§48.01 | TIME AND PLACE OF MEETINGS OF LEGISLATURE; BIENNIAL SESSIONS; ORGANIZATIONAL SESSIONS; ELECTION OF PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE OF SENATE AND SPEAKER OF HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES; MAXIMUM LENGTH OF SESSIONS; COMPENSATION AND TRAVEL ALLOWANCES OF MEMBERS OF LEGISLATURE
Time and place of meetings of Legislature; biennial sessions; organizational sessions; election of president pro tempore of Senate and speaker of House of Representatives; maximum length of sessions; compensation and travel allowances of members of Legislature.
(a) All sessions of the legislatureshall be held at the capitol in the senate chamber and in the hall of the house of representatives, unless at any time it should from any cause become impossible or dangerous for the legislature to meet or remain at the capitol, or for the senate to meet or remain in the senate chamber, or for the representatives to meet or remain in the hall of the house of representatives, in which case the governor may convene the legislature, or remove it after it has convened, to some other place, or may designate some other place for the sitting of the respective houses, or either of them, as necessity may require. The legislatureshall convene on the second Tuesday in January next succeeding their election and shall remain in session for not longer than ten consecutive calendar days. No business can be transacted at such sessions except the organization of the legislature, the election of officers, the appointment of standing committees of the senate and the house of representatives for the ensuing four years, which election and appointment may, however, also be made at such other times as may be necessary, the opening and publication of the returns and the ascertainment and declaration of the results of the election for governor, lieutenant-governor, attorney-general, state auditor, secretary of state, state treasurer, and commissioner of agriculture and industries, the election of such officers in the event of a tie vote, the determination of contested elections for such offices, the judging of the election returns and qualification of the members of the legislature, and the inauguration of the governor and the other elected state officers whose terms of office are concurrent with that of the governor. At the beginning of each such organization session, and at such other times as may be necessary, the senate shall elect one of its members president pro tempore thereof, to preside over its deliberations in the absence of the lieutenant-governor, and the house of representativesshall elect one of its members as speaker, to preside over its deliberations. The president of the senate and the speaker of the house of representativesshall each hold his respective office until his successor has been elected and qualified. The provisions of this Constitution in conflict herewith are hereby modified to conform to the provisions of this amendment. The provisions of this amendmentshall become effective at the beginning of the term of the members of the legislature elected at the general election in 1946.
(b) Beginning in the year 1976 regular sessions of the legislatureshall be held annually on the first Tuesday in May, or on such other day as may be prescribed by law, and shall be limited to 30 legislative days and 105 calendar days. Special sessions of the legislature convened in the manner provided by this Constitution shall be limited to 12 legislative days and 30 calendar days.
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