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

Federal Government= Congress Senate 2 from each state 100 total 6 year terms VP is presiding officer, votes if there is a tie 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

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

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

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 to governor makes to executive offices

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

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

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, sign bills to committees, and chairpersons Speaker of the House has a vote only if there is a tie

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

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

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.

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)

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)

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