| Oregon Senate | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Type | |
| Type | Upper house |
| Leadership | |
| President of the Senate | Peter Courtney, (D) since 2003 |
| Majority Leader | Richard Devlin, (D) since 2007 |
| Minority Leader | Ted Ferrioli, (R) since 2007 |
| Structure | |
| Members | 30 |
| Political groups | Democratic Party Republican Party |
| Election | |
| Last election | November 4, 2008 |
| Meeting place | |
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|
| Oregon State Capitol, Salem | |
| Website | |
| http://www.leg.state.or.us/senate/ | |
The Oregon State Senate is the upper house of the state-wide legislature for the U.S. state of Oregon. Along with the lower chamber Oregon House of Representatives it makes up the Oregon Legislative Assembly. There are 30 members of the State Senate, representing 30 districts across the state, each with a population of 114,000. The State Senate meets at the Oregon State Capitol in Salem.
Oregon State Senators serve four year terms without term limits. In 2002, the Oregon Supreme Court struck down the decade-old Oregon Ballot Measure 3, that had restricted State Senators to two terms (eight years) on procedural grounds.[1]
Like certain other upper houses of state and territorial legislatures and the federal U.S. Senate, the State Senate can confirm or reject gubernatorial appointments to state departments, commissions, boards, and other state governmental agencies.
The current Senate President is Peter Courtney of Salem.[2]
Oregon, along with Arizona, Maine, and Wyoming, is one of the four U.S. states to have abolished the Office of the Lieutenant Governor, a position which for most upper houses of state legislatures and indeed for the U.S. Congress (with the Vice President) is the head of the legislative body. Instead, a separate position of Senate President is in place, removed from the Oregonian executive branch.
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Milestones
After women became eligible to run for the state legislature in 1914, Kathryn Clarke (cousin of Oswald West was controversially appointed, and then swiftly elected, to the Oregon State Senate in 1915.[3]
In 1982, Mae Yih became the first Chinese American elected to a state senate in the United States.
Composition
| Affiliation | Party
(Shading indicates majority caucus)
|
Total | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Republican | Vacant | ||
| End of previous legislature | 19 | 11 | 30 | 0 |
| Begin | 18 | 12 | 30 | 0 |
| Latest voting share | 60% | 40% | ||
75th Senate
The 75th Oregon Legislative Assembly, which held its regular session in 2009, had the following leadership. (See the "membership" box below, or the 75th Oregon Legislative Assembly article, for complete membership.)
- Senate President: Peter Courtney (D-11 Salem)
- President Pro Tem: Rick Metsger (D-26 Welches/Mt. Hood)
- Majority Leader: Richard Devlin (D-19 Tualatin)
- Minority Leader: Ted Ferrioli (R-30 John Day)
See also
- List of Presidents of the Oregon State Senate
- Seventy-fourth Oregon Legislative Assembly (2007 and 2008 sessions)
- Seventy-third Oregon Legislative Assembly (2005 and 2006 sessions)
- Oregon Senate elections, 2008
References
- ^ Green, Ashbel S.; Lisa Grace Lednicer (2006-01-17). "State high court strikes term limits". Oregonian (Portland, Oregon: Oregonian Publishing): pp. A1.
- ^ Oregon Blue Book: Senate Presidents of Oregon
- ^ Kimberly Jensen. Kathryn Clarke in the Oregon Encyclopedia.
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This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2007) |
External links
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