A North Carolina measure to add congressional term limits to the U.S. Constitution moved forward Tuesday with backing from the state’s speaker of the House.
House Joint Resolution 172 calls for a convention under Article V of the Constitution, solely to add term limits for the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate to the Constitution. The resolution doesn’t say how many terms members should be limited to.
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State House Speaker Tim Moore is one of the resolution's lead sponsors, and it cleared a pair of committees Tuesday, leaving it ready for a floor vote.
The idea has a long way to go, though. Even if it clears the North Carolina House and Senate, two-thirds of state legislatures would have to pass substantially the same measure.
A backer told lawmakers Tuesday that, so far, this resolution, calling for a single-issue convention on term limits, has passed in three states. Broader convention calls that include term limits have passed 15 states, according to Ken Clark, the southeast director for a group called U.S. Term Limits.
The committee votes to move forward Tuesday were not unanimous. Some lawmakers worry that a convention, even one called for a single purpose, would broaden, endangering any number of current constitutional provisions.
Supporters say that wouldn’t happen because state legislators would give their convention representatives specific mandates.
Moore, R-Cleveland, acknowledged that he has called for congressional term limits, but not term limits for state lawmakers. He said the jobs are different. Congress is a full-time job paying six figures a year, while the state legislature is part-time, paying about $14,000 a year plus stipends for traveling to session in Raleigh.
“It is very different,” Moore said. “I always like to talk about the fact that we as state legislators are closest to the people.”
Rep. Mike Clampitt, R-Swain, a co-sponsor on the bill, said members of Congress “lose touch" with the people they represent after they spend too much time in Washington, D.C.