New York State Legislature

From Ballotpedia

The New York Legislature is the state legislature of New York. It is a bicameral legislature, consisting of the lower New York State Assembly and the upper New York Senate. The Legislature is not perceived well by the public ^[1]. Past corruption was sometimes referred to in colorful terms like the "Black Horse Cavalry."

The legislature is seated at the New York State Capitol in Albany.

Legislative Houses

Legislative elections are held in November of every even-numbered year. Both Assembly members and Senators serve two-year terms without term limits.

In order to be a member of either house, one must be a citizen of the United States, a resident of the state of New York for at least five years, and a resident of the district for at least one year prior to election.

The lower Assembly consists of 150 members, each chosen from a single-member district. The Senate includes a varying number of members. The New York Constitution provides that the default membership be fifty members. However, it provides that if any county would by virtue of its population be entitled to more than three Senators, then the first three Senators would count towards the limit of fifty, while the remainder would be in addition to the fifty. Currently, there are twelve additional Senators (who are in terms of legislative power equal to any other Senators), making the total membership sixty-two. This accounts for the large percentage of the state population taken up by New York City and its suburbs (usually estimated at about 60%, depending on which counties are included as suburbs). Senate districts are currently between two and three times more populous than Assembly districts.

Leaders

The Assembly is headed by the Speaker, while the Senate is headed by the President, a post held ex officio by the State Lieutenant Governor. The Lieutenant Governor, as President of the Senate, has only a casting vote. More often, the Senate is presided over by the Temporary President, who is also the Majority Leader, or by a senator of the Majority Leader's choosing.

The Assembly Speaker and Senate Majority Leader control the assignment of committees and leadership positions, along with control of the agenda in their chambers. The two are considered powerful statewide leaders and along with the Governor of New York control most of the agenda of state business in New York.

Party control

The New York State Legislature is currently split by party. The Senate is controlled by the Republican Party, who have a 33-29 majority, but the Assembly is controlled by a Democratic supermajority of 107-42 seats (2 vacant). Among the top reasons for this split include the more conservative upstate region holding more clout in the State Senate, as well as Long Island, where voters are increasingly trending towards the Democrats on the state and local levels (Long Island was once overwhelmingly Republican) but continue to re-elect their incumbent Republican state senators (some of whom have served for many years, such as 30+ year veteran Caesar Trunzo, and most of whom have raised considerable amounts of money to deter challengers). Republicans currently hold eight of the nine state senate seats for Nassau and Suffolk Counties.

In recent years, Republicans in the State Senate have lost ground, particularly in Westchester County and New York City, though they still hold a few senate seats representing parts of Queens, Brooklyn, and Staten Island (which leans Republican at most levels of government). Economic troubles and population loss in Upstate New York is also a factor, as Democratic-leaning areas of that region have become more important in recent elections. In the past, Democrats would occasionally switch parties when they run for Senate so they could sit with the majority. Recent Democratic gains have led to fewer defections from the party.

The Assembly has been dominated by Democrats for about 30 years and Republicans have recently lost ground in this chamber as well. Between 2002 and 2005, the Republican conference dropped from 53 seats to 45. Republicans even lost some districts that historically have been reliably Republican, especially on Long Island. One crucial reason for the Democrats' dominance is that they control 63 of the 64 districts that are assigned to New York City (an extension of the party's dominance at most other levels in the city).

The Legislature is empowered to make law, subject to the governor's power to veto a bill. However, the veto may be overridden by the Legislature if there is a two-thirds majority in favor of overriding in each House. Furthermore, it has the power to propose amendments to the New York Constitution by a majority vote, and then another majority vote following an election. If so proposed, the amendment becomes valid if agreed to by the voters at a referendum.