South Carolina General Assembly
The South Carolina General Assembly, also called the South Carolina Legislature, is the legislative branch of South Carolina and consists of the South Carolina House of Representatives and the South Carolina Senate. Prior to Reynolds v. Sims, the House was apportioned so that each county had a number of representatives based on population, with each county guaranteed at least one Representative, while each county had one Senator. Moreover, each county's General Assembly delegation also doubled as its county council.
Reynolds v. Sims caused district lines to cross county lines, causing legislators to be on multiple county councils. This lead to the passage of the Home Rule Act of 1975, which created county councils that were independent of the General Assembly. However, some functions that in many other states are performed by county governments are still handled by county legislative delegations in South Carolina.
There are 124 members of the South Carolina House of Representatives, and the South Carolina Senate has 46 members.
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Officers
House of Representatives
- Speaker David Wilkins
- Speaker Pro Tempore Doug Smith
- Majority Leader James H. Merrill
- Minority Leader Harry Ott Jr.
Senate
- President Pro Tempore Glenn McConnell
- Minority Leader John Drummond
External Links
South Carolina Legislature Online