Massachusetts General Court

Massachusetts General Court
Massachusetts General Court
193rd General Court of Massachusetts
	Seal of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Type
Type	Bicameral
Houses	Senate; House of Representatives
Term limits	None
History
Founded	Original charter; March 18, 1629 ; Modern form; October 25, 1780
Preceded by	Massachusetts Provincial Congress (1774–1780)
New session started	January 4, 2023
Leadership
President of the Senate	Karen E. Spilka (D) ; since July 26, 2018
Senate president pro tempore	William Brownsberger (D) ; since March 20, 2019
Senate Majority Leader	Cynthia Stone Creem (D) ; since February 28, 2018
Senate Minority Leader	Bruce E. Tarr (R) ; since January 5, 2011
Speaker of the House	Ronald Mariano (D) ; since December 30, 2020
House speaker pro tempore	Kate Hogan (D) ; since February 11, 2021
House Majority Leader	Michael J. Moran (D) ; since February 10, 2023
House Minority Leader	Bradley H. Jones Jr. (R) ; since November 21, 2002
Structure
Seats	200 voting members 40 senators; 160 representatives; ;
Senate political groups	Majority (36) Democratic (36); Minority (4) Republican (4);
House of Representatives political groups	Majority (135) Democratic (134); Independent (1); Minority (24) Republican (24); Vacant (1) Vacant (1);
Elections
Last Senate election	November 8, 2022
Last House of Representatives election	November 8, 2022
Next Senate election	November 5, 2024
Next House of Representatives election	November 5, 2024
Meeting place
	Massachusetts State House; Boston
Website
	malegislature.gov
Constitution
	Constitution of Massachusetts
Rules
	Joint Rules of the Massachusetts Senate and House of Representatives

The Massachusetts General Court, formally the General Court of Massachusetts,^[1] is the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts located in the state capital of Boston. The name "General Court" is a holdover from the earliest days of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, when the colonial assembly, in addition to making laws, sat as a judicial court of appeals. Before the adoption of the state constitution in 1780, it was called the Great and General Court, but the official title was shortened by John Adams, author of the state constitution. It is a bicameral body. The upper house is the Massachusetts Senate which is composed of 40 members. The lower body, the Massachusetts House of Representatives, has 160 members; until 1978, the state house had 240 members.^[2] It meets in the Massachusetts State House on Beacon Hill in Boston.

Since 1959, Democrats have controlled both houses of the Massachusetts General Court, often by large majorities.^[3]^[4] The Democrats enjoyed veto-proof supermajorities in both chambers for part of the 1990s (i.e., enough votes to override vetoes by a governor)^[3] and also currently hold supermajorities in both chambers.^[5]

State senators and representatives both serve two-year terms.^[6] There are no term limits; a term limit was enacted by initiative in Massachusetts in 1994 but in 1997 was struck down by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, which ruled that it was an unconstitutional attempt to provide additional qualifications for office by statute, rather than constitutional amendment.^[7]^[8]

The legislature is a full-time legislature, although not to the extent of neighboring New York or some other states.^[9]

^ Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. See Chapter I, Section I, Art.I
^ John A. Hird, Power, Knowledge, and Politics: Policy Analysis in the States (Georgetown University Press, 2005), p. 93.
^ ^a ^b Robert B. Hackey, Rethinking Health Care Policy: The New Politics of State Regulation (Georgetown University Press, 1998), p. 123.
^ John Hudak, Presidential Pork: White House Influence over the Distribution of Federal Grants (Brookings Institution Press, 2014), p. 202 ("Democrats frequently control a supermajority of both houses of the state legislature in Massachusetts").
^ Jonathan Cohn, Democratic supermajority not so super: Lawmakers from same party but not on same platform, Commonweal (May 27, 2017).
^ Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Article LXXXII.
^ Jennie Drage Bowser & Gary Moncrief, "Term Limits in State Legislatures" in Institutional Change in American Politics: The Case of Term Limits (eds. Karl T. Kurtz, Bruce E. Cain & Richard G. Niemi) (University of Michigan Press, 2007), p. 11.
^ Rimer, Sarah (July 12, 1997). "Top Massachusetts Court Overturns Term Limits". The New York Times. Archived from the original on August 29, 2022. Retrieved July 11, 2023.
^ Full- and Part-Time Legislatures, National Conference of State Legislatures (June 14, 2017).

[1] Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. See Chapter I, Section I, Art.I

[2] John A. Hird, Power, Knowledge, and Politics: Policy Analysis in the States (Georgetown University Press, 2005), p. 93.

[Hackey-3] Robert B. Hackey, Rethinking Health Care Policy: The New Politics of State Regulation (Georgetown University Press, 1998), p. 123.

[4] John Hudak, Presidential Pork: White House Influence over the Distribution of Federal Grants (Brookings Institution Press, 2014), p. 202 ("Democrats frequently control a supermajority of both houses of the state legislature in Massachusetts").

[5] Jonathan Cohn, Democratic supermajority not so super: Lawmakers from same party but not on same platform, Commonweal (May 27, 2017).

[6] Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Article LXXXII.

[7] Jennie Drage Bowser & Gary Moncrief, "Term Limits in State Legislatures" in Institutional Change in American Politics: The Case of Term Limits (eds. Karl T. Kurtz, Bruce E. Cain & Richard G. Niemi) (University of Michigan Press, 2007), p. 11.

[8] Rimer, Sarah (July 12, 1997). "Top Massachusetts Court Overturns Term Limits". The New York Times. Archived from the original on August 29, 2022. Retrieved July 11, 2023.

[9] Full- and Part-Time Legislatures, National Conference of State Legislatures (June 14, 2017).

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