The state Senate today passed a proposed constitutional amendment that would extend the mandatory retirement age for judges from 70 to 80 years old.

The bill is widely seen as an attempt to prevent Gov. Linda Lingle from appointing a chief justice to the state Supreme Court.

Chief Justice Ronald T.Y. Moon will reach retirement age in 2010, Lingle's final year in office.

Senators voted 19 to 6 against a proposed amendment that would have applied the new mandatory retirement age to judicial appointments after this November, which would mean that Moon would not be covered. The bill now moves to the state House.

Voters in 2006 rejected a constitutional amendment to lift the mandatory retirement age for judges.

The Senate, working to position bills for crossover with the House on Thursday, also passed bills related to a ceded lands settlement between the state and the state Office of Hawaiian Affairs and bills to help the state purchase the Turtle Bay Resort and Galbraith Estate lands.