consisting of a Senate and a House of Representatives; and
WHEREAS, The General Assembly met for 102 sessions, annually,
from 1776 through 1878; and
WHEREAS, During that period, as the second colony to ratify
the Constitution of the United States and attain statehood on
December 12, 1787, in recognition of its notable contributions
to the developing Federal Government, Pennsylvania became known
as the Keystone State; and
WHEREAS, As a result of a new State Constitution in 1874, the
General Assembly met for 40 two-year sessions, starting in 1879
and lasting until 1958; and
WHEREAS, In 1959, the General Assembly, on recommendation by
the Commission on Constitutional Revision, amended the
Constitution and returned to counting each subsequent calendar
year, 58 in total, as one distinct legislative session; and
WHEREAS, In the span of 200 sessions, the General Assembly
has continued its service to the citizens of this great
Commonwealth through times of peace and war and diverse periods
of social, political and institutional change; and
WHEREAS, To further ensure the continuity of legislative
sessions, the General Assembly has been called to order in town
halls, inns, and taverns and convened in sites including the
original State House in Philadelphia, now known as Independence
Hall, the Lancaster County Courthouse, and the Dauphin County
Courthouse, the Redbrick Capitol, Grace United Methodist Church
and the Cobb Capitol in the City of Harrisburg; and
WHEREAS, The finely appointed chambers, offices, corridors
and other public spaces of the present Pennsylvania State
Capitol, conceived by architect Joseph Huston as "A Palace of
Art," are timelessly suited for the General Assembly's purpose
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