New Hampshire General Court

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The General Court meets in the New Hampshire State House

The New Hampshire General Court is the bicameral state legislature of the U.S. state of New Hampshire. The lower house is composed of New Hampshire House of Representatives with 400 members. The upper house is composed of the New Hampshire Senate with 24 members. The General Court is the fourth-largest English-speaking legislative in the world, behind only the United States Congress, the Parliament of the United Kingdom and the Parliament of India, and has one of the greatest disparities in size between chambers of a bicameral legislature.^{[[Citing sources citation needed]]} Currently, the General Court is in its 159th session.

The General Court meets in the New Hampshire State House in Concord, downtown just off US 3.

House of Representatives

Current House Floor Seating Makeup as of December 2005. Red seats are Republican, Blue seats are Democratic, Light colored seats are held by representatives who won both parties' primaries. Black seats are currently vacant until special election or swearing in. Large numbers are Seat Sections. White spaces are where the "13th Seats" of each section would be.

See also 2004 New Hampshire General Court Election
The House of Representatives consists of 400 members coming from 103 districts across the state created from divisions of the state's counties each making up about 3,000 residents for every one legislator. If the same level of representation were present in the U.S. Congress, the U.S. House of Representatives would have approximately 99,000 members according to current population estimates.

Unlike in many legislatures, there is no clear "aisle" to cross per se, as members of both parties sit partially segregated in five sections, which is then put on the legislator's license plate (chairpersons and party leaders in Green, non-chairs in red). Most Republicans are in the First, Second and Third Sections, while most Democrats are in the Fourth and Fifth sections, although this is not strictly enforced as seating is often decided on the personal preference of the legislator except in the case of the sixth section, which is reserved for the speaker.

Historically, the House has been dominated by the Republican Party, which retained a reduced majority in the 2004 election currently holding 249–151 majority. However, the Republicans are often divided between the more conservative Republican House Alliance and moderates known as the Main Street Republicans. The division is approximately 141 voting with along RHA lines and 110 voting along Main Street lines if the difference is considered to be the 50% line of the RHA's 2004 scorecard. If these divisions are taken into account, Democrats currently have 37% of the seats, the RHA has 35%, and Main Street has 28%.

Currently, the Speaker of the House is Douglas Scamman from Stratham. Scamman returned to the Speaker position, which he had held in the 1980s, due to the 2004 Corn Roast Scandal of the prior Speaker, Gene G. Chandler of Bartlett. Scamman's ascension to the speakership was considered a compromise by Republicans when it became clear that Chandler was resigning as Speaker.

The license plate of Betsy McKinney (R-Londonderry)

Make-up of the House of Representatives

Affiliation		Members
#FF3333>	Republican Party	245
#3333FF>	Democratic Party	152
Total		400
Government Majority		98

New Hampshire Senate

For three weeks in September and October 2000, the Senate held the state's only impeachment trial. The Senate heard testimony regarding the charges of maladministration against Chief Justice David Brock brought by the New Hampshire House of Representatives. The Senate voted to acquit by a vote of seven for conviction and fifteen for acquittal. Unlike the U.S. Constitution, the State Constitution does not provide for the required burden of proof, nor the number of votes required to convict. The Senate chose to require a two-thirds vote for conviction and left each Senator to decide for themselves if the evidence rose to the level of finding Brock "guilty".

Make-up of the Senate

Affiliation		Members
#FF3333>	Republican Party	16
#3333FF>	Democratic Party	8
Total		24
Government Majority		8

Trivia

• When numbered seats were installed in Representatives Hall, the number thirteen was purposely omitted for triskaidekaphobia.
• In 1819, the House of Representatives and Senate moved into their respective chambers in the State House. Both continue to meet in their original chambers, making each house have the oldest chamber in United States still in continuous legislative use.

External links

• [Official website]

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