Arizona State Legislature

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The Arizona Legislature is the state legislature of Arizona. It is a bicameral legislature that consists of a lower house, the Arizona House of Representatives, and an upper house, the Arizona Senate. There are 60 Representatives and 30 Senators. The state legislature meets in the Capitol Complex in the state capital, Phoenix.

Districting

There are 30 legislative districts in Arizona, each of which is a multi-member constituency. Each district elects a Senator and 2 Representatives for a two-year term. The crossing of upper and lower house districts into a single constituency is found in only seven U.S. state legislatures: Arizona, Idaho, Maryland, New Jersey, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Washington.

Term limits

Serving two-year terms, both Senator or Representatives are constricted by term limits. Members may only serve four consecutive terms (or eight years) in either house.

Senate

The Arizona Senate consists of 30 members representing an equal amount of constituencies across the state, with each district having average populations of 171,021 (2000 figures). Members serve two-year terms with term limits, limiting Senators to four terms (a total of eight years). Members of the Republican Party are currently in the majority in the Senate.

Members to the Senate are elected from the same legislative districts as members of the House of Representatives; however, one Senator represents the constituency, while for the House there are two Representatives per district. This districting system is similar to those of the Idaho and Washington State Senate.

Like other upper houses of state and territorial legislatures and the federal U.S. Senate, the Senate can confirm or reject gubernatorial appointments to the state cabinet, commissions and boards.

Leadership of the Senate

Arizona, along with Oregon, Maine and Wyoming, is one of the four U.S. states to have abolished the Office of the Lieutenant Governor, a position which for most upper houses of state legislatures and indeed for the U.S. Congress (with the Vice President) is the head of the legislative body.

In the Lieutenant Governor's constitutional absesnce, the President of the Senate presides over the body, appointing members to all of the Senate's committees and joint committees, and may create other committees and subcommittees if desired. In the Senate President's absence, the President Pro Tempore presides.

The current President of the Senate is Republican Timothy Bee of District 30 (Tucson/Green Valley) who recently formed an exploratory committee to run for Congress in Arizona's 8th District against Gabrielle Giffords. The Senate Majority Leader is Thayer Verschoor of District 22 (Gilbert,Arizona). The Senate Minority Leader is Marsha Arzberger of District 25 (Willcox, Arizona).

House of Representatives

The Arizona House of Representatives is the lower house of the Arizona State Legislature. Its members are elected to two-year terms with a term limit of four consecutive terms (eight years). Members of the Republican Party currently hold a majority in the House.

The House of Representatives is composed of 60 members representing 30 multimember constituencies, with two members per district. This district setup is similar to both the Washington and Idaho House of Representatives districting systems. Each member represents at least 86,000 citizens, with a total district population of at least 172,000.

Powers and responsibilities

Constitutional amendments

Main article: Amending state constitutions

Article 21 of the Arizona Constitution, in addition to defining the people's right of initiative, also defines the role the state legislature can play in amending the state's constitution:

• Either chamber of the Arizona legislature is allowed to propose an amendment as a legislatively-referred constitutional amendment. A majority of members of both chambers must approve it; if they do, the proposed amendment goes on a statewide ballot for a popular vote of the people where if a simple majority approves it, it becomes part of the constitution.

• The Arizona Secretary of State is required to publish a copy of the proposed amendment in a newspaper in each of Arizona's 15 counties for a period of at least ninety days before the election.
• Proposed amendments must be voted on separately.
• The state legislature is allowed to call a special election for the purposes of voting on proposed amendments. If no special election is called, amendments are voted on in the next statewide general election.

• A constitutional convention may be called by a statewide vote of the people. In the absence of such a vote, the state legislature is not allowed to call a convention. Any proposed changes to the constitution that are reported out of a constitutional convention must be submitted to a statewide popular vote where, if approved by a majority of those voting, become part of the constitution.

Joint Legislative Committees

• Adjudication Monitoring Committee, Arizona Legislature
• Adoption Promotion Committee, Arizona Legislature
• Audit Committee, Arizona Legislature
• Budget Committee, Arizona Legislature
• Capital Review Committee, Arizona Legislature
• Children and Family Services Committee, Arizona Legislature
• DES Block Grants Committee, Arizona Legislature
• Federal Mandates Committee, Arizona Legislature
• Global Position System Monitoring Study Committee, Arizona Legislature
• Healthy Forest Task Force Committee, Arizona Legislature
• Homeland Security Committee, Arizona Legislature
• Income Tax Credit Review Committee, Arizona Legislature
• K-12 School District Receivership Study Committee, Arizona Legislature
• K-12 School Funding and Best Practices Study Committee, Arizona Legislature
• Oversight Committee on Residual Contamination of Drug Properties Committee, Arizona Legislature

External links

• Official website of the Arizona legislature
• Wikipedia's article on the Arizona Legislature

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