Gale Encyclopedia Of American Law 3Rd Edition Volume 6 P31 ppsx

Use of the veto power varies considerably, depending on the personality of the executive, the political allegiances of house members and indepen-dence of legislative leaders, local custo

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committee chair is in charge of the committee, and requests for a slot on the agenda of the committee must be directed to the chair and the chair’s staff An autocratic chair can decide which bills to consider without consulting com-mittee members, but much of the work of a committee is done by consensus

Competition for committee time is generally intense Usually bills that are heard are essential, popular, or generally beneficial Occasionally they are noncontroversial or not especially appealing to the chair A bill can even be scheduled merely to impede another, unfavor-able proposal If a spot cannot be attained on the agenda, a sponsor can seek consideration by

a subcommittee so that a rough proposal can be polished into a draft that will be more appealing

to the full committee

Legislative procedure is designed so that a bill is heard when a need for it is demonstrated

Unnecessary or poorly drafted bills are bottled

up in committees where no one takes time to consider them As a bill approaches passage, it becomes more difficult to amend it or kill it

Efforts made early in the history of the bill are generally more effective For example, fewer members have to be persuaded when a bill is still being considered by a committee, and fewer compromises have to be made

If a committee decides not to act on a bill and tables it, that bill is effectively stopped for that session of the legislature If the committee recommends that the bill be indefinitely postponed, the bill is formally killed and that recommendation is reported to the floor as a committee report to be confirmed by house vote.ADOPTIONof the committee report officially kills the bill If the committee recommends that the bill be passed, the bill is submitted to the floor with a favorable report, which is essential

to its passage If the bill must go through more than one committee, the first committee must then refer it to the second, and the first favorable decision gives it some momentum toward success

After a legislative body approves a favorable committee report, the bill is placed on the agenda for floor action, or action by the full body The agenda can be lengthy During its wait for floor action, the bill is subject to a motion to refer it again to the same committee

or any other committee for reconsideration

Making a successful motion to refer it again is a

classic method of defeating a bill without taking the difficult step of going on record against it on

a final vote

In most state legislatures, a bill is first considered on the floor in a committee of the whole, in which every member of the house sits

as a committee to debate the bill A committee

of the whole is derived historically from the desire of early English parliaments to act in semisecrecy, without recorded votes that the queen or king could monitor The idea has survived, and legislators continue to act without suffering the political consequences of an unpopular vote on the record

Procedurally, the consideration of a bill by a committee of the whole allows debate without limits on the duration of time or number of times a member can speak It also provides an interval between the first formal floor consider-ation and final passage of the bill, which permits more time for careful deliberation

The use of the committee of the whole has, however, declined More bills are submitted for deliberation by the legislative body and final vote while the subject is still fresh in the members’ minds A legislature can, therefore, eliminate use of the committee of the whole for some types of bills, for special circumstances, or altogether

Almost every legislature has a consent calen-dar for bills identified by committee reports

as noncontroversial Each such bill is read at the appointed time and briefly explained, and

a vote is taken Even if only a few votes dissent, the bill is returned to the regular calendar for examination The consent calendar permits a legislature to dispose of a host of minor bills expeditiously

As a general practice, the legislative leader-ship uses a special order to schedule debate, amendment, and passage of a bill at a single session A bill can be designated for special order

by a vote of two-thirds, or more commonly by selection by a priority-setting or policy tee Bills from appropriations and tax commit-tees might receive automatic special order privileges because of the necessity for their enactment

Some constitutions, including that of the United States, permit a vote on the final passage

of a bill to be oral and unrecorded unless a member calls for the ayes and nays Ordinarily,

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a member is entitled to do this on any motion,

including final passage

Immediately following a vote on final

passage, a motion to reconsider can be made

In effect this motion requests another vote on

the bill Although the number of successful

reconsiderations is small, the device can

facili-tate additional compromise to accommodate

competing interests on the issue Generally,

only one reconsideration of any vote is allowed,

so both sides endeavor to gather switch votes

after a close vote The victorious side attempts

to conduct the vote on the reconsideration

immediately, so that the losers do not have time

to marshal strength In the U.S Congress, a

motion to reconsider is made routinely after

every vote, to give the vote a finality by

precluding such a motion at a later time

In a BICAMERAL legislature, once a bill is

passed in one house, the chances for success in

the second house are good because the bill has

become a product of compromise There is no

concern about wasting time on a bill that can

never succeed, because the bill has already

cleared the other house Busy legislators prefer

not to repeat debates that have already been

extensive in the first house, and they respect the

value of cooperation between the two houses

A single bill must be passed by both houses

of a bicameral legislature and be signed by the

executive If the houses pass identical but

separate bills, one of the houses must approve

the official bill from the other house The

presiding officer and the chief clerical official

must verify passage of a bill by signing the

official or enrolled copy before the bill is ready

for the executive’s signature After the final

affirmative vote for passage in the first house,

the bill is put into an official engrossment, or

formal final copy, and transmitted to the other

house for consideration

Because each house must pass the exact same

bill, the form that is passed in the first house

can be substituted for a parallel or companion

bill in the second house If the second house

accepts the version that is adopted in the first

house, it returns the bill with a message to that

effect The first house then enrolls, transcribes,

and registers the bill on a roll of bills and

submits it to the executive for signature

If the second house amends the bill, it

returns the bill to the first house with a message

requesting agreement on the changes If the

amendments are acceptable, a motion is made

to concur and to place the bill on repassage If the motion passes, all the formalities of a final vote are repeated for the bill in its amended form If repassed the bill is enrolled in its amended form, signed by the legislative officers, and submitted to the executive for signature

When the two houses cannot agree on a final form for a bill, a complex procedure of compromise is attempted in a conference committee comprising usually three to five members from each house If the conferees can reach agreement, a conference committee report is filed in both houses that reflects the final changes Both houses must approve the report, without amendment, for the bill to

be passed

Once the bill is approved by both houses, it

is put into final form and transmitted to the executive If the executive signs the ENROLLED BILL, it is filed with theSECRETARY OF STATE The enrolled bill is then an act, a written law

Depending on the bill, the act may become effective upon signature of the executive or at some date specified in the bill

Executive Veto Power

An executive can refuse to sign a bill and can return it to the legislature with a veto message explaining why The legislature can attempt, first in the house where the bill originated, to override the veto by an extraordinary vote, usually a two-thirds majority

Governors in a majority of states also have the authority to select particular items from an appropriations bill and individually veto them

This authority, called the line-item veto, became popular because it allowed the executive to cancel specific appropriations items from bills that were hundreds of pages long Congress enacted the federal line-item veto authority in

1996 (2 U.S.C.A §§ 691, 692) to give the president the ability to impose cuts on the

FEDERAL BUDGET In Clinton v City of New York,

524 U.S.417, 118 S.Ct 2091, 141 L.Ed.2d 393 (1998), however, the Supreme Court ruled that the Line-Item Veto Act violated the Present-ment Clause under Article I of the Constitution

Under the Presentment Clause, after a bill has passed both Houses, but “before it becomes a Law,” it must either be approved (signed) or returned (vetoed) by the president By canceling only parts of the legislation, the president, in

LEGISLATION 289

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effect, amends the law The Court concluded that there was no constitutional authorization for the president to amend legislation at his discretion

The line-item veto, like a regular veto, can

be overridden at the state and federal levels by a two-thirds majority vote

If the executive does not sign a bill or return

it to the legislature with a message of disap-proval, the bill becomes law within a prescribed number of days At the state level, the governor turns the bill over to the office of the secretary

of state, and the fact that it became law without the governor’s signature is noted If the legislature adjourns before the governor’s time for signing expires, the bill does not become law without the signature The governor’s time for consideration has been curtailed, and the adjournment prevents the governor from returning the bill with a veto message In this case the governor can defeat the bill by refusing

to act, which produces a pocket veto

The veto power gives the executive a pivotal role in the legislative process, if the executive cares to assert his or her authority Use of the veto power varies considerably, depending on the personality of the executive, the political allegiances of house members and indepen-dence of legislative leaders, local customs, and the quality of the work produced by the legislature

FURTHER READINGS

Dye, Thomas R., and Susan A MacManus, with Kristine

Zooberg 2008 Politics in States and Communities 13th

ed Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Moncrief, Gary F., Peverill Squire, and Malcolm E Jewell.

2000 Who Runs for the Legislature? Upper Saddle River,

NJ: Prentice Hall.

Rosenthal, Alan 1997 The Decline of Representative

Democracy: Process, Participation, and Power in State

Legislatures Washington, D.C.: CQ Press.

LEGISLATIVE COURT

The term legislative court was coined in 1828 by

Chief Justice JOHN MARSHALL, who wrote the

opinion in American InsuranceCO v Canter, 26

U.S (1 Pet.) 516, 7 L Ed 242 (1828) In Canter,

the High Court ruled that the U.S Congress had

the power to establish a federal court in the

U.S territory of Florida Marshall held that

Congress had this power under Article I, Section 8,

Clause 9, of the U.S Constitution Marshall called

courts created under this provision “legislative

courts, created in virtue of the general right of

sovereignty, which exists in the government.”

On the federal level, the congressional

authority to create courts is found in two parts

of the U.S Constitution Under Article III,

Section 1, “The judicial Power of the United

States, shall be vested in one supreme Court,

and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may

from time to time ordain and establish.” Article

III, Section 1, also provides that the judges in

the Supreme Court and in the inferior courts

will not have their pay diminished and will hold

their office duringGOOD BEHAVIOR This section

establishes an independent judiciary that cannot

be influenced by threats of pay cuts or of

removal without cause Article III courts are called constitutional courts

Article I, Section 8, Clause 9, confers on Congress the power to “constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court.” This authority

is not encumbered by a clause requiring lifetime tenure and pay protection, so judges sitting on Article I courts do not have lifetime tenure, and Congress may reduce their salaries Article I courts are called legislative courts

According to the U.S Supreme Court, under Article I, the Framers of the Constitution intended to give Congress the authority to create

a special forum to hear matters concerning congressional powers, and to further the con-gressional powers over U.S territories under Article IV, Section 3 This authority allowed the government to create SPECIAL COURTS that can quickly resolve cases that concern the govern-ment This is considered a benefit to society at large because it facilitates the efficient function-ing of government

The distinction between legislative courts and constitutional courts lies in the degree to which those courts are controlled by the legislature Control of the judiciary by the legislature is forbidden under the separation-of-powers doctrine This doctrine states that the three branches of government—executive, leg-islative, and judicial—have separate-but-equal powers Legislative courts challenge this doc-trine because the pay rates and job security of their judges are controlled by a legislature

The U.S Supreme Court has identified three situations in which Congress may create legis-lative courts First, Congress may create legisla-tive courts in U.S territories This is because Congress has an interest in exercising the general powers of government in U.S territories that do not have their own government Such legislative courts exist in Guam, the U.S Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands

The local courts of theDISTRICT OF COLUMBIAare also considered legislative courts

Second, Congress may create legislative courts to hear military cases This is because Congress has traditionally maintained extraor-dinary control over military matters The U.S

Court of Military Appeals is such a legislative court

Third, Congress may create legislative courts

to hear cases involving public rights Generally,

LEGISLATIVE COURT 291

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these are rights that have historically been determined exclusively by the legislative or

EXECUTIVE BRANCH The government is always a party in such cases, and such cases generally involve matters of government administration

On the federal level, the only Article I court established under the public rights doctrine is the U.S TAX COURT This court hears cases involving federal taxes, brought by or against theINTERNAL REVENUE SERVICEor another federal agency

Some scholars maintain that the public rights category of legislative courts could pose

a threat to the independence of the federal judiciary Because Congress is involved in many facets of life, these analysts fear that Congress could create an unacceptable number of courts that are not sufficiently independent For the most part, that fear has not been realized

Congress has not created an inordinate number

of Article I courts, and the U.S Supreme Court has at times been vigilant in protecting the independence of Article III courts

In 1982 the U.S Supreme Court struck down a federal statute on the ground that it gave too much power to a legislative court (Northern Pipeline Construction Co v Marathon Pipe Line Co., 458 U.S 50, 102 S Ct 2858, 73 L Ed 2d 598) At issue in Northern Pipeline was the

BANKRUPTCY Reform Act of 1978 (11 U.S.C.A

§ 101 et seq.) This act created federal bank-ruptcy courts to hear bankbank-ruptcy cases Before the act bankruptcy cases were heard by U.S

district courts, which were independent Article III courts The new bankruptcy judges were given a tenure of 14 years, and their salaries were subject to adjustment The new

bankrupt-cy courts had the authority to decide contract and tort cases related to bankruptcy

According to the Supreme Court, the bankruptcy courts had been given the authority

to decide issues of private rights, which gene-rally concern the rights of one private party in relation to another private party Under the Supreme Court’s interpretation of Article I, Section 8, Clause 9, legislative courts cannot decide issues of private rights, so the bankruptcy courts were declared unconstitutional

Two years after the Supreme Court’s deci-sion in Northern Pipeline, Congress passed the Bankruptcy Amendments and Federal Judge-ship Act of 1984 (28 U.S.C.A § 1408 et seq.)

This act created a distinction between core and noncore bankruptcy proceedings Core

proceedings were matters directly related to bankruptcy; noncore proceedings involved an-cillary issues such as PERSONAL INJURY and

WRONGFUL DEATH claims Bankruptcy courts maintained jurisdiction in core proceedings In noncore proceedings bankruptcy courts were limited to proposing findings of fact that could

be thoroughly reviewed by a federal district court

FURTHER READINGS Braugh, Roger S., Jr 1995 “Personal Injury and Wrongful Death Claims in Bankruptcy: The Case for Abstention ” Baylor Law Review 47.

Cross, John T 1993 “Congressional Power to Extend Federal Jurisdiction to Disputes outside Article III: A Critical Analysis from the Perspective of Bankruptcy ” Northwestern Univ Law Review 87.

Fallon, Richard H., Jr 1988 “Of Legislative Courts, Administrative Agencies, and Article III.” Harvard Law Review 101.

LEGISLATIVE FACTS Matters of such general knowledge that they need not be proven to an administrative agency that is deciding a question of policy

General information and ideas affecting a blanket increase in property valuations are an illustration of legislative facts, as distinguished from individual grounds for the assessment of each parcel of property, which are adjudicative facts—information pertaining to the businesses and activities of parties to administrative proceedings

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY Legislative history consists of the discussions and documents, including committee reports, hearings, and floor debates, surrounding and preceding the enactment of a law

Legislative history includes earlier, similar bills introduced but not passed by the legisla-ture; legislative and executive reports and studies regarding the legislation; transcripts from legislative committee hearings and reports from the committees; and floor debates on the bill

The legislative history of a statute is a unique form of secondary legal authority It is not binding on courts in the way that PRIMARY AUTHORITY is Federal and state constitutions, statutes, CASE LAW (judicial decisions), and agency regulations form the body of primary authority that courts use to resolve disputes

292 LEGISLATIVE FACTS

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As SECONDARY AUTHORITY, legislative history is

used only to decipher the precise meaning behind

an ambiguous statute or statutory provision

For example, suppose Congress passes a

CRIMINAL LAW requiring that all persons under

age 18 who appear in public after sundown

must carry a federal identification card, which

must be produced for law enforcement officers

ON DEMAND If the statute contains no definition

of the phrase“in public,” a court faced with a

case brought under it may have to consult the

legislative history to determine precisely where

minors may venture without the identification

card

The value of legislative history in the law is

similar to that of academic treatises: Both are

extrinsic aids Lawyers may use favorable

language from legislative history and academic

treatises when they are presenting arguments to

a court, and courts may use it when they are

attempting to interpret a statute

In some countries, such as England, courts

may not consider secondary sources in making

any decision In these countries the potential

for judicial abuse of a secondary source such as

legislative history is considered an

unaccept-able risk to the legislative and judicial

processes The fear is that a judge could use one particularly unrepresentative statement from a lengthy legislative debate to incorrectly interpret a statute

North Haven Board of Education v Bell, 456 U.S 512, 102 S Ct 1912, 72 L Ed 2d 299 (1982) illustrates why legislative history is of secondary importance The question in Bell was whether a federal statute, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, 86 Stat 373,

20 U.S.C.A §§ 1681 et seq., barred gender-based discrimination in employment by educa-tional institutions In answering the question in the affirmative, the majority opinion relied heavily on the remarks of Senator Birch Bayh, the sponsor of the legislation The dissenting opinion relied heavily on remarks by the same senator in reaching a different conclusion

Not all legislative history in the United States has the same value Generally, committee reports have the most weight with the judiciary

Remarks of legislators during floor debates have the least value Committee hearings and reports from the president or governor are given varying weight, according to the court’s need for the information

Legislative history is never the only consid-eration in a case In all cases, courts examine the

Internet Sources for Federal

Legislative History

G

B

PO Access, http://www.gpoaccess.gov: From

103d Congress (1993) forward

GPO Federal Digital System (FDsys), http://www

gpo.gov/fdsys: From 103d Congress (1993) forward

Thomas (Library of Congress), http://thomas.loc

gov: From 101st Congress (1989) forward

Library of Congress, Bills and Resolutions, http://

memory.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/lwhbsb.html: From

1799 through 1873

GovTrack.us, http://www.govtrack.us: From

103rd Congress (1993) forward

Westlaw, http://www.westlaw.com

(subscrip-tion access only): Availability varies by database

Lexis, http://www.lexis.com (subscription access only): Availability varies by database

HeinOnline, http://www.heinonline.org (subscrip-tion access only): Availability varies by database LexisNexis Congressional, http://web.lexis-nexis

com/congcomp (subscription access only): Congres-sional Serial Set dates back to 1789; availability of other documents varies

FURTHER READINGS Barkan, Steven M., Roy M Mersky, and Donald J Dunn 2009.

Fundamentals of Legal Research, 9th ed New York:

Foundation Press.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY 293

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plain meaning of the words in the statute before looking at legislative history

The legislative history of federal statutes can

be found in the various publications of special legislative commissions and legislative committee hearings and in the Congressional Record The Congressional Record is published by Congress each day that Congress is in session It summarizes the proceedings of the previous day in both the Senate and the House of Representatives Members of Congress also may publish unspoken remarks and all or part of their floor speeches Collections of federal legislative history are maintained in law libraries and state government libraries Thomson/West (formerly West Publishing Company) issues a compilation

of the statutes passed in each session of Congress and their legislative history This compilation, called the United States Code Congressional and Administrative News, is available in state govern-ment libraries, in law libraries, and on West’s online computer service, WESTLAW

The Internet has become a reliable and useful source for locating legislative history for recent bills and laws The U.S Government Printing Office’s Website, known as GPO Access, provides the full text of congressional bills, House and Senate committee reports, committee prints, hearing transcripts, the Congressional Record, and several other docu-ments Availability of these documents depends

on the individual document, but most are available from the mid-1990s onward Another useful source is Thomas: Legislative Information

on the Internet, produced by the LIBRARY OF CONGRESS It provides access to recent bills, reports, debates, and other information

During the 2000s several subscription data-bases added historical legislative documents

For example, WESTLAW users may access the electronic versions of Statutes at Large dating back to 1789 Likewise, databases such as LexisNexis Congressional and HeinOnline have scanned thousands of pages of documents and made them available to users of those systems

Legislative materials on the state level are more difficult to acquire In most states committee reports and transcripts of floor debates are stored at the state government library

at the state capitol for a certain period of time, such as two years After that period of time, they may be shipped to a state archives office Some well-stocked law libraries may have history on

state legislation Each state generally provides the text of recent legislation through their Websites, and a growing number provide access to legislative history However, the amount of information available varies widely from state

to state Moreover, the breadth of state legislative history is small compared with the information available about federal legislation

The availability of the history of local laws varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction Some large cities preserve committee reports and legislative comments on local laws; most small towns leave no trace of the intent behind their laws

Methods for storing state and local legisla-tive history vary widely To find the legislalegisla-tive history of a particular state or local statute, people can consult the reference librarian at the appropriate state government library or at a law library

FURTHER READINGS Cross, Frank B 2009 The Theory and Practice of Statutory Interpretation Stanford, Calf.: Stanford Law Books Kunz, Christina L., et al 2000 The Process of Legal Research 5th ed Gaithersburg, Md.: Aspen Law & Business CROSS REFERENCES

Canons of Construction; Plain-Meaning Rule; Statute

LEGISLATURE

A legislature is a representative assembly of persons that makes statutory laws for a munici-pality, state, or nation

A legislature is the embodiment of the doctrine of popular sovereignty, which recog-nizes that the people are the source of all political power Citizens choose by popular vote the legislators, or representatives, whom they want to serve them The representatives are expected to be sensitive to the needs of their constituents and to represent their constituents’ interests in the legislature

Structure

The federal legislature, the U.S Congress, is

BICAMERALin structure, meaning that it consists of two chambers, in this case the House of Representatives and the Senate Each state has a legislature, and all state legislatures have two houses, except the Nebraska Legislature, which has only one State legislative bodies have various official designations, including state legislature, general assembly, general court, and legislative

294 LEGISLATURE

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assembly Local legislatures are generally

struc-tured differently from the state and national

model They may be called city councils or

boards of aldermen and alderwomen

The traditional bicameral structure of state

and national legislatures developed out of early

U.S societal distinctions between the public in

general and the propertied, wealthy class This

structure provided for a lower house and an

upper house The lower-house legislators were

elected by the general voting public, and it

was believed that their votes were likely to

be radical The upper-house legislators were

elected by voters who owned more property,

and it was believed that they would be more

mindful of concerns to property owners

Traditional bicameralism is still supported

for various reasons It is believed that because

both houses must separately pass a bill in order

for the bill to become law, bicameral legislatures

are less likely to pass hasty, ill-considered laws or

to be subject to public passions Proponents of

unicameralism (a one-chamber system) cite

lower costs, simpler procedures, better

execu-tive-legislative relationships, and legislative

devel-opments that are easier for the public to follow

Federal and state legislatures range in size

from the U.S Congress, consisting of 535

members, to the Delaware Legislature, with

fewer than 100 members Legislatures organize

themselves into a number of committees and

subcommittees, which undertake in-depth

study of issues within their area of expertise

and focus Each committee addresses the issues

presented to it, recommends action, and

changes bills before they are passed on for

consideration by the full house After members

of one house pass a bill, it must go to the other

house for approval After both houses have

approved a bill, it is presented to the president

or governor to be signed into law or vetoed

U.S state legislatures and the U.S Congress

organize their members according to political

party affiliations The political party that

represents the majority of a particular house

of the legislature is able to organize and control

the actions of that house The lower house of

the legislature chooses a member of the

dominant political party to serve as Speaker

The upper house chooses a member of the

dominant political party to serve as president

Generally, the members of the different political

parties meet separately to determine what

actions their party will take in the upcoming session of the legislature Though there are exceptions, legislators tend to vote along party lines Political parties are less able to command party loyalty from individual legislators in state legislatures than in the U.S Congress

The Speaker of the lower house is the presiding officer of that house and is generally the most powerful member of the house The full membership of the house chooses the Speaker The duties of the Speaker include appointing members of the standing commit-tees in the lower house The Speaker typically considers party membership, seniority, and the opinions of other party members in making these appointments Unless there are house rules to the contrary, the Speaker may also refer bills to committee It is the role of the Speaker

to interpret and apply the rules of procedure that govern the actions of the house

In accordance with the U.S Constitution, the vicePRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATESofficially presides over the U.S Senate Most state constitutions have similar rules, charging the lieutenant governor with the duty of presiding over the state’s upper legislative house In states that do not have a lieutenant governor or do not give that individual power to preside over the upper house of the state legislature, a member

of the upper house is selected by other members

to serve as president of the house The duties of the president of the upper house are similar to those of the Speaker of the lower house, although they generally do not include appoint-ing members to committees Some states that

do permit the president of the upper house to

The Texas Legislature gathers in January

2009 for the start of its 81st session The relationship of state legislatures to state judicial and executive branches is very similar to the relationships among the three federal branches of government.

ª BOB DAEMMRICH/ CORBIS.

LEGISLATURE 295

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appoint committee members diminish that power by making the appointments subject to approval by the whole membership of the house In a state in which the lieutenant governor serves as president of the upper house,

if there is a tie on a vote in the upper house, the president of the house must cast the deciding vote In the U.S Senate and in states in which the lieutenant governor presides over the upper house, the house selects one member to serve as presidentPRO TEM(for the time being) when the president of the house is absent

Legislative sessions are the periods of time in which a legislature conducts its business Each legislative session of the U.S Congress is called a Congress, lasts for two years, and is numbered consecutively For example, the 110th Congress began in January of 2007 and ended in December of 2008 The 111th Congress began

in January of 2009 Each Congress begins in the year following a biennial election of members and is divided into two one-year sessions Most states have annual sessions, each lasting perhaps only a few months The governor of a state may call a special session of the state legislature, outside its normal meeting times, to address issues that require immediate attention

Qualifications, Terms, and Compensation of Legislators

Members of the U.S Congress are chosen to represent a particular state Each state may elect two U.S senators The number of U.S

representatives a state may elect is determined

by the population of the state, with a minimum

of one

Every state uses a district system to choose its state legislators Under this system the state is divided into districts, often along county lines, with one or more legislators representing each district

The applicable national or state constitution sets the qualifications for individuals who are eligible to serve as legislators These rules are generally not restrictive, including only age, citizenship, and residency requirements U.S

citizenship is a universal requirement, as is a certain period of state residency A legislator must live in the state or district from which he or she is elected Every state requires that members of the lower house of the state legislature be at least 21 years old The U.S Constitution requires mem-bers of the House of Representatives to be at least

25 years old, and members of the Senate to be at least 30 years old

Congressional terms are six years for senators and two years for representatives Terms for state legislators vary, but generally are either two or four years Over the years there has been a push toward setting term limits in the U.S Congress—that is, restricting the number of terms a U.S legislator may serve State legislatures have a higher rate of turnover and, therefore, do not generally face this issue Legislators are compensated for their ser-vices at various rates, and many state legislators are considered underpaid Legislators also receive reimbursement for their expenses, including mileage to and from their home district and the location of the legislature Legislators usually have the authority, by virtue

of powers given to the legislature, to raise their own salaries But they are often reluctant to do

so for fear of a negative public reaction

Relationship with Executive and Judicial Branches

The purpose of a legislature is to make, alter, amend, and repeal laws Legislatures are empow-ered to enact laws by virtue of legislative jurisdiction, which is the authority vested in them by the national or state constitution The enumerated powers of Congress are provided for

in Article I of the U.S Constitution In addition

to their lawmaking duties, members of Congress also have the power to appropriate funds for government functions, institute taxes, regulate commerce, declare war, raise and support a military, approve presidential appointments, and impeach executive officers Following the na-tional model, each state legislature derives its powers from the state constitution

In addition to the legislative branch,

nation-al and state governments include executive and judicial branches The head of the EXECUTIVE BRANCH at the national level is the president of the United States and at the state level is the governor The executive branch enforces the laws enacted by the legislature It can do so in a number of ways, including policing the streets and prosecuting those who violate laws The judicial branch interprets the laws passed

by the legislature The courts first look to the exact language of a particular law Sometimes the meaning of the statutory language is not clear to the court, or the application of the language to

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the particular case before the court is doubtful In

such a circumstance, the court tries to determine

what the legislature intended when it enacted the

statute Legislative intent can often be determined

by looking at the history of the particular law and

reading committee notes or congressional

debates regarding the law The judicial branch

has developed many maxims of statutory

inter-pretation over many years to help the courts carry

out legislative intent when interpreting laws

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