the legislature and thus the budget cycle was altered from biennial to annual, but the General Assembly is still limited to a total of fifteen organizational days and ninety legislative days every two year. Sessions extending that time and special sessions extending beyond twenty legislative days result in the legislature being unable to continue to receive its expense per diem. The poll tax provisions, already rendered moot, were removed. The 1971 convention, dominated by longtime Tennessee politician Clifford Allen, was limited to the establishment of a new system of property tax assessments. 1977 convention and aftermath The 1977 convention was the broadest call since the original writing of the constitution, in 1870. It was called in part to remove long-unenforceable provisions such as those banning interracial marriage and school desegregation but primarily at the behest of banking interests to remove the 10% cap on interest, which was becoming very problematic in the economic environment of the time. (It had long been circumvented by smaller lenders such as finance companies with tactics such as administration fees, service charges, and payment fees, with tacit legislative approval.) This convention proved to be very long and contentious and even lasted nearly twice as long as the original one that wrote the 1870 constitution. There were major fights over the adoption of the permanent rules and over who would be the permanent chair. Although that seemed to bode ill, once the convention got on track, it accomplished what many legal scholars see as being a record of largely solid achievement. A major change was the proposal that the governor could now succeed himself once. A two-term governor was also not barred from any future service in that office in the way that a two-term US President is by the Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution for life, only from a third consecutive term. Any county and its principal city could vote to consolidate themselves into one "metropolitan government". Only three counties have done so: Nashville and Davidson County; Hartsville and Trousdale County; Lynchburg and Moore County. Minor other changes included the elimination of the necessity of each county having the archaic (at least for urban counties) offices of constable and cattle ranger. (The provision for rangers was routinely widely ignored; but not the one mandating constables.) The provision limiting sheriffs to three consecutive two-year terms was replaced with one allowing sheriffs an unlimited number