Test 3 Flashcards
Most State Legislatures today are?
Bicameral
What State Legislature(s) are/is NOT Bicameral?
Nebraska
Why does Texas have a Bicameral State Legislature?
A. Population Size and Geographical Size
B. Model of US Congress
C. Legacy of Texas Republic
D. Divide Powers of Legislature into 2 Chambers
a. Prevents abuse of power
b. There is a relativity weak exec branch, so can’t allow Legislature to become too powerful
Term limits in the State Legislatures
A. 15 States have them
a. Arkansas is most restricting when it comes to Term Limits b. Texas has no Term Limits
Upper Houses in a State cannot represent counties or cities of a state because…
A. Counties lack constitutional standing in the US Constitution (Dillon’s Rule)
a. Cities and counties are creations of the state b. Baker vs. Carr (1962) Tennessee - Can counties be used for representation in upper house of State Legislature? 14th amendment - equal protection clause - says states must treat its citizens as equal under the law. "One Person, One Vote"
Frequency of Meeting in the State Legislature
A. Annually - Each year - 42 states do this.
B. Biannually* - Every other year - 8 states, including Texas
*One problem is that those states must plan 2 years worth of spending/budget ahead of time.
Types of State Legislatures
A. Professional SL’s - Meets frequently ( 9 mos or more per year); Salary - $38,000; Staffing - 9 or more Staffers
B. Citizen SL’s - Meets biennial (short annual sessions 60 days, 60 days, <9mos; Salary - $1200 - $36,000; Staffing - 5 - 8 Staffers
What type of SL does Texas have?
Session Length - Biannually 140 days
Special Sessions - 30 days only, can only be called by governor
Texas governor decides topics of bills to be considered
Salary - $7,200 when in session + $150 per day + 45c per mile
Staffing - TX Senate gets $25,000/mo, while in session; Reps get $8,500/mo
Retirement plan - after serving at least 8 years, the SL’s get state judiciary retirement plan - $3,000/mo
ALL OF THIS == HYBRID SL
Limitations on Redistricting
A. All redistricting plans have to pass through legislative approval.
B. Voting Act of 1965 - Must get prior approval from the US DoJ when redistricting that ensures that the minorities are not being discriminated against.
C. Majority - Minority districts - Districts where the majority of the population comes from a racial or ethnic minority. In Hunt V Comartie (2001) SC says that race can be A factor in redistricting, but not THE factor.
D. Frequency of Redistricting - (LULAC v. Perry [2006]) - SC says one time per decade is a minimum for redistricting, but may redistrict more often.
E. Compactness - How tight the district is.
F. Contiguous - Where the district is not divided by another district.
Arrow’s Paradox
X likes A > B > C Y likes B > C > A Z likes C > A > B X says put B v. C B wins. Put A v. B A wins. They choose A. Y says put A v. C C wins. Put B v. C B wins. They choose B. Z says put A v. B A wins. Put A v. C C wins. They choose C.
Rules or Institutions
Shape outcomes. When we change the rules, we change the outcome.
Elections to State Legislatures: Single Member Districts
a. US is divided into geographic-based election districts (US Senate goes by states)
b. Each district elects one person to legislation
c. Total # of election districts needed is equal to the total number of seats in legislation
d. The person with the most votes wins (plurality)
e. Some states require a majority (50% + 1 vote) to win. If none exist, a run-off election occurs.
Elections to State Legislatures: Multi-Member Districts
Some states use this. It it thought to be more representative.
a. State divided into geographic based election districts b. Each district elects two or more reps c. Candidates with most votes, equal to # of seat that district contains are elected.
Redistricting Process
Historical Methods: Add seats to the SL.
SL: the SL itself can do the redistricting
Independent Commissions: 9 people are appointed by the Governor. 3 Dems, 3 Repubs, 3 Inds. Must have had the same voter registration for at least 5 years. They draw maps. Don’t look at where Dems, Repubs, and Inds are located. SL votes Y or N. No amending allowed. Just before it’s published, the locations of the parties are revealed.
Texas Redistricting Process
In Texas, SL draws the districts. If it can’t do it, the Legislative Redistricting Board will draw the districts. LRB contains Lt. Gov, Speaker of the TX House, Controller of Public Acctounts, Attorney General, and Commissioner of General Land Office.
Limitations on Redistricting
A. All redistricting plans have to pass through legislative approval.
B. Voting Act of 1965 - Must get prior approval from the US DoJ when redistricting that ensures that the minorities are not being discriminated against.
C. Majority - Minority districts - Districts where the majority of the population comes from a racial or ethnic minority. In Hunt V Comartie (2001) SC says that race can be A factor in redistricting, but not THE factor.
D. Frequency of Redistricting - (LULAC v. Perry [2006]) - SC says one time per decade is a minimum for redistricting, but may redistrict more often.
E. Compactness - How tight the district is.
F. Contiguous - Where the district is not divided by another district.
Bill
A proposed new law
Resolution
Legislature expresses an opinion
3 Types of Resolutions
- Simple - used for basig organisation, structure, or process
number of standing committees
electing the Speaker of the House of Texas
Typically only needs to pass/occur in one chamber - Concurrent - requires passage by both chambers
Expresses collective opinion - Joint - Must be passed by both chambers
What is done to propose constitutional amendments to Texas State Constitution
Procedure in the Texas House of Representatives
Introduce bill or resolution
Bill/Resolution assigned to standing committee
If B/R reports out of Standing Committee, it goes to Calendar Committee
Then goes to the floor for debate
Then there is a vote on the bill/resolution
Calendar Committee
Determines when bills are debated on the floor; Each bill will be assigned to one of several calendars
Emergency - Something needs to be passed quickly (State budget put here)
Major State - State wide impact (Most important after emergency)
Constitutional Amendment - Only resolutions
General State - State wide impact (less important)
Local/Consent - Local or Regional impact
Resolution
Congratulatory and Memorial
Voting in Texas House of Representatives
Bill either dies or bill passes and goes to Texas Senate. If that version is not passed in the Texas Senate, it goes to the Conference Committee. If it passes in both House and Senate, it goes to the governor. To move a bill to a faster calendar or to floor for debate, you need 2/3 to vote for it. 2/3 of House = 100 votes.
Procedure in the Texas Senate
Bill introduced
Goes to Standing Committee
Reports out of Standing Committee & goes on Calendar in the order reported out of committee
Goes to floor for debate. Like in US Senate, TX Senate can have filibuster
Final vote. If it passes, and passes the house, it goes to governor. If it’s a diff version than the house, it goes to Conference Committee.
Blocking Bill
The bill at the top of the calendar. It’s a place holder not intended to pass. Usually not even debated. Normally to move a bill from the calendar to the floor for debate, need a simple majority (16/31 senators). To move another bill onto the floor if another bill is already at the top of the calendar, need 21/31 senators to vote.
How are Texas Legislative Committees different than in US Legislature?
A. Standing Committees are historically different
Approx 1/3 - 1/2 of coms are chaired by minority party. Why give so many to minority party? This promotes bipartisan solutions. It’s a way to promote the greater good.
Some coms will have more members from the minority party. Example - in 2009, 16 of 32 coms in TxHOR - more Dems sat than Repubs. These committees were lesser back in the day, so this was ok. On more important coms, more majority people chair
How are Texas Legislative Committees different than in US Legislature?
B. Interim Committees - Doesn’t exist in US Congress Meet between sessions in TXLeg. They help deal with gap between sessions.
Temporary Functionally mirror standing committees (usually) Chamber exclusive What do they do? Investigate Oversight of Executive Branch Recommend new laws
How are Texas Legislative Presiding Officers different than in US Legislature?
A. Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives
Elected with unanimous or near unanimous votes. Almost completely bipartisan. Why? There is a norm/tradition - power of speaker allows him/her to reward supporters, including members of the opposite party. What is given? Committee assignments or Committee chairs.
Role as presiding officer is stronger
Interprets rules of debate
Absolute control
How are Texas Legislative Presiding Officers different than in US Legislature?
B. Lieutenant Governor as President of Texas Senate
More active as a presiding officer than VP of US
Attends most sessions
Assigns bills to committee
Helps make committee assignment
Interim charges (list of things Interim Committees are to do [have to accomplish]) to interim committees
How are Texas Legislative Party Organizations different than in US Legislature?
Prior to the 1990’s party organization did not exist in the TxLegis
Party caucuses emerged 1st in TxHoR, then in TxSen, in 2011, TxSen Republican Party Caucuses formed
Dems organized first, then Repubs followed later. Why? TxDems organized first as a defense to try to prevent Repubs from taking over
Role of party caucus varies by size/position of party
How are Texas Legislative Party Organizations different than in US Legislature?
A. Majority Party in a Chamber
More focused on getting their legislative agenda passed. More emphasis on following the party line.
Stronger party discipline
Lining up speakers/members to speak/debate in bills, etc
How are Texas Legislative Party Organizations different than in US Legislature?
B. Minority Party in a Chamber
Communication to wider public what the majority party is doing and how the minority party is offering as an alternative
Line up speakers for debate, etc
How are Texas Legislative Special Caucuses different than in US Legislature?
May be bipartisan
May be chamber inclusive
Need to discuss or build support for issues an concerns on a common topic
***When are special caucuses influential?
Bill/amendment is less important to majority party
Issue cuts across party lines
Affects specific region/part of Texas
3 types of Special Texas Legislative Caucuses
A. Ideological
Specific ideology/orientation
Texas progressive Caucus
Texas Tea Party Caucus
3 types of Special Texas Legislative Caucuses
B. Race, ethnicity, or gender caucuses
Texas Black Legislative Caucus
Mexican - American Legislative Caucus
Texas Women’s Caucus **Kinda cone now
3 types of Special Texas Legislative Caucuses
C. Issue Caucuses
Texas Rural Caucus
Texas Sportsman Caucus
Texas Executive Branch
TX has a plural executive -
PE - executive where there are several independently elected members of executive branch, each with an independent base of power, accountable only to voters and not accountable to each other. Means Lt. Gov doesn’t answer to gov, etc.
Why?
Consistent with other US States
Make executive branch more accountable to the voters
Progressive Realism (1880’s - 1920’s)
Fear of strong gov and concentration of power
Divided executive power among more individuals
Balance with relatively weak legislature
