The Iowa Legislature's official name is the General Assembly. The General Assembly has the power to make and pass laws that decide what the government should do and also helps the Executive branch to carry out the laws. We elect the General assembly to represent the voters. According to the constitution, the General Assembly also holds the power to reduce or increase the power and the role of the government.
The General Assembly is made up of two houses, the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Senate is composed of fifty people and the House of Representatives, one hundred. The members of the House serve a term of two years and must be 21 years old, while the Senate members serve a four-year term and must be at least 25 years old. In both houses the members must be both a citizen of the U.S. and have lived in Iowa for 2 years. .
Since the Iowa legislature is a part time citizen legislature, mostly all of the members return to jobs and professions in their home districts. Employers with twenty or more employees must by law grant unpaid leaves of absence to all the elected officials.
The General Assembly meets on the second Monday in January every year. Every individual General assembly is organized for two years, and is divided into two sessions. The first session (in odd-numbered years) which lasts about 110 days and then the second session (in even-numbered) years which lasts about 100 days. The Legislature can stay in session longer because the law or constitution does not set their limits.
At the beginning of each of these sessions both of the houses elect presiding officers and officially hire their staff. The two titles of the presiding officers are the Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate. Their main duties are to recognize the speakers during a debate and assign bills to committees. .
Traditionally, members of the Legislature belong to either of the two major political parties - the Democratic Party and the Republican Party.