The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the

Massachusetts General Court The Massachusetts General Court (formally styled the General Court of Massachusetts) is the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The name "General Court" is a hold-over from the earliest days of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, ...

, the

state legislature A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United Sta ...

of the

Commonwealth of Massachusetts Massachusetts ( Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' E ...

. It is composed of 160 members elected from 14 counties each divided into single-member electoral districts across the Commonwealth. The House of Representatives convenes at the Massachusetts State House in Boston.

Qualifications

Any person seeking to get elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives must meet the following qualifications: * Be at least eighteen years of age * Be a registered voter in Massachusetts * Be an inhabitant of the district for at least one year prior to election * Receive at least 150 signatures on nomination papers

Representation

Originally, representatives were apportioned by town. For the first 150 persons, one representative was granted, and this ratio increased as the population of the town increased. The largest membership of the House was 749 in 1812 (214 of these being from the District of Maine); the largest House without Maine was 635 in 1837. The original distribution was changed to the current regional population system in the 20th century. Until 1978, there were 240 members of the house, a number in multi-member districts; today there are 160 in single-member districts. Today, each Representative represents about 40,000 residents. Their districts are named for the counties they are in and tend to stay within one county, although districts often cross county lines. Representatives serve two-year terms which are not limited. USA State House 2 MA

The Sacred Cod

Within the House's debating chamber hangs the Sacred Cod of Massachusetts. The pine carving of the cod was offered by Representative John Rowe in 1784 in commemoration of the state's maritime economy and history. Two previous carvings of the cod existed during the legislature's colonial era; the first destroyed in a fire in 1747, and the second during the

American War of Independence The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. Since 1784, the current Sacred Cod has been present at nearly every House session, and moved to its current location when the House began convening in the State House in 1798. In 1933, members of the '' Harvard Lampoon'' stole the cod carving as part of a prank. The theft sparked a large statewide search by the

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

and Massachusetts State Police. Following outrage from Boston newspapers and the General Court itself, the cod was anonymously handed back.

Composition

The Democrats hold a supermajority in the House.

Leadership

The

Speaker of the House The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hunger ...

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. As well as presiding over the body, the Speaker is also the chief leader, and controls the flow of legislation. 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 House. The current Speaker of the House is

Ronald Mariano Ronald Joseph Mariano (born October 31, 1946) is an American politician currently serving as the Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives. A Democrat from Quincy, he was first elected to the House in a December 1991 special ele ...

of the 3rd Norfolk District.

Leaders

The most recent election of members was held on November 3, 2020. Representatives serve two-year terms.

Committees

The current standing committees in the Massachusetts House of Representatives are as follows:

Current members and districts

Past composition of the House of Representatives

References

Representative Districts
accessed April 9, 2006

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Massachusetts House Of Representatives House of Representatives State lower houses in the United States