Pennsylvania General Assembly

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The General Assembly has 253 members, consisting of a Senate with 50 members and a House of Representatives with 203 members, making it the second-largest state legislature in the nation, behind New Hampshire, and the largest full-time legislature.

Senators are elected for a term of four years. Representatives are elected for a term of two years.{{cite web |title=Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania |url=http://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/CT/PDF/00/00.PDF |website=Pennsylvania General Assembly |access-date=30 August 2018 |pages=Article II Section 3: Terms of Members}} The Pennsylvania general elections are held on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November in even-numbered years. A vacant seat must be filled by special election, the date of which is set by the presiding officer of the respective house.

Senators must be at least 25 years old, and Representatives at least 21 years old. They must be citizens and residents of the state for a minimum of four years and reside in their districts for at least one year. Individuals who have been convicted of felonies, including embezzlement, bribery, and perjury, are ineligible for election; the state Constitution also adds the category of "other infamous crimes," which can be broadly interpreted by state courts. No one who has been previously expelled from the General Assembly may be elected.{{cite web |url=http://www.duq.edu/law/pa-constitution/constitutions/current.cfm#2 |title=CONSTITUTION OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA: Article II - The Legislature |access-date=2010-02-11 |date=2010-02-11 |work=Pennsylvania Constitution Web Page of the Duquesne University School of Law |publisher=Duquesne University School of Law |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120814142653/http://www.duq.edu/law/pa-constitution/constitutions/current.cfm#2 |archive-date=2012-08-14 |url-status=dead }}

Legislative districts are drawn every ten years, following the U.S. Census. They are drawn by a five-member commission, of which four members are the majority and minority leaders of each house (or their delegates). The fifth member, who chairs the committee, is appointed by the other four and may not be an elected or appointed official. If the leadership cannot decide on a fifth member, the State Supreme Court may appoint him or her.

While in office, legislators may not hold civil office. Even if a member resigns, the Constitution states that the legislator may not be appointed to civil office for the duration of the term to which the legislator was elected.

File:Laws of Pennsylvania 1853 title page.jpg, published in 1853]]

The General Assembly is a continuing body within the term for which its representatives are elected. It convenes at 12 o'clock noon on the first Tuesday of January each year and then meets regularly throughout the year.{{cite web |title=Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania |url=http://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/CT/PDF/00/00.PDF |access-date=30 August 2018 |pages=Article II Section 4: Sessions}} Both houses adjourn on November 30 in even-numbered years, when the terms of all members of the House and half the members of the Senate expire. Neither body can adjourn for more than three days without the consent of the other.{{cite web |title=Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania |url=http://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/CT/PDF/00/00.PDF |pages=Article II Section 14: Adjournments}}

The governor may call a special session in order to press for legislation on important issues. As of 2017, only 35 special sessions have been called in the history of Pennsylvania.{{cite news|last=Esack|first=Steve|date=February 1, 2017|title=Pennsylvania Senate Democrats seek special hearings on property tax reform|url=http://www.mcall.com/news/nationworld/pennsylvania/mc-pa-democrats-call-for-property-tax-special-session-20170201-story.html|work=The Morning Call|location=Harrisburg, PA|access-date=June 19, 2017|archive-date=January 2, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190102143140/https://www.mcall.com/news/nationworld/pennsylvania/mc-pa-democrats-call-for-property-tax-special-session-20170201-story.html|url-status=dead}}

The Assembly meets in the Pennsylvania State Capitol in Harrisburg, which was completed in 1906. Under the Pennsylvania Constitution, the Assembly must meet in the City of Harrisburg and can move only if given the consent of both chambers.

The Pennsylvania General Assembly has a lengthy history as one of the most openly corrupt state legislatures in the United States, going back over two centuries to the era of the Thirteen Colonies.{{cite book |last1=Hale |first1=George E. |editor1-last=Dagnes |editor1-first=Alison |editor2-last=Sachleben |editor2-first=Mark |title=Scandal: An Interdisciplinary Approach to the Consequences, Outcomes, and Significance of Political Scandals |date=2014 |publisher=New York |location=Bloomsbury |pages=155–177 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WZLFAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA155 |access-date=November 30, 2023 |chapter=The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same: Explaining the Persistence of Scandal in the Pennsylvania General Assembly|isbn=978-1-62356-222-9 }} In 1794, while visiting western Pennsylvania, Alexander Hamilton wrote to Rufus King: "The political putrefaction of Pennsylvania is greater than I had any idea of".{{cite book |last1=Chernow |first1=Ron |authorlink1=Ron Chernow |title=Alexander Hamilton |date=2005 |publisher=Penguin Books |location=New York |isbn=9781101200858 |page=476 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4z5eL5SGjEoC&pg=PA476 |access-date=November 30, 2023}}

During the 19th century, the culture of corruption in the General Assembly got so bad that from 1866 to 1873, about 8,700 of 9,300 acts passed in that timeframe were local or special acts.{{cite book |last1=Hale |first1=George E. |editor1-last=Dagnes |editor1-first=Alison |editor2-last=Sachleben |editor2-first=Mark |title=Scandal: An Interdisciplinary Approach to the Consequences, Outcomes, and Significance of Political Scandals |date=2014 |publisher=New York |location=Bloomsbury |pages=155–177 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WZLFAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA160 |access-date=November 30, 2023 |chapter=The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same: Explaining the Persistence of Scandal in the Pennsylvania General Assembly|isbn=978-1-62356-222-9 }} (At p. 160.) The frustration of the people of the Commonwealth with its legislature finally boiled over in 1871 and resulted in a 1873 constitutional convention and a 1874 constitutional amendment. One of the amendment's reforms was to prohibit the General Assembly from writing statutes covering more than one subject.

Unfortunately, the amendment (today found at Section 3 of Article III of the Pennsylvania Constitution) was so poorly written that it also prevented the General Assembly from undertaking a comprehensive codification of the Commonwealth's statutes until another amendment was pushed through in 1967 to provide the necessary exception.[https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=13027978022865592456&hl=en City of Philadelphia v. Commonwealth], 838 A. 2d 566 (Pa. 2003). This decision of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania expressly acknowledges that (1) the constitutional amendment occurred because of the General Assembly's problems with corruption, especially logrolling; and (2) the general view that enactment of a comprehensive codification was hindered by the perception that it would have violated the pre-1967 version of Section 3. This is why Pennsylvania remains the only U.S. state that has not yet completed a comprehensive codification of its general statutory law. Since 1970, Pennsylvania has been undertaking its first official codification process,[https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/US/PDF/1970/0/0230..PDF Consolidated Pennsylvania Statutes Act], Act 230, Public Law 707 (Nov. 25, 1970). resulting in the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes.{{cite book|title=Prince's Bieber Dictionary of Legal Citations|page=343|first=Mary Miles|last=Prince|year=2001|edition=6th|publisher=Wm. S. Hein Publishing|isbn=1-57588-669-3|lccn=2001024375|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l9H53oq_GRMC&pg=PA343}}{{cite web|title=Pennsylvania Session Laws > FAQ|publisher=Pennsylvania Legislative Reference Bureau|access-date=15 August 2013|url=http://www.palrb.us/faq/faq.php}} With over 300 years of uncodified statutes to go through, the codification process is still not yet complete after over five decades of work.

President Pro Tempore: Kim Ward (R)

Speaker of the House of Representatives: Joanna McClinton (D)

• 2005 Pennsylvania General Assembly pay raise controversy
• Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly, for the General Assembly before 1776
• Pennsylvania Legislative Black Caucus
• List of Pennsylvania state legislatures

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