Update March 21 at 12:34 p.m.: The term limits bill failed Wednesday after a procedural vote.

Original story:

Alabama gubernatorial candidate and state Sen. Bill Hightower, R-Mobile, told AL.com on Tuesday that the Republican Senate leadership promised him it would bring his term limits bill to the floor on Wednesday after it broke a similar promise on Tuesday.

Hightower said he authored and submitted a bill restricting senators and representatives to three consecutive terms two weeks after the state Legislature approved a resolution seeking term limits for federal representatives.

"If they voted for term limits at the federal level, they should also be voting for term limits at the Montgomery level," Hightower said of his colleagues.

Hightower said he was told last week that his bill would be coming to the Senate floor on Tuesday, but later learned the legislation was stripped from the schedule.

"I was shocked and astonished that the commitment wasn't fulfilled, and I just concluded it's the same old career politicians that don't want to change the status quo" who were behind the move, Hightower said.

While the Mobile senator said he was promised his bill would make it to the floor of the Senate on Wednesday, there is no guarantee that the legislation would get an up or down vote in the chamber. For instance, a senator could add amendments to Hightower's bill that effectively kill the legislation.

"I have assurances from the leadership that it will come for a vote. The only threat I can see is if the career politicians don't want to be seen as voting against this bill, so they use procedural elements to stop this vote," he said.

Term limits is highly popular among Alabama voters at 84 percent support, according to a recent poll. If Hightower's bill ultimately passes the legislature and is signed by the governor, voters would decide its fate in a referendum.

Hightower has made term limits one of the issues of his gubernatorial campaign. He argued that term limits would be effective in combating the political corruption that has plagued Alabama.

"I think term limits in Montgomery is one of the best things we can do to change the culture of Montgomery," he said. "Montgomery has a system of cronyism, and by bringing new people in with new ideas, we can radically affect Alabama for the better."