Legislative Branch Carley Yawn

Legislative Branch of Georgia General Assembly Makes laws and passes budgets Bicameral ( 2 houses) House of Representatives ( Lower) Senate ( Upper)

Special Tasks of the General Assembly Draw legislative district lines that create the state house and state senate district maps Establishes the district lines for Georgia's delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives

Qualifications for Senate Mandatory to be at least 25 years old Must have lived legally in representative district for at least 1 year Must be a legal resident of the state for at least 2 years

Qualifications for House of Representatives Mandatory to be 21 years old Must have lived legally in representative district for at least 1 year Must be a legal resident of the state for at least 2 years

Qualifications for Senate Mandatory to be 25 years old Must have lived legally in representative district for at least 1 year Must be a legal resident of the state for at least 2 years

Term Senators: 2 year unlimited term House of Representatives: 2 year unlimited term

Election Held on years of even numbers

Duties of General Assembly Regular sessions held annually on the 2 nd Monday of January Sessions lasts for 2 months Meet in special sessions and committees while serving their 2 year terms Have the power to ratify an amendment with a two-thirds vote

House of Representatives Leadership Speaker of the House (most important leader) – Organizes discussion topics – Decides leaders for committees and their assignments Floor leader – Encourages governor’s cause Minority Party (party with fewest members) – Minority leader: leader of minority party Majority Party (party with most members) – Controls the House – 2 leaders from majority party **Leaders try to voice the ideas and opinions of their party**

Senate Leadership President pro tempore – Leader of majority party President of the Senate – Leader of Senate – Lt. Gov.

Committee System Most work occurs here Senate: 26 committees **each senator is a member of 3 committees** House of Representatives: 36 committees **most members s serve on 2 or 3 committees** **Committee leaders usually represent the majority party**

Different Types of Committees Conference – Develops compromise bill that can be supported by both houses Joint – Deal with national concern issues Interim – Temporary – Focus attention on current issues Standing – Permanent – Monitor federal agencies and departments’ work

How a Bill Comes To Law Steps include the following: – Drafting ( legislators write bill ) – Introduction ( Senator or Representative presents bill to their house ) – Committee Consideration ( Studied ) **Changes and improvements are made** – Floor Consideration ( Proposed to each house for vote) – Governor consideration ( signed into effect or vetoed )

Sources government-politics/georgia-general-assembly government-politics/georgia-general-assembly