Massachusetts House of Representatives

The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from 14 counties each divided into single-member electoral districts across the Commonwealth. The House of Representatives convenes at the Massachusetts State House in Boston.

Qualifications

Any person seeking to get elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives must meet the following qualifications:

Be at least eighteen years of age
Be a registered voter in Massachusetts
Be an inhabitant of the district for at least one year prior to election
Receive at least 150 signatures on nomination papers
Representation

Originally, representatives were apportioned by town. For the first 150 persons, one representative was granted, and this ratio increased as the population of the town increased. The largest membership of the House was 749 in 1812 ; the largest House without Maine was 635 in 1837. The original distribution was changed to the current regional population system in the 20th century. Until 1978, there were 240 members of the house, a number in multi-member districts; today there are 160 in single-member districts.
Today, each Representative represents about 40,000 residents. Their districts are named for the counties they are in and tend to stay within one county, although districts occasionally cross county lines. Representatives serve two-year terms which are not limited.

The Sacred Cod

Within the House's debating chamber hangs the Sacred Cod of Massachusetts. The pine carving of the cod was offered by Representative John Rowe in 1784 in commemoration of the state's maritime economy and history. Two previous carvings of the cod existed during the legislature's colonial era; the first destroyed in a fire in 1747, and the second during the American War of Independence. Since 1784, the current Sacred Cod has been present at nearly every House session, and moved to its current location when the House began convening in the State House in 1798.
In 1933, members of the Harvard Lampoon stole the cod carving as part of a prank. The theft sparked a large statewide search by the Boston and Massachusetts State Police. Following outrage from Boston newspapers and the General Court itself, the cod was anonymously handed back.

Composition

The Democrats hold a supermajority in the House.

Leadership

The Speaker of the House presides over the House of Representatives. The Speaker is elected by the majority party caucus followed by confirmation of the full House through the passage of a House Resolution. As well as presiding over the body, the Speaker is also the chief leader, and controls the flow of legislation. Other House leaders, such as the majority and minority leaders, are elected by their respective party caucuses relative to their party's strength in the House.
The current Speaker of the House is Robert DeLeo of the 19th Suffolk District.

Leaders

Position	Leader	Municipality	Party
Speaker of the House	Robert A. DeLeo	Winthrop	Democratic
Majority Leader	Ronald Mariano	Quincy	Democratic
Speaker Pro Tempore	Patricia A. Haddad	Somerset	Democratic
Assistant Majority Leader	Joseph F. Wagner	Chicopee	Democratic
Second Assistant Majority Leader	Paul J. Donato	Medford	Democratic
Second Assistant Majority Leader	Michael J. Moran	Brighton	Democratic
First Division Chair	Kate Hogan	Stow	Democratic
Second Division Chair	David M. Nangle	Lowell	Democratic
Third Division Chair	Sarah K. Peake	Provincetown	Democratic
Fourth Division Chair	Louis L. Kafka	Stoughton	Democratic
House Ways and Means Chair	Aaron Michlewitz	Boston	Democratic
Minority Leader	Bradley H. Jones, Jr.	North Reading	Republican
Assistant Minority Leader	Bradford R. Hill	Ipswich	Republican
Second Assistant Minority Leader	Elizabeth A. Poirier	North Attleborough	Republican
Third Assistant Minority Leader	Susan Williams Gifford	Wareham	Republican
Third Assistant Minority Leader	Paul K. Frost	Auburn	Republican

The most recent election of members was held on November 6, 2018. Representatives serve two-year terms.

Committees

The current standing committees in the Massachusetts House of Representatives are as follows:

Committee	Chair	Vice Chair	Ranking Minority
Bills in the Third Reading	Theodore C. Speliotis	Carole A. Fiola	Angelo L. D'Emilia
Bonding, Capital Expenditures and State Assets	Antonio F. D. Cabral	RoseLee Vincent	David T. Vieira
Ethics	Christopher M. Markey	Thomas P. Walsh	Elizabeth A. Poirier
Global Warming and Climate Change	Michael J. Finn	Mary S. Keefe
Personnel and Administration	Frank A. Moran	Natalie M. Higgins
Post Audit and Oversight	David Paul Linsky	Daniel J. Ryan	Peter J. Durant
Redistricting	Paul W. Mark	Bud L. Williams	Steven S. Howitt
Rules	William C. Galvin	Daniel J. Hunt	Kimberly N. Ferguson
Steering, Policy and Scheduling	Thomas M. Petrolati	Daniel M. Donahue	Bradford Hill
Technology and Intergovernmental Affairs	Angelo J. Puppolo, Jr.	Aaron Vega	Marc T. Lombardo
Ways and Means	Aaron Michlewitz	Denise C. Garlick Elizabeth A. Malia	Todd M. Smola

Districts

The following is a complete list of Members of the House of Representatives in the 191st General Court, by district:

Barnstable, Dukes and Nantucket

6 Representatives

Berkshire

4 Representatives

Bristol

14 Representatives

Essex

18 Representatives

Franklin

2 Representatives

Hampden

12 Representatives

Hampshire

3 Representatives

Middlesex

37 Representatives

Norfolk

15 Representatives

Plymouth