The
California State Senate is the
upper house of the
California State Legislature. The legislative body consists of 40 members, with each member representing approximately 931,000 people. Due to the state's large population and relatively small legislature, the State Senate has the largest population per representative ratio of any state legislative house. In the
United States House of Representatives, California is apportioned 53 representatives, each representing approximately 704,566 people, while in the State Senate, each of the 40 Senators represents approximately 931,349 people, with the result that California state senators each actually represent more voters than California's
representatives to the
United States Congress do. As a result of Proposition 140 in 1990 and Proposition 28 in 2012, members elected to the legislature prior to 2012 are restricted by
term limits to two four-year terms (eight years), while those elected in or after 2012 are allowed to serve 12 years in the legislature in any combination of four-year state senate or two-year
state assembly terms.