Chapter 7 Flashcards
The Speaker of the Texas House is
elected by members of the House of Representatives.
A(n) _______ is the minimum number required to conduct legislative business.
quorum
The Texas legislature consists of a
150-member House of Representatives and a 31-member Senate.
Historically, most legislators have been
Anglo males.
Members of the Texas House of Representatives serve ________ terms.
2-year
Members of the Texas Senate serve ________ terms.
4-year
Which of the following is true concerning term limits for Texas legislators?
No legislator is subject to term limits.
Regular legislative sessions are limited to
140 days.
A regular session in the Texas legislature starts when and lasts for how many days?
January of odd-numbered years; 140 days
How many special sessions can the governor call the legislature to?
unlimited
The Texas legislature serves all of the following functions
to represent the people of Texas in government and to consider constitutional amendments for the Texas and U.S. constitutions.
Which kind of resolution is used to either propose an amendment to the Texas Constitution or ratify an amendment to the U.S. Constitution?
joint
What is a joint legislative committee that provides legal advice, bill drafting, program evaluation, and other services to the members of the Texas legislature?
Legislative Council
The lieutenant governor gets his/her powers from
the Senate.
What kind of bill is an approved measure sent to the governor for signing?
enrolled
What committee is a temporary creation of one chamber of the Texas legislature that addresses a specific problem?
special committee
________ do most of the work during the legislative sessions.
Standing committees
In Texas, the purpose of a filibuster is to
kill a bill by refusing to allow a vote on it.
The president of the Texas Senate is also the
lieutenant governor of Texas.
The Texas Constitution grants the ________ veto power.
governor
Before it is sent to the governor, all but which of the following must happen to a bill?
It must be read on three separate days in the House and it must be read on three separate days in the Senate.
The legislature does not usually override a veto for what reason?
Bills are passed late in the session, so the legislature is usually out of session when a bill is vetoed.
The constitutional goal of redistricting is to
create districts with equal-sized populations.
To assure citizens equal representation, regardless of where they live, how often must the Texas district lines be redrawn?
once every 10 years
Which presiding officer is elected by the members of the House of Representatives?
Speaker of the House
There are ____ members of the Texas House of Representatives and _____ members of the Texas Senate.
150; 31
Members of the Texas Senate serve ________ terms
4 year
Regular legislative sessions are limited to
140 days
The president of the Texas Senate is also the
Lieutenant Governor of Texas.
The legislature does not usually override a veto for what reason?
Bills are passed late in session, so the legislature is usually out of session when a bill is vetoed.
During __________, the state legislature assures equal representation by drawing new districts of equal size population.
redistricting
The Texas legislature meets
in biennial sessions, 140 days every other year.
Texas House members differ from Texas Senate members because House members
represent small districts and are subject to more frequent elections.
The strongest power of the Lieutenant Governor and the Speaker of House allows them to control the final outcome of legislation. It is their power to
appoint members of conference committees.
If a bill fails to pass the Texas House and Texas Senate in exactly the same form, the bill
is sent to a conference committee.
The two most powerful political figures in the Texas legislature are the
Speaker of the House and the Lieutenant Governor.
In recent years, the Texas Legislature has
become more partisan.
The chairs of the Texas House committees are
both Democrats and Republicans.
The _________ are currently the majority party in the Texas House, and the __________ are majority party in the Senate
Republicans; Republicans
Which types of bills affect only units of local government, such as a city, county, or special district?
Local bills
In committee, the vast majority of bills __________.
pass as written by the author
The ability of the Governor to influence the legislative process by putting forth a vision for Texas and what legislation will accomplish that vision is called
the veto.
Compared to the U.S. Congress, the level of partisanship in the Texas Legislature is
greater than in the U.S. House, but less than that of the U.S. Senate.
The Supreme Court in their rulings in Baker v. Carr and Reynolds v. Sims, influenced Texas redistricting by calling for the
one-person, one-vote principle, in which each district must contain an equal number of people in order to ensure equal representation.
