MVSKOKE RESERVATION – Another bill expanding the Principal Chief’s terms to three and setting a limit for the Second Chief again failed to pass full council at the Tuesday, March 24, Muscogee (Creek) National Council Regular Session.
The bill, NCA 26-048, failed by a vote of 7-8. The bill required a ⅔ supermajority vote to appear as a ballot initiative. Proponents of the bill stressed that it should be up to the voters to decide whether the chiefs’ term limits should be set to three.
If adopted by the full council and approved by voters, the amendment would revise and add language to Article V, Sections 1(a) and 1 (c), of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation Constitution. The added language reads, “The Principal Chief and Second Chief shall be limited to a total of three terms, whether served in consecutive terms of office or non-consecutive terms. This shall include terms served before January 2028. A term shall not include a partial term created by election to fill a vacancy.”
Representatives Dode Barnett, Galen Cloud, Mary Crawford, James Factor, Lara Harjo-King, Charles McHenry, Thomasene Osborn, and Robyn Whitecloud voted no on NCA 26-048.
Current Second Chief Del Beaver has been a staunch critic of setting his position’s term limits to three. He stated at the Saturday, Feb. 28, Regular Session that even if term limits for the second chief are set to three, he will not run for a third term. During the discussion at the Tuesday, March 24, Regular Session, Second Chief Beaver reiterated his stance on the bill.
“This bill is not needed, flat out,” Second Chief Beaver said. “I have been a part of a lot of community meetings, I have been a part of a lot of community fellowship, I’ve talked to a lot of people, and not one time have they said, ‘You know what? We need to talk about adding a third term for the Chief and Second Chief.’”
An identical bill, NCA 26-037, was voted on at the Regular Session on Saturday, Feb. 28. It was sponsored by Representative Lucian Tiger III and failed by a vote of 9-6. The MCN Constitution currently sets the Principal Chief’s term limits to two. Term limits for the Second Chief are not detailed. Second Chief Beaver remarked that when he ran for Second Chief in 2019, he believed the position was limited to two terms.
According to Second Chief Beaver, without consultation with citizens, it “breeds miscontempt and mistrust.” Second Chief Beaver attempted to discuss another topic regarding the organization of a new constitutional convention, detailed in bill NCA 26-051, which failed to pass during the Monday, March 23, Business, Finance, and Justice committee meeting. However, a point of order was made that the issues were separate matters. Second Chief Beaver countered that it was unfair not to discuss the constitutional convention in relation to the discussion on executive branch term limits.
“When you don’t allow people to speak, that’s where distrust comes in of our elected officials. That’s why we have voter apathy,” Second Chief Beaver said.
Representative Robert Hufft said the purpose of the amendment is to be consistent with the legislative branch. Currently, a National Council term limit law, NCA 26-038, is scheduled to appear on the Saturday, May 30, Special Election ballot. If approved by ⅔ of voters, that bill will set the term limit for the National Council to three. Rep. Hufft remarked that citizens have expressed interest in voting on term limits for the executive branch.
“If the Council stops this (NCA 26-048), then we are denying people the chance to vote for it. If you don’t like it, then vote ‘no’. Or you can vote ‘yes’. That’s your voice at that point in time,” Rep. Hufft said during the discussion.
Representative Sandra Golden and Rep. Tiger concurred.
“Currently, as our constitution reads, there are no term limits for Second Chief. It gives citizens the opportunity to establish term limits for Second Chief. If the amendment for council members (NCA 26-038) for three terms, 12 years, passes, everything would be consistent across the board,” Rep. Tiger said.
Rep. Phillips, the bill’s sponsor, explained that he reintroduced the bill to give voters the opportunity to limit all elected positions nationwide to three terms. He said he has spoken to citizens who have praised and criticized the bill.
Mvskoke Media reached out to Rep. Phillips for comment on future bills that could set new term limits for the executive branch. Rep. Phillips did not respond before this article was published.
Both NCA 26-037 and NCA 26-048 detailed that if term limits had been adopted by the legislature and approved by voters, they would take effect in January 2028.
