Massachusetts General Court
| The General Court of Massachusetts | |
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| Type | |
| Type | |
| Leadership | |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 200 40 senators 160 representatives |
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Senate political groups
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House of Representatives political groups
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| Elections | |
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Senate last election
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November 4, 2014 |
| Meeting place | |
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| Massachusetts State House, Boston, Massachusetts | |
| Website | |
| www.malegislature.gov | |
The Massachusetts General Court (formally styled the General Court of Massachusetts) is the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The name "General Court" is a hold-over from the earliest days of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, when the colonial assembly, in addition to making laws, sat as a judicial court of appeals. Before the adoption of the state constitution in 1780, it was called the Great and General Court, but the official title was shortened by John Adams, author of the state constitution. It is a bicameral body. The upper house is the Massachusetts Senate which is composed of 40 members. The lower body, the Massachusetts House of Representatives, has 160 members. (Until 1978, it had 240 members) It meets in the Massachusetts State House on Beacon Hill in Boston.
The current President of the Senate is Stan Rosenberg, and the Speaker of the House is Robert DeLeo. Democrats hold super-majorities in both chambers.
State Senators and Representatives both serve two-year terms.
Each Representative represents about 40,000 residents. Representative districts are named for the primary county in which they are located, and tend to stay within one county, although some districts contain portions of adjacent counties. The current composition of the House is 126 Democrats and 34 Republicans.
There are 40 senatorial districts in Massachusetts, named for the counties in which they are located. The current composition of the Senate is 34 Democrats and 6 Republicans.
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