New Hampshire General Court should not be confused with New Hampshire Supreme Court.
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| General Court of New Hampshire | |
| Coa Pic: | Seal of New Hampshire.svg |
| Session Room: | New Hampshire State House 2021.jpg |
| House Type: | Bicameral |
| Houses: | Senate House of Representatives |
| Structure1: | NHStateSenate2020-2022.svg |
| Structure1 Res: | 250px |
| Structure2: | New_Hampshire_House_of_Representatives_May_15_2024.svg |
| Structure2 Res: | 250px |
| Leader1 Type: | President of the Senate |
| Leader1: | Jeb Bradley |
| Party1: | (R) |
| Election1: | December 7, 2022 |
| Leader6 Type: | Speaker of the House |
| Leader6: | Sherman Packard (R) |
| Election6: | January 6, 2021 |
| Members: | 424 24 senators 400 representatives |
| Political Groups1: |
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| Political Groups2: |
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| Last Election1: | November 8, 2022 |
| Next Election1: | November 5, 2024 |
| Meeting Place: | New Hampshire State House Concord |
The General Court of New Hampshire is the bicameral state legislature of the U.S. state of New Hampshire. The lower house is the New Hampshire House of Representatives with 400 members. The upper house is the New Hampshire Senate with 24 members. This ratio of 1 Senate seat for every 16.67 House seats makes New Hampshire's ratio of upper house to lower house seats the largest in the country.
During the 2018–2020 session, the New Hampshire General Court was controlled by Democrats, with a 14–10 majority in the Senate and a 230–156–1 majority in the House, with 13 vacant seats at the end of the session. On November 3, 2020, Republicans won control of the New Hampshire General Court by winning a 14–10 majority in the Senate and a 213–187 majority in the House.[1]
The General Court convenes in the New Hampshire State House in downtown Concord. The State House opened in 1819. The House of Representatives continues to meet in its original chambers, making Representatives Hall the oldest chamber in the United States still in continuous legislative use. When numbered seats were installed in Representatives Hall, the number thirteen was purposely omitted in deference to triskaidekaphobia.
The annual pay for legislators is set by law at $100.00.[2]
See main article: article and New Hampshire House of Representatives. The House of Representatives consists of 400 members coming from 204 districts across the state created from divisions of the state's counties, each making up about 3,000 residents for every one legislator.
Unlike many legislative chambers, there is no central "aisle" to cross. Instead, there are five sections with aisles between them. Party seating location is not enforced, as seating is often decided on the personal preference of the legislator, except in the case of the sixth section, which is the speaker's seat at the head of the hall.
, the composition of the House of Representatives is:
| Affiliation | Members | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Republican Party | 199 | ||
| Democratic Party | 194 | ||
| Independent | 2 | ||
| Vacant | 5 | ||
| Total | 400 | ||
| Majority | 3 | ||
See main article: article and New Hampshire Senate. The New Hampshire Senate has been meeting since 1784. It consists of 24 members representing Senate districts based on population. As of the 2022–23 legislative session, there will be 14 Republicans and 10 Democrats in the Senate.
| Affiliation | Members | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Republican Party | 14 | ||
| Democratic Party | 10 | ||
| Total | 24 | ||
| Majority | 4 | ||
The New Hampshire State House press covers the New Hampshire State House for newspapers, news services and other news-gathering operations. The New Hampshire General Court website has calendars and journals for both the House and the Senate.
Pew Research Center in 2014 reported New Hampshire had one of the nation's smallest statehouse press corps, with five full-time reporters and an additional nine part-time reporters.[3]