1. Texas Government: Policy and Politics, 11th Edition

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Texas Legislature
Introduction
Case Study
Global Warming - In 2009, the Texas legislature cautiously began to address the issue of global warming, the gradual warming of the Earth’s atmosphere, which is reportedly caused by the burning of fossil fuels and industrial pollutants.
Legislative Success - The effort to pass environmental measures also demonstrated the difficulty of the legislative process in Texas. Even measures that enjoy strong support sometimes fail because supporters run out of time in a short legislative session.
Business Friendly - Business friendly environmental legislation made progress in the legislature in 2009, bills designed to punish polluters got nowhere.
Politics and Process - Legislative efforts to enact environmentally friendly legislation illustrate both legislative politics and the legislative process.
Comment: The legislature is a principal, but only one of several policymaking institutions within Texas government. The others are; the Executive Branch, Judicial Branch; City Government; and other units of local government such as counties, school districts, and special districts.
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Texas Legislature
Structure
Bicameralism
Bicameral - Texas has a bicameral legislature composed of two chambers consisting of a House of Representatives and Senate.
Constitution - The Texas constitution assigns each legislative chamber certain powers and responsibilities.
Senate - The Senate has the authority to confirm or reject the governor’s appointments by a two-thirds majority.
House - Only the Texas House may initiate legislation to raise taxes, even though both chambers must agree before any tax bill can pass.
Comments:
The House alone, by majority vote, has the power of impeachment, which is a formal accusation against an executive or judicial officeholder.
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Texas Legislature
Structure
Bicameralism
Representation - Each House member represents approximately 139,000 individuals; whereas, each Senate member 673,000 constituents.
Terms of Office - Representatives serve for a term of two years; senators serve for a term of four years.
Comments:
Bicameralism has supporters and critics.
Conventional wisdom is that bicameralism has a conservative effect on the policymaking process because two chambers must approve a measure before it can clear the legislature.
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Texas Legislature
Structure
Session Frequency
Regular Session - The legislature meets in a regular session every other year (biennial), in odd-calendar years with sessions beginning on the second Tuesday in January.
Special Sessions - The Texas Constitution empowers the governor to call special sessions of the legislature, which may last for a maximum of 30 calendar days.
Comments:
Annual legislative sessions are near the top of the list of constitutional reforms because reformers believe that the affairs of state government are too complex to handle in biennial sessions.
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Texas Legislature
Structure
Session Length
Session Length - The biennial sessions of the legislature are limited to a maximum of 140 calendar days.
Pressure Sessions - Legislative activity in Texas thus tends to concentrate at certain times, i.e., the deadline for submitting bills and the end of the session.
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7. Photo: AP/Wide World Photos
Texas Legislature
Membership
Demographics
Diversity - The 81st Legislature (2009) included:
43 Women
37 Latinos
16 African Americans
2 Asian American
The membership of the Texas Legislature is more diverse today than at any time in history.
Photo: AP/Wide World Photos
Comments:
Although the Texas legislature is an ethnically diverse body, it is not a cross-section of the state’s population.
Figure 8.1 on the following slide indicates, the legislature is whiter and has more male members than the state of Texas as a whole.
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8. Figure 8.1 Representation in the 81st Legislature
Texas Legislature
Membership
Figure 8.1 Representation in the 81st Legislature
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Texas Legislature
Membership
Compensation
Salary - The official salary for members of the legislature, both House and Senate is set by the Texas Constitution at $600 a month or $7,200 a year.
Comments: Compared with other states, this compensation figure is low.
Other Benefits:
Texas legislators have provided themselves with one of the most generous pension plans in the nation.
State law also allows legislators to deposit leftover or excess campaign funds into officeholder accounts that can be used to pay for whatever expenses the lawmaker wants to cover.
Other Compensation – Non-salary compensation provided for Texas legislators when the legislature is in session equals to a daily expense allowance of $139.
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Texas Legislature
Membership
Legislative Turnover
Turnover - Legislative turnover refers to the replacement of individual members of a legislature from one session to the next.
Redistricting – Turnover seems to peak in the first election after redistricting.
Cause of Turnover – It is more often the result of voluntary retirement, rather than election defeat. Some members leave because they cannot win reelection; others quit out of frustration.
Example:
The 78th Legislature, which was the first legislature elected from the 2000 census redistricting, included 43 new members (5 senators and 38 members of the House).
The 81st Legislature (elected in 2008) included only 19 new faces out of 181 members.
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11. Membership Texas Legislature Term Limits
Term Limits - Term limitation is the movement to restrict the number of terms public officials may serve.
Comments:
Advocates of term limits believe that they will improve the capacity of the legislature to do its work.
Opponents are convinced that term limits make legislatures less effective.
No Texas Limits – Although fifteen states have enacted term limit laws, Texas has not adopted term limits for its legislators.

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Texas Legislature
Organization
Leadership
Leadership - The Speaker of the House and the Lieutenant Governor are the presiding officers of the legislature.
Texas House of Representatives – The Speaker of the House is the presiding officer of the House and is elected by the members of the House.
Texas Senate – The Lieutenant Governor is the presiding officer of the Senate.
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Texas Legislature
Organization
Leadership
Control - The Speaker and the Lieutenant Governor control many of the legislative procedures of the House and Senate, respectively.
Committee Membership – The Speaker and Lieutenant Governor exercise considerable control over committee membership.
Presiding Officer – As presiding officers in their respective chambers, they recognize members for debate, rule on points of order, and interpret rules.
Appointments – They serve on and make appointments to some of the state’s most important policymaking bodies, including the Legislative Budget Board (LBB) and the Legislative Redistricting Board (LRB).
Committee Assignments and Scheduling – They assign bills to committees and, once committees have done their work, they have considerable influence over which bills are scheduled for debate.
Comments:
The leadership of the Speaker and Lieutenant Governor is a collective rather than individual;
Each official heads a leadership team made up of supporters in the chamber.
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Texas Legislature
Organization
Committees
Standing Committee - A standing committee is a permanent committee established to handle legislation in a certain field.
Membership Limits – House and Senate rules limit the number of standing committees on which legislators may serve to three.
Standing Committees – In 2007 the Texas House had 41 standing committees and the Texas Senate had 15 standing committees.
Legislative Workload – Standing committees are important because they enable members to divide the legislative workload.
Member Assignments – The Lieutenant Governor and Speaker make most committee assignments.
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Texas Legislature
Organization
Committees
Other Committees – Other special committees are established to serve unique purposes.
Interim Committee - A committee established to study a particular policy issue between legislative sessions, such as higher education or public school finance.
Select or Special Committee – A committee established for a limited period of time to address a specific problem.
Conference Committee – A committee created to negotiate differences on similar pieces of legislation passed by the House and Senate.
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Texas Legislature
Organization
Legislative Assistance
Staff Assistance – Staff assistance is important to members of the Texas legislature because they are essentially part-time employees asked to perform a monumental task in a limited period of time.
Funding Allowance - The legislature provides members with sufficient funds to employ staff assistance, who perform a wide array of legislative services.
Institutional Support - The legislature also provides members with institutional assistance, for example, the Legislative Council and the Legislative Reference Library.
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17. The Legislative Process
Texas Legislature
The Legislative Process
Introduction of Legislation
Legislation – In each legislative session, members introduce thousands of bills and hundreds of resolutions.
Bill – A proposed law.
Resolution – A legislative statement of opinion on a certain matter, i.e., congratulating a Texas sport’s team for winning a championship.
Joint Resolution - Joint resolution is a resolution that must be passed by a two-thirds vote of each chamber.
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18. The Legislative Process
Texas Legislature
The Legislative Process
Committee Action
Committee Assignment – After a bill or resolution has been introduced, the measure is assigned to a committee by the lieutenant governor and the Speaker, respectively, in each chamber.
Report Out - If the proposed measure receives a majority of affirmative votes, it is reported out of committee to the respective floor.
Mark Up - After the hearings are complete, the committee meets for mark up, which is the process of revising, amending, or rewriting of the proposed legislative measure.
Committee Vote - The committee members vote whether to recommend the revised measure to their respective chamber for passage.
Public Hearing - Committees begin consideration of proposed legislation by holding public hearings.
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19. The Legislative Process
Texas Legislature
The Legislative Process
Floor Action
The Process – The process by which legislation moves from committee to the floor differs in the two chambers of the Texas legislature.
House of Representatives - Measures recommended favorably by a standing committee go to the Calendars Committee for assignment to one of the House calendars, which sets the order of priority for consideration of the legislative proposal.
Senate - Measures recommended favorably go to the Senate calendar of bills, which sets the order of priority for consideration of the legislative measure on the Senate floor.
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20. The Legislative Process
Texas Legislature
The Legislative Process
Floor Action
House of Representatives – House rules provide for consideration of measures in order of priority set by the calendar system, but the House may vote by a two-thirds margin to consider a measure out of order.
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21. The Legislative Process
Texas Legislature
The Legislative Process
Floor Action
Senate – Senate rules require that bills emerging from committee be placed on a single calendar for consideration in order.
Standard Practice – However, it is a standard practice to consider legislation out of order by suspending the rules of priority with a two-thirds vote of the Senate.
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22. The Legislative Process
Texas Legislature
The Legislative Process
Floor Action
Debate – Floor action on bills consists of members of either chamber debating the bill on its merit and perhaps offering amendments.
House of Representatives - In the House, debate is limited due to House rules so the measure eventually comes to a vote unless the session ends before action can be taken.
Senate - In the Senate, debate can vary due to the practice of a filibuster; however, a majority vote can end debate.
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23. The Legislative Process
Texas Legislature
The Legislative Process
Floor Action
Voting – Following debate, voting occurs.
Majority Vote - Ordinary legislation passes the Texas House and Texas Senate by majority vote of those members present and voting.
Two-Thirds Majority - Constitutional amendments require a two-thirds vote of each chamber.
House of Representatives - Members of the House vote electronically and a scoreboard displays each vote.
Senate - Members of the Senate vote by roll call.
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24. The Legislative Process
Texas Legislature
The Legislative Process
Conference Committee Action
Final Passage – A proposed measure has not cleared the legislature until it has passed both chambers in identical form.
Conference Committee – A conference committees is a special committee created to negotiate differences between pieces of legislation passed by the House and Senate.
Reporting Out – Once conference committee members have reached an agreement, the conference committee returns it to the floors of the House and Senate for another vote.
Reconciliation - Conference committees negotiate differences between pieces of legislation passed by the House and Senate.
Floor Action - Each chamber has the option of voting the legislation up or down or returning it to the conference committee for further negotiation.
Accept or Reject - The House and Senate may not amend the measure at this point; rather, legislators must accept or reject the piece of legislation in its entirety.
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25. The Legislative Process
Texas Legislature
The Legislative Process
Action by the Governor
Final Passage – Once a bill passes the legislature, it goes to the governor, who has three options.
Take No Action – Take no action on the bill; however, the bill becomes law after ten days if the legislature is in session.
Approve the Legislation – Sign the bill passed by the legislature into law.
Line Item Veto – Exercise line-item veto on appropriation bills.
Comments:
The Governor has the power to strike out sections or items of an appropriations bill while signing the remainder of the bill into law.
This authority is only applicable in an appropriations bill.
Veto – Issue a veto on the entire bill.
Comments:
Governor’s veto can be overridden by a two-thirds vote of each chamber if the legislature is still in session.
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26. Legislative Policymaking
Texas Legislature
Legislative Policymaking
Legislative Process
Legislative Process – A number of factors affect the legislative process in Texas.
Legislative Leadership
Interest Groups
Constituency
Political Parties
Political Ideology
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27. Legislative Policymaking
Texas Legislature
Legislative Policymaking
Legislative Leadership
Leadership – The centralizing of power for the Speaker of the House and the Lieutenant Governor becomes an important factor in the legislative process.
Comments:
The support or opposition of the leadership strongly determines the success or failure of a legislative measure.
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28. Legislative Policymaking
Texas Legislature
Legislative Policymaking
Interest Groups
Interest Groups – Interest groups influence the legislative process by contributing money to candidates which provides legislative access.
Comments:
Interest groups also affect the legislative process through lobbying.
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29. Legislative Policymaking
Texas Legislature
Legislative Policymaking
Constituency
Constituency Influence – Several models are linked to constituency service.
Fourth Model – Another model of representation suggests that legislators sometimes represent constituents outside their districts, such as campaign contributors. From this perspective, big money contributors may have as much or more influence over legislative decision-making as the voters.
Second Model – A second model of representation holds that lawmakers do what they think their constituents will approve at the next election. This approach recognizes that legislators may sometimes address issues that were not discussed during the last election.
Third Model – A third model of representation holds that legislators use their own common sense and good judgment to do what is best for their constituents and the state as a whole.
Traditional Model – The traditional model of representation is that candidates make promises during the election campaign and then keep (or fail to keep) those promises once in office. In this approach, citizens hold legislators accountable for keeping their promises.
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30. Legislative Policymaking
Texas Legislature
Legislative Policymaking
Political Parties
Political Parties – For most of the state’s history, political parties played a relatively small role in legislative policymaking, because nearly every legislator was a Democrat.
Partisan Legislature – The 78th legislature, which met in 2003, marked the beginning of a turn toward a more partisan legislature, especially in the Texas House.
Comments:
Democratic and Republican legislators disagree on policy issues because they represent different constituencies with different interests.
Partisan Drama – Perhaps the biggest legislative drama of the regular session was the highly partisan battle over voter ID that pitted almost every Democratic legislator against almost every Republican lawmaker.
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31. Legislative Policymaking
Texas Legislature
Legislative Policymaking
Political Ideology
Political Ideology – Political ideology influences the legislative process in several ways.
Liberalism – Liberalism is the political view that seeks to change the political, economic, or social institutions of society to foster the development and well-being of the individual.
Comments:
Liberals usually favor government regulation and high levels of spending for social programs.
Conservatives generally oppose most government economic regulation and heavy government spending while favoring low taxes and traditional values.
Historically, conservatives have dominated the Texas legislature and legislative policies have reflected their political values.
Conservatism – Conservatism is the political view that seeks to preserve the political, economic, and social institutions of society against abrupt change.
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Texas Legislature
What We Have Learned
What We Have Learned
How bicameralism, biennial sessions, and limited session length affect legislative policymaking in Texas.
What is the job description of a member of the Texas legislature, considering qualifications, background, compensation, turnover, and term limits.
How the Texas legislature is organized in terms of leadership, committee organization, and legislative assistance.
What the steps of the legislative process are.
How the following factors affect the legislative process: legislative leadership, interest groups, constituency, political parties, and political ideology.
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