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Representative Casper seeks voter reconsideration of recent term‑limits amendment
Summary
Representative Jim Casper introduced House Concurrent Resolution 3034, proposing a constitutional amendment to modify the term‑limits provision voters approved in 2022. Casper said the resolution would repeal the clause preventing the Legislative Assembly from proposing changes to the term‑limits article and replace the current
House Concurrent Resolution 3034 would send an amendment to the voters that would repeal Section 4 of Article 15 (the provision that restricts the Legislative Assembly from proposing amendments to Article 15) and replace most of Article 15 with a different approach to term limits.
Representative Jim Casper (District 46, Fargo) said the 2022 ballot measure on term limits included a provision that prevents the legislature from proposing changes to the article and that the result has created unintended consequences. Under the resolution’s proposed replacement language, legislators and other statewide officers (other than governor and lieutenant governor) would be subject to 12 cumulative years in a single office with a required four‑year break before eligibility to serve again. The governor and lieutenant governor terms would remain limited to eight years. Casper told the committee many voters he has spoken with after the 2022 vote did not understand the measure’s effect on the state legislature and that the proposed change gives voters a choice to moderate the restrictions.
Several committee members raised constitutional questions about whether the legislature can place this amendment on the ballot because Article 15 currently reserves changes to the initiative petition process. Casper said the conflict between Article 4 (legislative amendment authority) and the new Article 15 creates a situation that could be litigated; he said he would welcome a court interpretation. Representative Van Winkle and others asked whether the constitution’s exception language forecloses legislative action; Casper argued the legislature’s amendment power remains and that the Supreme Court can resolve disputes.
A citizen witness from Beulah testified in opposition, citing Article 15 Section 4 and asserting the resolution is unconstitutional and that prior attempts to change the article were rejected by the Senate. The committee closed the hearing without taking a committee vote on the resolution during the session transcript.
