New Hampshire General Court
From Free net encyclopedia
The New Hampshire General Court is the state legislature of the U.S. state of New Hampshire. It is a bicameral body composed of the New Hampshire House of Representatives and the New Hampshire Senate. With 400 members in the lower house (the House of Representatives) and 24 members in the upper house (the Senate), New Hampshire's General Court is the third largest English-speaking legislature in the worldTemplate:Fact, behind only the United States Congress and the Parliament of the United Kingdom and has one of the greatest disparities in size between chambers of a bicamerial legislature.Template:Fact Currently, the General Court is in its 159th session.
The General Court meets in the New Hampshire State House in Concord, downtown just off of US 3.
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House of Representatives
See also 2004 New Hampshire General Court Election
The House of Representatives consists of 400 members coming from 103 districts across the state created from divisions of the state's counties each making up about 3,000 residents for every one legislator. If the same level of representation were present in the U.S. Congress, the U.S. House of Representatives would have approximately 99,000 members according to current population estimates.
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Unlike in many legislatures, there is no clear "aisle" to cross per se, as members of both parties sit partially segregated in five sections, which is then put on the legislator's license plate (chairpersons and party leaders in Green, non-chairs in red). Most Republicans are in the First, Second and Third Sections, while most Democrats are in the Fourth and Fifth sections, although this is not strictly enforced as seating is often decided on the personal preference of the legislator except in the case of the sixth section, which is reserved for the speaker.
Historically, the House has been dominated by the Republican Party, which retained a reduced majority in the 2004 election currently holding 249–151 majority. However, the Republicans are often divided between the neo-conservatives/ultra-conservatives known as the Republican House Alliance and moderates known as the Main Street Republicans. The division is approximately 141 voting with along RHA lines and 110 voting along Main Street lines if the difference is considered to be the 50% line of the RHA's 2004 scorecard.
If these divisions are taken into account, Democrats currently have 37% of the seats, the RHA has 35%, and Main Street has 28%. Image:Nameless House.PNG
Currently, the Speaker of the House is Douglas Scamman from Stratham.Scamman returned to the Speaker position which he held in the 1980s due to the 2004 Corn Roast Scandal of the prior Speaker, Gene G. Chandler from Bartlett. Scamman's ascension to the speakership was considered a compromise by Republicans when it became clear that Chandler was resigning as Speaker.
Miscellaneous facts
- When numbered seats were installed in Representatives Hall, the number thirteen was purposely omitted for fear of bad luck.
- In 1819, the House of Representatives and Senate moved into their respective chambers in the State House. Both continue to meet in their original chambers, making the each house the having the oldest chamber in United States still in continuous legislative use.
Make-up of the House of Representatives
| Affiliation | Members | |
| Republican Party | 249 | |
| Democratic Party | 151 | |
| Total | 400 | |
| Government Majority | 98 | |
New Hampshire Senate
Currently, the Senate consists of 16 Republicans and 8 Democrats, although like the House, the Republicans are divided, one of the main reasons of the recent election of the current President of the Senate is Ted Gastas of Manchester, who replaced Tom Eaton, from Keene, on September 9, 2005.
Make-up of the Senate
| Affiliation | Members | |
| Republican Party | 16 | |
| Democratic Party | 8 | |
| Total | 24 | |
| Government Majority | 8 | |