Florida Term Limits Upheld

Florida Term Limits Upheld

The Florida Supreme Court on September 2, 1999, issued a ruling upholding Florida's term limits law. Florida's term limits law was passed by a citizen initiative in 1992 with nearly 77 percent of the vote. The initiative passed in 1992 limited state legislators to no more than eight consecutive years in office, and also limited the terms of members of Congress.

After the U.S. Supreme Court declared term limits for Congress unconstitutional in 1995, a group of five voters challenged the remaining portion of Florida's term limits law. They argued that voters were motivated to vote in favor of term limits by Congressional scandals, and hadn't really wanted to limit the terms of their state lawmakers. The court, however, rejected this argument, calling it "nothing more than conjecture and speculation."

Florida's term limits will take effect with the 2000 elections, making 55 representatives and 11 senators ineligible to run for their current office. As is common in other term limits states, a number of members who are ineligible to seek re-election to their current seat will run for a seat in the other chamber. Others plan to run for executive branch and local offices. And since Florida's term limits law merely prohibits the name of a term-limited candidate from appearing on the ballot, at least one term-limited senator is considering running for his current seat as a write-in candidate. In total, over 350 legislators in 11 states will be termed-out in 2000.

For More Information on Term Limits

Jennie Drage Bowser tracks term limits, and may be reached at 303-364-7700 or elections-info@ncsl.org.