Michigan Legislature
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The Michigan Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is organized as a bicameral institution consisting of the Senate, the upper house, and the House of Representatives, the lower house. Article IV of Michigan's State Constitution, adopted in 1963, defines the role of the legislature and how it is to be constituted. The Michigan Legislature meets in the Michigan State Capitol in Lansing, Michigan.
Senate
The State Senate is the upper house of the legislature. It's members are elected on a partisan basis for four-year terms concurrent with the election of the Governor of Michigan. The Senate consists of 38 members who are elected from single-member election districts ranging from 212,400 to 263,500 residents according to the most recent creation of districts (2002). Senators' terms begin at noon on January 1 following their election. The Senate chamber in the State Capitol is located in the south wing of the building. As of 2006, Republicans hold a majority of seats in the Senate with 22; Democrats hold 16 seats. Under the Michigan Constitution, the Lieutenant Governor of Michigan serves as President of the Senate but may only cast a vote in the instance of a tie. The Senate selects its other officers and adopts its own rules of procedure at the start of a new legislative session.House of Representatives
The House of Representatives is the lower house of the legislature. It's members are elected on a partisan basis for two-year terms at the same time at which Representatives in U.S. Congress are chosen. The House of Representatives consists of 110 members who are elected from single-member election districts ranging from 77,000 to 91,000 according to the most recent creation of districts (2002). Representatives' terms begin at noon on January 1 following their election. The House of Representatives chamber in the State Capitol is located in the north wing of the building. Republicans hold a majority of seats in the House of Representatives with 58; Democrats occupying 49, 3 seats being vacant. The House of Representatives selects its own Speaker of the House and other officers and adopts its rules of procedure at the start of a new legislative session. The Speaker of the House is Craig DeRoche, and House Minority Leader is Dianne Byrum, both serving for the 2005-2007 Legislative term.Terms and Sessions
Every two years the entire House of Representatives stands for election, whereas the Senate does so at four-year intervals. For reckoning periods of time during which the legislature operates, each two-year period coinciding with the election of new members of the House of Representatives is numbered consecutively as a "Legislature" dating to the first legislature following Michigan's admission as a state. The current two-year term of the legislature, serving from 2005 until 2007, is the 93rd Legislature.Each year during which the legislature meets constitutes a "session" of the legislature. According to the state's constitution, Article IV Section 13, a new session of the legislature begins when the members of each house convene on the second wednesday of January every year at noon. A regular session of the legislature typically lasts throughout the entire year with several periods of recess and adjourns sine die in December.
There is no minimum or maximum number of days for which a session of the legislature must meet each year. Unlike those states which are considered to have a part-time legislature and whose members are paid only for actual days in session, Michigan's legislators are paid an annual salary regardless of the number of meeting days and are considered to be full-time.
Any legislation pending in either house at the end of a session that is not the end of a legislative term of office continues and carries over to the next legislative session.
Term Limits
The electors of the State of Michigan adopted an amendment to the Michigan Constitution in 1992, Section 54 of Article IV, which became effective in 1993. This amendment limits the length of time any individual may serve as a member of the Legislature. Pursuant to this amendment, one may not be elected to the state senate more than two times or to the state house of representatives more than three times. The result of this is that there is now considerable turnover in membership in both houses of the legislature. Formerly, many seats were held by the same office holder for sometimes decades. Although measures to repeal the term limits amendment have been introduced in both houses since it took effect, none of them have yet reached a vote on the floor of either house or received serious deliberation in the legislature.Unicameral Petition Drive
An unsuccessful effort to collect petition signatures was launched in January 2006 by Unicameral Michigan[link], a ballot question committee registered with the State of Michigan, to provide for an amendment to the state's constitution to change from a bicameral to a unicameral legislature. It failed to qualify for the November 2006 ballot. If it had passed, Michigan would have become only the second U.S. state, after Nebraska, to have a single-chambered state legislature.See also
External links
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