Delta Township — A proposal that would alter Michigan's term limits for the first time in 30 years will appear as Proposal 1 on the November general election ballot.

The Michigan Board of State Canvassers on Friday voted 3-0 to approve the numbering of the proposal as well as the 100-word summary accompanying it on the ballot, despite challenges from opponents who felt the summary wording was inaccurate.

Opponents are considering a challenge of the wording in court, said Patrick Anderson, an East Lansing economist who helped pass the 1992 amendment that put the current term limits in place.

"We're very disappointed that the board — only three members — adopted something that was so close to the self-interested description of the Legislature," said Anderson.

Tony Daunt, one of two Republicans on the four-member bipartisan elections board, was absent from Friday's meeting.

But supporters of the proposal saw Friday as a big victory in their effort to alter Michigan's 30-year-old term limit rules. 

"It's not perfect, but it's true and impartial," attorney Steve Liedel said of the language ultimately adopted by the board.

In a July 5-8 poll of 600 likely Michigan voters, nearly 81% of those read the proposed ballot language for the Transparency and Term Limits Proposal said they supported the measure, while 9% opposed and 10% were undecided. 

The poll, commissioned by The Detroit News and WDIV (Channel 4), used language proposed by the Legislature for the ballot initiative and not the language adopted Friday by the Board of State Canvassers. The poll conducted by Glengariff Group had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

The Michigan Legislature voted in May to place the term limits question on the Nov. 8 ballot, bypassing the signature-gathering process usually used to get a proposal on the state ballot. 

The proposal, which would alter 1992 voter-approved term limits, would allow lawmakers to serve 12 years overall in Lansing, with the potential for all of their time in either the state House or state Senate or split between the two. 

The current law limits members of the state House to three two-year terms and members of the state Senate to two four-year terms, for a max of 14 years between the two chambers.

Under the proposed language, starting in April 2024, lawmakers, the governor, the lieutenant governor, the attorney general and the secretary of state would be required to submit annual disclosures whose details would be worked out by the Legislature. The language does require at least the reporting of assets, a description of liabilities, sources of income, gifts, positions held, future employment agreements and travel reimbursements.

It exempts the disclosure of past jobs with the state of Michigan, as well as other positions related to a "religious, social, fraternal, or political entity." The language also holds lawmakers to the same travel payment and reimbursement disclosures required of lobbyists, potentially leaving out trips legislators receive through other groups not registered as lobbyists such as nonprofits.

Anderson argued Friday that the summary should use wording indicating the proposal would "repeal" the current term limit rules rather than "change" them.

He also argued the financial reporting required of lawmakers should be described as mandated reporting of "sources" of income and "descriptions" of assets and liabilities. Instead, the summary just lists income, assets and liabilities as being part of the financial disclosure requirements.