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2019 Pennsylvania legislative session

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Pennsylvania General Assembly

Seal of Pennsylvania.svg.png
General information
Type:   State legislature
Term limits:   None
Session start:   January 1, 2019
Session end:   December 18, 2019
Website:   Official Legislature Page
Leadership
Senate President:   John Fetterman (D)
House Speaker:  Mike Turzai (R)
Majority Leader:   Senate: Jake Corman (R)
House: Bryan Cutler (R)
Minority Leader:   Senate: Jay Costa (D)
House: Frank Dermody (D)
Structure
Members:  50 (Senate), 203 (House)
Length of term:   4 years (Senate), 2 years (House)
Authority:   Art II, Sec 3, Pennsylvania Constitution
Salary:   $87,180/year + per diem
Elections
Last election:  November 6, 2018
Senate
House
Next election:  November 3, 2020
Senate
House
Redistricting:  Pennsylvania Legislative Reapportionment Commission has control

Pennsylvania convened its legislative session on January 1, 2019, and legislators remained in session throughout the year. As of July 2019, the final day the legislature had scheduled to meet was December 18, 2019.[1][2] Republicans had a majority this legislative session, just as they did in 2018. Following the 2018 election, Republicans had a 29-21 majority in the Senate and a 110-93 majority in the House. Democrats controlled the governorship, meaing Pennsylvania was under divided government.

At the beginning of the 2019 legislative session:
  • Republicans held a majority in the Pennsylvania state House and state Senate.
  • Pennsylvania was one of 14 states under divided government.
  • Pennsylvania's governor was Democrat Tom Wolf.

    • Black.png Click the links to read more about the 2020 state Senate and state House elections.
    Black.png Click the links to read more about the 2018 state Senate and state House elections.

    Partisan control in 2019

    See also: State government trifectas

    Pennsylvania was one of 14 states under divided government at the start of 2019 legislative sessions, since neither the Democratic nor the Republican Party had a state government trifecta. A state government trifecta occurs when one political party holds the governor's office, a majority in the state Senate, and a majority in the state House. For more information about state government trifectas, click here.

    Pennsylvania was also one of 28 state legislatures where neither party had a veto-proof supermajority in both chambers. Veto overrides occur when a legislature votes to reverse a veto issued by an executive such as a governor or the president. If one party has a majority in a state legislature that is large enough to override a gubernatorial veto without any votes from members of the minority party, it is called a veto-proof majority or, sometimes, a supermajority. To read more about veto-proof supermajorities in state legislatures, click here.

    The following tables show the partisan breakdown of the Pennsylvania General Assembly in the 2019 legislative session.

    Pennsylvania State Senate

    Party As of January 2019
         Democratic Party 21
         Republican Party 29
    Total 50

    Between 1992 and 2018, partisan control of the Pennsylvania State Senate shifted in favor of the Republican Party. The 1992 elections resulted in a split 25-25 balance. Republicans gained a majority in 1994 and held that majority through the 2018 elections. The table below shows the partisan history of the Pennsylvania State Senate following every general election from 1992 to 2018. All data from 2006 or earlier comes from Michael Dubin's Party Affiliations in the State Legislatures (McFarland Press, 2007). Data after 2006 was compiled by Ballotpedia staff.

    Pennsylvania State Senate election results: 1992-2018

    Year '92 '94 '96 '98 '00 '02 '04 '06 '08 '10 '12 '14 '16 '18
    Democrats 25 21 20 20 20 21 20 21 20 20 23 20 16 21
    Republicans 25 29 30 30 30 29 30 29 29 30 27 30 34 29

    Between 1992 and 2018, the elections where Republicans gained the most state Senate seats occurred in 1994 and 2016. Republicans gained four seats in each of those elections. The 1994 elections moved the chamber from a split balance to a Republican majority. Democrats' largest gains occurred in the 2018 elections, when they picked up five seats and reduced the Republican majority to 29-21.

    Between 2010 and 2016, Republicans increased their majority from a 10-seat advantage after 2010 to an 18-seat advantage after 2016. Republicans were reduced to an 8-seat advantage after the 2018 election.

    Pennsylvania House of Representatives

    Party As of January 2019
         Democratic Party 93
         Republican Party 110
    Total 203

    Between 1992 and 2018, partisan control of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives fluctuated between the Democratic and Republican parties. After the 1992 elections, Democrats held a 105-98 majority. Since that year, control of the chamber changed four times. House Republicans maintained a 110-93 majority after the 2018 elections. The table below shows the partisan history of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives following every general election from 1992 to 2018. All data from 2006 or earlier comes from Michael Dubin's Party Affiliations in the State Legislatures (McFarland Press, 2007). Data after 2006 was compiled by Ballotpedia staff.

    Pennsylvania House of Representatives election results: 1992-2018

    Year '92 '94 '96 '98 '00 '02 '04 '06 '08 '10 '12 '14 '16 '18
    Democrats 105 101 99 100 99 94 93 102 104 91 93 84 82 93
    Republicans 98 102 104 103 104 109 110 101 99 112 110 119 121 110

    Between 1992 and 2018, majority control of the state House changed four times. Republicans picked up four seats and gained control of the chamber in 1994. That Republican majority held until the 2006 elections, when Democrats gained nine seats. The chamber returned to a Republican majority in 2010 after Republicans picked up 13 seats.

    Between 2010 and 2016, Republicans expanded their majorities from 112-91 in 2010 to 121-82 in 2016 but lost those gains slightly at 110-93 in 2018. Democrats reduced the Republican majority by two seats in 2012. Republicans gained nine seats and two seats in 2014 and 2016 respectively. In the 2018 elections, Democrats picked up 11 seats but did not win control of the chamber.


    Leadership in 2019

    Pennsylvania State Senate

    Pennsylvania House of Representatives

    Regular session

    The following widget shows up to 25 pieces of legislation in the 2019 legislative session that most recently passed both chambers of the legislature, were signed by the governor, or were approved by the legislature in a veto override. If no bills are displayed below, no legislation met these criteria in 2019. This information is provided by BillTrack50.

    Standing legislative committees

    See also: Standing committee and List of committees in Pennsylvania state government


    A standing committee of a state legislature is a committee that exists on a more-or-less permanent basis, from legislative session to session, that considers and refines legislative bills that fall under the committee's subject matter.

    At the beginning of the 2019 legislative session, there were 49 standing committees in Pennsylvania's state government, including 22 state Senate committees and 27 state House committees.

    Senate committees


    House committees


    Legislatively referred constitutional amendments

    In every state but Delaware, voter approval is required to enact a constitutional amendment. In each state, the legislature has a process for referring constitutional amendments before voters. In 18 states, initiated constitutional amendments can be put on the ballot through a signature petition drive. There are also many other types of statewide measures.

    The methods by which the Pennsylvania Constitution can be amended:

    See also: Article XI of the Pennsylvania Constitution and Laws governing ballot measures in Pennsylvania

    The Pennsylvania Constitution provides for one mechanism for amending the state's constitution—a legislative process. However, the state constitution does not mention a constitutional convention process, and the legislature has called constitutional conventions in the past. Pennsylvania requires a simple majority vote (50% plus 1) for voters to approve constitutional amendments.

    Initiative

    See also: Initiated constitutional amendment

    In Pennsylvania, citizens do not have the power to initiate ballot measures at the state level.

    Legislature

    See also: Legislatively referred constitutional amendment

    According to Article XI, the state Legislature can refer constitutional amendments to the ballot for voters to decide. A simple majority vote is required during two successive legislative sessions for the Pennsylvania State Legislature to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot. That amounts to a minimum of 102 votes in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and 26 votes in the Pennsylvania State Senate, assuming no vacancies. Amendments do not require the governor's signature to be referred to the ballot.

    When the Legislature finds that a "major emergency threatens or is about to threaten the Commonwealth," a constitutional amendment can be referred to the ballot with a two-thirds vote during one legislative session.


    Historical context: Between 1996 and 2018, the following occurred:

    • A total of 16 measures appeared on statewide ballots.
    • An average of one measure appeared on odd-year ballots.
    • The number of measures appearing on statewide ballots ranged from zero to three.
    • Voters approved 100 percent (16 of 16) of statewide ballot measures.
    Legislatively referred constitutional amendments, 1996-2018
    Total number Approved Percent approved Defeated Percent defeated Odd-year average Odd-year median Odd-year minimum Odd-year maximum
    16 16 100.0% 0 0.00% 0.7 0.0 0 3


    Historical partisan control

    The table below depicts the historical trifecta status of Pennsylvania.

    Pennsylvania Party Control: 1992-2025
    One year of a Democratic trifecta  •  Twelve years of Republican trifectas
    Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

    Year 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
    Governor D D D R R R R R R R R D D D D D D D D R R R R D D D D D D D D D D D
    Senate R D R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R
    House D D D R R R R R R R R R R R R D D D D R R R R R R R R R R R R D D _

    See also

    Elections Pennsylvania State Government State Legislatures State Politics
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    Pennsylvania State Flag-Close Up.jpg
    State Houses-Tile image.png
    State Courts-Tile image.png

    External links

    Footnotes

    1. ↑ Pennsylvania House of Representatives, "House Session Days," accessed July 17, 2019
    2. ↑ Pennsylvania State Senate, "Senate Session Days," accessed July 17, 2019
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