New session started January 5, 2017 | Term limits None | |
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Speaker of the House Joe Aresimowicz (D)Since January, 2017 Majority Leader Matthew Ritter (D)Since January 9, 2013 Minority Leader Themis Klarides (R)Since January 7, 2015 | ||
The Connecticut House of Representatives is the lower house in the Connecticut General Assembly, the state legislature of the US state of Connecticut. The house is composed of 151 members representing an equal number of districts, with each constituency containing nearly 22,600 residents. Representatives are elected to two-year terms with no term limits. The House convenes within the Connecticut State Capitol in Hartford.
Contents
History
The House of Representatives has its basis in the earliest incarnation of the General Assembly, the "General Corte" established in 1636 whose membership was divided between six generally elected magistrates (the predecessor of the Connecticut Senate) and three-member "committees" representing each of the three towns of the Connecticut Colony (Hartford, Wethersfield, and Windsor). The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, adopted in 1639, replaced the committees with deputies; each town would elect three or four deputies for six-month terms. Although the magistrates and deputies sat together, they voted separately and in 1645 it was decreed that a measure had to have the approval of both groups in order to pass. The Charter of 1662 reduced the number of deputies per town to no more than two, and also changed the title of the legislature to the General Assembly. It was in 1698 that the General Assembly divided itself into its current bicameral form, with the twelve assistants (that replaced the magistrates) as the Council (which became the Senate in the 1818 constitution) and the deputies as the House of Representatives, which began electing the Speaker to preside over it. The terms of representatives were raised to two years in 1884.
Leadership of the House
The Speaker of the House presides over the House of Representatives. The Speaker is elected by the majority party caucus followed by confirmation of the full House through the passage of a House resolution. In addition to presiding over the body, the Speaker is also its chief leadership position, and controls the flow of legislation and committee assignments. Other House leaders, such as the majority and minority leaders, are elected by their respective party caucuses relative to their party's strength in the chamber.
The current Speaker is Democrat Brendan Sharkey of the 88th House District (Hamden). The Majority Leader is Joe Aresimowicz of the 30th House District (Berlin, Southington). The Minority Leader is Republican Themis Klarides of the 114th House District (Woodbridge, Orange, and Derby).
Listing of members
Current members of the Connecticut House of Representatives, as of April 15, 2015.