1. Legislative Branch Federal and State
Chapter 14, section 2 and Chapter 15 section 2.

2. Federal Government= Congress
House of Representatives
Number is based on the state’s population
Currently 435 representatives
2 year terms
“Speaker of the House” which is voted on by the majority party, is the presiding officer
Senate
2 from each state
100 total
6 year terms
VP is presiding officer, votes if there is a tie

3. Powers of Congress (see page 512) Regulating Commerce
Levying and collection taxes
Creating laws
Issuing Money
Issuing copyrights and Patents
Regulation of weights and measures (i.e. miles, oz., gallons)
Declaring War

4. Georgia’s Legislative Branch
General Assembly: Georgia’s legislature
1789: became bi-cameral (two house)
House of Representatives: only HR can write appropriations (spending bills)
Senate: only the Senate can confirm appointments the governor makes to executive offices

5. Important Terms Expressed powers -powers stated in the Constitution
Implied powers – are powers needed to carryout the expressed powers
Elastic clause – the clause that stretches Congress’ powers, Article I, section 8 of our Constitution
Bill – proposed legislation
Veto – refusal to sign

6. Georgia General Assembly (meets for 40 days)
House
180 members of the house
Voted by the people for a 2 year term
No limit on the number of terms
Senate
56 members
Voted by the people for a 2 year term

7. Qualifications to run for Georgia’s General Assembly
Senate
At least 25 yrs old
Citizens of the US
Citizens of GA for at least 2 yrs
Legal resident of their district for 1 yr
House
At least 21 yrs old
Citizen of US
Citizen of GA for at least 2 yrs
Legal resident of their district for 1 yr

8. Legislative Sessions
Starts the second Mon. in January goes to mid-March (breaks don’t count)
Lieutenant Governor: presides over the Senate- does not have a vote
Speaker of the House: presides over the HR (elected)
Both SOH and LG appoint committees, assign bills to committees, and chairpersons
Speaker of the House has a vote only if there is a tie

9. Committees
Members of both the House and Senate are organized into Committees
Committees: all bills must be reviewed by Committees before they can brought to a vote by Congress
Different types of committees:
Standing
Interim
Conference
joint

10. Georgia’s legislative committees Standing Committees (permanent)
Ways and Means 
Appropriations 
Judiciary 
Handles taxes
Works on the budget
State laws and court system

11. Special Committees
Interim – work on certain issues between session of the legislature
Conference – 3 senators and 3 representative work together, take their two versions and tries to write one bill that they both can agree upon
Joint – members from both houses that work on assigned topic.

12. How a bill becomes a law Steps: Proposal is submitted
Copies of the bill are given to Congress
Bill is assigned to a committee in the House(discussed)
Committee can hold, vote out, make changes, or pass/not pass
Bill is sent to the full house (50% + 1 vote to pass)
When bill is certified (passed) then sent to the other chamber, the Senate
Bill is assigned to a Senate committee (same as 4)
If both pass in the same form, sent to the governor
Governor can sign it, take no action (automatic law), or veto it (General Assembly can over ride veto with 2/3)

13. Funding Georgia’s Government
Revenues: sources of income for the state
State funds
Federal funds
Special fees
Expenditures: plans for spending the funds
Georgia’s budget must be balanced (state constitution requires it)

14. Three types of budget Original budget: first (fiscal year)
Amended budget: changes made to balance the budget
Supplementary budget: when additional funds are available
90 % revenue comes from taxes