Legislative Branch Part 3
Legislative Branch Each state has at least one representative Largest has 50 members Illinois has 18 members 2010, Illinois lost one representative due to results of the census Senators are not elected by district, they represent the entire state
Legislative Branch House of Rep. elected every two years Two year terms Elected at the general election held in their states in November of evennumbered years Take office Jan. 3 rd of odd-numbered years Representatives may be elected unlimited number of times
Salary and Qualifications Salary $174,000 and an expense allowance Must be at least 25 years or older U.S citizen for at least 7 years Inhabitant of the state he/she represents A vacancy is filled by a special election called by the governor of the state affected
House Officers Presiding officer of the House of Representatives is the speaker of the House Speaker is elected by the majority party Sam Rayburn former speaker (elected 10 times) Nancy Pelosi was the 1 st woman speaker of the House Speaker s salary is $223,500 plus an expense allowance House minority and House majority leader elected from the minority/ majority parties (salary $193,400)
House Duties House passes bills it hopes will become laws (Senate must pass the same bills before they are sent to the president for final approval) All bills for revenue must start in the House House has sole power of impeachment against any federal officer (Senate decides the case) Duty of selecting a president if no candidate has a majority in the Electoral College
Rules and Privileges Congress may expel/ punish its own members Makes the rules about its procedures Keeps records of all meetings Members are privileged from arrest while going/ coming from Congress/ attending a session Criminal offense, they may be arrested Member of Congress may not be sued for what he/she says in Congress Congress may make certain rules about proper behavior and speech of its members
Women in Government 2014 midterm elections marked a new milestone, the number of women in Congress will reach 100 (Midterm elections in the United States refer to general elections in the United States that are held two years after the quadrennial (four-year) elections for the President of the United States (i.e. near the midpoint of the four-year presidential term). Federal offices that are up for election during the midterms are members of the United States Congress, including all 435 seats in the United States House of Representatives, and the full terms for 33 or 34 of the 100 seats in the United States Senate.)
The House and Congress Number Congress gets a new number each time the House of Rep. starts a new term. Every two years we have a new Congress 2013 House was the 113 th Congress 2015 House will be called 114 th Congress 2017 House will be called 115 th Congress
Census Article 1 of the Constitution requires a census (count) of our country be taken every 10 years 2010 most recent census Next census will take place in 2020 Count managed by U.S Bureau of the Census (govt. agency)
Census Three most important purposes of the Census: 1. The census tell us about the makeup of our large American population and how the government and businesses might serve the population. (state uses this information to plan for schools, hospitals, roads and more) 2. It tells the federal govt. how federal money should be divided among the states and local areas 3. Govt. uses this information to outline voting districts in each state and decide how many state and U.S representatives each state receives. Adjustments to legislative districts based upon population changes is called reapportionment. Reapportionment leads to redistricting (redrawing of Congressional district boundaries)
Census 2010 census United States population grew to more than 308 million people 2000 reported 281 million people Impact of this growth resulted in changes the number of U.S representatives by state which also resulted in a change in electoral votes by state
Homework Pg 19 Senate/ House Comparison #1-18 Specifics about the Senate #1-10 True/ False #1-6 Specifics about the House #1-8 True/False #1-13 DUE Wednesday March 11 th