By: Nelson S.J.R. No. 39 SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION 1-1 relating to the adoption of a constitutional amendment to limit the 1-2 number of times a person shall be elected to the Congress of the 1-3 United States. 1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: 1-5 SECTION 1. Article XVI of the Texas Constitution is amended 1-6 by adding to read Section 71, to read as follows: 1-7 Section 71. LIMITATION OF BALLOT ACCESS BY FEDERAL 1-8 LEGISLATIVE CANDIDATES. (a) FEDERAL LEGISLATIVE CANDIDATES; 1-9 BALLOT ACCESS. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the 1-10 Secretary of State, or other election official authorized by law, 1-11 shall not accept or verify the signatures on any nomination paper 1-12 for any person, nor shall he or she certify or place on the list of 1-13 certified candidates, nor print or cause to be printed on any 1-14 ballot, pamphlet, sample ballot, or ballot label for a period of 1-15 four years the name of any person, who either: 1-16 (1) seeks to become a candidate for a seat in the 1-17 United States House of Representatives, and who, by the end of the 1-18 current term of office will have served three consecutive two-year 1-19 terms as a member of the United States House of Representatives 1-20 representing any portion or district of the State of Texas; or 1-21 (2) Seeks to become a candidate for a seat in the 1-22 United States Senate, and who, by the end of the then current term 1-23 of office will have served two consecutive six-year terms, as a 2-1 member of the United States Senate representing the State of Texas. 2-2 (b) TRIGGER MECHANISM. No candidate will be restricted from 2-3 the ballot under the provisions of this section until some form of 2-4 term limitation has been applied to the congressional delegation of 2-5 at least twenty-five other states. Congressional term limitations 2-6 enacted in other states having similar trigger mechanisms shall be 2-7 counted toward the twenty-five state requirement for the purpose of 2-8 subsection (c). 2-9 (c) "WRITE-IN" CANDIDACIES. Nothing in this section shall 2-10 be construed as preventing or prohibiting the name of any qualified 2-11 voter of this state from casting a ballot for any person by writing 2-12 the name of that person on the ballot, or from having such a ballot 2-13 counted or tabulated, nor shall any provision of this article be 2-14 construed as preventing or prohibiting any person from standing or 2-15 campaigning for any elective office by means of a "write-in" 2-16 campaign. 2-17 (d) CONSTRUCTION. Nothing in this section shall be 2-18 construed to prevent or to prohibit the name of any person from 2-19 appearing on the ballot at any direct primary or general election 2-20 unless that person is specifically prohibited from doing so by the 2-21 provisions of subsection (b) of this section, and for this purpose 2-22 the provisions of subsection (b) shall be strictly construed. 2-23 (e) INSTRUCTION. The members of the United States House of 2-24 Representatives and United States Senate representing any district 2-25 or portion of Texas are instructed to use their best efforts to 3-1 attain such a limitation on terms nationwide by amendment to the 3-2 United States Constitution. 3-3 (f) APPLICATION. This section shall take effect and be 3-4 applicable to federal legislative candidates whose terms of office 3-5 begin on or after January 1, 1995. Service prior to January 1, 3-6 1995 shall not be counted for the purpose of this section. 3-7 SECTION 2. This proposed constitutional amendment shall be 3-8 submitted to the voters at an election to be held November 2, 1993. 3-9 The ballot shall be printed to provide for voting for or against 3-10 the proposition: "The constitutional amendment to limit the number 3-11 of times a person shall be elected to the Congress of the United 3-12 States."