State legislature (United States)

A state legislature in the United States is the legislature of any of the 50 U.S. states.

What is in them

Every state legislature (except Nebraska's) is bicameral. This means that they have an upper house and a lower house. They are similar to the United States Congress in what they look like.

State legislatures do similar things as the U.S. Congress does, only for each state.

State legislatures have the power to ratify an amendment of the United States Constitution.

The first American legislature was created in 1619 by the Virginia House of Burgesses.^[1]

↑ Hodson, Tim; Tucker, Harvey J.; Garrett, John; Vanlandingham, Gary R.; Mo, Stephen Davis; Nv, Kathy Fosnaugh; Mo, Jackie Hord; Va, Bruce Jamerson (2005). JUDGING LEGISLATURES (PDF). Journal of the American Society of Legislative Clerks and Secretaries. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-06-19. Retrieved 2019-06-24.

v t e Legislatures of the United States
United States Congress	United States House of Representatives United States Senate
State legislatures	Alabama (H, S) Alaska (H, S) Arizona (H, S) Arkansas (H, S) California (A, S) Colorado (H, S) Connecticut (H, S) Delaware (H, S) Florida (H, S) Georgia (H, S) Hawaii (H, S) Idaho (H, S) Illinois (H, S) Indiana (H, S) Iowa (H, S) Kansas (H, S) Kentucky (H, S) Louisiana (H, S) Maine (H, S) Maryland (H, S) Massachusetts (H, S) Michigan (H, S) Minnesota (H, S) Mississippi (H, S) Missouri (H, S) Montana (H, S) Nebraska Nevada (A, S) New Hampshire (H, S) New Jersey (GA, S) New Mexico (H, S) New York (A, S) North Carolina (H, S) North Dakota (H, S) Ohio (H, S) Oklahoma (H, S) Oregon (H, S) Pennsylvania (H, S) Rhode Island (H, S) South Carolina (H, S) South Dakota (H, S) Tennessee (H, S) Texas (H, S) Utah (H, S) Vermont (H, S) Virginia (H, S) Washington (H, S) West Virginia (H, S) Wisconsin (A, S) Wyoming (H, S)
Other legislatures	District of Columbia American Samoa (H, S) Guam Northern Mariana Islands (H, S) Puerto Rico (H, S) U.S. Virgin Islands
List of U.S. state legislators