NY State Senate Bill 2015-S57

Senate Bill S57

2015-2016 Legislative Session

Concurrent resolution to amend the constitution to increase the length of the term of office and imposing term limits for members of the legislature

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Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Judiciary Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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Actions

View Actions

	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Apr 06, 2016	opinion referred to judiciary
Mar 14, 2016	to attorney-general for opinion
Jan 06, 2016	referred to judiciary
Feb 05, 2015	opinion referred to judiciary
Jan 16, 2015	to attorney-general for opinion
Jan 07, 2015	referred to judiciary

co-Sponsors

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2015-S57 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Judiciary
Law Section:: Constitution, Concurrent Resolutions to Amend
Laws Affected:: Amd Art 3 §2, Constn
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2013-2014: S5459
2017-2018: S608
2019-2020: S618
2021-2022: S6117
2023-2024: S5319

2015-S57 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Increases the length of the term of office of members of the legislature to four years and imposes term limits for members of the legislature.

2015-S57 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 BILL NUMBER:  S57

 TITLE OF BILL :  CONCURRENT RESOLUTION OF THE SENATE AND ASSEMBLY
proposing an amendment to section 2 of article 3 of the constitution,
in relation to increasing the length of the term of office and
imposing term limits for members of the legislature

 PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL :

This legislation would increase the length of term of office for
members of the legislature from two years to four years and would
limit members of the legislature from serving more than three
consecutive four year terms.

 SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS :

Section 2 Article 3 of the constitution is amended to increase the
length of term of office for members of the legislature from two years
to four years and would limit members of the legislature from serving
more than three consecutive four year terms.

Section 2 states that the foregoing amendment be referred to the first
regular legislative session after the next succeeding general election
of members of the assembly and be published three months previous to
the time of such election.

 JUSTIFICATION :

In the past few months there have been arrests and inquiries into
several public elected officials. Accordingly New York State needs to
undergo drastic election reform to prevent the repetition of such
events. This legislation would increase the length of the term of
office from four years to two years. Such a term increase would allow
legislators to focus more intently on serving the needs of
constituents rather than the upcoming election cycle.  The second
section of this legislation would limit the terms of members of the
legislators to three consecutive four year terms (to twelve years
total). A limit such as this one would benefit the legislature by
preventing members from becoming "career politicians" - members who
serve in the legislature endlessly and who may become out of touch
with their constituents by promoting policies beneficial to their
tenure in office rather than constituent needs and desires.  A overall
term limit would also decrease the emphasis on elections for members
of the legislature by maintaining a set number of allowed years, and
therefore upcoming elections, to be served.

 PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :

None.

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :

None.

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
Immediately.

2015-S57 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
                    S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                   57

                       2015-2016 Regular Sessions

                            I N  S E N A T E

                               (PREFILED)

                             January 7, 2015
                               ___________

Introduced  by  Sen.  BOYLE  -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
  printed to be committed to the Committee on Judiciary

            CONCURRENT RESOLUTION OF THE SENATE AND ASSEMBLY

proposing an amendment to section 2 of article 3 of the constitution, in
  relation to increasing the length of the term of office  and  imposing
  term limits for members of the legislature

  Section  1. RESOLVED (if the Assembly concur), That section 2 of arti-
cle 3 of the constitution be amended to read as follows:
  S 2. The senate shall consist of fifty members, except as  hereinafter
provided.  The  senators [elected in the year one thousand eight hundred
and ninety-five shall hold their offices  for  three  years,  and  their
successors]  shall be [chosen] ELECTED for TERMS OF two years; PROVIDED,
THAT SENATORS ELECTED IN THE YEAR TWO THOUSAND EIGHTEEN  AND  IN  SUBSE-
QUENT  YEARS SHALL HOLD THEIR OFFICES FOR FOUR YEARS. The assembly shall
consist of one hundred and fifty members. The assembly members  [elected
in  the  year  one  thousand  nine  hundred  and thirty-eight, and their
successors,] shall be [chosen] ELECTED for TERMS OF two years; PROVIDED,
THAT ASSEMBLY MEMBERS ELECTED IN THE YEAR TWO THOUSAND EIGHTEEN  AND  IN
SUBSEQUENT YEARS SHALL HOLD THEIR OFFICES FOR FOUR YEARS.
  NO  PERSON  ELECTED  TO  OFFICE IN THE SENATE IN THE YEAR TWO THOUSAND
EIGHTEEN AND IN SUBSEQUENT YEARS SHALL SERVE AS A MEMBER OF  THE  SENATE
FOR  MORE  THAN  THREE CONSECUTIVE FOUR YEAR TERMS. NO PERSON ELECTED TO
OFFICE IN THE ASSEMBLY IN THE YEAR TWO THOUSAND EIGHTEEN AND  IN  SUBSE-
QUENT  YEARS SHALL SERVE AS A MEMBER OF THE ASSEMBLY FOR MORE THAN THREE
CONSECUTIVE FOUR YEAR TERMS. ANY PARTIAL TERM OF OFFICE HELD AS A MEMBER
OF THE LEGISLATURE PRIOR TO THE ELECTION TO A CONSECUTIVE FOUR YEAR TERM
SHALL NOT BE USED TO CALCULATE ANY TERM LIMITATION IMPOSED  PURSUANT  TO
THIS PARAGRAPH.
  S  2. RESOLVED (if the Assembly concur), That the foregoing amendments
be referred to the first regular legislative session convening after the
next succeeding general election of members of  the  assembly,  and,  in
conformity  with  section  1  of  article  19  of  the  constitution, be
published three months previous to the time of such election.

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD89025-01-5

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Senate Bill S57

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Sponsored By

Phil Boyle

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Judiciary Committee

co-Sponsors

George Amedore

Rich Funke

Kathleen A. Marchione

Terrence Murphy

2015-S57 (ACTIVE) - Details

2015-S57 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2015-S57 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2015-S57 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

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