legislature

Examples of legislature in the following topics:

• The 17th Amendment

  • Before the Supreme Court required one-man-one vote, rural counties and cities were given equal weight in the state legislatures, enabling one rural vote to equal 200 city votes.
  • The malapportioned state legislatures would have given the Republicans control of the Senate in the 1916 Senate elections.
  • The electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State legislatures.
  • When vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies: Provided, That the legislature of any State may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct.

• The Powers of State Government

  • The legislative branch of the states consists of state legislatures.
  • Every state except for Nebraska has a bicameral legislature, comprised of two chambers.
  • In the majority of states, the state legislature is called the Legislature.
  • The rest of the states call their legislature the General Assembly.
  • The structure of courts and the methods of selecting judges are determined by each state's constitution or legislature.

• How a Bill Becomes Law

  • A bill is introduced by a member of the legislature, read through, debated, and then passed to become a law.
  • A bill is introduced by a member of the legislature.
  • In the U.S. system, where the executive is formally separated from the legislature, all bills must originate from the legislature.
  • This refers to the historic practice of the clerical officers of the legislature reading the contents of a bill to the legislature.
  • The committee reports to the legislature, at which stage further amendments are proposed.

• Bicameralism

  • Bicameral legislatures tend to require a concurrent majority to pass legislation.
  • The Founding Fathers of the United States favored a bicameral legislature.
  • During the 1930s, the Legislature of the State of Nebraska was reduced from bicameral to unicameral with the 43 members that once comprised that state's Senate.
  • Ventura argued that bicameral legislatures for provincial and local areas were excessive and unnecessary, and discussed unicameralism as a reform that could address many legislative and budgetary problems for states.
  • The U.S. has a bicameral legislature in Congress, consisting of the House of Representatives and the Senate

• State Constitutions

  • They had also elected conventions and "legislatures" that existed outside of any currently established legal framework.
  • Bicameral legislatures, with the upper house serving as a check on the lower
  • Strong governors with veto power over the legislature and substantial appointment authority
  • In 1790, conservatives gained power in the state legislature, called for a new constitutional convention, and rewrote the constitution.
  • The new constitution substantially reduced universal white-male suffrage, gave the governor veto power and patronage appointment authority, and added to the unicameral legislature an upper house with substantial wealth qualifications.

• Constitutional Issues and Compromises

  • Rotation in office and recall were two principles applied to the lower house of the national legislature.
  • There was to be a bicameral legislature made up of a Senate and a House of Delegates.
  • The plan featured a bicameral legislature, the lower house elected by the people for three years.
  • State governors would be appointed by the national legislature, and the national legislature had veto power over any state legislation.
  • The Pinckney Plan proposed a bicameral legislature made up of a Senate and a House of Delegates.

• Debate over the Presidency and the Judiciary

  • Most of the convention was spent deciding these issues, while the powers of legislature, executive, and judiciary were not heavily disputed .
  • The delegates agreed with Madison that the executive function had to be independent of the legislature.
  • In their aversion to kingly power, American legislatures had created state governments where the executive was beholden to the legislature and by the late 1780s, this was widely seen as being a source of paralysis.
  • Madison, however, did not believe that the judiciary should be truly independent, but rather be obligated to the legislature not the executive.
  • Few agreed with Madison that the executive should be elected by the legislature.

• Article V

  • The Congress, whenever two thirds of both houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution, or, on the application of the legislatures of two thirds of the several states, shall call a convention for proposing amendments, which, in either case, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the legislatures of three fourths of the several states, or by conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the Congress; provided that no amendment which may be made prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any manner affect the first and fourth clauses in the ninth section of the first article; and that no state, without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate.

• Financial Chaos and Paper Money

  • Implementation of most decisions, including modifications to the Articles, required unanimous approval of all 13 state legislatures.
  • Under the Articles of Confederation, Congress was denied any powers of taxation and could only request money from the state legislatures.
  • Jay and the Congress responded in May by requesting $45 million from State legislatures.

• Government in the English Colonies

  • By the 1720s, all but two of the colonies had a locally elected legislature and a British appointed governor.
  • These two branches of government would often clash, with the legislatures imposing "power of the purse" to control the British governor.
  • After the Boston Tea Party, Great Britain's leadership passed acts that outlawed the Massachusetts legislature.