Oregon Legislative Assembly

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Oregon Legislative Assembly
Type	Bicameral
Houses	Senate House of Representatives
President of the Senate	Peter Courtney, (D) since January 14, 2003
Speaker of the House	Jeff Merkley, (D) since January 8, 2007
Members	90
Political groups	Democratic Party Republican Party Independent
Last elections	January 8, 2007
Meeting place	Oregon State Capitol, Salem
Web site	http://www.leg.state.or.us/

The Oregon Legislative Assembly is the state legislature for the U.S. state of Oregon. The Legislative Assembly is a bicameral consisting of an upper and lower house: the Senate, whose 30 members are elected to serve four-year terms; and the House of Representatives, with 60 members elected to two-year terms. There are no term limits for either house in the Legislative Assembly.

Each Senate district is composed of exactly two House districts: Senate District 1 contains House Districts 1 and 2, SD 2 contains HD 3 and HD 4, and so on. (Maps of Senate districts can be found in the Oregon State Senate article.)

The legislature is a citizens' assembly (meaning that most legislators have other jobs.) Its regular sessions occur in odd-numbered years, beginning on the second Monday in January. Oregon is one of only 6 states that do not hold annual sessions. Until 1882, the legislature had met on the first Monday in December.^[1] The Oregon Constitution does not limit the length of regular sessions; the first 35 regular sessions (i.e. until 1929) lasted 50 days or less. Since 1949 no session has been shorter than 100 days. The longest session was the 72nd regular session, at 227 days, ending August 27, 2003. Most recent sessions have ended in June or July.

The governor can call the assembly into special sessions "in the event of an emergency." In 1982 a special session lasted 37 days, and the governor called the assembly into special session five times in 2002, for a total of 52 days. The 2006 special session was the shortest in Oregon's history: five pieces of legislation were passed in only six hours. The legislative body may also call itself into special session "in the event of an emergency," although it has never done so.

When the legislature is not in session, legislators serve on interim committees and task forces that study issues likely to be faced during the next regular session.

[edit] See also

• Oregon Territorial Legislature (pre-statehood legislature)
• Provisional Government of Oregon (pre-territorial governing body)
• Provisional Legislature of Oregon

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official website — A note: At the website the body is referred to as the "Oregon State Legislature", however it is constitutionally named the "Legislative Assembly".
• Legislative Assembly home page from the Oregon Blue Book website

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v • d • e Topics in Oregon legislation Crime and sentencing Capital punishment · Measure 11 (1994) (mandatory minimum sentencing) · Measure 40 (1996) etc. (victims' rights) Abigail Scott Duniway was instrumental in establishing women's right to vote in Oregon. Elections and voting Direct Legislation League · Vote-by-mail · Term limits Gay rights Same-sex marriage · Oregon Citizens Alliance · Measure 9 (1992) (homosexuality and education) Environment Bottle bill · Nuclear power Land use planning Measure 37 (2004) Health care Death with Dignity Act · Medical Marijuana Act · Oregon Health Plan Minimum wage Measures 36 (1996), 25 (2002) Taxation Tax revolt · Bill Sizemore · Measure 5 (1990) (landmark tax law) · Measures 47 (1996) and 50 (1997) (adjusted Measure 5) · Kicker (tax rebate) Miscellaneous Adoption rights Background, further reading Oregon legislature · Direct democracy in Oregon · Oregon government · Oregon history · Oregon ballot measures