Minnesota State Legislature
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The Legislature is located at the Minnesota Capitol in Saint Paul.
In 2010, the Legislature was in session from February 4th to May 17th.[1][2]
History
Early on in the state's history, the legislature had direct control over the city charters that set the groundwork for governments in municipalities across the state. In the early period, many laws were written for specific cities. The practice was outlawed in 1881, though attempts were still made. For instance, the long-standing Minneapolis Park Board and the city's Library Board were both created by the legislature in the next several years. The Minnesota Constitution was amended in 1896 to give cities direct control over their own charters.
In 1913, Minnesota legislators began to be elected on nonpartisan ballots. Nonpartisanship was an historical accident that occurred when a bill to provide for no party elections of judges and city and county officers was amended to include the Legislature in the belief that it would kill the bill. Legislators ran and caucused as "Liberals" or "Conservatives" roughly equivalent in most years to Democratic or Farmer Labor (later Democratic-Farmer-Labor) and Republican, respectively. In 1974, House members again ran with party designation. In 1976, Senate members again ran with party designation.
In 1984 the Legislature ordered that all gender-specific pronouns be removed from the state laws. After two years of work, the rewritten laws were adopted. Only 301 of 20,000 pronouns were feminine. "His" was changed 10,000 times and "he" was changed 6,000 times.
The state constitution limits the number of days the legislature can meet in a biennium to a total of 120 days. On March 29th, 2010, the Minnesota Legislature established a new record for most legislative days in session during a decade. The new record of 582 days set by the 82nd-86th Legislatures supercedes the previous record of 581 legislative days set between 1971-80 in the 67-71st Legislatures. [3]
Sessions
In 2010, the Legislature was in session from February 4th to March 17th.
Article IV of the Minnesota Constitution establishes when the Legislature is to be in session. Section 12 of Article IV states that the Legislature is not to meet in regular session for more than 120 legislative days in each two-year period between legislative elections. Section 12 also does not allow the Legislature to meet in regular session after the first Monday following the third Saturday in May of any year. Within these limits, Section 12 allows the Legislature to decide its meeting dates by law.
However, MN Statute 3.011 establishes that on odd numbered years the legislature must convene on the first Monday in January, unless that lands on January 1, in which case the legislature must convene by the first Wednesday after the first Monday. The legislature is required to set its own date for even numbered years.
Section 12 of Article IV state states that the Governor of Minnesota can call special sessions of the Legislature on extraordinary occasions.
Legislators
Salaries
- See also: Comparison of state legislative salaries
As of 2010, members of the Minnesota legislature are paid $31,140.90/year. Senators receive $96/day per diem while representatives receive $77/day. The rates are set by the legislature/rules committee.[4]
The $31,140.90/year that Minnesota legislators are paid as of 2010 is the same as they were paid during legislative sessions in 2007. Per diem is also the same.[5]
When sworn in
Minnesota legislators assume office the first day of biennial (2-year) session: The legislature shall meet at the seat of government on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in January of each odd-numbered year.
Senate
The Minnesota Senate is the upper house in the Minnesota Legislature. There are 67 members. Each Senate district in the state includes an A and B House district (e.g. Senate district 32 contains House districts 32A and 32B). The Minnesota Constitution forbids a House district to divide a Senate district. Before the 1960s, Senators were apportioned by county, resulting in the underrepresentation of those in cities. From statehood through 1972 the Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota served as President of the Senate. In 1972 the voters approved a constitutional amendment that provided for the senate to elect the president from among its members effective January 1973.
Members are usually elected to four year terms except when districts are redrawn after the census, when they are elected to a two year term. Each member represents an average of 73,425 people.[6]
| Party | As of July 2010 | |
|---|---|---|
| Democratic Party | 46 |
| Republican Party | 21 |
| Total | 67 | |
House of Representatives
The Minnesota House of Representatives is the lower house in the Minnesota State Legislature. There are 134 members elected to two-year terms, twice the number of members in the Minnesota Senate. Each member represents an average of 36,713 people.[7] Each senate district is divided in half and given the suffix A or B (i.e. House district 32B is geographically within Senate district 32).
Following the 2004 election, a significant Republican majority of 81–53 was reduced to 68–66. In 2006, the tide turned even further, with the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL) gaining even more seats. The current make-up is 85 Democratic-Farmer-Labor members, 48 Republicans, and 1 Indepdendent-Republican,
External links
References
- ↑ Article on session convening
- ↑ Article on session adjourning
- ↑ Smart Politics, "Hard at Work? Minnesota Legislature Sets Record for Decade-Long Days in Session", April 4, 2010
- ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "2010 Legislator Compensation Data"
- ↑ Empire Center, "Legislative Salaries Per State as of 2007"
- ↑ Population represented by state legislators
- ↑ Population represented by state legislators
