Arizona lawmakers in both the House and the Senate run for office every two years. A proposal by Senate President Steve Yarborough aims to join 32 other states and increase the Senate term to four years.

He argued those two additional years will allow state senators to focus on important work rather than on their next campaign.

"If senators can serve four year terms," explained Yarbrough, the author of the measure, "We have fewer people out there running for election every two years, less money out of Clean Elections, less clutter on the side of the road."

But not everyone at the state capitol agreed. 

Some House members, including Republican Eddie Farnsworth, asked why the plan expands solely the senate seats instead of the full legislature.

"There's really no difference between House and Senate in this state," Farnsworth warned. If lawmakers are set on separating term limits for the two branches, he said, "I probably wouldn't stand in support of that."

Another House member is concerned changing the terms would strip the balance of power from the people.

"The voter gets their say every two years," Representative Anthony Kern pointed out, then asked what happens if a constituent doesn't like how they're being represented, "I don't want to extend that out to four-year terms."

The proposal has bi-partisan support at the senate level, but ultimately the voters would have to ratify the expanded state senate terms if it became a ballot measure in 2018.