Arizona Senate

Coordinates: 33°26′53″N 112°5′45″W / 33.44806°N 112.09583°W / 33.44806; -112.09583

Arizona State Senate
Arizona Legislature
Coat of arms or logo
Type
Type
Term limits
4 terms (8 years)
Leadership
Structure
Seats 30
Political groups

Governing party

Opposition party

Length of term
2 years
Authority Article 4, Arizona Constitution
Salary $24,000/year + per diem
Elections
Last election
November 4, 2014
(30 seats)
Next election
November 8, 2016
(30 seats)
Redistricting Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission
Meeting place
State Senate Chamber
Arizona State Capitol
Phoenix, Arizona
Website
Arizona State Senate

The Arizona Senate is part of the Arizona Legislature, the state legislature of the US state of Arizona. The Senate consists of 30 members each representing an average of 219,859 constituents (2009 figures). Members serve two-year terms with term limits that limit Senators to four terms for a total of eight years. Members of the Republican Party are currently the majority in the Senate.

As with the Arizona House of Representatives, members to the Senate are elected from the same legislative districts as House members, however one Senator represents the constituency, while for the House there are two Representatives per district. This districting system is similar to those of the Idaho and Washington State Senate. In political science, this type of legislative district is called a multi-member district.

Like other upper houses of state and territorial legislatures and the federal U.S. Senate, the Senate can confirm or reject gubernatorial appointments to the state cabinet, commissions and boards.

The Senate convenes in the adjacent legislative chambers at the Arizona State Capitol in Phoenix.

Leadership of the Senate

Arizona, along with Oregon, Maine and Wyoming, is one of the four U.S. states to have abolished the Office of the Lieutenant Governor, the nominal senate president in many states. As a result, the Senate elects its own presiding officer, the President of the Senate, who presides over the body, appoints members to all of the Senate's committees and to joint committees, and may create other committees and subcommittees if desired. The Senate President also appoints a President pro tempore, who serves for the duration of a session of the legislature, to preside in his absence, and may appoint a temporary President pro tempore in the absence of the President and President pro tempore.[1]

The current President of the Senate is Republican Andy Biggs of District 12, the Senate Majority Leader is Steve Yarbrough of District 17.[2] The current Minority Leader is Katie Hobbs of District 24 with Steve Farley of District 9 as the Assistant Minority Leader.[3]

Leadership information

Position Name Party Residence District
President of the Senate Andy Biggs Republican GilbertDistrict 12
President pro tempore Sylvia Allen Republican SnowflakeDistrict 6
Majority Leader Steve Yarbrough Republican ChandlerDistrict 17
Majority Whip Gail Griffin Republican HerefordDistrict 14
Minority Leader Katie Hobbs Democratic TollesonDistrict 24
Assistant Minority Leader Steve Farley Democratic TucsonDistrict 9
Minority Whip Lupe Contreras Democratic CashionDistrict 19

Current composition

Affiliation Party
(Shading indicates majority caucus)
Total
Republican Democratic Vacant
2011-2013 21 9 30 1
2013-2015 17 13 30 0
Begin 17 13 30 0
November 23, 2015[4] 18 12
December 15, 2015[5] 17 29 1
December 22, 2015[6] 18 30 0
Latest voting share 60% 40%

Current members, 2015–2017

District Senator Party Residence Assumed office on
1 Steve Pierce Rep Prescott 2009
2 Andrea Dalessandro Dem Green Valley 2014†
3 Olivia Cajero Bedford Dem Tucson 2011
4 Lynne Pancrazi Dem Yuma 2012
5 Sue Donahue Rep Lake Havasu City 2015†
6 Sylvia Allen Rep Heber 2015†
7 Carlyle Begay Rep Ganado 2013†
8 Barbara McGuire Dem Kearny 2013
9 Steve Farley Dem Tucson 2013
10 David Bradley Dem Tucson 2013
11 Steve Smith Rep Maricopa 2011
12 Andy Biggs Rep Gilbert 2011
13 Don Shooter Rep Yuma 2011
14 Gail Griffin Rep Hereford 2011
15 Nancy Barto Rep Phoenix 2011
16 Dave Farnsworth Rep Mesa 2013†
17 Steve Yarbrough Rep Chandler 2011
18 Jeff Dial Rep Chander 2011
19 Lupe Contreras Dem Cashion 2015
20 Kimberly Yee Rep Phoenix 2013
21 Debbie Lesko Rep Peoria 2009
22 Judy Burges Rep Sun City West 2012
23 John Kavanagh Rep Fountain Hills 2007
24 Katie Hobbs Dem Phoenix 2013
25 Bob Worsley Rep Mesa 2013
26 Andrew Sherwood Dem Tempe 2015†
27 Catherine Miranda Dem Phoenix 2006
28 Adam Driggs Rep Phoenix 2011
29 Martin Quezada Dem Phoenix 2012
30 Robert Meza Dem Phoenix 2011

† Member was originally appointed.

Committees

Current committees include:[7]

  • Senate Ethics
  • Appropriations
  • Government and Environment
  • Health and Human Services
  • Judiciary
  • Commerce, Energy and Military
  • Education
  • Elections
  • Transportation
  • Public Safety
  • Rules
  • Natural Resources and Rural Affairs
  • Finance

See also

References

  1. Senate Rule 2: The President
  2. Arizona State Legislature. "Fifty-second Legislature - Second Regular Session Roster". Arizona State Legislature. Retrieved 2016-06-30.
  3. "Member Roster". Retrieved October 17, 2016.
  4. Carlyle Begay (District 7) switched parties from Democratic to Republican
  5. Kelli Ward (District 5) resigned
  6. "Next lawmaker up: Sue Donahue is newest Arizona state senator". Retrieved October 17, 2016.
  7. "Arizona Senate Committees". Open States. Sunlight Foundation. 2014-04-09. Retrieved 2014-04-09.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/16/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.