Unit 4 - Legislative Branch Flashcards
How many people are in the HOR?
435 members
How many people are in the Senate
100 members
Qualifications for the House of Representatives
1) 25+ years old
2) 7+ year citizen
3) must be a legal resident of state that elects them
4) no concurrent executive job (sep. of powers)
Qualifications of the Senate
1) 30+ years old
2) 9+ year citizen
3) legal resident of state that elects them
4) no concurrent executive job (sep. of powers)
mark-up
when committee members go through the bill section by section and make changes they think the bill needs
session
a period of time during which a legislature meets to conduct business
term for a House member
2 years
term for a US Senator
6 years
Reapportionment
the process of reassigning representation based on population after every census
gerrymandering
to draw a district’s boundaries to gain an advantage in elections in favor of one political party
redistricting
to set up new district lines after reapportionment is complete
H/S Majority leader
the speaker’s top assistant whose job is to help plan the majority party’s legislative program and to steer important bills through the House/Senate; leader of party in Power
H/S Minority leader
develop criticism of the majority party’s bills and tries to keep Senators in the minority working together; leader of party not in power
whip
an assistant to the party floor leader in the legislature
Speaker of the House
chosen by the caucus of the majority party, they are the presiding officer of the House and is its most powerful leader
President Pro-Tempore
serves as leader in the absence of the President of the US Senate (Vice President)
Vice President
constitutionally serves as president of the US Senate
appropriation bill
a proposed law to authorize the spending of money
authorization bill
a bill that sets up a federal program and specifies how much money may be appropriated for the program.
public bill
a bill dealing with general matters and applying to the entire nation
private bill
a bill dealing with individual people or places
quorum
term that equals the minimum number of people necessary to conduct everyday business
types of staff members
personal staff and committee staff
duties of staff members
they help lawmakers with handling their constituents, legislative workload, communicating to constituents, drafting reports, and even attending meetings.