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An Act To Amend the Legislative Term Limit Laws
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 21-A MRSA §553, sub-§1,  as enacted by IB 1993, c. 1, §1 and affected by §2, is amended to read:
 
1. State Senate.   A person may not serve more than 4 consecutive terms as a state Senator, except that, beginning with terms of office that begin on or after December 1, 2010, a person may not serve more than 2 consecutive terms as a state Senator.
Sec. 2. 21-A MRSA §553, sub-§2,  as enacted by IB 1993, c. 1, §1 and affected by §2, is amended to read:
 
2. State Representative.   A person may not serve more than 4 consecutive terms as a member of the state House of Representatives, except that, beginning with terms of office that begin on or after December 1, 2010, a person may not serve more than 2 consecutive terms as a member of the state House of Representatives.
Sec. 3. Contingent effective date. This Act takes effect only if a resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution of Maine takes effect to increase the length of terms for Senators and members of the House of Representatives from 2 years to 4 years beginning with the general election held in 2010.
 
SUMMARY
Current law governing term limits restricts state Senators and members of the state House of Representatives to 4 consecutive 2-year terms. This bill provides that, if a constitutional amendment is adopted and ratified at referendum to increase the length of a legislative term from 2 years to 4 years, the number of permissible consecutive terms would decrease to 2.