KLS Keeping Law Simple Legislation in plain English

Straight-ahead summaries built from the official bill text. We keep the source links front and center and leave the decision up to you.

Back to Wyoming

SJ0005 • 2025

Congressional term limits.

A JOINT RESOLUTION requesting Congress to call a convention of the several states for proposing an amendment to the United States Constitution as specified.

Inactive

Wyoming marks this bill as inactive, which usually means it is no longer moving in the current session.

Sponsor
Senator Laursen, D
Last action
2025-03-03
Official status
inactive
Effective date
3/1/2025

Plain English Breakdown

The official source does not provide specific details about how many states need to agree before Congress must call the convention, leaving this as an unknown.

Term Limits for Members of Congress

This resolution requests Congress to call a convention where states can propose an amendment to limit terms for members of Congress.

What This Bill Does

  • Requests Congress to hold a convention where states can suggest changes to the Constitution about term limits for members of Congress.
  • Specifies that only one topic—term limits for members of Congress—can be discussed at this convention.
  • States that each state gets one vote in the convention, and Congress cannot set rules or choose delegates for the convention.

Who It Names or Affects

  • Members of Congress who could face term limits if this resolution leads to a constitutional change.
  • State legislators and citizens involved in state politics, as they would participate in the convention process.

Terms To Know

Convention
A meeting where representatives from different states gather to discuss and propose changes to the Constitution.
Term Limits
Rules that set a maximum number of terms an elected official can serve in office.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The resolution is inactive, meaning it will not be acted upon during this session.
  • It does not specify how many states need to agree before Congress must call the convention.
  • The exact rules for the convention are not detailed and would have to be decided by the participating states.

Bill History

  1. 2025-03-03 Senate

    S:Died in Committee Returned Bill Pursuant to SR 5-4

  2. 2025-02-10 Senate

    S No report prior to CoW Cutoff

  3. 2025-01-28 Senate

    S01 - Judiciary:Do Pass Failed 2-3-0-0-0

  4. 2025-01-23 Senate

    S Introduced and Referred to S01 - Judiciary

  5. 2025-01-21 Senate

    S Received for Introduction

  6. 2025-01-21 LSO

    Bill Number Assigned

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
25LSO-0726
2025
State of Wyoming
25LSO-0726
Numbered
2.0

Senate JOINT RESOLUTION NO. SJ0005

Congressional term limits.

Sponsored by: Senator(s) Laursen, D, Driskill and Kolb

A JOINT RESOLUTION

for

A JOINT RESOLUTION requesting Congress to call a convention of the several states for proposing an amendment to the United States Constitution as specified.

WHEREAS, the framers of the United States Constitution empowered state legislatures to be guardians of liberty against future abuses of power by the federal government; and

WHEREAS, this power provides the several states with the leverage needed to force Congress to act when it otherwise does not want to; and

WHEREAS, the citizens of Wyoming and twenty-one (21) other states, having passed statutes or state constitutional amendments placing term limits on members of Congress, were overruled by the United States Supreme Court; and

WHEREAS, the Wyoming Legislature hereby joins with other states in instructing Congress to draft an amendment for congressional term limits and send it to the states for ratification, failing which the states will act on their own; and

WHEREAS, the Wyoming Legislature, a body of citizen legislators, desires to restore rotation in office for members serving in the United States Congress.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE MEMBERS OF THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WYOMING:

Section 1.

That the Wyoming State Legislature hereby applies to Congress, under the provisions of Article V of the United States Constitution, for the calling of a convention of the several states limited to proposing an amendment to the United States Constitution to set a limit on the number of terms a person may be elected as a member of the United States House of Representatives and as a member of the United States Senate, subject to section 2 of this joint resolution.

Section 2.

(a)

That the Wyoming State Legislature adopts the application made under section 1 of this joint resolution, expressly subject to the following reservations, understandings and declarations:

(i)

An application to the United States Congress to call a convention of the several states under Article V of the United States Constitution for the purpose of proposing amendments to the United States Constitution confers no power to Congress other than the power to call the convention. The power of Congress to exercise this ministerial duty consists solely of the authority to name a reasonable time and place for the initial meeting of a convention;

(ii)

Congress does not have the power or the authority to determine any rules for the governing of an amendment convention of the several states called under Article V of the United States Constitution. Congress does not have the power to set the number of delegates to be sent by any state to a convention, nor does Congress have the power to name delegates to a convention. The power to name delegates remains exclusively within the authority of the legislatures of the several states;

(iii)

By definition, a convention of the several states to propose amendments to the United States Constitution means that states shall vote on the basis of one (1) state, one (1) vote;

(iv)

A convention of the several states to propose amendments to the United States Constitution convened under this application shall be limited to consideration of the specific topic expressly specified in section 1 of this joint resolution and no other. This application is made with the express understanding that an amendment that in any way seeks to amend, modify or repeal any provision of the Bill of Rights shall not be authorized for consideration in any manner;

(v)

Under Article V of the United States Constitution, Congress may determine whether the proposed amendment shall be ratified by the legislatures of the several states or by special state ratification conventions. The Wyoming State Legislature recommends that Congress select ratification by the legislatures of the several states;

(vi)

The Wyoming State Legislature may provide further instructions to its delegates and may recall its delegates at any time for a breach of a duty or a violation of the instructions provided to the delegates, including but not limited to the instructions and requirements specified in W.S. 9-22-101 and 9-22-102.

(b)

That this application be considered as covering the same subject matter as the applications from other states to Congress to call a convention to set a limit on the number of terms that a person may be elected to the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate, and that this application be aggregated with the applications of other states for the purposes of attaining the two-thirds (2/3) of states necessary to require Congress to call a limited convention for the purpose of setting term limits on the members of Congress, but that this application not be aggregated with any other application on any other subject.

Section 3.

That this application constitutes a continuing application in accordance with Article V of the United States Constitution until the legislatures of at least two-thirds (2/3) of the several states have made applications on the same subject.

Section 4.

That the Secretary of State of Wyoming transmit copies of this resolution to the President of the United States, to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the United States Congress, the Wyoming Congressional Delegation and to the presiding officers of each of the legislative houses in the several states, requesting their cooperation.

(END)

1

SJ0005