Hubbry Logo
search
logo
1968458

Oregon Legislative Assembly

logo
Community Hub0 Subscribers
Write something...
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Be the first to start a discussion here.
See all
Oregon Legislative Assembly

The Oregon Legislative Assembly is the state legislature for the U.S. state of Oregon. The Legislative Assembly is bicameral, consisting of an upper and lower chamber: 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 chamber.

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.) Senate districts contain about 127,700 people, and are redrawn every ten years.

The legislature is termed as a "citizens' assembly" (meaning that most legislators have other jobs). Since 1885, its regular sessions of up to 160 days occurred in odd-numbered years, beginning on the second Monday in January. Effective 2012, the legislature moved into an annual session, with the even-numbered years having a "short session" of 35 days or fewer, beginning in February.

Bills may be introduced in either house, and must flow through a committee before being voted upon. Bills calling for increased revenue must be introduced in the House of Representatives.

A legislative resolution referred to voters in the November 2010 general election amended the state's constitution and changed the schedule of regular sessions from bi-annual to annual. Senate Joint Resolution 41 was voted on as state Ballot Measure 71, which passed statewide by a margin of more than 2 to 1.

With limited exceptions, the constitutional changes enacted through Measure 71 limit the length of legislative sessions beginning in odd-numbered years to 160 calendar days, and sessions beginning in even-numbered years to 35 calendar days. The changes took effect with the 2011 session.

The first 35 regular sessions (i.e. until 1929) lasted 50 days or less. Since 1949 no annual session was shorter than 100 days. The longest session was the 72nd regular session, at 227 days, ending August 27, 2003. More recent sessions ended in June or July.

The Governor of Oregon was the only person who could call the assembly into special sessions until 1976, when voters approved a constitutional amendment allowing the legislature to call itself into session. In either case, special sessions are permitted only "in the event of an emergency." Voters narrowly defeated a constitutional amendment in 1990 that would have established annual sessions.

See all
User Avatar
No comments yet.