Oregon's Legislative Term Limits Unconstitutional

Oregon's Legislative Term Limits Unconstitutional

January 12, 2002

The Oregon State Supreme Court issued a ruling today that nullifies the state's term limits for legislators. It is the first term limits law to be tossed by the courts since 1997, when Massachusetts and Washington's term limits were held unconstitutional by the state supreme courts.

Oregon's term limits were the strictest in the nation - legislators faced a lifetime limit of six years in the house and eight years in the senate. In addition to the chamber-specific limits, however, legislators were limited to a total of 12 years in the legislature. For information on other states' term limits laws, click here.

The court didn't decide the case on the merits of term limits themselves. Rather, they found that initiative that imposed term limits in Oregon (Measure 3, 1992) violated the state's "separate vote" rule for constitutional amendments. Under this rule, each constitutional amendment must be voted upon by the public separately. The court said that Measure 3 violated that rule because it added two sections to Article II of the state constitution via a single ballot question.

While many states have similar "single subject" rules for initiatives, this is the first time term limits have been challenged under the single subject rule. Click here to view a list of states with single subject rules for initiatives.

There is speculation that term limits proponents will return to the ballot with another term limits law in Oregon, but it would be difficult to collect the requisite number of signatures in the time remaining before the November 2002 elections.

To view a press release from the Oregon Supreme Court, click here.

For more information on term limits, contact Jennie Drage Bowser in NCSL's Denver office.