The Montana Constitution dictates that the legislature meet in regular session for no longer than 90 days in each odd-numbered year.[1] The primary work of the legislature is to pass a balanced biennial budget which must then be approved by the governor. If the governor vetoes a bill, the legislature may override the veto by a two-thirds vote.[1]
Since the beginning of statehood for Montana, the Legislature has been split along party lines fairly consistently and evenly. Since adoption of the current state constitution in 1972, which mandated single-member legislative districts for the first time in the state's history, the Montana Senate has been controlled by Democrats in 9 sessions and Republicans in 16 sessions.[2] During the same period, the Montana House has been controlled by Democrats in 8 sessions and Republicans in 15 sessions, with two ties. According to state law, in the instance of a tie, control goes to the party of the sitting governor. The 67th Legislature (2021–2022) was controlled by the Republican Party with the House having 67 Republican members and 33 Democratic members; the Senate has 31 Republican and 19 Democratic members.[2]
The 68th Legislature (2023-2024) is controlled by a Republican "supermajority," meaning that Republicans control two-thirds of the seats in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, allowing them to override gubernatorial vetoes and potentially pass proposals for amendments to the Montana Constitution.[3]
Members are limited to serving no more than eight years in either chamber, but the term limit is consecutive, not lifetime.[4]
Legislative districts are redrawn every ten years, after each census.[5] The new boundaries, after the 2020 census, became effective starting with the 2024 elections.[6]
The Montana State Legislature meets in the state capitol in Helena.
^ abc. Montana Legislature. Archived from the original on May 25, 2018. Retrieved September 5, 2016.
^ ab"Majority and Minority Party Numbers 1889 - Present". Montana Legislature.
^Marino, Michael, J. (January 6, 2023). "Lawmakers Sworn In, Set Hearings for Over 4,000 Pending Bills". Yellowstone County News. p. 1. Retrieved February 14, 2023.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^Johnson, Charles (February 24, 2015). "State Senate committee tables proposed ballot measure to end term limits". Missoulian.
^"Article 5, Section 14 Districting And Apportionment". State of Montana. November 6, 1984. Retrieved December 27, 2023.
^"Montana state legislative districts". Ballotpedia. Retrieved December 27, 2023.
External linksedit
Official Montana State Legislature Website
Party Control in the Montana Legislature
Maggie Smith Hathaway Collection (University of Montana Archives)
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montana, legislature, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, decem. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Montana Legislature news newspapers books scholar JSTOR December 2021 Learn how and when to remove this template message The Montana State Legislature is the state legislature of the U S state of Montana It is composed of the 100 member Montana House of Representatives and the 50 member Montana Senate 1 Montana State LegislatureTypeTypeBicameralHousesSenateHouse of RepresentativesTerm limitsSenate 2 terms 8 years House 4 terms 8 years LeadershipPresident of the SenateJason Ellsworth R since January 2 2023Senate Majority LeaderSteve Fitzpatrick R since January 2 2023Speaker of the HouseMatt Regier R since January 2 2023House Majority LeaderSue Vinton R since January 4 2021StructureSeats15050 senators 100 representativesSenate political groups Republican 34 Democratic 16 House of Representatives political groups Republican 68 Democratic 32 Length of termSenate 4 yearsHouse 2 yearsSalary 90 64 day per diemElectionsLast Senate electionNovember 8 2022Last House of Representatives electionNovember 8 2022Next Senate electionNovember 5 2024Next House of Representatives electionNovember 5 2024RedistrictingMontana Districting and Apportionment CommissionMeeting placeMontana State Capitol HelenaWebsitewww wbr leg wbr mt wbr govThe Montana Constitution dictates that the legislature meet in regular session for no longer than 90 days in each odd numbered year 1 The primary work of the legislature is to pass a balanced biennial budget which must then be approved by the governor If the governor vetoes a bill the legislature may override the veto by a two thirds vote 1 Since the beginning of statehood for Montana the Legislature has been split along party lines fairly consistently and evenly Since adoption of the current state constitution in 1972 which mandated single member legislative districts for the first time in the state s history the Montana Senate has been controlled by Democrats in 9 sessions and Republicans in 16 sessions 2 During the same period the Montana House has been controlled by Democrats in 8 sessions and Republicans in 15 sessions with two ties According to state law in the instance of a tie control goes to the party of the sitting governor The 67th Legislature 2021 2022 was controlled by the Republican Party with the House having 67 Republican members and 33 Democratic members the Senate has 31 Republican and 19 Democratic members 2 The 68th Legislature 2023 2024 is controlled by a Republican supermajority meaning that Republicans control two thirds of the seats in both the House of Representatives and the Senate allowing them to override gubernatorial vetoes and potentially pass proposals for amendments to the Montana Constitution 3 Members are limited to serving no more than eight years in either chamber but the term limit is consecutive not lifetime 4 Legislative districts are redrawn every ten years after each census 5 The new boundaries after the 2020 census became effective starting with the 2024 elections 6 The Montana State Legislature meets in the state capitol in Helena See also editMontana State Capitol Montana State GovernmentReferences edit a b c Montana Legislature Organization Montana Legislature Archived from the original on May 25 2018 Retrieved September 5 2016 a b Majority and Minority Party Numbers 1889 Present Montana Legislature Marino Michael J January 6 2023 Lawmakers Sworn In Set Hearings for Over 4 000 Pending Bills Yellowstone County News p 1 Retrieved February 14 2023 a href Template Cite news html title Template Cite news cite news a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link Johnson Charles February 24 2015 State Senate committee tables proposed ballot measure to end term limits Missoulian Article 5 Section 14 Districting And Apportionment State of Montana November 6 1984 Retrieved December 27 2023 Montana state legislative districts Ballotpedia Retrieved December 27 2023 External links editOfficial Montana State Legislature Website Party Control in the Montana Legislature Montana s split party control statute Maggie Smith Hathaway Collection University of Montana Archives nbsp This Montana related article is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Montana Legislature amp oldid 1192144088, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
