Arizona State Legislature

From Ballotpedia

The Arizona Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Arizona. It is a bicameral legislature that consists of a lower house, the Arizona House of Representatives, and an upper house, the Senate. There are 60 Representatives and 30 Senators. The state legislature meets in the Capitol Complex in the state capital, Phoenix.

Districting

There are 30 legislative districts in Arizona, each of which is a multimember constituency. Each district elects a Senator and 2 Representatives for a two-year term. The crossing of upper and lower house districts into a single constituency is found in only seven U.S. state legislatures: Arizona, Idaho, Maryland, New Jersey, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Washington.

Term limits

Serving two-year terms, both Senator or Representatives are constricted by term limits. Members may only serve four consecutive terms (or eight years) in either house.

Senate

The Arizona Senate consists of 30 members representing an equal amount of constituencies across the state, with each district having average populations of 171,021 (2000 figures). Members serve two-year terms with term limits, limiting Senators to four terms (a total of eight years). Members of the Republican Party are currently in the majority in the Senate.

Members to the Senate are elected from the same legislative districts as members of the House of Representatives, however one Senator represents the constituency, while for the House there are two Representatives per district. This districting system is similar to those of the Idaho and Washington State Senate.

Like other upper houses of state and territorial legislatures and the federal U.S. Senate, the Senate can confirm or reject gubernatorial appointments to the state cabinet, commissions and boards.

Leadership of the Senate

Arizona, along with Oregon, Maine and Wyoming, is one of the four U.S. states to have abolished the Office of the Lieutenant Governor, a position which for most upper houses of state legislatures and indeed for the U.S. Congress (with the Vice President) is the head of the legislative body.

In the Lieutenant Governor's constitutional absesnce, the President of the Senate presides over the body, appointing members to all of the Senate's committees and joint committees, and may create other committees and subcommittees if desired. In the Senate President's absence, the President Pro Tempore presides.

The current President of the Senate is Republican Timothy Bee of District 30 (Tucson/Green Valley) who recently formed an exploratory committee to run for Congress in Arizona's 8th District against Gabrielle Giffords. The Senate Majority Leader is Thayer Verschoor of District 22 (Gilbert,Arizona). The Senate Minority Leader is Marsha Arzberger of District 25 (Willcox, Arizona).

House of Representatives

The Arizona House of Representatives is the lower house of the Arizona State Legislature. Its members are elected to two-year terms with a term limit of four consecutive terms (eight years). Members of the Republican Party currently hold a majority in the House.

The House of Representatives is composed of 60 members representing 30 multimember constituencies, with two members per district. This district setup is similar to both the Washington and Idaho House of Representatives districting systems. Each member represents at least 86,000 citizens, with a total district population of at least 172,000.

References

• Wikipedia Arizona Legislature
• Wikipedia: Arizona Senate
• Wikipedia: Arizona House of Representatives

External links

• Official Site

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