| Delaware General Assembly | ||||
|
||||
| Type | Bicameral | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Houses | Senate House of Representatives |
|||
| Lieutenant Governor | John C. Carney, Jr., Democratic since 2001 |
|||
| President pro tempore of the Senate | Thurman Adams, Jr., Democratic since 2003 |
|||
| Speaker of the House of Representatives | Terry R. Spence, Republican since 1987 |
|||
| Members | 62 | |||
| Political groups | Democratic Party Republican Party |
|||
| Last elections | 1987 | |||
| Meeting place | Legislative Hall | |||
| Web site | http://legis.delaware.gov/ | |||
The Delaware General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. state of Delaware. It is composed of the Delaware Senate with 21 Senators and the Delaware House of Representatives with 41 Representatives. It meets at the Legislative Hall in Dover, Delaware, convening on the second Tuesday of January of odd numbered years, with a second session of the same Assembly convening likewise in even numbered years. Normally the sessions are required to adjourn by the last day of June of the same calendar year. Members are elected from single member districts, all apportioned to roughly equal populations after each U.S. census. Elections are held the first Tuesday after November 1st and about one half of the Senate is elected every two years for a four year term, and the entire House of Represenatives is elected every two years for a two year term. Vacancies are filled through special elections.
History
The Delaware General Assembly was one of the thirteen legislatures that participated in the American War of Independence. Created by the Delaware Constitution of 1776, its membership and responsibilities have been modified by the Delaware Constitution of 1792, the Delaware Constitution of 1831, the Delaware Constitution of 1897, and significant U.S. Supreme Court action, effective in 1965. Significant actions of the General Assembly include the calling of the Constitutional Convention which become the first to ratify the U.S. Constitution of 1787, and its rejection of secession from the Union on January 3 1861 in spite of Delaware's slave state status. Also significant was its repeated refusal to legislate the end of slavery or voting rights for women, requiring federal law to enforce those changes. Until 1898 the General Assembly was apportioned by county, with a total of 30 members elected county-wide "at-large" with equal numbers from each of the three counties. After 1898 the total membership was increased to 52 and they were elected from districts, mostly corresponding to the geographical boundaries of hundreds within the counties. However, there was little recognition of disparities in population, except for the addition of two extra senators and five extra representatives elected from much more populous New Castle County. After 1965, action of U.S. Supreme Court forced the General Assembly to redistrict so that all members of both houses were elected from districts of equal population. By 1972, the total membership had increased to its present 62, still the second smallest state legislature in the country.
