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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Floridians may soon vote on whether to impose stricter term limits upon members of the Florida Legislature, among other elected leaders.
New and seasoned lawmakers are meeting in Tallahassee to get up to speed ahead of the session.
A proposal advancing in the Florida Capitol would cap lawmakers at eight years in the Florida House and eight years in the Florida Senate, thus limiting lawmakers to 16 years of lifetime service.
"There’s nothing freer as a legislator than knowing that you’re down to your last two years because you can do and say anything that you want," said Spring Hill Republican State Sen. Blaise Ingoglia, the bill sponsor.
Florida voters in 1992 limited service in the Florida Legislature to eight consecutive years. However, under current law, lawmakers may regain their legislative eligibility if they sit out a term, or, campaign and win into a different chamber.
“If you serve and years later you want to come back and be able to serve your community, I think that’s the most American thing you can do, and for that reason, I do not support this lifetime ban," said Fleming Island Republican State Sen. Jennifer Bradley.
Ingoglia is sponsoring a separate election proposal, which would cap county commissioners and school board members to eight years of service.
"You probably have a lot of really good people that are just sitting down saying, ‘You know what, I’m never going to run for county commission because ‘Commissioner X’ has been in there 20 years and that person’s not going to leave’," Ingoglia said.
The proposals advanced Monday through their first committee stop in the Senate. However, the measures there drew some criticism.
"The citizens of each county are competent to decide the fate of their commissioners. They know their leaders’ record, their successes, and their failures. They should not have that judgment snatched from them by a distant, uniform mandate," Wakulla County Commissioner Ralph Thomas said.
If Florida lawmakers approve the measures, voters in November will decide upon the term limits on the 2026 ballot. Ballot initiatives require at least 60% voter approval.
