Massachusetts General Court
The Massachusetts General Court, formally the General Court of Massachusetts, is the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts located in the state capital of Boston. The name "General Court" is a holdover from the earliest days of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, when the colonial assembly, in addition to making laws, sat as a judicial court of appeals. Before the adoption of the state constitution in 1780, it was called the Great and General Court, but the official title was shortened by John Adams, author of the state constitution. It is a bicameral body. The upper house is the Massachusetts Senate which is composed of 40 members. The lower body, the Massachusetts House of Representatives, has 160 members; until 1978, the state house had 240 members. It meets in the Massachusetts State House on Beacon Hill in Boston.Since 1959, Democrats have controlled both houses of the Massachusetts General Court, often by large majorities. The Democrats enjoyed veto-proof supermajorities in both chambers for part of the 1990s (i.e., enough votes to override vetoes by a governor) and also currently hold supermajorities in both chambers.
State senators and representatives both serve two-year terms. There are no term limits; a term limit was enacted by initiative in Massachusetts in 1994 but in 1997 was struck down by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, which ruled that it was an unconstitutional attempt to provide additional qualifications for office by statute, rather than constitutional amendment.
The legislature is a full-time legislature, although not to the extent of neighboring New York or some other states. Provided by Wikipedia
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42Published 1919“...Massachusetts. General Court. House of Representatives...”In collection: Published Materials
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46Published 1895“...Massachusetts. General Court. House of Representatives. Committee on History of the Emblem of the Codfish...”In collection: Published Materials
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47Published 1863“...Massachusetts General Court Joint Committee on Troy and Greenfield Railroad Co...”In collection: Published Materials
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48Author: Hosmer, James K. (James Kendall), 1834-1927
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50Published 1838“...Massachusetts. General Court. Joint Special Committee on Petition of Asa Stoughton and others...”In collection: Published Materials
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53Published 1770“...Massachusetts General Court (1770) House of Representatives...”In collection: Published Materials
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54Published 1834“...Massachusetts. General Court. Committee on the Library...”In collection: Published Materials
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56Published 1770“...Massachusetts. General Court. House of Representatives...”In collection: Published Materials
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