Massachusetts General Court

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The Massachusetts State House

The Massachusetts General Court (formally The General Court of Massachusetts ) is the supreme legislative authority of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts , a state of the United States . The name General Court originates still from the early days of the Massachusetts Bay Colony , where there alongside the legislative and judicial Procedures were carried out.

Before the state constitution was adopted in 1780, the name was Great and General Court , but it was shortened by John Adams , author of the Massachusetts Constitution , probably for the sake of simplicity. The parliament consists of a two-chamber system : the upper house is the Senate , which is composed of 40 members , the lower house is formed by the House of Representatives with 160 members (240 members until 1978). Parliament meets at Massachusetts State House in the Beacon Hill neighborhood of Boston .

The current President of the Senate has been Therese Murray since March 21, 2007 , and Robert DeLeo has been Speaker of the House since January 27, 2009 . The Democratic Party holds a qualified majority in both chambers .

Senators and representatives are elected for a period of two years.

House of Representatives

Each member of the House of Representatives represents approximately 40,000 residents. The districts are named after the county in which they are mainly located. The boundaries of the districts are usually within the corresponding counties, but some of them also encompass parts of adjacent counties. The Massachusetts House of Representatives currently consists of 128 Democrats and 32 Republicans .

senate

There are 40 Senatorial Districts in Massachusetts named for the counties in which they are located. The Senate currently consists of 36 Democrats and 4 Republicans.

Legislative process

The General Court is responsible for making laws in the state of Massachusetts. Both chambers are working simultaneously on pending procedures and initiatives that are brought to them.

Legislation begins in a secretariat of the upper or lower house, where petitions and bills are processed and prepared for further proceedings. Numbers are assigned to the drafts so that they can later be clearly assigned before they are forwarded to one of the 26 joint committees responsible for the topic. The committees deal, for example, with taxes , education , health care or insurance issues and are composed of six senators and eleven representatives. The standing committees hold public hearings for the drafts, giving citizens, legislators and lobbyists the opportunity to express their opinions. Following the public hearings, the members of the committee meet again in a closed group to assess and discuss the arguments that have been heard. These meetings are also open to the public, but participation is no longer possible. Based on the result of the deliberations, the committee issues a recommendation on how to proceed (“ought to pass” or “ought not to pass”) to all members of the House of Representatives or Senate.

The first reading of an approved draft takes place automatically through the publication of the reports of the committees in the internal journal. In the Senate, all drafts that do not require the involvement of other committees are sent to the Committee on Steering and Policy for the second reading; in the House of Representatives, the draft for the second reading is entered in the respective daily calendar ( Orders of the Day ). If the finances of the Commonwealth are affected, the Committee on Ways and Means is responsible in both houses . If the finances of a county are affected, the Committee on Counties in the House of Representatives deals with the draft. Even if a draft has already been rejected in the first reading, it will be submitted to the competent houses for the second reading. They can finally reject the draft, but they can also modify it if necessary and then treat it as if it had been approved by the committee.

After the second reading, the drafts are submitted for open discussion on additions and related proposals. If the subsequent vote is positive after the debate, the draft is admitted to the third reading and first passed on to the Committee on Bills , where in particular technical points as well as the fundamental legality and any unconstitutionality are examined. In addition, it ensures that existing laws are not duplicated or thwarted. The committee then prepares a report and returns the draft to the House or Senate for third reading. At this point in time, the legislature can discuss this further and, if necessary, introduce further additions. After the third reading, a vote will be taken on whether the bill should be dealt with in more depth (“passing the bill to be engrossed”).

The draft then has to go through a further three readings and an "in-depth discussion" in the respective other chamber - a draft previously discussed in the Senate thus receives the same procedure again in the House of Representatives and vice versa. If this step is also successfully completed, the draft is forwarded to the Legislative Engrossing Division , where it is written down on special parchment in compliance with the statutes of the Commonwealth . However, if additions were added by the second chamber, the draft goes back to the first, which votes on the addition. If this is rejected, a special committee can be formed, which consists of three members from each chamber and represents both political parties. The latter then works out a compromise proposal, which is then submitted to both chambers for a vote.

The final step is a vote on the enactment of the law, which is carried out first in the House of Representatives and then in the Senate. Once issued, the document will be forwarded to the Massachusetts Governor, who will sign the law to make it effective. However, the signature is de facto not required during the annual legislative process - if the governor has received the draft for 10 days and does nothing, the law becomes final even without his signature. The governor can also veto or refer the draft back to the legislature with desired changes. A veto by the governor can in turn be overruled by a two-thirds majority of both chambers. If the legislature's annual session has ended and the governor does not sign the draft within 10 days, the law is not valid. This is known as a pocket veto . The ten-day period begins on the day following the presentation to the governor and includes Sundays and public holidays, even if they fall on the tenth day.

A draft signed by the governor becomes final after 90 days, unless a special amendment specifies an urgency that allows the law to take effect immediately after signature. Such an addition requires a two-thirds majority of both chambers, but the governor himself can also declare the urgency and let the law become legally binding immediately.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Massachusetts General Court, accessed May 23, 2012 (See Chapter I, Section I, Article I).
  2. ^ Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Massachusetts General Court, accessed May 23, 2012 (see Article LXXXII.).
  3. ^ How an Idea Becomes a Law. (No longer available online.) Massachusetts General Court, archived from the original on May 24, 2012 ; accessed on May 24, 2012 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.malegislature.gov

literature

Web links

Commons : Massachusetts General Court  - Collection of Pictures, Videos, and Audio Files