New York Constitution of 1846/Article 3

ARTICLE III.

Section 1. [Legislative power.]—The legislative power of this state shall be vested in a senate and assembly.

§ 2. [Senate and assembly, how constituted.]—The senate shall consist of thirty-two members, and the senators shall be chosen for two years. The assembly shall consist of one hundred and twenty-eight members, who shall be annually elected.

§ 3. [ Senate districts.]—The state shall be divided into thirty-two districts, to be called senate districts, each of which shall choose one senator. The districts shall be numbered from one to thirty-two, inclusive. District number one (1) shall consist of the counties of Suffolk, Richmond, and Queens. District number two (2) shall consist of the county of Kings. District number three (3), number four (4) , number five (5), and number six (6) , shall consist of the city and county of New York; and the board of supervisors of said city and county shall, on or before the first day of May, one thousand eight hundred and forty-seven, divide the said city and county into the number of senate districts to which it is entitled, as near as may be of an equal number of inhabitants, excluding aliens and persons of color not taxed, and consisting of convenient and contiguous territory; and no assembly district shall be divided in the formation of a senate district. The board of supervisors, when they shall have completed such division, shall cause certificates thereof, stating the number and boundaries of each district and the population thereof, to be filed in the office of the secretary of state, and of the clerk of the said city and county. District number seven (7) shall consist of the counties of Westchester, Putnam, and Rockland. District number eight (8) shall consist of the counties of Duchess and Columbia. District number nine (9) shall consist of the counties of Orange and Sullivan. District number ten ( 10) shall consist of the counties of Ulster and Greene. District number eleven (11) shall consist of the counties of Albany and 5chenectady. District number twelve (12) shall consist of the county of Rensselaer. District number thirteen (13) shall consist of the counties of Washington and Saratoga. District number fourteen (14) shall consist of the counties of Warren, Essex, and Clinton. District number fifteen (15) shall consist of the counties of St. Lawrence and Franklin. District number sixteen, (16) shall consist of the counties of Herkimer, Hamilton, Fulton, and Montgomery. District number seventeen (17) shall consist of the counties of Schoharie and Delaware. District number eighteen (18) shall consist of the counties of Otsego and Chenango. District number nineteen ( 19 ) shall consist of the county of Oneida. District number twenty (20) shall consist of the counties of Madison and Oswego. District number twenty-one (21) shall consist of the counties of Jefferson and Lewis. District number twenty-two (22) shall consist of the county of Onondaga. District number twenty-three (23 ) shall consist of the counties of Cortland, Broome, and Tioga. District number twenty-four (24) shall consist of the counties of Cayuga and Wayne. District number twenty-five (25) shall consist of the counties of Tompkins, Seneca, and Yates. District number twenty-six (26) shall consist of the counties of Steuben and Chemung. District number twenty-seven (27 ) shall consist of the county of Monroe. District number twenty-eight (28) shall consist of the counties of Orleans, Genesee, and Niagara. District number twenty-nine (29) shall consist of the counties of Ontario and Livingston. District number thirty (30) shall consist of the counties of Allegany and Wyoming. District number thirty-one (31) shall consist of the county of Erie. District number thirty-two (32) shall consist of the counties of Chautauqua and Cattaraugus.

§ 4. [Census; reapportionment of senators.]—An enumeration of the inhabitants of the state shall be taken, under the direction of the legislature, in the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, and at the end of every ten years thereafter; and the said districts shall be so altered by the legislature, at the first session after the return of every enumeration, that each senate district shall contain, as nearly as may be, an equal number of inhabitants, excluding aliens, and persons of color not taxed; and shall remain unaltered until the return of another enumeration, and shall at all times consist of contiguous territory; and no county shall be divided in the formation of a senate district, except such county shall be equitably entitled to two or more senators.

§ 5. [Apportionment of assembly.]—The members of assembly shall be apportioned among the several counties of this state, by the legislature, as nearly as may be, according to the number of their respective inhabitants, excluding aliens, and persons of color not taxed, and shall be chosen by single districts. The several boards of supervisors in such counties of this state as are now entitled to more than one member of assembly shall assemble on the first Tuesday of January next, and divide their respective counties into assembly districts, equal to the number of members of assembly to which such counties are now severally entitled by law, and shall cause to be filed in the offices of the secretary of state and the clerks of their respective counties, a description of such assembly districts, specifying the number of each district and the population thereof, according to the last preceding state enumeration, as near as can be ascertained. Each assembly district shall contain, as nearly as may be, an equal number of inhabitants, excluding aliens, and persons of color not taxed, and shall consist of convenient and contiguous territory; but no town shall be divided in the formation of assembly districts. The legislature, at its first session after the return of every enumeration, shall reapportion the members of assembly among the several counties of this state, in manner aforesaid; and the boards of supervisors in such counties as may be entitled, under such reapportionment, to more than one member, shall assemble at such time as the legislature making such reapportionment shall prescribe, and divide such counties into assembly districts, in the manner herein directed; and the apportionment and districts so to be made shall remain unaltered until another enumeration shall be taken, under the provisions of the preceding section. Every county heretofore established and separately organized, except the county of Hamilton, shall always be entitled to one member of the assembly, and no new county shall hereafter be erected, unless its population shall entitle it to a member. The county of Hamilton shall elect with the county of Fulton, until the population of the county of Hamilton shall, according to the ratio, be entitled to a member.

§ 6. [Compensation of members.]—The members of the legislature shall receive for their services a sum not exceeding three dollars per day, from the commencement of the session, but such pay shall not exceed in the aggregate three hundred dollars per diem allowance, except in proceedings for impeachment. The limitation as to the aggregate compensation shall not take effect until the year one thousand eight hundred and forty-eight. When convened in extra session by the governor, they shall receive three dollars per day. They shall also receive the sum of one dollar for every ten miles they shall travel, in going to and returning from their place of meeting on the most usual route. The speaker of the assembly shall, in virtue of his office, receive an additional compensation equal to one-third of his per diem allowance as a member.

§ 7. [Members not to receive certain civil appointments.]—No member of the legislature shall receive any civil appointment within this state, or to the Senate of the United States, from the governor, the governor and senate, or from the legislature, during the term for which he shall have been elected; and all such appointments, and all votes given for any such member, for any such office or appointment, shall be void.

§ 8. [Certain Federal officers disqualified as members.]—No person being a member of Congress, or holding any judicial or military office under the United States, shall hold a seat in the legislature; and if any person shall, after his election as a member of the legislature, be elected to Congress, or appointed to any office, civil or military, under the government of the United States, his acceptance thereof shall vacate his seat.

§ 9. [Time of elections.]—The elections of senators and members of assembly, pursuant to the provisions of this Constitution, shall be held on the Tuesday succeeding the first Monday of November, unless otherwise directed by the legislature.

§ 10. [Quorum; special powers of each house.]—A majority of each house shall constitute a quorum to do business. Each house shall determine the rules of its own proceedings and be the judge of the elections, returns, and qualifications of its own members; shall choose its own officers; and the senate shall choose a temporary president when the lieutenant governor shall not attend as president, or shall act as governor.

§ 11. [Journals; public sessions; adjournments.]—Each house shall keep a journal of its proceedings and publish the same, except such parts as may require secrecy. The doors of each house shall be kept open, except when the public welfare shall require secrecy. Neither house shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than two days.

§ 12. [Privileges of members.]—For any speech or debate in either house of the legislature the members shall not be questioned in any other place.

§ 13. [Bills may originate in either house.]—Any bill may originate in either house of the legislature, and all bills passed by one house may be amended by the other.

§ 14. [Enacting clause.]—The enacting clause of all bills shall be "The People of the state of New York, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows," and no law shall be enacted except by bill.

§ 15. [Manner of passing bills.]—No bill shall be passed unless by the assent of a majority of all the members elected to each branch of the legislature, and the question upon the final passage shall be taken immediately upon its last reading, and the yeas and nays entered on the journal.

§ 16. [Private and local bills limited to one subject.]—No private or local bill, which may be passed by the legislature, shall embrace more than one subject, and that shall be expressed in the title.

§ 17. [Boards of supervisors may be vested with legislative powers.]—The legislature may confer upon the boards of supervisors of the several counties of the state such further powers of local legislation and administration as they shall, from time to time, prescribe.