Two opposing bills on term limits

Council Speaker Christine Quinn is being put on the spot with warring term limits bills.

A bill by Bronx Councilman Oliver Koppell calls for allowing term-limited incumbents to run next year for a third, four-year term.

Quinn facing dueling bills on term limits

A second bill, from Queens Councilman Tony Avella, would bar any change without a voter referendum.

"If they write the bill for Koppell, they better damn well write mine [too]," said Avella.

Council rules require that members who wish to sponsor bills send a request to the governing body's legal arm. The experts have 60 days to write the official bill, or inform the sponsor why they cannot.

If it is deemed that the requested bill has legal problems - such as a determination that because term limits were created by public referendum, they must be repealed the same way - the bill would not be written.

Quinn - who as speaker has the power to keep a bill that is written and presented to the Council from coming to a vote - and Mayor Bloomberg insist that they have yet to discuss changing term limits.
Council Member David I. Weprin (D-Hollis), Chair of the New York City Council Finance Committee, will be joined by fellow colleague Bill de Blasio and fellow colleagues, Citizen’s Union, Common Cause, and other good government and civic groups at a rally in support of proposed legislation to prohibit any change to the NYC Term limits law by an act of legislation rather than by public referendum. Since the law came into effect only by referendum it should be changed the same way.