The Federated States

Article 25. The states are organized and governed by the Constitutions and laws they adopt, in accordance with the principles of this Constitution.

¹ All powers that this Constitution does not prohibit the states from exercising shall be conferred on them.

² The states shall have the power to operate, directly or by means of concession, the local services of piped gas, as provided for by law, it being forbidden to issue any provisional measure for its regulation.

³ The states may, by means of a supplementary law, establish metropolitan regions, urban agglomerations and microregions, formed by the grouping of adjacent municipalities, in order to integrate the organization, the planning and the operation of public functions of common interest.

Article 26. The property of the states includes:

1. surface or subterranean waters, flowing, emerging or in deposit, with the exception, in this case, of those resulting from work carried out by the Union, as provided by law;
2. the areas, on ocean and coastal islands, which are within their domain, excluding those under the domain of the Union, the municipalities or third parties;
3. the river and lake islands which do not belong to the Union; Union.
4. the unoccupied lands not included among those belonging to the

Article 27. The number of Deputies in the Legislative Assembly shall correspond to three times the representation of the state in the Chamber of Deputies and, when the number of thirty-six has been reached, it shall be increased by as many members as the number of Federal Deputies exceeding twelve.

¹ The term of office of the State Deputies shall be four years and the provisions of this Constitution shall be applied to them in what refers to the electoral system, inviolability, immunities, remuneration, loss of office, leave of absence, impediments, and incorporation into the Armed Forces.

² The compensation of State Deputies shall be established by an act of the State Legislative Assembly, in the proportion of seventy-five percent, at most, of the compensation established, in legal tender, for Federal Deputies, as provided by articles 39, paragraph 4; 57, paragraph 7; 150, II; 153, III; and 153, paragraph 2, I.

³ The Legislative Assemblies shall have the power to provide upon their internal regulations, police, and the administrative services of their Secretariat and to fill in the respective offices.

⁴ The law shall provide for the people’s initiative in the state legislative process.

Article 28. The election of the Governor and the Vice-Governor of a state shall be held on the first Sunday of October, in the first round, and on the last Sunday of October, in the second round, as the case may be, of the year preceding the one in which the term of office of their predecessors ends, and they shall take office on January 1 of the following year, in accordance, otherwise, with the provisions of article 77.

Paragraph 1. The Governor who takes another post or function in governmental entities or entities owned by the Government shall lose his office, with the exception of the taking of office by virtue of a public sector entrance examination, and with due regard for the provisions in article 38, I, IV, and V.

Paragraph 2. The compensation of the Governor, the Vice-Governor, and of the State Cabinet Members shall be established by an act of the State Legislative Assembly, as provided by articles 37, XI, 39, paragraph 4, 150, II, 153, III, and 153, paragraph 2, I.