COLUMBUS (AP) — A ballot effort to cap at 12 years the combination of time a person could serve in the Ohio Legislature has cleared an initial hurdle.

Attorney General Mike DeWine on Tuesday certified a petition for a proposed constitutional amendment dealing with legislative term limits.

Ohioans voted in 1992 to limit state representatives to four, two-year terms and senators to two, four-year terms. That doesn’t bar them from moving between the House and Senate once they have reached those limits or running again after a few years.

The proposal would prohibit people from holding more than 12 combined years of elected legislative office and keep them from holding the seat for more than eight years.

The state’s Ballot Board will next decide whether the proposal includes one or more issues.