The Tennessee General Assembly (TNGA) is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is a part-time bicameral legislature consisting of a Senate and a House of Representatives. The Speaker of the Senate carries the additional title and office of Lieutenant Governor of Tennessee. In addition to passing a budget for state government plus other legislation, the General Assembly appoints three state officers specified by the state constitution. It is also the initiating body in any process to amend the state's constitution. Organization Constitutional structure According to the Tennessee State Constitution of 1870, the General Assembly is a bicameral legislature and consists of a Senate of thirty-three members and a House of Representatives of ninety-nine members. The representatives are elected to two-year terms; according to a 1966 constitutional amendment the senators are elected to four-year terms which are staggered, with the districts with even numbers being elected in the year of Presidential elections and those in the districts with odd numbers being elected in the years of Tennessee gubernatorial elections. According to the Tennessee Constitution each representative must be twenty-one years old, a citizen of the United States, have been a resident of the state for three years and also a resident of the county they represent a year prior to the election. The state constitution also states that each senator must be thirty years of age, a citizen of the United States, resided three years in Tennessee, and resided in the district one year prior to the election. Part-time legislature To keep the legislature a part-time body, it is limited to ninety "legislative days" per two-year term, plus up to fifteen days for organizational purposes at the start of each term. A legislative day is considered any day that the House or Senate formally meets in the chambers of each house. Legislators are paid a base salary of $19,009 along with a per diem expense of $171 per legislative day. If the legislature remains in session longer than ninety legislative days, lawmakers cease to draw their expense money. Legislators also receive an "office allowance" of $1,000 per month, ostensibly for the maintenance of an office area devoted to their legislative work in their homes or elsewhere within their district. Traditionally, it has been easier, politically speaking, to raise the per diem and office allowance than the salary. The speaker of each house is entitled to a salary