1. The Texas Legislature Chapter 23 American Government
9th Edition
to accompany Comprehensive, Alternate, Texas, and Essentials Editions
O’Connor and Sabato
Pearson Education, Inc. © 2008

2. The Texas Legislature Serves the following functions:
To represent the people in government
To legislate
To budget and tax
To perform constituent casework
To consider constitutional amendments for the Texas and U.S. constitutions
To confirm the governor’s appointees
To redistrict itself and the U.S. congressional districts in Congress
To impeach and remove from office corrupt officials

3. The Origins of the Legislative Branch
Predecessors were:
Mexican legislatures
A series of elected conventions
Congress of the Republic of Texas
Bicameral Congress
Convened in 1836 with 30 representatives and 14 senators
Senators served three-year terms; House members elected for one-year terms
Nine Congresses for the Republic of Texas, one year each in length
Anglos dominated legislature
Dissolved in 1846
Legislature of State of Texas convened in 1846

4. The State Constitution and the Legislative Branch of Government
Today the bicameral Texas legislature consists of a Senate of 31 members and a House of 150 members.
Senate ranks 40th in size among the states
House ranks 8th in size among the states
1876 Texas Constitution set the size of the Senate but allowed the House to grow to max of 150 in 1921
Both must pass a bill for it to become a law.
Differing duties as well

6. Constitutional Provisions Affecting Legislators
Length of Terms
Representatives elected for two-year terms
Senators for four-year terms
Senate elections are staggered: 15 seats up and then 16 seats two years later
After redistricting, all senators must run, draw lots to see who serves a two-year term versus a four-year term
Temporary Acting Legislators
Appointed if a representative or senator goes into military service
Compensation
Among the lowest paid in the nation
Last raise was in 1974
Ethics Commission in 1991 raised per diems

7. Sessions of the Legislature
Biennial legislature
Meets in regular session every two years
Were common in the 19th and 20th century
Concept of the citizen legislature
Regular session
The biennial 140-day session of the Texas legislature, beginning in January of odd-numbered years
Special (called) session
A legislative session of up to 30 days, called by the governor, during an interim between regular sessions

8. Legislative Membership: Representing the Public
Variables that affect members’ elections include
Their districts and any redistricting that occurs
No term limits

9. Redistricting Single-member district
An election system for legislative bodies in which each legislator runs from and represents a single district, rather than the entire geographic area encompassed by the government
Controversies in Texas over redistricting
2001 legislature and governor could not reach an accommodation
Legislative Redistricting Board (4 Republicans and 1 Democrat) approved plans that favored Republicans
Lawsuits resulted but plan was approved with modifications
In 2004 the U.S. Supreme court upheld Pennsylvania redistricting plans but suggested that partisan issues in redistricting could be so extreme as to render plans unconstitutional.
Sent the Texas plan to the lower courts for reconsideration given their 2004 decision
Upheld and sent back to the Court
Most of the plan was approved.

10. Reelection Rates and Turnover Membership
Early on, few legislators sought a second term.
Now most incumbents seek reelection and most are successful.
Nationally, state legislative turnover is about 21% in House and 17 percent in the Senate. Texas rate is lower on average although it varies by election year
Election after redistricting most volatile

11. Personal and Political Characteristics of Members
Occupation
Many lawyers, businesspeople and professionals, but number of teachers, preachers, public organizers and former legislative aides is increasing.
The pay is low and the job is part-time.
Education
Generally a very educated group
Religion
Baptists dominated, but by the 1990s Catholics were the largest group, followed by Baptists, Methodists, and Episcopalians.

14. Personal and Political Characteristics of Members
Gender
Anglo males have dominated; recently women and minority members have increased in number. (2005= 22.5% women)
Race
2007 – More racial diversity found among Democratic members of Texas House and Senate
Age
Most Texas legislators are in their forties or fifties in age.
House members tend to be younger relative to Senate members.

15. Personal and Political Characteristics of Members
Political Party
Historically, Democrats have won far more seats in the Texas legislature than have Republicans.
Republicans have grown in power.They won majority in Texas Senate in 1996, 1998, 2000 and They won a majority in the House in 2002 and 2004.
In 2005, Democrats controlled 24 state senate seats, Republicans controlled 24. One equally divided
Ideology
Democrats tend to be liberals and populists; Republicans tend to be libertarians and conservatives.

16. Ideological Voting Patterns in the Texas House of Representatives

17. How the Texas Legislature is Organized
Leaders
President of the Texas Senate
Pro-Tempore
Speaker of the Texas House
Committees
Legislative Party Caucuses
An organization of legislators who are all of the same party, and which is formally allied with a political party

21. Leadership and Opposition in the House
Texas Constitution requires that members of the House choose a leader (called the Speaker).
20th-century norm is for the Speaker to serve two terms
1973 Dirty Thirty Reforms
Speaker voting is open and public.
Some fear of retaliation
2003 First Republican speaker in more than 130 years

22. The Speaker’s Race
The campaign to determine who shall be the speaker of the Texas House for a given biennium
Vast amounts of money raised
Much of this money used to to help elect legislators who will be pledged to the speaker candidate
Pledge cards
Delay scandal in 2003
Sharpstown scandal
Speaker has a team
The leadership team in the House, consisting of the speaker and his/her most trusted allies among the members, most of whom the speaker appoints to chair House committees
Speaker’s lieutenants and team

23. House Leadership and the Political Parties
Until 2003, Republicans controlled the House during only one session, in1870.
Personal and factional groupings have dominated the selection process, with the conservative Democratic faction normally winning.

24. The Speaker’s Influence Over Committees
Speakers have the ability to stack important committees with legislators from the faction that controls the House.
Reforms in the 1970s

25. House Opposition and Political Parties
Opposition to the Speaker and the Speaker’s team was traditionally NOT organized along party lines.
This is changing now
But coalitional approach still used
Ex: Craddick in 2003

26. Organizing in the House Through Nonparty Caucuses
Nonparty legislative caucus
An organization of legislators that is based on some attribute other than party affiliation
House Study Group
House Research Organization
Texas Conservative Coalition
Texas Conservative Coalition Research Institute
Legislative Study Group

27. Leadership and Opposition in the Senate
Role of the Lieutenant Governor
Political stepping stone
One of the most powerful lieutenant governors in the United States
Coalition Building in the Senate
Small body, with weak political parties
Leadership and opposition are typically organized on an ad hoc basis
Heavily influenced by personal relationships
Conservative faction dominated

28. Leadership and Opposition in the Senate
Senate Two-Thirds Rule
The rule in the Texas Senate requiring that every bill win a vote of two-thirds of the senators present to suspend the Senate’s regular order of business, so that the bill may be considered
Tends to protect the opposition
Makes leadership-opposition blocs more fluid in the Senate
Greater protection of minority rights than in the Texas House

29. The Law-Making and Budgeting Function of the Legislature
Bill: a proposed law
Joint resolution
A legislative document that either proposes an amendment to the Texas Constitution or ratifies an amendment to the U.S. Constitution
Simple resolution
A legislative document proposing an action that affects only the one chamber in which it is being considered, such as a resolution to adopt House rules or to commend a citizen
Concurrent resolution
A legislative document intended to express the will of both chambers of the legislature, even though it does not possess the authority of law

30. How a Bill Becomes a Law
Bill must be read on three separate days in each chamber
Must pass both chambers in the exact form
Legislator files a bill or resolution and clerk assigns it a number
No requirement that a bill be introduced in both chambers
Bill then goes to committee
Committee holds hearings, most of them public hearings
Open to all and votes must be taken in open meetings
If it goes to subcommittee, the subcommittee chair decides to have a public hearing or a formal meeting.
At this point the House and Senate diverge in the legislative process.

31. How a Bill Becomes a Law House Senate House Calendars Committee
1993 Reforms
Senate
Intent Calendar
Notice of Intent
Bottleneck Bill
Killer Bees
2/3s Rule

33. The Bill Reaches the Floor
Quorum
The minimum number required to conduct business
First Reading
Texas Constitution requires three readings of a bill by the legislature; first reading is when the bill is introduced, its caption is read aloud, and it is referred to committee
Second Reading
Occurs when debate and consideration of amendments occur before the whole chamber
Third Reading
The final reading in a chamber unless the bill returns from the other chamber with amendments
Filibuster is a formal way of halting action on a bill by means of long speeches or unlimited debate in the Senate.

34. The Bill Reaches the Floor
An amendment must be germane to the bill (related to the topic), but this is a matter of interpretation by the speaker of the House or Senate president.
In the chamber in which the bill originated, when the final vote on a bill on third reading is favorable, the bill is considered engrossed.
An engrossed bill is then sent to the other chamber by a staff messenger.
It then goes through the referral and committee process and may or may not make it to the floor of the second chamber.

35. Two Bills into One: The Final Stages
Many bills are amended in the second chamber, so an additional step is needed to get both bills into one form.
The original chamber could simply vote to concur with the amendments placed on the bill or,
It may vote to NOT concur and request a conference committee to adjust the differences
If approved, it is an enrolled bill and goes to the governor
He may sign it, ignore it (and it goes into effect anyway) or veto it

36. The Budgeting Process
Biennial legislative sessions necessitate biennial budgets
1931 the Texas legislature designated the governor as the state’s chief budget officer, but the same law gave the State Board of Control responsibility for preparing the budget
1951 the budget function went to the governor’s office and stayed there
Legislative Budget Board was also created
Both prepare budgets for the legislature to consider.

37. The Budgeting Process
Balanced budget required by the Texas constitution
Deficit spending: government spending in the current budget cycle that exceeds government revenue.
Debt: the total outstanding amount the government owes as a result of borrowing in the past
Budget execution authority: The authority to move money from one program to another program or from one agency to another agency.

38. How Legislators Make Decisions
Growth of legislative staff
Efforts to increase information
Technical assistance/staffing
Specialized information
Legislative Council
A joint legislative committee that provides legal advice, bill drafting, copyediting and printing, policy research, and program evaluation services for members of the legislature
Legislative Budget Board
Joint legislative committee that prepares the state budget and conducts evaluations of agencies’ programs
Political assistance
Lobbyists
Ethics of Lobbying

39. The Legislator and the Governor
Strong players in the legislative process
Have things that legislators want:
Emergency declaration for their bills
Adding their bills to a call for a special session
Signing their bills
Special Sessions
Party loyalty
Veto power