Joint convention
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In U.S. politics, a joint convention is a meeting of both houses of a bicameral legislature in one place, generally for a specific purpose.
The State of the Union Address of the President of the United States is traditionally made before a "joint session" of the United States Congress; many states refer to an analogous event as a "joint convention". Obviously such assemblies are typically held in the chamber of the lower house as the larger body. In another analogous but not identical event, the monarch's speech upon the opening of the British Parliament is made before a joint sitting of the Commons and the Lords, but this event occurs in the Lords' chamber, both because it was formerly the larger body but also due to the constitutional convention that the monarch never enters the Commons chamber.
State constitutions may require joint conventions for other purposes; for example Tennessee's requires such to elect the Secretary of State, the State Treasurer, and the Comptroller of the Treasury.
