Fenton-Fung Introducing Bill to Set General Assembly Term Limits
Tuesday, March 16, 2021
Freshman Rhode Island Republican State Representative Barbara Ann Fenton-Fung is introducing legislation to create term limits in the General Assembly.
Her husband, Allan Fung -- the former Mayor of Cranston -- urged people to support her petition in support of the proposal, which had over 1,300 signatures as of Monday.
"[Monday] night, Barbara Ann is introducing her bill that would create term limits for the General Assembly in the House Committee on State Government & Elections," he wrote. "Could you take 10 seconds and sign this petition?"
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTCall for Term Limits
Fenton-Fung posted the following regarding her support for term limits.
"Term limits are quite common outside of the General Assembly, and indeed are the reason my husband Allan transitioned the City of Cranston to a new leadership team in January. Yet, some current members of the General Assembly were first elected before I was even born. I turned 40 in December.
New blood is good. New ways of looking at problems are even better. For, if the current ways were really working, the state would not consistently be ranked 50th per CNBC for business, consistently be one of the worst states for the unemployment rate in the nation, or be staring down headlines of hundreds of millions of dollars of budget deficits - even in good years!
Fifteen other states, including Ohio, Florida, California, and Michigan have all had term limits for their legislatures in place for over a decade. Research found that term limits sped up the diversification of legislatures, in terms of women and people of color, alongside a 33% increase in women running for office. Term limits were also found to have created a pipeline of individuals who moved up through the system, (from local to state to federal). This might make one think more holistically about legislation, especially say, what a state mandate means for local budgets. Studies also show that term limits reduce the influence of special interest groups.
Term limits, in states where they already exist, are also tremendously popular, with public support ranging in the 60-78% range. Here in RI we have term limits for state officers, and for local officials in many cities and towns, including the city I represent, Cranston. Even our family agrees that term limits are an opportunity to ensure the government of citizen servants lives on, as envisioned by Founding Fathers & Presidents Washington and Jefferson.
Let's get this done and set term limits for the General Assembly here in Rhode Island!"
Editor's Note: Fenton-Fung is not related to GoLocal CEO and co-founder Josh Fenton.
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