Pennsylvania General Assembly

From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pennsylvania General Assembly
Coat of arms
Type
Type
HousesSenate
House of Representatives
Term limits
None
History
FoundedMay 5, 1682 (1682-05-05)
Preceded byPennsylvania Provincial Assembly
New session started
January 1, 2019 (2019-01-01)
Leadership
John Fetterman (D)
since January 15, 2019 (2019-01-15)
Jake Corman (R)
since January 5, 2021 (2021-01-05)
Bryan Cutler (R)
since June 22, 2020 (2020-06-22)
Structure
Seats253
Senate political groups
Majority caucus
  •   Republican (28)
  •   Independent (1)

Minority caucus

House political groups
Majority caucus

Minority caucus

Length of term
Senate: 4 years
House: 2 years
Salary$88,610/year + per diem
Senators
50
State Representatives
203
Elections
First-past-the-post
First-past-the-post
Senate last election
November 3, 2020 (2020-11-03)
(odd-numbered districts)
House last election
November 3, 2020 (2020-11-03)
Senate next election
November 8, 2022 (2022-11-08)
(even-numbered districts)
House next election
November 8, 2022 (2022-11-08)
Redistrictingpolitician commission
Motto
Virtue, Liberty and Independence
Meeting place
Pennsylvania State Capitol, Harrisburg
Website
www.legis.state.pa.us
Constitution
Constitution of Pennsylvania

The Pennsylvania General Assembly is the legislature of Pennsylvania. It has two parts: the Pennsylvania House of Representatives (lower house) and the Pennsylvania State Senate (upper house). Before this legislature started, there was the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly. This was unicameral, which means it had only one house. It has been called the general assembly since 1776, and has been bicameral (has two houses) since 1791.

Both houses meet in the Pennsylvania State Capitol in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. They are both controlled by the Republican Party as of 2020.

Leadership[change | change source]

Pennsylvania House of Representatives[change | change source]

Speaker of the House of Representatives: Bryan Cutler (R)

Majority Party (R)[1] Leadership Position Minority Party (D)[2]
Kerry Benninghoff Floor Leader Joanna McClinton
Donna Oberlander Whip Jordan Harris
Mike Reese Caucus Chairperson Dan Miller
Martina White Caucus Secretary Tina Davis
Stan Saylor Appropriations Committee Chairperson Matt Bradford
Kurt Masser Caucus Administrator Mike Schlossberg
Martin Causer Policy Committee Chairperson Ryan Bizzarro

Pennsylvania State Senate[change | change source]

President pro tem of the Senate: Jake Corman (R)

Majority Party (R)[3] Leadership Position Minority Party (D)
Kim Ward Floor Leader Jay Costa
John Gordner Whip Anthony H. Williams
Bob Mensch Caucus Chairperson Wayne Fontana
Ryan P. Aument Caucus Secretary
Pat Browne Appropriations Committee Chairperson Vincent Hughes
Caucus Administrator Lisa Boscola
Dave Argall Policy Committee Chairperson John Blake

References[change | change source]

  1. Cole, John (2020-11-10). "PA House Leadership Race Chatter". PoliticsPA. Retrieved 2020-11-12.
  2. "House Democrats elect leaders for upcoming legislative session". Pennsylvania House Democratic Caucus. 2020-11-12. Retrieved 2020-11-13.
  3. Cole, John (2020-11-12). "Ward Elected Senate Majority Leader". PoliticsPA. Retrieved 2020-11-13.