Article III — The Legislature
Assembly and Senate
Assembly seats follow population by Webster allocation, with at least one per State and Territory; terms are two years, at most six. The Senate has two seats per State, staggered six-year terms, at most two. Statutory vacancy periods may not exceed ninety days, except where the remaining term is shorter. States and Territories may provide recall within §3.2(6).
§3.2 — full provision →Passage and delay
All legislation originates in the Assembly. Ordinary passage requires an absolute majorityA majority of a chamber's full seated membership — counted against every seat filled, not just the members present or voting. of full seated membership in each chamber. Senate review lasts at most ninety days, with one extension up to thirty days by a majority of full seated membership. Deemed approval applies only to a measure needing no more than a majority; it never supplies an expressly required affirmative vote.
§3.1 — full provision →Agreements and institutions
Treaties and compacts require two-thirds of the full seated Senate. Trade agreements require absolute majorities in both chambers. Neither chamber rewrites a concluded international agreement. Independent agencies exercise their functions independently under §3.9.a; statute may organize or abolish statutory agencies without impairing constitutionally assigned independent functions.
§3.6 — full provision →Competence and resources
Federal legislation needs an assigned constitutional power or a reasonably necessary implementing power. Unassigned powers remain with States and local government. Federal standards do not alone authorize commandeering their institutions. Institutions must receive resources sufficient for assigned duties; material resource changes require published justification. Delegation must state scope and conditions; the Legislature retains the power to rescind it.
§3.10 — full provision →