Test 3 on Modules 7-10 GOVT 2306

Lecture Notes for Module 7

The Texas legislature is bicameral, that is, a legislature with two chambers. Every state but

Nebraska has a bicameral legislature. Nebraska’s legislature is unicameral. The proponents of

a unicameral legislature argue that it is less expensive and more efficient than a bicameral body.

In contrast, the advocates of bicameralism argue that a bicameral legislature enables one

chamber to correct the errors of the other. Also, two chambers of different membership size and

term lengths can provide better representation than a single chamber.

House and Senate

The Texas House has 150 members elected from 150 districts to serve two-year terms. The

districts are drawn on the basis of population. The Texas Senate has 31 members elected from

31 districts to serve overlapping four-year terms. The districts are drawn on the basis of

population.

Term Limits

Texas legislators are not term limited. States that have term limits typically adopt them through

the initiative process rather than the legislative process. Most legislators are unwilling to vote

themselves out of a job. Without the initiative process, it is not surprising that Texas does not

have term limits. The following arguments are made in behalf of term limits:

▪ The legislature is in need of new ideas, procedures, and influence.

▪ Incumbents are difficult to defeat.

▪ Term-limited politicians are less likely to be focused on special interests.

▪ New officials are less likely to exploit the system for personal gain because they lack

knowledge of how the system works.

▪ Term limited officials can do what’s right rather than what will get them reelected.

The following arguments are made against term limits:

▪ Term limits may kick out good lawmakers who deserve to stay.

▪ Term limits kick out lawmakers at the time they begin to understand how the state

operates.

▪ A term limited legislature lacks institutional memory because it has no veteran members.

▪ Legislators will spend their last term looking for their next political job.

Roles and Responsibilities of the Two Chambers

The House and Senate share certain duties—they pass ordinary legislation, adopt the state

budget, approve tax measures, ratify U.S. constitutional amendments, and propose Texas

constitutional amendments. The House impeaches executive and judicial officials while the

Senate tries and votes to remove impeached officials. The Senate confirms gubernatorial

appointments. Some of these actions are by majority vote; some are by two-thirds vote.

Session Frequency

The Texas Constitution provides that the legislature meet in regular session every other year. It

is now in session and will meet in regular session again in 2019. Biennial legislative sessions

were common in the nineteenth century when state governments were much less active and

transportation was much more difficult. Today, however, Texas is one of only four states whose

legislatures do not meet annually. The proponents of annual sessions believe that biennial

sessions are inadequate to address the problems of a large and growing state. In contrast,

opponents of biennial sessions worry that they will lead to a larger state government. Texas

voters apparently agree with the opponents because they have rejected proposals for annual

legislative sessions several times.

Session Length

Regular sessions of the Texas legislature begin on the second Tuesday in January in odd

numbered years and run for 140 consecutive calendar days. Although a number of large states

place no limit on session length, many states limit the number of days their legislatures are in

session.

Session limits are controversial. Critics charge that 140 days are not enough for the legislature to

do its business and many important issues are left unaddressed. In contrast, defenders of the

current system believe that 140 days are enough, noting that the Texas legislature gets more done

than the U.S. Congress whose sessions are not limited.

Special Sessions

The Texas Constitution empowers the governor to call special sessions of the legislature, which

may last a maximum of 30 calendar days. Although most state legislatures may call themselves

into special session, the Texas legislature has no such power. The Texas Constitution places no

limit on the number of special sessions a governor can call. In practice, the governor has called

at least one and sometimes several special sessions for each regular session of the legislature.

The Texas Constitution declares that in a special session the "legislature may consider only those

matters that the governor specifies in the call or subsequently presents to the legislature." The

governor can use the power to set the agenda for special sessions as a bargaining tool in

negotiations with legislators. In exchange for support on other matters, the governor can offer to

expand the call to include issues of particular interest to individual legislators or groups of

lawmakers.

Legislative Backgrounds

Although the Texas legislature is a more diverse body than at any time in its history, it does not

provide an accurate cross-section of the state's population. The legislature is whiter and more

male than the state of Texas as a whole. Nonetheless, the legislature does include women,

Latinos, African Americans, Asian Americans, and a member who identifies as pansexual.

Most, but not all, women and minority members of the legislature are Democrats. The most

common career fields among legislators are business and law. Because pay is low and the

legislature is seldom in session, members have other jobs.

Political Parties

For most of the state’s history, political parties played little or no role in the Texas legislature

because nearly every legislator was a Democrat. Even as the Republican contingent in the

legislature grew, partisanship generally remained in the background. The speaker and lieutenant

governor included both Republicans and Democrats in their leadership teams and appointed

legislators of both parties to chair important committees.

The redistricting plan adopted after the 2000 Census tilted most legislative districts to one party

or the other. Consequently, most legislators owed their election to primary voters, forcing

Democrats to appeal to their liberal base while Republicans targeted their conservative base.

The legislature is not yet as partisan as Congress, but it is heading in that direction.

Compensation

Texas legislators are not well paid, especially compared with their counterparts in other large

states. The Texas Constitution sets legislative salaries at $600 a month or $7,200 a year.

Legislators receive a per diem of $150 for each day the legislature is in session.

Non-salary compensation is more generous. Legislators have created a lucrative pension plan for

themselves. Many legislators also use unspent campaign funds for personal expenses. Critics

charge that this practice creates a clear conflict of interest because it makes legislators personally

dependent on the financial backing of special interest groups.

Legislative Turnover

Legislative turnover refers to the replacement of individual members of a legislature from one

session to the next. Over the last decade, the turnover rate in the Texas legislature has ranged

from a high of 23 percent to a low of 10 percent. Ironically, few legislators leave office because

they are defeated for reelection. Most leave to pursue business opportunities, run for higher

office, or take a job as lobbyists, who earn much, much better salaries than state legislators.

Staff Support

State senators allow themselves $38,000 a month for staff salaries. House members who have

smaller districts voted themselves $13,250 a month for staff salaries. Most members of the

legislature use unspent campaign funds to supplement staff salaries.

Leadership

Governor Greg Abbott, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, and Speaker of the House Joe Straus

are the three most powerful officials in the state. Breaking News: Speaker Straus chose not to

seek reelection in 2018. Rep. Dennis Bonnen, a Republican from Angleton, was elected to be

the next speaker.

Leadership Selection

The speaker is a member of the House who is elected by his fellow members to be speaker. With

150 members of the House, the speaker candidate who can line up 76 supporters wins the office.

Candidates for speaker gather signed pledge cards from other members. The actual vote for

speaker, which takes place at the beginning of a regular legislative session, is usually unanimous

because most members don’t want to be on the speaker’s bad side.

Speaker Straus first won election as speaker in 2009. Tea Party activists want to oust Joe Straus

as speaker. They tried and failed in 2011, 2013, and 2015. The Tea Party opposes Straus

because he won with Democratic support, his family has gambling interests, he is too moderate,

and, for some, he is Jewish. As long as most Democrats prefer Straus to a Tea Party challenger,

he is likely to win reelection.

Leadership Powers

The speaker and lieutenant governor are two of the most powerful public officials in the state,

exercising extraordinary authority in their respective chambers. Their powers include the

following:

• Assign bills to committee

• Determine which bills come up for debate

• Preside over the floor

• Serve on and appoint members to the Legislative Budget Board (LBB)

• Serve on the Legislative Redistricting Board (LRB)

• Appoint committee chairs

• Appoint most committee members

The speaker and lieutenant governor base their authority on their ability to keep most members

of the legislature happy. If enough members are unhappy with the speaker or lieutenant

governor, they can face trouble from the membership, as Speaker Craddick discovered. House

members have the authority to change leadership. Although senators cannot replace the

lieutenant governor, they can strip the lieutenant governor of authority.

Both the speaker and the lieutenant governor have a corps of supporters in the chamber that

makes up their leadership team. The members of the leadership team advise the speaker or

lieutenant governor and work to organize the full chamber to support the leadership's position.

The speaker and lieutenant governor appoint the members of their leadership teams to chair the

most important committees. The speaker and lieutenant governor also punish opponents by

putting them on committees unrelated to their legislative goals.

Committees

Some of the legislature's most important work takes place in committee. A standing committee

is a permanent committee. Committees allow legislators to divide the workload. They also

enable legislators to specialize in particular policy issues.

Legislators usually have strong preferences regarding committee assignments. In the House, the

most coveted committee assignments are the Appropriations, State Affairs, Calendars, and Ways

and Means Committees. The committees of choice in the Senate are the Finance, State Affairs,

and Jurisprudence Committees. Legislators may also prefer a particular committee assignment

because of personal preference or constituency interest.

The speaker and lieutenant governor appoint all committee chairs and vice chairs as well as most

committee members. The only restriction in the Senate is that a small number of committee

members much be carryover members from the previous legislative session. In the House, the

speaker appoints half the members of each committee with the exception of the important

Appropriations Committee and Calendars Committee. The speaker appoints all of the members

of those two committees. Individual members may select among the remaining committee slots

on other committees in their order of seniority.

An interim committee is established to study a particular policy issue between legislative

sessions, such as higher education or public school finance. Frequently, an interim committee is

also a select or special committee, which is a committee that is established for a limited period

of time to address a specific problem. Interim committees may include private citizens as well as

legislators. The speaker, lieutenant governor, and governor may appoint interim committees.

2017 Issues

The legislature is considering a number of issues in its current (2015) session, including the

following:

 Education funding

 School vouchers

 Child Protective Services reform

 Bathroom bill

 Guns

 Taxes

 Sanctuary cities

The legislative process in Texas resembles the legislative process in the U.S. Congress.

Bill Introduction

Any member can introduce a bill, which is a proposed law, or a resolution, which is a legislative

statement of opinion on a certain matter, such as a measure congratulating a Texas sports team

for winning a championship. An amendment to the Texas Constitution takes the form of a joint

resolution, which is a resolution that must be passed by a two-thirds vote of each chamber.

Members can file bills through the 60 th

day of the session unless the governor declares an

emergency.

Once a bill is introduced, the secretary of the Senate or the chief clerk of the House assigns the

measure a number, indicating the chamber of origin and order of introduction. HB 45, for

example, indicates that the measure is the 45th bill introduced in the House during the session.

SR 102 is the 102 nd

resolution introduced in the Senate.

The lieutenant governor and the speaker, in consultation with the chamber parliamentarian,

assign newly introduced measures to committee. Major pieces of legislation, without regard for

subject matter, are assigned to the House Committee on State Affairs and the Senate Committee

on State Affairs.

Committee Stage

Committees do the detailed work of the legislature, preparing reports, holding hearings,

conducting markup, and voting whether to recommend the revised measure to the entire House

or Senate for passage.

Committees begin their consideration of proposed legislation by holding public hearings. After

the hearings are complete, the committee meets for mark up, the process in which legislators go

over a piece of legislation line-by-line to revise, amend, or rewrite it. Major legislation is almost

always rewritten in committee, with the final product reflecting a compromise among the various

groups and interests involved.

The committee report includes the revised text of the measure, a detailed analysis of the bill, and

a fiscal note, which is an analysis of a legislative measure indicating its cost to state government,

if any.

In the House, measures recommended favorably by a standing committee go to the Calendars

Committee for assignment to a House calendar, which sets the order of priority for considering

legislation. Calendar assignment may determine whether a bill receives floor consideration or is

left hanging when the legislature adjourns.

The House calendar system becomes more important as a legislative session wears on. During

the early months of a session, relatively few bills pass committee for assignment to a calendar

and the House typically considers every measure before ending its legislative day. Toward the

end of the session, however, the legislative pace quickens and the number of measures on the

calendar grows. By the end of the session, measures placed on low-priority calendars risk failure

for lack of action.

Getting to the Floor in the Senate

The Texas Senate does not have a Calendars Committee. Instead, the custom in the Texas

Senate is to require a super majority vote of the entire membership to consider legislation on the

floor, a procedure once known as the two-thirds rule because a two-thirds vote was needed to

suspend the rules. Although official Senate rules stipulate that bills emerging from committee

must be considered on the floor in the order in which they are received from committee, the

official procedure is almost never followed. The first bill reported out of committee at the

beginning of a session is invariably a "blocking bill," introduced not to be passed but to rest atop

the Senate calendar, preventing consideration of other measures.

With the blocking bill firmly in place, the lieutenant governor and other Senate leadership decide

which bills to consider on the floor and the order in which to consider them. By prearrangement,

the lieutenant governor recognizes a particular senator who then moves that the rules be

suspended to allow consideration by the full Senate of a particular bill. The rule suspension once

required a two-thirds vote, 21 senators of the total of 31. In 2015, however, Senate Republicans

changed the rule to 19 votes, allowing the Senate’s 20 Republicans to bring up measures without

any Democratic votes.

Floor Debate and Voting

Once a bill reaches the floor of either chamber, members debate its merits and perhaps propose

amendments. Because Texas House rules limit debate, the measure eventually comes to a vote

unless the session ends before action can be taken.

In the Senate, members may speak as long as they please, and occasionally senators attempt to

defeat a bill through prolonged debate, a practice known as a filibuster. However, because

debate can be ended by majority vote, the filibuster is not as potent a weapon in the Texas Senate

as it is in the U.S. Senate, where 60 of 100 votes are needed to shut off debate.

The only time a filibuster can be effective in the Texas Senate is near the end of the session, right

before a deadline for passing legislation, when an individual senator can literally run out the

clock. Wendy Davis, D, Fort Worth, use an 11-hour filibuster at the end of the 2013 regular

session to block an anti-abortion measure from coming to a vote. Nonetheless, the legislature

passed the abortion bill in a special session.

Ordinary legislation passes the Texas House and Texas Senate by majority vote of those

members present and voting. If all 150 House members participate, 76 votes constitute a

majority. In the Senate, 16 of 31 senators are a majority if every senator participates.

Constitutional amendments require a two-thirds vote of each chamber.

Conference Committees

A measure has not cleared the legislature until it has passed both the Texas House and the Texas

Senate in identical form during the same legislative session. If the two chambers cannot agree on

the details of legislation, they may decide to create a conference committee.

A conference committee is a special committee created to negotiate differences on similar

pieces of legislation passed by the House and Senate. Separate conference committees are

formed to deal with each bill in dispute. In Texas, conference committees include five members

from each chamber, appointed by the presiding officers. A majority of conference members

from each house must concur before the conference committee has finished its work.

Once conference committee members have reached an agreement, the conference committee

returns it to the floors of the Texas House and the Texas Senate for another vote. Each chamber

has the option of voting the legislation up or down or returning it to the conference committee

for further negotiation. 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.

Action by the Governor

When a bill reaches the governor’s desk, he or she has three choices: (1) Do nothing and the bill

becomes law; (2) Sign the bill into law; and (3) Veto the bill, subject to an override by two-thirds

vote of both houses (assuming the legislature is still in session).

For appropriation bills, the governor has the line-item veto, which is the power of the governor

to veto sections or items of an appropriation bill while signing the remainder of the bill into law.

The governor typically cuts well less than 1 percent of total spending from the budget.

The legislature can override a veto by a two-thirds vote of both chambers voting separately. It

hasn’t happened in 40 years.

When Laws Take Effect

Laws take effect at different times. The Texas Constitution declares that all laws except the

appropriations bill go into effect 90 days after the legislature adjourns unless the legislature by a

two-thirds vote designates another date. The appropriations bill takes effect on October 1, the

beginning of the state budget year. Sometimes the legislature specifies that a measure take effect

immediately upon signature of the governor. At other times the legislature directs that

legislation go into effect on September 1.

Study Questions

1. What is a bicameral legislature?

2. Do all states have bicameral legislatures?

3. What are the arguments for and against bicameral legislatures?

4. How do the Texas House and Texas Senate compare in terms of membership size,

selection method, and term length?

5. Are the terms of Texas legislators limited? What are the arguments for and against terms

limits?

6. What responsibilities and duties do the Texas House and Texas Senate share?

7. What responsibilities and duties are unique to the Texas House? What responsibilities

and duties are unique to the Texas Senate?

8. Who represents you in the Texas Senate and the Texas House?

9. How often does the legislature meet in regular session? When will it next be in regular

session?

10. Are biennial legislative sessions common among the states? What are the arguments for

and against biennial sessions?

11. How long do regular sessions of the legislature last?

12. Who has authority to call special sessions in Texas? What items can the legislature

consider in a special session? How long can a special session last? Is there a limit on the

number of special sessions that can be convened?

13. How does the makeup of the legislature compare with the state’s population? What

groups are over-represented? What groups are under-represented?

14. Are most women and minority legislators Democrats or Republicans?

15. What is the partisan balance in the legislature?

16. What is the role of political parties in the legislature? Why has the legislature become

more partisan than it once was? Is the legislature as partisan as the U.S. Congress?

17. How are members of the legislature compensated? Are Texas lawmakers relatively well

paid or poorly paid?

18. What is legislative turnover? Why do most members leave the legislature?

19. How much money do lawmakers have to pay for staff support? How do they supplement

those funds?

20. Who are the three most important officials in Texas?

21. How is the speaker chosen?

22. How is the lieutenant governor chosen?

23. Why are many Tea Party Republicans critical of Speaker Straus?

24. What are the powers of the legislative leadership in Texas?

25. Who makes up the leadership teams of the speaker and lieutenant governor?

26. How do the legislative priorities of Speaker Straus and Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick

differ?

27. What are standing committees and what is their role in the legislative process?

28. How are committee chairs, vice chairs, and members selected in the House and Senate?

29. What are interim committees?

30. What is a select or special committee?

31. What is the difference between a bill and a resolution?

32. Who has the authority to introduce a bill in the Texas legislature?

33. What were some of the key issues addressed in the 2017 session of the Texas legislature?

34. When a bill or resolution is introduced, it is given letters and a number. What do the

letters and numbers indicate?

35. Who has the authority to refer a bill to committee in the House and in the Senate?

36. What do committees do?

37. What is markup? At what stage of the legislative process does it occur?

38. What is a fiscal note?

39. What role does the Calendars Committee play in the Texas House?

40. Why is the House calendars system more important toward the end of a session than it is

at the beginning of a session?

41. How do bills reach the floor in the Texas Senate?

42. What role does the blocking bill play in the Texas Senate?

43. Are filibusters as potent a weapon in the Texas Senate as they are in the U.S. Senate?

44. When does the filibuster become a powerful tool in the Texas Senate?

45. On what issue did Wendy Davis base her filibuster? Did she succeed in defeating the

measure?

46. What role do conference committees play in the legislative process in Texas?

47. What options does the governor have when a bill reaches his desk?

48. When do bills take effect?