State legislature compositions after the November 2008 elections.      Democratic majorities in both chambers      Republican majorities in both chambers      Split      Nebraskan non-partisan unicameral legislature

United States

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Each state in the United States has a legislative branch as part of its form of civil government. Most of the fundamental details of the legislature are specified in the state constitution. Forty-nine (49) state legislatures are bicameral bodies, composed of a lower house (Assembly, General Assembly, State Assembly, House of Delegates or House of Representatives) and an upper house (Senate). The Nebraska Legislature is the lone unicameral body.

The exact names, dates, term limits (if any), term lengths, electoral districts, and other details are at the discretion of the individual states. The following shows the state, names, membership, parties and terms of each state's legislature.

[edit] Party summary

As of January 2009, the party composition of the legislatures is^[1]:

"Split" means that either the two chambers have different majority parties (e.g., Democratic Senate and Republican lower house), that one chamber is evenly split between parties, or that a coalition or "hung" chamber has occurred.

In several states, the party that controls the state legislature may not be the one that usually wins the state in presidential elections. Also note that due to politics, a party with a numerical majority in a chamber may be forced to share power with other parties due to informal coalitions, or outright cede power due to divisions.

The table below shows total state government control, which means the governor and the chamber majorities are all of the same party.

[edit] Vital statistics

It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Political party strength in U.S. states. (Discuss)

[edit] State legislatures

[edit] Washington, D.C.

[edit] Territorial legislatures

[edit] Map key

[edit] Notes

• All 9 of the Democrats and 6 of the Republicans in the Alaska Senate form a governing coalition with the remaining 5 Republicans in opposition.^[2][3]
• The two nonvoting members of the Maine House of Representatives, elected by the Penobscot Nation and the Passamaquoddy Tribe respectively, are not counted in the above table, as they are not counted in similar tabulations in State Government web sites.

[edit] Legislative websites

Below are links and URLs to all 50 state legislature websites. For most states the only place where the full text of the statutes are available online is the state legislature's website.

[edit] See also

• National Conference of State Legislatures
• State Legislative Sourcebook
• Comparison of state governments

[edit] External links

• National Conference of State Legislatures
• State Legislatures Internet Links
• State Legislatures, State Laws, and State Regulations: Website Links and Telephone Numbers
• Legislative Session Calendars and Bill Introduction Deadlines

[edit] Notes