In reality, the lieutenant governor was rarely present to preside over the chamber.
After the 1992 amendment passed and altered Section 83 of the constitution, the lieutenant governor was stripped of all duties relating to the Senate.
In the mid-1990s a small dissident group of Democrats joined with Republicans to elect the body's officers.
John "Eck" Rose, who had served a total of ten years as President of the Senate and as President Pro Tem when that office was still the highest in the chamber, was then deposed as President of the Senate and replaced by Larry Saunders, a Democrat who aligned with the Republican minority and a handful of dissident Democrats.
The president of the Senate is also a member of the Legislative Research Commission.