If you happened to run across the website of Republican state house candidate Todd Hunter (challenging incumbent Juan Garcia), you might notice that he's made a good portion of his campaign about his experience as a former 4-term state legislator. In fact, his website mentions it multiple times.
Todd A. Hunter served four previous terms in the Texas House of Representatives.
Also...
Todd completed four terms in the Texas House of Representatives after first being elected to office in 1988.
Again, with his past 4-term service.
Now Todd wants to pick up where he left off. That's why he's running for State Representative in District 32.
So I have to ask, if Todd Hunter considers his 4 terms of prior service of such great importance to being a state representative, why did he author a constitutional amendment when he was in office to institute, you guessed it, terms limits of 4 terms?
By Hunter of Nueces H.J.R. No. 96
74R1545 JSA-D
A JOINT RESOLUTION
1-1 proposing a constitutional amendment to limit the number of years
1-2 that a person may serve in the legislature.
1-3 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Article III of the Texas Constitution is amended
1-5 by adding Section 7a to read as follows:
1-6 Sec. 7a. (a) A person is not eligible to a full term as a
1-7 member of the legislature if, on the date the term begins, the
1-8 person has served as a member of the legislature for eight years or
1-9 longer. A person is not eligible to fill a vacancy in the
1-10 legislature if, on the date the vacancy occurs, the person has
1-11 served as a member of the legislature for eight years or longer.
1-12 (b) For purposes of this section, serving a full term as a
1-13 member of the house of representatives is counted as two years of
1-14 legislative service, without regard to the date the person takes
1-15 the oath of office or whether the actual term is a few days more or
1-16 less than exactly two years.
1-17 (c) For purposes of this section, serving a four-year term
1-18 as a member of the senate is counted as four years of legislative
1-19 service, without regard to the date the person takes the oath of
1-20 office or whether the actual term is a few days more or less than
1-21 exactly four years, and serving a two-year term as a member of the
1-22 senate is counted as two years of legislative service, without
1-23 regard to the date the person takes the oath of office or whether
1-24 the actual term is a few days more or less than exactly two years.
2-1 (d) For purposes of this section, a person elected to a full
2-2 term as a member of the legislature is considered to have served
2-3 for the full term if the person serves during all or part of each
2-4 regular session of the legislature that occurs during the term to
2-5 which the person is elected, without regard to whether the person
2-6 actually serves for the full term.
2-7 (e) For purposes of this section, for legislative service
2-8 not covered by Subsection (b), (c), or (d) of this section, 365
2-9 days of legislative service is considered one year of legislative
2-10 service.
2-11 (f) Service in the legislature during a term that begins
2-12 before the legislature convenes in regular session in 1997 is not
2-13 counted in determining whether a person is disqualified from the
2-14 legislature under this section.
I guess for Todd Hunter, size matters after all. |
