after January
291, 2024.
30   Sec. 2.  The following amendment to the Constitution of the
31State of Iowa is proposed:
   32Section 6 of Article IV of the Constitution of the State of
33Iowa is repealed and the following adopted in lieu thereof:
   34Sec.6.  Eligibility — term limitation.
  35No person shall be eligible to the office of governor, or
-1-1lieutenant governor, who shall not have been a citizen of the
2United States, and a resident of the state, two years next
3preceding the election, and attained the age of thirty years
4at the time of said election.
   5A person shall not be elected for a term as governor if
6the term would result in the person serving more than a total
7of two terms as governor. If a person is elevated to serve
8a portion of a term to which some other person was elected
9but that person died in office or resigned from office or was
10otherwise removed from office, that portion of a term served
11shall not be included in the terms of service for purposes
12of this limitation if the person did not serve for at least
13one-half of the four-year term. This limitation on terms
14of service applies to terms of office beginning on or after
15January 1, 2024.
16   Sec. 3.REFERRAL AND PUBLICATION.   The foregoing amendments
17to the Constitution of the State of Iowa are referred to the
18general assembly to be chosen at the next general election
19for members of the general assembly, and the secretary of
20state is directed to cause the same to be published for three
21consecutive months previous to the date of that election as
22provided by law.
23EXPLANATION
24The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
25the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   26This joint resolution proposes two amendments to the
27Constitution of the State of Iowa limiting years of service for
28persons elected to the general assembly or the office of the
29governor.
   30The first amendment provides that a person shall not be
31elected for a term as a representative or senator if the term
32would result in the person serving more than 16 years in the
33general assembly.
   34The second proposed amendment provides that a person shall
35not be elected for a term as governor if the term would result
-2-1in the person serving more than two terms as governor. For the
2purposes of this limitation, a person shall not be considered
3to have served a term if that person was elevated to serve a
4portion of a term as governor if that person did not serve at
5least one-half of the full term.
   6The amendments apply to terms of office beginning on or after
7January 1, 2024, and for years of service occurring on or after
8January 1, 2024.
   9The resolution, if adopted, would be referred to the next
10general assembly for adoption before being submitted to the
11electorate for ratification.
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