The Montana State Legislature is made up of two chambers, the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Constitution of Montana limits the size of the Senate to no fewer than 40 and no more than 50 members and the size of the House of Representatives to no fewer than 80 and no more than 100 members. Each house is responsible for choosing its officers, creating committees and establishing its own rules. The Montana Legislature meets for 90 days every odd numbered year, beginning the first Monday in January, or the following Wednesday if the first Monday is New Years Day. The first State Legislature convened on November 23, 1889, fifteen days after Montana became a state. Each following Legislature has been numbered sequentially.
The 28th Montana Legislature met from January 4th to March 4th, 1943. The leaders of the Senate were Ernest Eaton (R-President), and W.E. Keeley (R-President Pro Tempore and Majority Leader). The leaders of the House were George O’Connor (R-Speaker), Neil Parker (R-Speaker Pro Tempore), R.C. Dillavou (R-Majority Leader), and Paul Cannon (D-Minority Leader).
Sources:
This collection includes the minutes of House Standing Committee on Appropriations, Greater University Subcommittee; minutes of the Senate Judiciary Committee; and House and Senate bills, resolutions (including a letter and an emblem paying tribute to WWII soldiers, the emblem was designed by Montana artist Irvin "Shorty" Shoupe), memorials (re Edwin S. Booth, Fred C. Campbell, and Carl August Linn; and coal miners who died in the Smith Mine, Bear Creek disaster), and joint resolutions. The collection also contains miscellany material including the "Organizational Structure Montana State Highway Commission" and the "Annual Agricultural Production Report--1942," by the U.S. Employment Service Farm Placement Supervisor, Helena.
The collection is organized into three series, House of Representatives, Senate, and Miscellany.
The series House of Representatives is organized into six subseries, House Standing Committee Minutes (arranged alphabetically), House Bills (arranged numerically), House Joint Resolutions (arranged numerically), Status Sheets of House Bills (arranged chronologically), House Memorials (arranged numerically), and House Joint Memorials (arranged numerically).
The series Senate is organized into seven subseries, Senate Standing Committee Minutes (arranged alphabetically), Senate Bills (arranged numerically), Senate Standing Committee Reports (arranged alphabetically), Status Sheets for Senate Bills (arranged chronologically), Senate Joint Resolutions (arranged numerically), Senate Memorials (arranged numerically), and Senate Joint Memorials (arranged numerically).
Collection is open for research.
The Montana Historical Society is the owner of the materials in the Research Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from the Research Library before any reproduction use. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all of the materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from the copyright owners.
[item description and date]. Montana Legislative Assembly (28th: 1943) records, 1942-1943. Legislative Records 28. [box and folder number]. Montana Historical Society Research Center. Archives. Helena, Montana.
Acquisition information available upon request.
Connie Geiger processed the collection in 1994
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the Montana Historical Society Archives catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search under these terms.