# New York State Assembly
The **New York State Assembly** is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, a bicameral body of 150 members elected from 150 Assembly districts across the state for two-year terms[1](https://www.nysenate.gov/branches-government-new-york-state). It shares lawmaking power with the [New York State Senate](https://www.edgepedia.org/new-york-state-senate), and bills passed by one house must pass the other in the same form before going to the Governor for signature or veto[1](https://www.nysenate.gov/branches-government-new-york-state). The body is known as the "People's House" in New York, a phrase used by Speaker Carl E. Heastie on the chamber's official website[2](https://www.assembly.ny.gov/).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Size and term | 150 members elected from 150 districts for two-year terms[1](https://www.nysenate.gov/branches-government-new-york-state) |
| Presiding officer | The Speaker, elected from and by the Assembly membership for a two-year term; the current Speaker is Carl E. Heastie[1](https://www.nysenate.gov/branches-government-new-york-state) • [2](https://www.assembly.ny.gov/) |
| Historical milestone | On February 3, 2015, the Assembly elected New York's first African American Assembly Speaker[2](https://www.assembly.ny.gov/) |
| Creation | The first state Assembly was established by the Constitution of 1777; members were then elected to one-year terms[3](https://www.archives.nysed.gov/creator-authority/new-york-state-legislature-assembly) |
| Member qualifications | United States citizen, resident of New York State for five years and, in most cases, of the Assembly district for one year before election[1](https://www.nysenate.gov/branches-government-new-york-state) |
| Session start | The Assembly convenes at 12:00 noon on the first Wednesday after the first Monday in January in the Assembly Chamber[4](https://www.nyassembly.gov/Rules/?sec=r6) |
| Succession | The Temporary President of the Senate is next in line to the Lieutenant Governor in succession to the governorship, followed by the Speaker[1](https://www.nysenate.gov/branches-government-new-york-state) • [16](https://video.dos.ny.gov/lg/handbook/html/the_state_government.html) |
## History
New York's first elected legislature dates to the colonial period. In 1683, Governor Thomas Dongan, directed by the [Duke of York](https://www.edgepedia.org/duke-of-york), called a general assembly, and the Charter of Liberties and Privileges passed that October established an elected Assembly to share legislative power with the governor and his Council[5](https://www.nysenate.gov/historical-timeline). King James II rejected the charter and abolished the Assembly in 1686, but the body was restored, and the first permanent Assembly, also called the General or Colonial Assembly, met on April 9, 1691[5](https://www.nysenate.gov/historical-timeline).
The state Assembly was created by New York's first state constitution, approved on April 20, 1777. That constitution followed the colonial form of government: a bicameral legislature with a Senate elected from four districts every four years and an Assembly whose members served one-year terms, with the number of Assemblymen from each district proportionate to the district's population[3](https://www.archives.nysed.gov/creator-authority/new-york-state-legislature-assembly). During its first years, the Assembly handled much of its work by forming ad hoc committees to address individual problems whenever they came up, such as citizen petitions asking that civil disagreements be resolved; a large share of these cases involved land, which at the time was the state's most valuable economic resource.[3](https://www.archives.nysed.gov/creator-authority/new-york-state-legislature-assembly)
## Powers and lawmaking
Article III of the State Constitution vests the legislative power of the state in the Senate and Assembly[6](https://www.archives.nysed.gov/creator-authority/new-york-state-legislature). Either chamber may originate legislation, and before a measure approved by one chamber goes to the Governor, the other must approve it in identical form[1](https://www.nysenate.gov/branches-government-new-york-state). The Legislature's lawmaking powers include appropriating funds to operate state government and its agencies and for aid to local governments, defining crimes and setting penalties, promoting the public welfare, and correcting, amending, or repealing outdated or confusing laws[1](https://www.nysenate.gov/branches-government-new-york-state).
**Checks on the Governor.** The Legislature can override a Governor's veto with the support of two-thirds of the membership in each house, though the most common law-making procedure is compromise among the Senate, the Assembly, and the Governor[1](https://www.nysenate.gov/branches-government-new-york-state). While the [Legislature](https://www.edgepedia.org/legislature) is in session, the Governor has 10 days, not counting Sundays, to sign or veto a bill; failure to act within that period makes a bill law automatically. A vetoed bill returns to the house that first passed it with a statement of reasons[7](https://www.nysenate.gov/how-bill-becomes-law).
**Committee process.** A bill introduced in a house is given a number and referred to a standing committee, which may report it, amend it, or reject it; committees also hold public hearings to gather opinion[7](https://www.nysenate.gov/how-bill-becomes-law). In the Assembly, a bill passed by the Senate amending an Assembly bill is referred, except with unanimous consent for immediate passage, to the committee that reported the original bill[8](https://www2.nyassembly.gov/Rules/?sec=r3). Budget bills submitted by the Governor under Article VII of the Constitution are endorsed "Budget Bill" by the Assembly and referred to the Committee on Ways and Means[8](https://www2.nyassembly.gov/Rules/?sec=r3), whose chair and ranking member are among the chamber's leadership posts[9](https://www.assembly.ny.gov/mem/leadership/).
## Leadership
The Assembly is presided over by the Speaker, who possesses general powers similar to those of the Temporary President of the Senate[1](https://www.nysenate.gov/branches-government-new-york-state). Under the Assembly's 2025-2026 rules, the Speaker appoints a Majority Leader, who must be a member of the Committee on Rules, and the recognized leader of the Minority serves as Minority Leader for a two-year term[10](https://www.assembly.state.ny.us/Rules/rules_2026.pdf). Committee formation is a power held by the Assembly Speaker and the Senate Majority Leader, and legislators are assigned to those committees by the majority and minority leaders.[11](https://assembly.ny.gov/write/upload/member_files/108/pdfs/20260227_0117012.pdf)
The current majority leadership includes Speaker Carl E. Heastie of the Bronx, Majority Leader Crystal D. Peoples-Stokes of Buffalo, Deputy Speaker Phil Ramos, Assistant Speaker Vivian E. Cook, Speaker Pro Tempore Pamela J. Hunter, and Deputy Majority Leader Charles D. Fall, among other posts such as Majority Whip and chairs of the Ways and Means Committee, Majority Steering, and the Puerto Rican/Hispanic Task Force[9](https://www.assembly.ny.gov/mem/leadership/). The minority leadership is headed by Minority Leader Edward P. Ra of Garden City, with [Mary Beth Walsh](https://www.edgepedia.org/mary-beth-walsh) as Minority Leader Pro Tempore, Ken Blankenbush as Deputy Minority Leader, and [Philip A. Palmesano](https://www.edgepedia.org/phil-palmesano) as Ranking Member on Ways and Means[9](https://www.assembly.ny.gov/mem/leadership/).
## Membership and districts
Each member must be a United States citizen, a resident of the state for five years, and in most cases a resident of the Assembly district for one year preceding the election[1](https://www.nysenate.gov/branches-government-new-york-state). The State Constitution requires 150 Assembly districts with a near-equal distribution of population; the smallest district under one analysis, District 78 in the Bronx, had a population of 121,111 constituents[12](https://citizensunion.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/CitizensUnion_Presentation_SenateGovOps_May_4_20101.pdf). Assembly district lines are redrawn after each census, a process in which the Independent Redistricting Commission, established in 2014, draws plans for both houses; when the commission fails to reach consensus, the process moves to state lawmakers[13](https://apnews.com/article/5a9f38b0a9058d4a2038d1008514c8e8). A 2019 Reinvent Albany report noted that Assembly leaders received, on average, just 16 percent of their donations from within their own districts, a figure cited in debates over how district lines and campaign finance rules interact[14](https://apnews.com/article/23eb810995a259ee7f2c67d25528b141).
## Legislative effectiveness
Party status and committee chairing are strongly associated with a member's output in the State Legislature. In the 246th New York State Assembly, minority-party lawmakers had an average State Legislative Effectiveness Score of 0.49, compared with 1.23 for majority-party members, while committee chairs averaged 1.98[15](https://thelawmakers.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Highlights-from-the-2024-New-York-State-Legislative-Effectiveness-Scores_12162025.pdf). The scores are benchmarked against the average effectiveness of legislators who share a member's party status, seniority, and committee chair position[15](https://thelawmakers.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Highlights-from-the-2024-New-York-State-Legislative-Effectiveness-Scores_12162025.pdf).
## References
1. [Branches of Government in New York State, NYSenate.gov](https://www.nysenate.gov/branches-government-new-york-state)
2. [Assembly Home, New York State Assembly](https://www.assembly.ny.gov/)
3. [New York (State). Legislature. Assembly, New York State Archives](https://www.archives.nysed.gov/creator-authority/new-york-state-legislature-assembly)
4. [Assembly Rules, New York State Assembly](https://www.nyassembly.gov/Rules/?sec=r6)
5. [Historical Timeline, NYSenate.gov](https://www.nysenate.gov/historical-timeline)
6. [New York (State). Legislature, New York State Archives](https://www.archives.nysed.gov/creator-authority/new-york-state-legislature)
7. [How a bill becomes a law, NYSenate.gov](https://www.nysenate.gov/how-bill-becomes-law)
8. [Assembly Rules, New York State Assembly](https://www2.nyassembly.gov/Rules/?sec=r3)
9. [Assembly Leadership, New York State Assembly](https://www.assembly.ny.gov/mem/leadership/)
10. [Rules of the Assembly of the State of New York 2025-2026](https://www.assembly.state.ny.us/Rules/rules_2026.pdf)
11. [Your New York State Legislature (member handbook)](https://assembly.ny.gov/write/upload/member_files/108/pdfs/20260227_0117012.pdf)
12. [Citizens Union of the City of New York, presentation to Senate Government Operations (2010)](https://citizensunion.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/CitizensUnion_Presentation_SenateGovOps_May_4_20101.pdf)
13. [New York redistricting panel approves new congressional map with modest changes, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/5a9f38b0a9058d4a2038d1008514c8e8)
14. [Editorial Roundup: New York, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/23eb810995a259ee7f2c67d25528b141)
15. [Highlights from the 2024 New York State Legislative Effectiveness Scores, TheLawmakers.org](https://thelawmakers.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Highlights-from-the-2024-New-York-State-Legislative-Effectiveness-Scores_12162025.pdf)
16. [The State Government · GitBook](https://video.dos.ny.gov/lg/handbook/html/the_state_government.html)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Politics and government › Government and public administration › Legislatures and parliamentary institutions › Subnational legislatures*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 20, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 20, 2026; Oct 11, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license