Handout 20
The Legislature: The U.S. Congress & the PA General Assembly
The U.S. Congress and the PA General Assembly are bicameral, meaning they are made up of two
legislative houses: the Senate and the House of Representatives. All state legislatures in the
United States are bicameral with the exception of Nebraska’s, which is unicameral and therefore has
only one legislative house. Article V of the U.S. guarantees that the Congress will remain bicameral.
BASIC INFORMATION:
Number of
Members
Term of Office
Minimum Age
Salary
U.S. House
435 (representing
equal populations)
2 years
25 years
$174,000 + benefits
PA House
203 (representing
equal populations)
2 years
21 years
$78,000 + benefits
U.S. Senate
100 (2 per state)
6 years
30 years
$174,000 + benefits
PA Senate
50 (representing
equal populations)
4 years
25 years
$78,000 + benefits
Elections for the Congress and the General Assembly are held every two years, but since Senators’
terms are longer than two years, only some Senators come up for re-election at each two year
election.
PA legislators are paid much higher than the national average for state lawmakers. (But also unlike
many states, PA's legislature is considered a full time state legislature which meets for most of the
year.)
All lawmakers also receive a generous benefits package that greatly increases their compensation.
POWERS OF THE LEGISLATURE
Article I of the U.S. Constitution details the power of the United States Congress. Articles II and III of
the Pennsylvania Constitution deal with the powers of the General Assembly and rules for legislation.
Legislatures hold most of the explicit lawmaking power of the government but they often have more
difficulty focusing that power due to the many divergent views of the elected lawmakers. Thus, the
executive branch (President/Governor) can often exert power over the actions of the legislature and
can often interpret and execute laws according to their judgment.
1. Legislative powers include:

Taxing, spending, and borrowing money

Defining crimes and providing for their punishment

Providing government services (including schools)

Make rules about the operation of government

Regulating business activities

Delegating authority to local government

Override an executive (President/Governor) veto of legislation
2. The legislature can also approve the appointment of members of the President’s staff (done by
the U.S. Congress) or Governor’s staff (PA General Assembly.) The legislature can also impeach
(remove for misconduct) judges or other elected officials.
3. They can create and propose amendments to the Constitution.
4. The U.S. Congress can also create and support armed forces (Army, Navy, etc.); regulate foreign
trade and trade between the states; approve treaties with other countries; and declare war. All of
these powers are NOT available to state governments and thus are not decisions made by the PA
General Assembly.
5. The U.S. Congress also has the authority to create federal courts below the level of the U.S.
Supreme Court and create rules for the functioning and operation of those courts.
Legislative Leadership
Each house is run by someone called a Presiding Officer who is chosen by a majority of members of
that legislative house. Therefore the majority party picks these officers.


In the House of Representatives this is the Speaker of the House (House members choose
their own Speaker by a majority vote).
In the Senate there are two: the President of the Senate, who is always the Vice President or
Lieutenant Governor. Except for breaking tie votes in the Senate President is mainly a
ceremonial position. The main leadership power of the Senate belongs to the President
Pro Tempore (who the Senators select from among their own members). The President Pro
Tempore really leads the Senate for day to day matters.
The presiding officer selects the chairpersons for committees and selects other committee
members (often political allies of the presiding officer are rewarded and enemies are punished.)
Much of the decision making in the legislature is done behind the scenes in committees, so
appointments to committees are very important and can convey a great deal of power.
Presiding officers also decide:
 which committees to refer new bills to,
 who to call upon next to speak during debates in the legislature,
 and how to interpret the rules for their meetings, and
 how they will personally cast their own votes on bills and other legislative actions.
Committees
Standing Committees: Permanent committees in either the House or the Senate that operate
throughout the legislative session to review, hold hearings, and report to the floor on bills. These are
the most basic and important types of committees. Every lawmaker will be a member of several
committees.
The two main purposes of standing committees are as follows:
 Committees provide expertise about a topic and can inform the rest of the legislature on the
details and specifics surrounding the issues of their particular committee.
 KILL BILLS!!! 1000's of pieces of legislation are submitted every year, in order to decide which
ones will be given time for debate and which ones will not, they are sent to committees where
decisions about which bills are the most important can be made.
Other Types of Legislative Committees:
 Conference Committee: A group of legislators from the both the House and the Senate are
appointed to resolve differences between House and Senate passed versions of a bill. They
should create a compromise bill that hopefully can get approval from both houses.
 Select Committee or Special Committee: Created to serve in either the House or the Senate
regarding a specific purpose or issue. These committees exist only for a specified time limit
before they are eliminated.
 Joint Committee: Any committee that includes members from both Houses.
 Interim Committee: Appointed to do specific work between legislative sessions – while the rest
of the lawmakers have gone home.
Types of Lawmakers: There are various approaches an elected official can take to their job.
 Trustee: Follows their personal judgment regardless of the opinions of the voters they represent
 Delegate: Acts as an agent of the people’s will - to carry out the wishes of those who elected them
 Partisan: Votes according to the wishes of their political party leaders & the official party platform
 Politico A politician who tries to balance the goals of the other three types of lawmakers