State legislature (United States)

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these messages) This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please help improve this article by introducing citations to additional sources. Find sources: "State legislature" United States – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (June 2018) This article relies excessively on references to primary sources. Please improve this article by adding secondary or tertiary sources. Find sources: "State legislature" United States – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (June 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this message) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

This article is part of a series on the
Politics of the United States
Federal government Constitution of the United States Laws Treaties
Legislature United States Congress House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson (R) Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R) Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D) Congressional districts (list) Non-voting members Senate President Kamala Harris (D) President Pro Tempore Patty Murray (D) Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D) Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R)
Executive President of the United States Joe Biden (D) Vice President of the United States Kamala Harris (D) Cabinet Federal agencies Executive Office
Judiciary Supreme Court of the United States Chief Justice John Roberts Thomas Alito Sotomayor Kagan Gorsuch Kavanaugh Barrett Jackson Inferior Courts of the United States Courts of appeals District courts (list) Court of International Trade Alien Terrorist Removal Court Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review Other tribunals
Elections National Elections Presidential elections Midterm elections Off-year elections Primary elections Presidential primary Elections by State and Territory Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming American Samoa Guam Northern Mariana Islands Puerto Rico U.S. Virgin Islands Elections in the District of Columbia (List of Elections)
Political parties Democratic Republican Third parties Libertarian Green List of political parties
Political ideologies Conservatism history Black Neo- Paleo- Social Traditionalist Liberalism Modern Progressivism Abolitionism Constitutionalism Environmentalism Feminism Libertarianism Monarchism Populism Protectionism Republicanism Socialism Anarchism Individualist anarchism Political culture Political polarization
Federalism State and Territorial government Governors Legislatures (list) Courts Local government District of Columbia Government District Council Mayor Superior Court
Foreign relations Department of State Secretary of State: Antony Blinken Diplomatic missions of / in the United States Nationality law Passports Visa requirements Visa policy United States and the United Nations United Nations Security Council P5 NATO G20 G7 Russia China India Japan Canada United Kingdom European Union Latin America Arab League
United States portal Politics portal
v t e

In the United States, the state legislature is the legislative branch in each of the 50 U.S. states.

A legislature generally performs state duties for a state in the same way that the United States Congress performs national duties at the national level. Generally, the same system of checks and balances that exists at the federal level also exists between the state legislature, the state executive officer (governor) and the state judiciary. A state is permitted to use a parliamentary system, or any other system of government, if it so desired.

In 27 states, the legislature is called the legislature or the state legislature, while in 19 states the legislature is called the general assembly. In Massachusetts and New Hampshire, the legislature is called the general court, while North Dakota and Oregon designate the legislature the legislative assembly.