- Kansas Senate
The Kansas Senate is the
upper house of theKansas Legislature , the state legislature of theU.S. State ofKansas . It is composed of 40 Senators representing an equal amount of districts, each with a population of at least 60,000 inhabitants. Members of the Senate are elected to a four year term. There is no limit to the number of terms that a Senator may serve. The Kansas Senate meets at theKansas State Capitol in Topeka.Like other
upper house s of state and territorial legislatures and the federalU.S. Senate , the Senate is reserved with special functions such as confirming or rejecting gubernatorial appointments to executive departments, the statecabinet , commissions and boards.enate leadership
The
President of the Senate presides over the body, Is a member of the Organization,Calendar and Rules Committee that appoints members to all of the Senate's committees and joint committees, and may create other committees and subcommittees if desired. Unlike other states, theLieutenant Governor of Kansas does not preside over the Senate. Since a1972 amendment to theKansas Constitution , the Lieutenant Governor's duties have been severed from thelegislative branch , and is active in other areas of the Kansas state government such as commissions on military affairs and health insurance. In the Senate President's absence, theVice-President presides. The President of the Kansas Senate assigns proposed bills to committees and the Majority Leader determines the calendar and order of bills to be debated on the floor of the Kansas Senate. The Organization, Rules and Calendar Committee is made up of the President, Vice-President, Majority leader, Assistant Majority Leader, Minority Leader and 4 senators elected by the majority caucus.The current President of the Senate is Republican Stephen Morris of District 39 (Garden City, Ulysses). The Senate
Majority Leader isDerek Schmidt of District 15 (Iola, Independence). The SenateMinority Leader is DemocratAnthony Hensley of District 19 (Topeka, Burlingame, Osage City).Make-up of the Senate
Members of the Kansas Senate, 2005-2009
ee also
*
Kansas State Capitol
*Kansas Legislature
*Kansas House of Representatives External links
* [http://www.kslegislature.org/legsrv-senate/index.do Kansas Senate]
* [http://maps.kansasgis.org/demograph/ims/myelect.cfm Interactive Map of Kansas House and Senate Districts]
* [http://www.vote-smart.org/official_state_legislator.php?type=office&state_id=KS&criteria=upper Project Vote Smart - State Senate of Kansas]
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