Amendment to Term-Limit County Commissioners, School Board Members Advances

Ballot Measure Would Set an Eight-Year Max

The author has covered politics and government in Florida for more than two decades and was part of the original staff when the Florida Phoenix was created in 2018. This story was originally published in the Phoenix on April 8 and is reprinted here with permission.

By MITCH PERRY

A Florida House committee on Tuesday passed a resolution (HJR 679) that would place a constitutional amendment on the 2026 ballot asking voters to impose eight-year term limits on county commissioners and school board members.

But its Senate companion bill has stalled, raising doubt about whether the Legislature will approve the limits during this year’s legislative session.

Note: Clay County Commissioners are already limited to two four-year terms under the county charter.

Twelve counties in Florida have already imposed term limits on their county commissioners. Eight such counties have imposed term limits of eight years, while four others have imposed 12-year term limits, with Pinellas the latest to do so last fall.

Panhandle Republican Michelle Salzman’s resolution would allow county commissioners who want to run for county mayor to do so immediately, and not have to take any time off from public service before running for that office. Orange, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade are among the counties in Florida that have such a county mayor position.

The proposal is fiercely opposed by the Florida Association of Counties.

Jeff Scala, director of public policy with that group, complained the resolution would strip voters of their ability to self govern by forcing them to vote on county commission term limits statewide, “imposing their choices on other voters.”

If the proposal goes on the 2026 ballot, voters in the 12 counties that have already changed their charters to impose term limits, who represent 58% of the state, could impose their preferences on the rest of the state.

“Miami-Dade voters deciding for Monroe County,” he said. “What is best for St. Lucie [County]. We have a situation where Orange County voters go back to tell Marion or Lake County voters that eight years is the right number.”

Rich Templin of the Florida AFL-CIO agreed, telling lawmakers that the proposal, if approved, would take away local control.

“You are going to be allowing three or four counties around the state to make a decision about foundational governance for local communities that will have no say,” he said, adding that the more populous counties will outvote small ones.

The only Republican member of the House State Affairs Committee to oppose the measure was Tampa Rep. Karen Gonzalez-Pittman. She said the proposal would be weak unless it included term limits for staff.

“We’ve seen what has happened when we’ve had term limits and not having term limits on staff. It has made staff much more powerful, and we’re seeing that in the Legislature as well as in D.C., where the current administration is trying to undo that,” she said.

Public Support

In response, Salzman emphasized that public opinion polls have consistently showed that more than 80 percent of the country supports term limits. (A Pew Research Center survey from September 2023 showed that 87 percent of the public want term limits for members of Congress).

She said she had responded to criticism about a similar proposal she carried last year, which wouldn’t have given voters any say on the matter. So this year’s proposal is a resolution and not a bill, meaning that if it wins 3/5ths support in both chambers of the Legislature, it would be placed on the statewide ballot next year, giving the voters the option of deciding the issue.

Salzman dismissed criticism that certain counties would have more sway in a statewide election.

“We’re trying to give the voters what they want and we’re over here arguing about whose voice is louder,” she said.

The Senate version (SJR 802), sponsored by West Central Florida Republican Blaise Ingoglia, has passed one committee but has two more stops before reaching the floor.

In 1992, Florida voters approved an amendment to the state’s Constitution creating eight-year term limits for legislators. Eight years later, 68 term-limited senators and representatives were forced to retire, and the state saw the highest number of freshman legislators since the first legislative session in 1845, according to the book “The Failure of Term Limits in Florida,” by Florida International University professor Kathryn A. Depalo.