The Massachusetts legislature: how it works
What your state legislature controls covers the general powers. This page profiles Massachusetts's legislature.
The basics
The Massachusetts General Court is the state's bicameral legislature: a 160-member House of Representatives and a 40-member Senate, both serving 2-year terms. The legislature runs on a biennial cycle, convening the first Wednesday in January of odd-numbered years, with each two-year session split into two annual sessions. Each annual session alternates between formal sittings, when contested measures can pass, and informal sittings, when any single objection can block a vote. In the first year, formal sessions run into mid-to-late November. In the second year, formal sessions resume in January and run through July 31. It is classified as a hybrid legislature: it meets year-round, unlike part-time citizen legislatures, but on a lighter schedule than full-time states like California or New York. Legislator base salary is set constitutionally, tied to state median household income and adjusted every two years.
Who controls it now
Democrats hold commanding majorities in both chambers of the Massachusetts legislature, controlling the Senate roughly 35-5 and the House by a similarly large margin, alongside a Democratic governor.
Where to go
- Massachusetts Legislature: https://malegislature.gov/
- Legislators directory: https://malegislature.gov/Legislators