Mississippi Legislature

Mississippi Legislature
Mississippi Legislature
Type
Type	Bicameral
Houses	Senate; House of Representatives
Leadership
President of the Senate; (Lt. Governor)	Delbert Hosemann (R) ; since January 9, 2020
Speaker of the House	Philip Gunn (R) ; since January 3, 2012
Structure
Seats	174; 52 senators; 122 representatives;
Senate political groups	Republican (36); Democratic (16);
House of Representatives political groups	Republican (74); Democratic (45); Independent (2); Vacant (1);
Salary	$23,500/year ; + $144 per diem
Elections
Senate last election	November 5, 2019
House of Representatives last election	November 5, 2019
Senate next election	November 7, 2023
House of Representatives next election	November 7, 2023
Redistricting	Legislative control
Meeting place
	Mississippi State Capitol; Jackson, Mississippi; United States
Website
	www.legislature.ms.gov

The Mississippi Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Mississippi. The bicameral Legislature is composed of the lower Mississippi House of Representatives, with 122 members, and the upper Mississippi State Senate, with 52 members. Both representatives and senators serve four-year terms without term limits. The Legislature convenes at the Mississippi State Capitol in Jackson.

Powers and process

This brick church was erected in Washington, Mississippi in 1816. The first Constitution of Mississippi was written and adopted here; the state's first legislature convened here in 1817. The preliminary treason trial of Vice President Aaron Burr occurred under some nearby oak trees.^[2]

The Constitution of Mississippi gives the state legislature the authority to determine rules of its own proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behavior and expel a member with a two-thirds vote of the membership of his or her chamber.^[3]

A bill may originate in either house, and be amended or rejected in the other, and must be read by its title on three different days in each house, unless two-thirds of the house dispenses with the rules.^[3] The Mississippi Constitution prohibits amending a bill to change its original purpose.^[3] Bills amended in the second house, must return for a vote to accept amendments.^[3]

The Governor of Mississippi has the power to veto legislation, but legislators can override the veto with a two-thirds decision.

Membership

Members of the Mississippi House of Representatives are elected to four-year terms and Mississippi State Senators are also elected to four-year terms.

Notes

^ "2018 Legislator Compensation Information". NCSL.org. National Conference of State Legislators. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
^ "Mississippi Pictorial History, 1798-1937". Mississippi Historical Research - W.P.A. Project. 1937.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Constitutional Provisions The Legislature And Legislation Rules of Procedure, Mississippi Legislature (accessed May 27, 2013)

External links