Call for congressional term limits clears final hurdle, pregnancy centers debated

Rep. Dave Hall, R-Norman, was the House sponsor for Senate Joint Resolution 21 — an application for a convention to propose constitutional amendments. He is shown on the House floor in January 2025. (Indiana House Republicans)

Indiana on Monday became the 11th state to issue an identical call for a convention to amend congressional term limits into the United States Constitution — after five years of attempts.

Meanwhile, a separate resolution supporting pregnancy centers drew emotional testimony. The House also concurred with Senate changes to a gun records measure as an inter-chamber debate over carbon dioxide funds continues.

“For too long, career politicians in D.C. have remained in office for decades, prioritizing re-election over results,” Rep. Dave Hall, R-Norman, told colleagues from the House floor. 

He was the House sponsor for Senate Joint Resolution 21, which representatives approved on a 66-30 vote. About a dozen members of each party defected during the vote, with some Republicans opposing the joint resolution and some Democrats voting in support. The measure doesn’t need the governor’s signature.

The joint resolution is an application for a convention to propose amendments under Article V of the Constitution. It uses language from U.S. Term Limits, an organization that in 2016 launched a national campaign for identically worded applications focused exclusively on congressional term limits.

Ten other states have already signed on, according to USTL: Florida, Alabama, Missouri, West Virginia, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Louisiana, North Carolina and South Dakota. Applications from 34 states are needed to trigger a convention, while 38 must ratify the changes resulting from a convention.

The USTL application specifies that the convention should be a “limited” one, just for amendments restricting the number of times U.S. House and Senate members can be elected to their posts. It describes how it should be aggregated only with same-subject applications and separately, sent to other state legislatures as an “invitation to join in this call.”

“As more states pass resolutions, Congress will be pressured to take action before the convention is convened,” Hall said. “The reality is, an Article V convention is highly unlikely, not because term limits lack support, but because Congress will never allow the process to be taken out of its hands.”

That hasn’t halted fears of a “runaway convention” among lawmakers —