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In a Nutshell
Proposal 1 is a proposed amendment to the Michigan Constitution to modify the implementation of legislative term limits and require certain financial disclosures for state elective offices.
If Proposal 1 is Adopted, legislative term limits will be modified to allow legislators to be elected to the House of Representatives, Senate, or a combination of the chambers, for terms that combine for no more than 12 years and, upon enactment of an implementing act, each member of the legislature, the governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, and attorney general will be required to file annual financial disclosure reports.
If Proposal 1 is Rejected, legislators will continue to be limited to three terms (6 years) in the House of Representatives and two terms (8 years) in the Senate. Michigan will remain one of only two states without a financial disclosure law, but financial disclosure requirements could be enacted legislatively even without a constitutional mandate to do so.
Major Issues to Consider
Michigan has some of the strictest term limits among the states with legislative and executive branch term restrictions. They have had the effect of creating rotation in legislative and executive branch offices, but in doing so term limits have affected, among other things, important public leadership roles, relationship building, and the willingness of policymakers to tackle difficult political issues. Proposal 1 seeks maintain term limits but modify them to allow legislative members to gain more tenure within a given chamber without extending their potential total time in the legislature.
Additionally, Michigan is one of two states without financial disclosure requirements for state elected officials. Ethics have been an issue in the Michigan legislature recently. This amendment would tackle one element of ethics reform by mandating the enactment of new financial disclosure requirements that would need legislative implementation. This element of the legislatively proposed amendment is tantamount to the legislature asking the people to force it to address an issue it should have addressed on its own.
