Iowa Senate

Iowa Senate
Iowa General Assembly
Type
Type	Upper house
Term limits	None
History
New session started	January 9, 2017
Leadership
President of the Senate	Jack Whitver (R) Since January 9, 2017
President pro Tempore	Jerry Behn (R) Since January 9, 2017
Majority Leader	Bill Dix (R) Since January 9, 2017
Minority Leader	Rob Hogg (D) Since January 9, 2017
Structure
Political groups	Majority party   Republican (29) Minority parties   Democratic (20)   Independent (1)
Length of term	4 years
Authority	Legislative Department, Section 3, Iowa Constitution
Salary	$25,000/year + per diem
Elections
Last election	November 8, 2016 (25 seats)
Next election	November 6, 2018 (25 seats)
Redistricting	Legislative Service Agency with legislative approval
Meeting place
State Senate Chamber Iowa State Capitol Des Moines, Iowa
Website
Iowa General Assembly
Footnotes
Even though it is an even-district year, Senate District 49 was on the ballot due to the 2012 redistricting. The results of the election in Senate District 22 were counted, but not canvassed due to the death of incumbent candidate Pat Ward.

Coordinates: 41°35′28″N 93°36′14″W / 41.591°N 93.604°W / 41.591; -93.604

Majority party

Minority parties

The Iowa Senate is the upper house of the Iowa General Assembly. There are 50 seats in the Iowa Senate, representing 50 single-member districts across the state with populations of approximately 60,927 per constituency, as of the 2010 United States Census^[update]. Each Senate district is composed of two House districts. The Senate meets at the Iowa State Capitol in Des Moines.

Unlike the lower house, the Iowa House of Representatives, Senators serve four-year terms, with half of the Senate staggered for re-election every two years. There are no term limits for the Senate.

The President of the Senate presides over the body, whose powers include referring bills to committee, recognizing members during debate, and making procedural rulings. Unlike the more powerful Speaker of the Iowa House of Representatives, the Senate President cannot appoint committee chairmanships or shuffle committee memberships. The Lieutenant Governor of Iowa was the presiding officer of the Senate until 1988, when an amendment to the Iowa Constitution was passed in a referendum (effective from 1991). The other partisan Senate leadership positions, such as the Majority and Minority leaders, are elected by their respective party caucuses to head their parties in the chamber.