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28-555: Minority The Alabama State Senate is the upper house of the Alabama Legislature , the state legislature of the U.S. state of Alabama . The body is composed of 35 members representing an equal number of districts across the state, with each district containing at least 127,140 citizens. Similar to the lower house , the Alabama House of Representatives , the senate serves both without term limits and with

56-824: A Legislative Council prior to joining Canada , as did Ontario when it was Upper Canada and Quebec from 1791 (as Lower Canada ) to 1968. Nebraska is the only state in the United States with a unicameral legislature, having abolished its lower house in 1934, while the Senate of Nebraska , the upper house prior to 1934, continues to assemble. The Australian state of Queensland also once had an appointed Legislative Council before abolishing it in 1922. All other Australian states continue to have bicameral systems, though all members are now directly elected (the two self-governing territories, along with Norfolk Island until 2016, have always been unicameral). Like Queensland,

84-491: A Republican from Bullock County, who served from 1868 to 1875. The election of 1983 produced the first female senators in Alabama history as Republican Ann Bedsole (1983-1995) and Democrat Frances "Sister" Strong (1983-1986) won office. The lieutenant governor of Alabama serves as the p resident of the senate , but only casts a vote if required to break a tie. In his or her absence, the president pro tempore presides over

112-675: A four-year term. The Alabama State Senate meets at the State House in Montgomery . Like other upper houses of state and territorial legislatures and the United States Senate , the senate can confirm or reject gubernatorial appointments to the state cabinet, commissions and boards. While the House of Representatives has exclusive power to originate revenue bills, such legislation can be amended and/or substituted by

140-469: A mixture of these. Many upper houses are not directly elected but appointed: either by the head of state, by the head of government or in some other way. This is usually intended to produce a house of experts or otherwise distinguished citizens, who would not necessarily be returned in an election. For example, members of the Senate of Canada are appointed by the Governor General on the advice of

168-604: A number of ways to block legislation and to reject it; however, the House of Commons can eventually use the Parliament Act to force something through. The Commons will often accept amendments passed by the Lords; however, the two houses have sometimes reached a constitutional standoff. For example, when the Labour Government of 1999 tried to expel all hereditary peers from the Lords, the Lords threatened to wreck

196-678: Is Greg Reed . The majority leader is Republican Steve Livingston and the minority leader is Democrat Bobby Singleton . Current committees include: The Senate Seal features an open book and torch, accompanied by the Latin phrase Libertas Per Lege, meaning "Liberty Through Law". The official Seal of the Senate was adopted by Senate Resolution, August 19, 1965, and was created by a special committee consisting of then Senators John Tyson (Mobile), Vaughan Hill Robison (Montgomery), Bill Nichols (Talladega), Lieutenant Governor Jim Allen and Secretary of

224-519: Is described as unicameral . An upper house is usually different from the lower house in at least one of the following respects (though they vary among jurisdictions): Powers: Status: In parliamentary systems the upper house is frequently seen as an advisory or a "house of review" chamber; for this reason, its powers of direct action are often reduced in some way. Some or all of the following restrictions are often placed on upper houses: In parliamentary democracies and among European upper houses

252-554: Is to scrutinise legislation that may have been drafted over-hastily in the lower house and to suggest amendments that the lower house may nevertheless reject if it wishes to. An example is the British House of Lords . Under the Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949 , the House of Lords can no longer prevent the passage of most bills, but it must be given an opportunity to debate them and propose amendments, and can thereby delay

280-517: The German state of Bavaria had an appointed second chamber, the Senate of Bavaria , from 1946 to 1999. The Senate of the Philippines was abolished – and restored – twice: from 1935 to 1945 when a unicameral National Assembly convened, and from 1972 to 1987 when Congress was closed, and later a new constitution was approved instituting a unicameral Parliament. The Senate was re-instituted with

308-470: The Italian Senate is a notable exception to these general rules, in that it has the same powers as its lower counterpart: any law can be initiated in either house and must be approved in the same form by both houses. Additionally, a Government must have the consent of both to remain in office, a position which is known as "perfect bicameralism" or "equal bicameralism." The role of a revising chamber

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336-582: The Government's entire legislative agenda and to block every bill which was sent to the chamber. This standoff led to negotiations between Viscount Cranborne, the then Shadow Leader of the House, and the Labour Government, resulting in the Weatherill Amendment to the House of Lords Act 1999 , which preserved 92 hereditary peers in the house. Compromise and negotiation between the two houses make

364-778: The Legislature, the governor is required to call a special election to fill the vacancy. Throughout most of the state's history, the Democratic Party controlled the Alabama State Senate from the time of admission to the Union in 1819 with a few brief exceptions. The Whig Party had a majority in the State Senate in 1837 and again from 1850 to 1851. Following the Civil War and the state's readmission to

392-486: The Parliament Act a very rarely used backup plan. Even without a veto, an upper house may defeat legislation. Its opposition may give the lower chamber a chance to reconsider or even abandon a controversial measure. It can also delay a bill so that it does not fit within the legislative schedule, or until a general election produces a new lower house that no longer wishes to proceed with the bill. Nevertheless, some states have long retained powerful upper houses. For example,

420-660: The President of India. Similarly, at the state level, one-third of the members of the State Legislative Council (Vidhan Parishad) are nominated by local governments, one-third by sitting legislators, and the rest are elected by select members of the electorate. The United States Senate was chosen by state legislatures until the passage of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913. The upper house may be directly elected but in different proportions to

448-749: The Prime Minister. In the past, some upper houses had seats that were entirely hereditary, such as in the British House of Lords until 1999 and in the Japanese House of Peers until it was abolished in 1947. It is also common that the upper house consists of delegates chosen by state governments or local officials. Members of the Rajya Sabha in India are nominated by various states and union territories, while 12 of them are nominated by

476-476: The Senate McDowell Lee . Upper house An upper house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature , the other chamber being the lower house . The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restricted power than the lower house. A legislature composed of only one house (and which therefore has neither an upper house nor a lower house)

504-478: The Union, the chamber had a Republican majority during the Reconstruction period from 1868 to 1874. This was followed by 136 consecutive years of Democratic majorities. Beginning with the 2010 election Republicans captured a substantial majority in the chamber and have held it in the two elections since in 2014 and 2018. The first African-American to serve in the Alabama State Senate was Benjamin F. Royal,

532-582: The consent of the upper house to legislation may be necessary (though, as noted above, this seldom extends to budgetary measures). Constitutional arrangements of states with powerful upper houses usually include a means to resolve situations where the two houses are at odds with each other. In recent times, parliamentary systems have tended to weaken the powers of upper houses relative to their lower counterparts. Some upper houses have been fully abolished; others have had their powers reduced by constitutional or legislative amendments. Also, conventions often exist that

560-630: The lower house - for example, the senates of Australia, Brazil and the United States have a fixed number of elected members from each state, regardless of the population. Many jurisdictions once possessed upper houses but abolished them to adopt unicameral systems, including Croatia , Denmark , Estonia , Hungary , Iceland , Iran , Mauritania , New Zealand , Peru , Sweden , Turkey , Venezuela , many Indian states , Brazilian states , Canadian provinces , subnational entities such as Queensland , and some other jurisdictions. Newfoundland had

588-534: The passage of a bill with which it disagrees. Bills can only be delayed for up to one year before the Commons can use the Parliament Act, although economic bills can only be delayed for one month. The House of Lords is sometimes seen as having a special role of safeguarding the uncodified Constitution of the United Kingdom and important civil liberties against ill-considered change. The House of Lords has

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616-533: The restoration of a bicameral Congress via a constitutional amendment in 1941, and via adoption of a new constitution in 1987. A previous government of Ireland (the 31st Dáil) promised a referendum on the abolition of its upper house , the Seanad Éireann , during the 24th Seanad session. By a narrow margin, the Irish public voted to retain it. Conservative-leaning Fine Gael and Left-leaning Sinn Féin both supported

644-477: The senate. Moreover, because the senate is considered to be the "deliberative body", rules concerning the length of the debate are more liberal than those of the House of Representatives. Like the United States Senate , the Alabama State Senate has the sole power of Confirmation of certain appointees designated by the Constitution and by statute. The legislative antecedent of this role is a similar power that

672-434: The senate. The president pro tempore is elected by the full Senate by nominations taken from the floor, followed by a recorded vote. The president pro tempore is the chief leadership position in the senate. The other Senate Majority and Minority leaders are elected by their respective party caucuses. The president of the senate is the lieutenant governor , which is currently Will Ainsworth . The president pro tempore

700-416: The time of their election, must be citizens and residents of the state of Alabama for at least 3 years, and reside within their district for at least one year prior to election. Senators, like members of the House of Representatives, are elected for four-year terms and take office at midnight of the day of their election. Amendment 97 to the Constitution, provides that should a vacancy occur in either house of

728-420: The total membership of the state House of Representatives. Additional representation is authorized in the event of the creation of new counties. Thus, the Alabama State Senate is precisely one-third the size of the House of Representatives, and each state senator represents a district of approximately 125,000 Alabamians. Under Article IV, Section 47 of the Constitution, Senators must be at least 25 years of age at

756-399: The upper house ought not to obstruct the business of government for frivolous or merely partisan reasons. These conventions have tended to harden with a passage of time. In presidential systems, the upper house is frequently given other powers to compensate for its restrictions: There are a variety of ways an upper house's members are assembled: by direct or indirect election, appointment or

784-642: Was vested in the Roman Senate during the Roman Republic . The Alabama State Senate is composed of 35 state senators, in keeping with Article IV, Section 50, of the Alabama Constitution , which limits the Alabama House of Representatives to 105 members, and the senate to 35; together with Article IX, Sections 197 and 198, which requires that membership in the state senate consist of not less than one-fourth, nor more than one-third, of

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