Small Business Challenges in 2016
Preserve Michigan’s Term Limits Law
The most recent attempt to change Michigan’s term limits law was in the 2014 “lame duck” legislative session that occurred after the November 2014 elections. Efforts to lengthen the term of office for lawmakers were discussed but not successful. Another attempt can be expected in the 2016 lame duck session as many lawmakers casting votes will not be returning in the next session and have little to fear from a vote to end or extend term limits.
NFIB has made it clear to lawmakers that any changes would be met with opposition. While some lawmakers and business groups in the Lansing “beltway” have convinced themselves that there is a public outcry to change the term limits law to lengthen a lawmaker’s term of office, it is doubtful that there is support for such a change from the average citizen outside the vicinity of the state Capitol.
In 1992 Michigan voters passed a ballot proposal that amended Michigan’s constitution to impose term limits on state legislative offices. As a result, Michigan House members were limited to serving no more than three two-year terms (six years total) and Michigan Senate members were limited to no more than two four-year terms (eight years total). In
addition, the office of governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, and
attorney general were also limited to not more than two four-year terms (eight
years total). After a number of legal
challenges, the courts upheld Michigan’s term limits law.
NFIB has surveyed its small business members numerous times over the years on the issue of changing the term limits law and each time they have shown support for leaving the law as is. The only time members indicated support for a change was to repeal the term limits law entirely in exchange for a part-time legislature.
A recent Google Survey indicated a
strong negative reaction to changing the state’s term limits law among the
general public surveyed. The Google poll showed 53.5 percent of respondents
said “No” to changing the law with only 10.1 percent supporting a change and
the rest, 36.4%, “undecided” or “don’t know”.
If a specific proposal emerges, we may conduct a more
updated survey, however, the message from our
small-business owners has been: “Don’t mess with the term limits law.”
Note: Google Survey responses were limited to Michigan
residents only
