Senate Bill S5812

2009-2010 Legislative Session

Relates to requiring voter approval for the abolition or modification of term limits for certain elected offices

download bill text pdf

Archive: Last Bill Status - Stricken

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

Please enter your contact information

First Name

Last Name

Email Address

A valid email address is required.

Home address is used to determine the senate district in which you reside. Your support or opposition to this bill is then shared immediately with the senator who represents you.

Optional services from the NY State Senate:

Create an account. An account allows you to officially support or oppose key legislation, sign petitions with a single click, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.

Include a custom message for your Senator? (Optional)

Enter a message to your senator. Many New Yorkers use this to share the reasoning behind their support or opposition to the bill. Others might share a personal anecdote about how the bill would affect them or people they care about.

Actions

View Actions

Date of Action	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jul 09, 2009	recommit, enacting clause stricken
Jun 08, 2009	referred to rules

2009-S5812 (ACTIVE) - Details

See other versions of this Bill:: A1224 ,; S1536 ,
Law Section:: Election Law
Laws Affected:: Add §1-108, El L

2009-S5812 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Requires voter approval for the abolition or modification of term limits for certain elected offices; requires resolution of local legislative body followed by a voter referendum; sets procedures.

2009-S5812 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 BILL NUMBER:  S5812

 TITLE OF BILL :

An act to amend the election law, in relation to requiring voter
approval for the abolition or modification of term limits for certain
elected offices


 SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS :

The bill will add a new Section 1-108 to the Election Law to require
that in any political subdivision where the term of office of an
elected official has been limited by referendum, the legislative body
with jurisdiction over the term limited elected office may adopt a
resolution to abolish or modify the term limit and such resolution
shall be submitted to the appropriate qualified electors.

The resolution shall be adopted by the appropriate legislative body at
least ninety days prior to the date of the referendum required by this
legislation. No such resolution shall become effective until approved
by the affirmative vote of the majority of the electors who
participate in the referendum. The referendum is to be held no later
than the first Tuesday of March in the year the general election is
scheduled for the term limited office.

This law will apply to any elected office in any county, municipality,
town, village or political subdivision, except judges or justices of
the unified court system.

 REASONS FOR SUPPORT :

Term limits, particularly with respect to the legislative branch,
artificially restrict voter choice and dilute representative
democracy. However, where the public has participated in the
referendum process, a legitimate expectation exists that their opinion
as expressed in the outcome of the referendum will be respected. That
expectation is particularly justified when the referendum concerns the
term of office of individuals elected to represent the people.

In this circumstance, even where one conceptually disagrees with term
limits, the most appropriate mechanism to change the law is to revisit
the issue with the public in a referendum. Otherwise, the integrity of
our democracy is undermined, particularly when elected officials who
are self-interested in the outcome overturn the expressed will of the
voters.

Recently, we have witnessed the corrosive impact that such a
legislative maneuver can have on the democratic process in New York
City. In 1993 and 1996, New York City residents voted by referendum to
limit the tenure of municipal officeholders to two terms, or a total
of eight years. Not only did the public express its support for term
limits twice, it did so in considerable fashion.

Nevertheless, in direct contravention of the public will, the New York
City Council passed legislation extending the term limits of municipal
officeholders to a total of twelve years. The voters, understandably,
reacted with outrage and felt relegated to the sidelines of the public
square even though their opinions had been clearly expressed on two
occasions.

The state legislature functions as the custodians of the electoral
system administered in New York. Accordingly, we are charged with the
responsibility of protecting the integrity of the democratic process,
and the will of residents who elect their representatives.

In this capacity, it is appropriate to enact a statewide law that
respects the public referendum process on the issue of term limits, in
any municipality, county, town or village throughout the state,
including Syracuse and New York City. Ultimately, maintaining the
public's confidence in the legitimacy of our representative democracy
requires no less.

 PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :

New bill.

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
January 1, 2010

2009-S5812 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

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

                                  5812

                       2009-2010 Regular Sessions

                            I N  S E N A T E

                              June 8, 2009
                               ___________

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

AN ACT to amend  the  election  law,  in  relation  to  requiring  voter
  approval  for the abolition or modification of term limits for certain
  elected offices

  THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section  1.  The election law is amended by adding a new section 1-108
to read as follows:
  S 1-108. VOTER APPROVAL FOR MODIFICATION OF TERM LIMITS. NOTWITHSTAND-
ING ANY OTHER PROVISION OF LAW TO THE CONTRARY, WHERE THE TERM OF OFFICE
OF AN ELECTED OFFICIAL HAS BEEN LIMITED  BY  REFERENDUM  OR  PROPOSITION
(HEREINAFTER,  "REFERENDUM"), A LEGISLATIVE BODY WITHIN THE GOVERNMENTAL
OR POLITICAL SUBDIVISION IMPACTED BY THE TERM LIMITATION OR  RESTRICTION
IS  PROHIBITED  FROM  MODIFYING  OR  ABOLISHING  SUCH TERM LIMITATION OR
RESTRICTION BY LEGISLATIVE ACTION. IN ORDER FOR A  LEGISLATIVE  BODY  TO
MODIFY  OR ABOLISH A TERM LIMITATION OR RESTRICTION INITIALLY IMPOSED BY
REFERENDUM, SUCH LEGISLATIVE BODY MUST SUBMIT A RESOLUTION TO THE APPRO-
PRIATE QUALIFIED ELECTORS OR VOTERS (HEREINAFTER, "ELECTORS") FOR  THEIR
APPROVAL AT A REGULAR OR SPECIAL ELECTION (HEREINAFTER, "SECOND REFEREN-
DUM").   SUCH RESOLUTION SHALL BE ADOPTED BY THE APPROPRIATE LEGISLATIVE
BODY AT LEAST NINETY DAYS PRIOR TO THE DATE THAT THE  SECOND  REFERENDUM
IS  CONDUCTED.  NO SUCH RESOLUTION SHALL BECOME EFFECTIVE UNTIL APPROVED
BY THE AFFIRMATIVE VOTE OF THE MAJORITY OF THE    APPROPRIATE  QUALIFIED
ELECTORS  VOTING  ON  SUCH  SECOND REFERENDUM.   THE VOTE ON SUCH SECOND
REFERENDUM SHALL BE CONDUCTED PURSUANT TO THE RULES AND  REGULATIONS  OF
THE  STATE BOARD OF ELECTIONS; PROVIDED THAT SUCH VOTE SHALL BE TAKEN NO
LATER THAN THE FIRST TUESDAY IN MARCH IN THE SAME YEAR  THAT  A  GENERAL
ELECTION  IS  SCHEDULED  TO BE HELD FOR THE OFFICE OR OFFICES SUBJECT TO
TERM LIMIT MODIFICATION OR ABOLISHMENT. IF THE  APPROPRIATE  LEGISLATIVE
BODY PUTS FORTH SUCH A RESOLUTION AND IF A MAJORITY OF THE VOTES CAST ON

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD03701-08-9

S. 5812                             2

ANY  SUCH  SECOND  REFERENDUM WHEN SUBMITTED AS PROVIDED IN THIS SECTION
SHALL BE IN THE AFFIRMATIVE, THE TERMS OF OFFICE OF THOSE ELECTED  OFFI-
CERS  INCLUDED IN SUCH SECOND REFERENDUM AND THEREAFTER ELECTED SHALL BE
AS  PROVIDED IN SUCH SECOND REFERENDUM.  THE REFERENDUM PROCESS REQUIRED
BY THIS SECTION SHALL NOT PROHIBIT OR IN ANY WAY ALTER  THE  PROCESS  BY
WHICH  A  TERM  LIMITATION  CAN BE MODIFIED OR ABOLISHED BY A CITIZEN OR
PUBLICLY INITIATED REFERENDUM OTHERWISE AUTHORIZED BY  THE  LAW  OF  THE
RELEVANT JURISDICTION.  THIS SECTION SHALL SUPERSEDE ANY OTHER STATE LAW
OR  REGULATION,  CITY  CHARTER OR POLITICAL SUBDIVISION LAW, RULE, REGU-
LATION, CODE OR ORDINANCE TO THE CONTRARY.  FOR  THE  PURPOSES  OF  THIS
SECTION  THE TERMS "ELECTED OFFICIAL" AND "ELECTED OFFICE" SHALL MEAN AN
ELECTED OFFICIAL OR ELECTED OFFICE OF ANY  COUNTY,  CITY,  MUNICIPALITY,
TOWN, VILLAGE OR POLITICAL SUBDIVISION, EXCEPT JUDGES OR JUSTICES OF THE
UNIFIED COURT SYSTEM.
  S 2. This act shall take effect January 1, 2010.

Comments

Open Legislation is a forum for New York State legislation. All comments are subject to review and community moderation is encouraged.

Comments deemed off-topic, commercial, campaign-related, self-promotional; or that contain profanity, hate or toxic speech; or that link to sites outside of the nysenate.gov domain are not permitted, and will not be published. Attempts to intimidate and silence contributors or deliberately deceive the public, including excessive or extraneous posting/posts, or coordinated activity, are prohibited and may result in the temporary or permanent banning of the user. Comment moderation is generally performed Monday through Friday. By contributing or voting you agree to the Terms of Participation and verify you are over 13.

Create an account. An account allows you to sign petitions with a single click, officially support or oppose key legislation, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.

Find your Senator and share your views on important issues.

Do you support this bill?

Senate Bill S5812

Sponsored By

Archive: Last Bill Status - Stricken

Actions

2009-S5812 (ACTIVE) - Details

2009-S5812 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2009-S5812 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2009-S5812 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments

Do you support this bill?

Get Status Alerts for 2009-S5812

Senate Bill S5812

Share this bill

Sponsored By

Kevin S. Parker

Archive: Last Bill Status - Stricken

Actions

2009-S5812 (ACTIVE) - Details

2009-S5812 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2009-S5812 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2009-S5812 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments