Florida officially calls on U.S. Congress to pass term limits amendment!

The Florida legislature today officially called on the U.S. Congress to pass and send to the states for ratification a constitutional amendment limiting Congressional terms in office.

The resolution, passed by acclamation in both houses of the Florida legislature, will be sent to the president of the United States, Speaker of the U.S. House, president of the U.S. Senate and each member of the Florida Congressional delegation.

Florida is the first state to take this step, but it will not be the last. With term limits polling at all-time highs and the Congress at record lows, pressure is building around the nation for Congress to take action.

Sen. Jim DeMint and Rep. David Schweikert have introduced a constitutional amendment (SJR 11 and HJR 71, respectively) limiting congressional terms in the Senate and House. While the Florida action does not specifically mention any specific legislative proposal, they are the first state to go on record in the past decade supporting a congressional term limitation constitutional amendment. Voters overwhelmingly supported Florida’s state constitutional limits on state legislators in 1992 with 77 percent support. Polling from Quinnipiac University in 2009 suggests 82 percent of Floridians continue to support term limits on public officials.

Nationally, the support for term limits remains strong with 78 percent of Americans supporting congressional term limits according to a September 2010 poll conducted for FoxNews by Public Opinion Dynamics. Support is strong across partisan lines with 84 percent of Republicans favoring the idea while 74 percent of Democrats and 74 percent of Independents also support limiting congressional terms.

Passage of the term limits constitutional amendment requires a two-thirds vote in the House and Senate and ratification by three-quarters (38) of the states in order to become part of the Constitution. The states are the easy part. The trick is getting through the U.S. Congress and this official call from a important state like Florida is a big help.

The Florida resolution was introduced by State Rep. Matt Caldwell (HM83) in the Florida House and Sen. Joe Negron (SM672) in the Senate.

"The evidence is in. Term limits work,” said Rep. Matt Caldwell of Lehigh Acres. "New York, Illinois and Florida have all been faced with tough decisions on how to balance their state budgets over the last few years. Only one of these states has term limits and only one of these states has cut their budgets to match their revenues and refused to raise taxes."

"Congress is on a collision course with federal bankruptcy and our last, best hope is to bring serious and permanent change to Washington, D.C.," he said.

Special thanks to Rep. Caldwell, Sen. Joe Negron, the Campaign for Liberty and grass roots lobbyist John Hallman for their work in getting this done!

Congressional term limits memorial passes Florida House!

Rep. Matt Caldwell's memorial that calls on Florida's Congressional delegation to pass federal term limits has passed the Florida House today!

Grass roots lobbyist John Hallman, who has helped shepherd the bill through Tallahassee, reports Sen. Joe Negron's version of the bill is headed to the Senate floor imminently and expects it too will pass.

Congressional term limits resolution clears last Florida House committee

Following its companion bill in the Senate, the Congressional term limits memorial has passed its final committee hurdle in the House today and should be headed to the floor.

Rep. Matt Caldwell's HB 83 and Sen. Joe Negron's SB 672, if passed, would officially call upon Florida's Congressional delegation to enact a Congressional term limits amendment.

We are so close!

Please contribute to the effort. The Campaign for Liberty has chosen these bills as a priority and grassroots lobbyist John Hallman is on the case. We need back in Tallahassee this week to keep the pressure on.

Please make a contribution right now to C4L to keep John in Tallahassee working on these bills.

All contributions through this link go solely to the legislative effort. We can't let up now. Thanks!

(Pictured: Rep. Matt Caldwell, R-Haines City, speaks to term limits supporters at the state capitol last year.)

Congressional term limits resolution headed to the Florida Senate floor!

The Congressional term limits memorial has passed its final committee hurdle today and is headed, it appears, to the floor of the Florida Senate! Meanwhile, the House version is closed behind.

Reacall from previous posts that through this memorial the Florida state legislature officially instructs the Florida Congressional delegation to enact term limits at the federal level. It this works, Florida will be the first of several states to officially call for Congressional term limits.

Sen. Joe Negron's SB672 passed the Rules Committee today 7-3 and is awaiting scheduling for a vote. In the House, Rep. Matt Caldwell's HM83 passed the Federal Affairs Subcommittee and is now waiting for a vote in State Affairs. If it passes there, it too can head to the floor for a full vote.

Please contribute to the effort. The Campaign for Liberty has chosen these bills as a priority and grassroots lobbyist John Hallman is on the case. Please make a contribution right now to C4L to keep John in Tallahassee working on these bills. All contributions through this link go solely to the legislative effort.

The finish line is in sight. We can't let up now. Thanks!

(PICTURED: John Hallman, center, meets with grass roots activists at the Capitol in Tallahassee).

Congressional term limits resolution advances -- Take Action!

The Congressional term limits memorial, in which the state legislature officially calls on the Florida Congressional delegation to enact term limits at the federal level, has advanced through key committees in both the Florida State House and Senate, but it still faces obstacles before it reaches the floor for a vote.

In the House, Rep. Matt Caldwell's HM83 passed the Federal Affairs Subcommittee and is now waiting for a vote in State Affairs. If it passes there, it will head to the floor for a full vote.

In the Senate, Sen. Joe Negron's SB672 passed the Rules Subcommittee on Ethics and Elections by a vote of 7-3. It is now heading towards it final stop in the Senate Rules Committee. This is a tough one, but we do have an ace in the hole: Sen. Negron sits on this committee!

Recall this memorial is important. If successful if Florida, we'll work in other states to pass similar resolutions to ignite an official clamor for Congressional term limits. Right now there are bills in both houses of the U.S. Congress with cosponsors calling for 3/2 (that is, three terms in the House and two in the Senate) term limits amendment. But for the amendment to go the states for ratification, the easy part, it has to get through the Congress itself.

Please take action now:

1) Contribute to the effort. The Campaign for Liberty has chosen these bills as a priority and grassroots lobbyist John Hallman is on the case. Please make a contribution right now to C4L. All contributions through this link go solely to the legislative effort.

2) Contact members of the Senate Rules Committee today and ask them for a floor vote on SB672. Click on their names below to send an email:

Chair: Senator John Thrasher (R)
Vice Chair: Senator JD Alexander (R)

Senator Larcenia J. Bullard (D)
Senator Anitere Flores (R)
Senator Don Gaetz (R)
Senator Andy Gardiner (R)
Senator Dennis L. Jones, D.C. (R)
Senator Evelyn J. Lynn (R)
Senator Gwen Margolis (D)
Senator Joe Negron (R)
Senator Garrett Richter (R)
Senator Gary Siplin (D)
Senator Christopher L. "Chris" Smith (D)
Senator Stephen R. Wise (R)

Thanks!

McCalister, Miller, Kaufman sign Congressional term limits pledge

Florida U.S. Senate candidates Col. Mike McCalister and Craig Miller are the latest signatories to U.S. Term Limits Congressional term limits pledge. In signing the pledge, the duo committed themselves to cosponsor and vote for the 3/2 term limits amendment bills introduced by Sen. Jim DeMint and Rep. David Schweikert in their respective houses.

Some 75 Congressional candidates have signed the pledge so far, including Florida U.S. Senate candidate Adam Hasner, who has taken the additional step of limiting himself to two terms whether the Congressional bills pass or not.

If any of these candidates win, they will join 10 other senators -- including Sen. Marco Rubio -- as cosponsors. The incumbent, Sen. Bill Nelson, is not a term limits supporter.

In the House, South Florida's Joe Kaufman, running for the District 20 seat, signed last week as well.

This is the first time in nearly 15 years that serious term limits bills with cosponsors have been introduced in both houses.

To see these bills progress will require pressure from the citizens. Let the Congress know you want to see action on these bills by signing the online petition here.

(Pictured at top, Col. Mike McCalister with supporter and activist Starla Brown)

Adam Hasner Florida's first U.S. Senate candidate to sign Congressional term limits pledge

Former Florida House Speaker Adam Hasner is the first to sign the U.S. Term Limits Amendment Pledge to, if elected, cosponsor and vote for the Congressional term limits Constitutional amendment currently under consideration in both houses of the U.S. Congress.

He would be joining Florida's other senator, Marco Rubio, in cosponsoring the amendment, which was introduced by Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) and cosponsored by 10 senators so far. Other cosponsors include Sens. Rand Paul, Tom Coburn and Mike Lee. A House companion was introduced by Rep. David Schweikert (R-AZ) and immediately cosponsored by Joe Walsh (R-IL). This is the first time in nearly 20 years that a serious term limits bill has appeared in both houses of Congress with sponsorship.

U.S. Term Limits sent a copy of the pledge to every declared Congressional candidate in the United States in July. It reads, using the specifics from the DeMint/Schweikert bill, “I, _____________, pledge that as a member of Congress I will cosponsor and vote for the U.S. Term Limits Amendment of three (3) House terms and two (2) Senate terms and no longer limit."

This formulation is important, as it solidifies the 3/2 consensus hammered out by the term limits movement over the past generation. In the Contract with America era in the early 1990s, differences over details derailed Congressional term limits, as numerous bills were offered up and voted on. Every politician got to vote for some version and brag about it back home without any fear that any one bill might pass. It was there the term limits movement learned how essential it is to stick with the consensus formulation.

It is the people's formulation. Wherever citizens initiate a term limits law, the terms are invariably six or eight years. Whenever politicians initiate it, the terms are usually 12 or even more -- hardly a limit at all!

Adam Hasner was first to sign, but not the last. Let's ask every Congressional candidate in the state to sign the pledge and mail it in to U.S. Term Limits. USTL will send out an announcement email to term limits supporters throughout the state and press releases to district media.