Oklahoma Senate

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Oklahoma State Capitol

The Oklahoma Senate ( Oklahoma State Senate ) is the upper house of the Oklahoma Legislature , the legislature of the US state Oklahoma .

The Chamber of Parliament consists of 48 senators, each representing an electoral district. The senators are each elected for four-year terms. The terms of office are staggered so that half of the MPs are re-elected every two years. In the odd-numbered Senate districts, voting takes place in the years when presidential elections are held. In each even-numbered Senate district, elections take place during the gubernatorial elections, which are two years after the presidential election.

The President of the Senate is the incumbent lieutenant governor of Oklahoma. President Pro Tempore has been taking care of day-to-day business since the 1960s . Prior to that, the Senate President held the leadership role in the Senate, including the appointing committees and the members of those committees. Today he only takes part in votes in order to bring about a decision in stalemates.

The Senate Boardroom is located in the east wing of the Oklahoma State Capitol in the capital, Oklahoma City . The senators meet there for regular sessions from the beginning of February until the last Friday in May. Special sessions can only be convened by the governor of Oklahoma or most of the legislature.

Tasks of the Senate

As in the upper houses of other states and territories, as well as in the US Senate , the Oklahoma Senate has special tasks compared to the House of Representatives that go beyond legislation. It is the responsibility of the Senate to confirm or reject nominations by the governor in his cabinet, other executive offices, commissions and authorities.

Requirements for the senatorial office

Any candidate for election to the Oklahoma Senate must be at least 25 years of age prior to election. The person must be a designated elector in the county or district and reside there during his or her tenure. Those who are already officials in the government of the United States or Oklahoma are not allowed to join the legislature. Furthermore, anyone found guilty of a capital crime is prohibited from voting in the legislature. If a member of the legislature is expelled for corruption, that member is also prohibited from returning to the legislature.

No member of the legislature may serve in the Oklahoma legislature for more than twelve years. The years don't necessarily have to be consecutive. In addition, the years of service in both chambers of parliament, the Senate and the House of Representatives , are added together, so that the total time one worked in the legislature is determined. An exception is made in the election or appointment to one of the two chambers if one serves less than a full term of office there and this is done to fill a vacancy. This time is not taken into account in the above regulation. However, no member who has already completed their twelve years may make use of this exception.

When the term limit was implemented in 1992, this rule was not applied retrospectively, meaning that senators elected before it was implemented could serve up to three full terms thereafter. For example, the longest-serving MP, Gene Stipe , was elected to the Oklahoma Senate in 1956 and, if there was no limit, he would never have left in 2004.

stand-in

Old method

Prior to the United States Supreme Court ruling ("one man, one vote") in the 1960s, where the court ruling forced Oklahoma to equalize its representation, Oklahoma was divided into 48 Senatorial districts: the nineteen most populous counties, by the newest Federal Decennial Census were determined, formed nineteen senatorial districts, each of which appointed a senator and elected to the parliamentary chamber. The fifty-eight least populous counties were amalgamated into twenty-nine "Two-County" districts, each of which appointed a senator and also elected to the Chamber of Parliament. When making appointments to the Senate, the Oklahoma Constitution required that population, compactness, territory, political units, historical precedents, economic and political interests, neighboring territories , and other material factors be considered as permitted .

New method

After the decision of Reynolds v. Sims , 377 US 533 (1964), all districts must be allocated within a five percent margin of the targeted largest district on average, which is dependent on the population of the US Census and divided by the number of Senate districts, which is 48 in this case. This allows some districts to be smaller or larger than others. The Chamber of Parliament draws its own map of its district boundaries, which is subject to the approval of the House of Representatives and the Governor. If the redistricting ( redistricting of the constituencies ) does not occur within the time limits set by the law, the boundaries are determined by a body of five officials elected throughout the state.

Historic tie

In the November 7, 2006 elections to the Oklahoma Senate, the Republican Party won two seats, leading to an unprecedented and historic draw in the Chamber of Parliament (24:24). Neither party had a majority in the House of Representatives, so Democratic and Republican leaders entered power-sharing negotiations in the 2007 legislative session. Rather than electing a single leader, the Senate unanimously elected two co-presidents Pro Tempore to serve as Senate leaders with equal rights. Neither could make a decision or appointment without the consent of the other. As a result, there could not be two Senate Presidents at the same time, so they agreed to split the term of office between the two of them. Since the Democrats had that of Lieutenant Governor Jari Askins as an additional vote , which came to bear in stalemates, it was decided that they should hold the office of President Pro Tempore eleven months of the year (August to June) and the Republicans only in July.

composition

Political party MPs
Republican Party 32
Democratic Party 16
total 48
majority 16

Important members of the Senate

position Surname Political party
Vice Governor / Senate President Todd Lamb republican
President Pro Tempore Brian Bingman republican
Majority leader ( Majority Leader ) Mike Shultz republican
Opposition Leader ( Minority Leader ) Andrew Monroe Rice democrat

Individual evidence

  1. Barbara Hoberock (6/12/2007). " Senate's power-sharing accord carries a cost ". Tulsa World . Retrieved June 14, 2007.

Web links