- South Carolina General Assembly
Infobox Legislature
name = South Carolina General Assembly
coa_pic = SouthCarolinastateseal.jpg
coa-pic =
session_room = SC State House at evening.jpg
house_type = Bicameral
houses = Senate
House of Representatives
leader1_type =President of the Senate
leader1 =André Bauer
party1 = (R)
election1 =January 15 ,2003
leader2_type =Speaker of the House
leader2 =Robert W. Harrell, Jr.
party2 = (R)
election2 =June 21 ,2005
members = 170
p_groups = Democratic Party
Republican Party
election3 =November 7 ,2006
meeting_place =South Carolina State House , Columbia
website = http://www.scstatehouse.net/The South Carolina General Assembly, also called the "South Carolina Legislature", is the state legislature of the
U.S. state ofSouth Carolina . The legislature consists of the lowerSouth Carolina House of Representatives and the upperSouth Carolina Senate . Altogether, the General Assembly consists of 170 members. The legislature convenes at the State House in Columbia.Prior to the federal "
Reynolds v. Sims " decision by theU.S. Supreme Court , the House of Representatives was apportioned so that each county had a number of representatives based on population, with each county guaranteed at least one Representative, while each county had one Senator. Moreover, each county's General Assembly delegation also doubled as itscounty council ."Reynolds v. Sims" caused district lines to cross county lines, causing legislators to be on multiple county councils. This led to the passage of the Home Rule Act of 1975, which created county councils that were independent of the General Assembly. However, some functions that in many other states are performed by county governments are still handled by county legislative delegations in South Carolina.
There are 124 members of the South Carolina House of Representatives, who are elected every two years, and the South Carolina Senate has 46 members, elected every four years concurrent to the Presidential election. For both houses, there are no term limits. The General Assembly meets in joint session to elect judges, with all 170 members having an equal vote in such elections.
Officers
House of Representatives
*Speaker: Rep. Bobby Harrell (R-
Charleston, SC )
*Speaker "Pro Tempore" : Rep. Doug Smith (R-Spartanburg, SC )
*Majority Leader: Rep. Jim Merrill (R-Charleston, SC )
*Minority Leader: Rep. Harry Ott (D-St. Matthews, SC )enate
*President: Lt. Gov.
Andre Bauer (R)
*President "Pro Tempore" : Sen. Glenn F. McConnell (R-Charleston, SC )
*President "Pro Tempore Emeritus" : Sen. John W. Drummond (D-Greenwood, SC )
*Majority Leader: Sen. Harvey Peeler (R-Gaffney, SC )
*Minority Leader: Sen. John Land (D-Manning, SC )ee also
*
South Carolina State House
*South Carolina House of Representatives
*South Carolina Senate External links
* [http://www.scstatehouse.net/ South Carolina Legislature Online]
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