Faculty and Staff

Albany

The New York State Legislature has two houses, the Assembly and the Senate (designated the "Upper House"). There are currently 62 Senators and 150 Assemblymembers. Each house generally meets two to four days a week, from January to June. The legislative session typically ends toward the end of June, although each house's leaders may call back membership in the Fall to finish what has been determined to be important business.

Any Legislator may sponsor and introduce a bill. Once a bill is introduced, it must go through at least one committee, depending on its subject matter. The committee then votes on it. If it passes there, the bill moves to the house floor for debate and a full vote. Assuming the bill passes its house of origin, it is then sent to the second house, where it must go through the same committee and debate process. A bill which passes both houses then is sent to the Governor, who will either sign it or veto it.

Constituents, of which SU is one, are encouraged to give their opinions on proposed laws. They may call or write to their representative as often as they please, and can even request a personal meeting in Albany or in their local office, as the legislator's schedule allows. Find your legislator.

Congress is a bicameral legislature, meaning it has two houses, the Senate and the House of Representatives (the members of the latter are known as Congressmen or -women.) There are 100 Senators, two per state, and 435 members of the House of Representatives. A state's number of representatives in the House is determined be that state's population.

As at the state level, any member of Congress may sponsor a piece of legislation, which is them referred to its appropriate committee and subcommittees for hearings. Expert witnesses and regular citizens who would be affected by the bill in question are often invited to give oral or written testimony.

The bill is then 'marked up' with any changes and a vote is taken to send the bill to the full committee, which may study it further or send it to the full House or Senate. The bill is then scheduled for floor action for when it will be debated by the full chamber. After the debate, members vote. If the bill passes, it is then referred to the other chamber, where it will go through a similar committee and debate process. Any differences between each chamber's version of the bill is reconciled in a conference committee. If no agreement can be reached, the bill then dies in conference.

Once an identical bill is approved by both the House and the Senate, it is sent to the President for his signature (or veto). If there are enough votes, Congress will attempt to override the veto, which requires a 2/3 majority.

Again, representatives and senators all want to hear from their constituents on issues large and small. Find your delegation's contact information.

As an institution, Syracuse University, occasionally in concert with other colleges and universities, will contact our federal delegation to acquaint them with our stance on particular legislative issues. From time to time, we also submit written opinions to federal regulatory agencies about issues of importance to us.