Pennsylvania General Assembly

Pennsylvania General Assembly
Type
Type	Bicameral
Houses	Senate House of Representatives
Leadership
President/Lt. Governor	Mike Stack (D) Since January 20, 2015
President pro tem of the Senate	Joseph B. Scarnati (R) Since January 2, 2007
Leader of the Senate	Jake Corman (R) Since January 6, 2015
Speaker of the House	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
House of Representatives political groups	Republican Party      Democratic Party
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
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.