Montana State Legislature

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Montana State Legislature
Type	Bicameral
Houses	Senate House of Representatives
President of the Senate	Mike Cooney, (D) since January 3, 2007
Speaker of the House	Scott Sales, (R) since January 3, 2007
Members	150
Political groups	Democratic Party Republican Party Constitution Party of Montana
Last elections	January 3, 2007
Meeting place	Montana State Capitol
Web site	http://leg.mt.gov/css/default.asp

The Montana State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Montana. It is composed of the 100-member Montana House of Representatives and the 50-member Montana Senate.

The Montana Constitution dictates that the legislature meet only on odd numbered years, and for 90 day periods. However, the Legislature did meet annually briefly from 1973 to 1975. The primary work of the legislature at these times is to pass a bi-annual budget which must then be approved by the Governor.

Since the beginning of statehood for Montana, the Legislature has been split along party lines fairly consistently and evenly. Since adoption of the new state constitution in 1972, which mandated single-member legislative districts for the first time in the state's history, the Montana Senate has been controlled by Democrats in 10 sessions, and Republicans in 10 sessions. During the same period of time, the Montana House has been controlled by Democrats in 11 sessions and Republicans in 9 sessions. There have been several ties between the parties in each chamber. However, in such an instance, control goes to the party of the sitting Governor according to Montana law.

The Montana State Legislature meets in the state capital of Helena. Democrats currently hold a one-seat majority in Senate, while the Republicans hold a one-seat majority in the House.

[edit] See also

• Montana State Capitol
• Montana House of Representatives
• Montana Senate
• Montana State Government

[edit] External links

• Official Montana State Legislature Website
• Party Control in the Montana Legislature
• Montana's split-party control statute

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