Lower Columbian Council of States

The Council of States, often abbreviated to the Council, is the upper house of the Parliament of Lower Columbia. Consisting of 112 members elected by state governments, the Council gives each state of the kingdom equal representation, in contrast to the lower house, the Federal Assembly.

Article II of the Constitution of Lower Columbia defines the Council's composition and powers, along with those of the Assembly. It is mainly involved in the legislative process, although as the less powerful house, it rarely rejects bills passed by the Assembly. Its presiding officer is the Lord of the Council, who is appointed by the King after state elections have concluded. Together with the Lord (or Lady) of the Assembly, the Lord/Lady of the Council is one of the only elected members of the Cabinet of Lower Columbia.

Election and term
Since Councilors' main duty is to represent the interests of their respective state governments, they are elected by each state's legislature – its Assembly – at its first meeting after elections. State Assemblies are required to elect Councilors in proportions which are as similar as possible to their own partisan composition, using the single transferable vote; each state's delegation in the Council can therefore be predicted quite accurately from state Assembly election results. In addition, the need for both houses of Parliament to begin their term at the same time has resulted in state and federal elections being synchronized.

In accordance with the federal Constitution, the Council's terms last a maximum of five years, although most terms to date have been shorter. Like their colleagues in the Federal Assembly, Councilors are limited to serving five total terms; the longest that a Councilor can serve, then, is 25 years. These terms do not have to be consecutive for the term limit to apply.