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Pennsylvania General Assembly

Pennsylvania General Assembly
Coat of arms or logo
Type
Type
Houses Senate
House of Representatives
Leadership
Mike Stack (D)
Since January 20, 2015
Joseph B. Scarnati (R)
Since January 2, 2007
Leader of the Senate
Jake Corman (R)
Since January 6, 2015
Mike Turzai (R)
Since January 6, 2015
Leader of the House
Dave Reed (R)
Since January 6, 2015
Structure
Seats 253
50 Senators
203 Representatives
Pennsylvania State House of Representatives Partisan Composition.svg
House of Representatives political groups
     Republican Party
     Democratic Party
Pennsylvania State Senate Partisan Composition.svg
State Senate political groups
     Republican Party
     Democratic Party
Elections
House of Representatives last election
November 4, 2014
State Senate last election
November 4, 2014
Meeting place
Pennsylvania State Capitol Front Panorama.jpg
Pennsylvania State Capitol
Website
www.legis.state.pa.us

The Pennsylvania General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The legislature convenes in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. In colonial times (1682–1776), the legislature was known as the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly. Since the Constitution of 1776, written by American revolutionaries, the legislature has been known as the General Assembly. The General Assembly became a bicameral legislature in 1791.

During the mid-19th century, the frustration of the people of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania with the extremely severe level of corruption in the General Assembly (i.e., logrolling) culminated in a constitutional amendment in 1864 which prevented the General Assembly from writing statutes covering more than one subject. Unfortunately, the amendment (today found at Section 3 of Article III of the Pennsylvania Constitution) was so poorly written that it also prevented the General Assembly from undertaking a comprehensive codification of the Commonwealth's statutes until another amendment was pushed through in 1967 to provide the necessary exception. This is why today, Pennsylvania is the only U.S. state that has not yet completed a comprehensive codification of its general statutory law. Pennsylvania is currently undertaking its first official codification process in the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes.

The General Assembly has 253 members, consisting of a Senate with 50 members and a House of Representatives with 203 members, making it the second-largest state legislature in the nation (behind New Hampshire) and the largest full-time legislature. As of 2014, members' base pay was $85,356, making it the costliest state legislature per capita in the U.S. Republicans hold a 31-19 majority in the Senate and a 120-83 majority in the House.


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Wikipedia

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