California Legislature

California State Legislature
2015–16 session
Type
Type	Bicameral
Houses	Senate Assembly
Leadership
President Pro Tem of the Senate	Kevin de León (D) Since October 15, 2014
Senate Minority Leader	Jean Fuller (R) Since August 27, 2015
Speaker of the Assembly	Anthony Rendon (D) Since March 7, 2016
Assembly Minority Leader	Chad Mayes (R) Since January 4, 2016
Structure
Seats	120 40 senators 80 assembly
Senate political groups	Democratic (26)      Republican (14)
Assembly political groups	Democratic (55)      Republican (25)
Elections
Senate last election	November 8, 2016
Assembly last election	November 8, 2016
Meeting place
California State Capitol Sacramento, California
Website
leginfo.legislature.ca.gov

The California State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of California. It is a bicameral body consisting of the lower house, the California State Assembly, with 80 members, and the upper house, the California State Senate, with 40 members. New legislators convene each new two-year session, to organize, in the Assembly and Senate Chambers, respectively, at noon on the first Monday in December following the election. After the organizational meeting, both houses are in recess until the first Monday in January, except when the first Monday is January 1 or January 1 is a Sunday, in which case they meet the following Wednesday. Aside from the recess, the legislature is in session year-round.

The Democratic Party currently holds supermajorities in both chambers of the California Legislature. The state senate currently consists of 26 Democrats and 14 Republicans, and the Assembly consists of 52 Democrats and 28 Republicans. Except for the period from 1995 to 1996, the Assembly has been in Democratic hands since the 1970 election (even while the governor's office has gone back and forth between Republicans and Democrats). The Senate has been in Democratic hands continuously since 1970.

Since California was given official statehood by the U.S. in September 9, 1850 as part of the Compromise of 1850, the state capital was variously San Jose (1850–1851), Vallejo (1852–1853) and Benicia (1853–1854), until Sacramento was finally selected in 1854.

The first Californian State House was originally a hotel in San Jose owned by businessman Pierre "Don Pedro" Sainsevain and his associates.