Summary: SB 222 seeks to place term limits on Representatives, Senators, the Attorney General, the Auditor of Accounts, and the State Treasurer.

Analysis: This bill would limit Representatives to no more than eight terms and Senators to no more than five terms. The Attorney General, Auditor of Accounts, and State Treasurer would each be limited to no more than two terms. These limits apply only to the office an official is currently holding. For example, if a Representative were to serve all eight terms, that individual would still be eligible to run for the Senate and serve up to five terms in that office. At present, the only term limits are for the Governor, who may not hold office more than two terms.

SB 222 promotes the principle of Limited Government. This is not to suggest that the bill removes legitimate authority from government; rather, it reinforces a higher authority over government itself: the law. Such restraint is essential for a government to function properly and justly.

The concept of Limited Government is both important to understand and necessary to uphold. It places the rule of law above individual officials, ensuring that citizens are governed by leaders who themselves remain subject to the law. This principle prevents officials from becoming the law unto themselves and committing injustices with impunity. History demonstrates that totalitarian regimes consistently reject the truth that no one is above the law. Therefore, we must take deliberate steps to ensure that our state continues to recognize and honor this truth by placing clear limits on governmental power, thereby protecting our God-given rights.

Term limits serve as one practical means of restraint. 1) They reduce the likelihood that elected officials will develop long-term dependencies on lobbying interests that promise personal or political benefit in exchange for favorable votes. 2) They also prevent entrenched seniority structures and 3) diminish incumbent advantages on ballots. Ultimately, term limits help ensure that public office is not treated as a lifelong career, but as a position of service.

Scripture affirms that governing authorities are servants, specifically servants of God: “For he is God’s servant for your good” (Romans 13:4). Service, not vocational ambition, should therefore motivate those who seek and hold public office. God Himself warned the Israelites of the dangers of unchecked governmental power:

“…he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and to run before his chariots. And he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants. He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants. He will take your male servants and female servants and the best of your young men and your donkeys, and put them to his work. He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves.” (1 Samuel 8:11–17)

To guard against the kind of tyranny God warned Israel about, government must be limited. For this reason, SB 222 is a bill deserving of our support. Term limits are a prudent safeguard against the corruption of power, ensuring that no individual comes to regard a public office as their own possession rather than a temporary trust.