General Assembly (Virginia)

Virginia General Assembly
Type
Type	Bicameral
Houses	Senate House of Delegates
History
Founded	July 30, 1619 (1619-07-30)
Leadership
President of the Senate/Lt. Governor	Ralph Northam (D) Since January 11, 2014
President Pro Tem of the Senate	Stephen Newman (R) Since June 12, 2014
Senate Majority Leader	Tommy Norment (R) Since June 12, 2014
Speaker of the House	William J. Howell (R) Since January 8, 2003
House Majority Leader	Kirk Cox (R) Since December 5, 2010
Structure
Seats	140
Political groups	Democratic Party Independent Republican Party
Elections
Last election	November 3, 2015
Meeting place
Virginia State Capitol, Richmond
Website
http://virginiageneralassembly.gov

The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the oldest continuous law-making body in the New World, established on July 30, 1619. The General Assembly is a bicameral body consisting of a lower house, the Virginia House of Delegates, with 100 members, and an upper house, the Senate of Virginia, with 40 members. Combined together, the General Assembly consists of 140 elected representatives from an equal number of constituent districts across the commonwealth. The House of Delegates is presided over by the Speaker of the House, while the Senate is presided over by the Lieutenant Governor of Virginia. The House and Senate each elect a clerk and sergeant-at-arms. The Senate of Virginia's clerk is known as the "Clerk of the Senate" (instead of as the "Secretary of the Senate", the title used by the U.S. Senate).

The Republican Party currently holds the majority in both the House of Delegates and the Senate.

The General Assembly meets in Virginia's capital of Richmond. When sitting in Richmond, the General Assembly holds sessions in the Virginia State Capitol, designed by Thomas Jefferson in 1788 and expanded in 1904. During the American Civil War, the building was used as the capitol of the Confederate States of America, housing the Congress of the Confederate States. The building was renovated between 2005 and 2006. Senators and Delegates have their offices in the General Assembly Building across the street directly north of the Capitol. The Governor of Virginia lives across the street directly east of the Capitol in the Virginia Executive Mansion.