Massachusetts House of Representatives

Any person seeking to get elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives must meet the following qualifications:[1]

• 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

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 (214 of these being from the District of Maine); the largest House without Maine was 635 in 1837.[2] The original distribution was changed to the current regional population system in the 20th century. Until 1978, there were 240 members of the house,[3] a number in multi-member districts; today there are 160 in single-member districts.[4]

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 often cross county lines. Representatives serve two-year terms which are not limited.

Representatives' desk with microphone and voting buttons (yea/nay)

Within the House's debating chamber hangs the Sacred Cod of Massachusetts. The 5-foot-long (1.5 m) 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.[5]

2020 composition by municipality

The Democrats hold a supermajority in the House.

[8]

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 Ronald Mariano of the 3rd Norfolk District.

Leaders

[9]

Position	Representative	Portrait	Municipality	Party
Speaker of the House	Ronald Mariano		Quincy	Democratic
Majority Leader
Speaker Pro Tempore	Kate Hogan		Stow
Assistant Majority Leader (Whip)	Michael J. Moran		Brighton
Second Assistant Majority Leader (Deputy Whip)	Joseph F. Wagner		Chicopee
	Sarah K. Peake		Provincetown
First Division Chair	James J. O’Day		Worcester
Second Division Chair	Ruth B. Balser		Newton
Third Division Chair	Frank A. Moran		Lawrence
Fourth Division Chair	Thomas A. Golden, Jr.		Lowell
House Ways and Means Chair	Aaron Michlewitz		Boston
Dean of the House	Kevin Honan		Boston
Minority Leader	Bradley H. Jones, Jr.		North Reading	Republican
Assistant Minority Leader (Whip)	Kimberly N. Ferguson		Holden
Second Assistant Minority Leader (Deputy Whip)	Paul K. Frost		Auburn
Third Assistant Minority Leader	Susan Williams Gifford		Wareham
	F. Jay Barrows		Mansfield

The most recent election of members was held on November 3, 2020. Representatives serve two-year terms.

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

• 2021–2022 Massachusetts legislature
• List of current Massachusetts House of Representatives committees
• List of speakers of the Massachusetts House of Representatives
• Massachusetts State House
• Massachusetts Senate
• Massachusetts General Court
• List of former districts of the Massachusetts House of Representatives
• List of Massachusetts General Courts
• Massachusetts Government
• List of members of the colonial Massachusetts House of Representatives

• Representative Districts, accessed April 9, 2006
• House Members of the General Court

• "General Court of Massachusetts: House". Public Officers of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts: 1945-1946. 1945.
• "House of Representatives of the General Court of Massachusetts". Public Officers of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts: 1947-1948. 1947.
  • 1951, 1957, 1961, 1967, 1971, 1977, 1981, 1987, 1993, 1997, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007
• "Representative Districts". Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Manual for the Use of the General Court for 1993-1994. Boston. 1993. (Per Chapter 11, Acts of 1988. Based on 1985 census)

• "Massachusetts - State Legislative District Maps (Lower Chamber)". United States Census Bureau.