government 2
Bebisha
Chapter6-TheExecutiveBranch.pptxThe Executive Branch in Texas
Cindy Casey Brown
Government 2306
2019
The Texas Plural Executive
Governor
Lieutenant Governor
Attorney General
Comptroller of Public Accounts
Commissioners of the General Land Office
Secretary of State
The Texas Governor
gov.texas.gov
Qualifications to be Texas Governor
Order of Succession
Impeachment of Texas Governor
Formal Roles of Texas Governor
Constitutional Powers of Texas Governor
Chief Legislator
“Chief Financial Officer”
Commander in Chief of Texas
Chief Law Enforcement Officer
Governor can grant one time reprieve.
Board of Pardons and Paroles
https://www.tdcj.texas.gov/bpp/
Reprieve = temporary stay of execution.
Commutation = lessening of a penalty assessed for the commission of a crime.
Pardon = excusing of a crime.
Other Positions in the Texas Executive Branch
Texas Lieutenant Governor
Dan Patrick
https://www.ltgov.state.tx.us/
Texas Attorney General
Ken Paxton
https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/
Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts
Glenn Hegar
Unclaimed Property – check it!!!
Texas Agricultural Commissioner
https://www.texasagriculture.gov/
Texas General Land Commissioner
Texas Secretary of State
Texas Adjutant General
Major General Tracy Norris
https://tmd.texas.gov/office-of-the-adjutant-general
Board, Commissions, and Regulatory Agencies
Texas Railroad Commission
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
Texas State Board of Insurance
Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission
https://www.tsl.texas.gov/apps/lrs/agencies/index.html
The Texas Bureaucracy
The Texas Comptroller
The Texas Budget
Planning and Preparation
Authorization and Appropriations
Governor’s Approval
Budget: Planning and Preparation
Each state agency prepares a Legislative Appropriations Request (LAR) – this itemizes the funding each agency feels it needs – and includes performance measures designed to demonstrate the money will be used effectively and appropriately.
LARs sent to Legislative Budget Board (LBB), Comptroller, and Governor’s Office in late summer / early fall.
The LBB and the Governor's Office of Budget, Planning and Policy hold hearings on their content.
In the fall before the session, LBB uses the LARs as a basis to prepare a draft of the state's general appropriations bill, which will provide state agencies and institutions with funding for the following two fiscal years.
At the beginning of the legislative session, the Comptroller's office issues its biennial revenue estimate (BRE), a careful estimate of the funds likely to be available from taxes and other revenue sources over the next two years. The Texas Constitution makes the BRE a cap on legislative spending for this period.
Budget: Authorization and Appropriations
Both the Texas House Committee on Appropriations and the Senate Finance Committee hold hearings on the general appropriations bill, and make changes to it reflecting the BRE's limits and their funding priorities.
When the committees complete their versions of the bill, they send them to the full House and Senate, respectively, for approval.
These two bills then go to a conference committee made up of members of both the House and Senate, which resolves their differences to produce a single bill reflecting the wishes of both bodies.
Both houses then vote on this bill.
Once approved, it goes to the Comptroller's office for "certification," a formal statement from the Comptroller that the bill spends no more than the amounts reflected in the BRE.
Budget: Governor’s Approval
The bill then faces a final hurdle, the governor's signature. Texas has a "line-item veto," allowing the governor to trim individual spending items from the bill as he or she sees fit. (This veto can be overridden a two-thirds majority vote in each house, but in practice the governor's decisions are rarely challenged.)
Once signed, the bill becomes law, directing the state's finances for two more years.
