State Legislatures

State legislatures go by different names, including legislature, general assembly, legislative assembly, and, in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, general court. Forty-nine have a senate and a house or assembly, and Nebraska has a single, officially nonpartisan chamber, for a total of 99 chambers and about 7,386 legislators. Chamber sizes range from 20 members in the Alaska Senate to 400 in the New Hampshire House of Representatives. Members generally serve two-year terms in the lower house and four-year terms in the senate.

Legislatures pass state laws and budgets, confirm many gubernatorial appointments, can override vetoes, impeach state officials, propose state constitutional amendments, and ratify amendments to the U.S. Constitution. In most states they draw congressional and legislative district maps, though a growing number of states use independent or bipartisan commissions. Until 1913, they also elected U.S. senators. They meet in regular sessions that vary from a few weeks to most of the year, and a few still meet only every other year.

Legislatures differ widely in professionalism. California, New York, Pennsylvania, and a few others pay full-time salaries and employ large staffs, while many states have part-time citizen legislators, and New Hampshire pays $100 a year. Sixteen states impose term limits on legislators. Supporters of citizen legislatures say they keep lawmakers close to ordinary life, while critics say low pay and short sessions shift power to lobbyists and the executive branch. The National Conference of State Legislatures and the American Legislative Exchange Council are among the groups that share model policies across states.