Oregon State Senate

Oregon State Senate
Oregon Legislative Assembly
Type
Type	Upper house
Term limits	None
New session started	February 1, 2011
Leadership
President of the Senate	Peter Courtney, (D) since January 13, 2003
President pro Tempore	Ginny Burdick, (D) since January 10, 2011
Majority Leader	Diane Rosenbaum, (D) since January 10, 2011
Minority Leader	Ted Ferrioli, (R) since January 8, 2007
Structure
Members	30
Political groups	Democratic Party (16) Republican Party (14)
Length of term	4 years
Authority	Article IV, Oregon Constitution
Salary	$21,612/year + per diem
Elections
Last election	November 2, 2010 (16 seats)
Next election	November 6, 2012 (14 seats)
Redistricting	Legislative Control
Meeting place
State Senate Chamber Oregon State Capitol Salem, Oregon
Website
Oregon State Senate

The Oregon State Senate is the upper house of the state-wide legislature for the US 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.

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.

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 and holder of the casting vote in the event of a tie. Instead, a separate position of Senate President is in place, removed from the state executive branch. If the chamber is tied, legislators must devise their own methods of resolving the impasse. In 2002, for example, Oregon's state senators entered into a power sharing contract whereby Democratic senators nominated the Senate President while Republican senators chaired key committees.

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.

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	18	12	30	0
Begin	16	14	30	0
November 11, 2011	15		29	1
January 5, 2012	16		30	0
Latest voting share	53.3%	46.7%

76th Senate

Main article: 76th Oregon Legislative Assembly

Oregon Senate districts outside the Willamette Valley.

Portland area Senate districts.

Willamette Valley Senate districts south of Portland area.

The 76th Oregon Legislative Assembly, which holds its regular session from 2011 to 2013, has the following leadership:

• President of the Senate: Peter Courtney (D-11 Salem)
• President Pro Tem: Ginny Burdick (D-18 Portland)
• Majority Leader: Diane Rosenbaum (D-21 Portland)
• Minority Leader: Ted Ferrioli (R-30 John Day)

See also

• List of Presidents of the Oregon State Senate
• 75th Oregon Legislative Assembly (2009 and 2010 sessions)
• 74th Oregon Legislative Assembly (2007 and 2008 sessions)
• Oregon Senate elections, 2008

External links

• Oregon State Senate
• Map of State Senate Districts
• Oregon Senate Democrats homepage