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The Legislative Branch• Topical Scenario
• Structure• Membership• Organization
• Process• Staff
• Influences on Behavior• Legislature and Change
• Legislature and Democracy
Topical Scenario• Sharpstown Scandal - 1969
• Bank deposit insurance legislation
• Frank Sharp bribes legislators to influence bill’s passage.
• “Dirty 30” call for investigation and subsequent reforms in legislative process.
• Speaker of House and others convicted of taking bribes.
• Abnormally high turnover in legislature in next election - 50%.
Legislative Heritage• New Spain 1566 - 1821
– Viceroy, peninsulares, creoles, mestizos, indians
• Mexico 1821 - 1836– Coahuila y Tejas - 1 - 3 deputies to state legislature– Lack of represenation led to revolution
• Republic of Texas 1836 - 1845– Bicameral Legislature– 30 Representatives ( 1 year term)– 14 Senators ( 3 year term)
• Texas State Legislature - 1846– 66 Representatives ( 2 year terms)– 19 Senators (4 year terms)
Legislative Functions
• Legislate, budget, and tax
• Constituent casework
• Oversight
• Update Constitution
• Confirm appointees
• Redistrict
• Impeach and remove corrupt officials
Legislative Structure
• Bicameral body with 150 Representatives and 31 Senators
• Biennial main sessions in odd years– Meet in January for 140 days
• Special sessions called by Governor– Usually meet for 30 days (Richards 4, Bush 0, Perry 7)
• Leaders– Senate - Lt Gov. and President Pro-tempore– House - Speaker, elected by members
Qualifications
• House– 21 years old– Resident 2Tx/1Dis– US Citizen– Registered voter
• Senate– 26 years old– Resident 5Tx/1Dis– US Citizen– Registered voter
Membership• Term lengths - 2 years representatives and 4
years for senators• Pay - $7200 per annum $128 per diem• Redistricting every 10 years
– Goal is to create equal size districts• Single member districts
– House district includes 139,012 people– Senate district includes 672,639 people
• Voting Rights Act of 1965– Judicial review of new districts
• Turnover - (no limits on number of terms)– House - 10 to 15% new members, 16.7% 2006– Senate - 20% in 1996, 5% in 1998, 3% in 2000, 12% in
2002, 0% in 2004, 16% in 2006
Texas House Districts
Texas Senate
Districts
Characteristics of Members• 19th and early 20th century - farmers• 2004 35-40% lawyers 50-60% business• 97% have attended college• Majority are Catholics Age 40-50 (21/26)• Ethnicity- House 80 Republican ( 1 His) 69 Democrats (
19 Anglo, 29 Hispanic, 14 African American) - 35 Women
- Senate 20 Republicans ( all Anglo) 11 Democrats ( 3 Anglo, 6 Hispanic, 2 African American) - 4 Women
1999 Membership by Ideology
1 3 13 20 1 0
1 6 10 5 0 0
3 4 2 2 2 0 0
5 9 1 6 0 0 0
0 14 1 9 2 0 0
0 10 17 2 0 0
Libertarians (60 R, 6 D) Conservatives ( 4 R)
Liberals ( 43 D, 2 R) Populists ( 28 D)
2001 Membership by Ideology
0 37 14 5 3 0
0 3 2 3 5 1
0 0 0 3 3 2
0 0 0 4 1 1
0 0 1 9 7 8
0 0 0 9 20 9
Libertarians (1 R) Conservatives ( 68 R, 1 D)
Liberals ( 56 D, 0 R) Populists ( 22 D, 3R)
2003 Membership by Ideology
7 2 4 6 0 0
7 8 3 0 1 0
0 1 1 2 2 0
1 4 2 3 3 0
0 0 1 3 1 0
0 0 3 12 74 0
Libertarians (11 D) Conservatives ( 87 R, 9 D)
Liberals ( 33 D) Populists ( 11 D)
2005 Membership by Ideology
9 27 3 1
5 10/2 2/1 1/1
1 3/2 1/1
1 1 0
3 6 2 3 0
3 11 28 15 6 0
Libertarians (53 R) Conservatives ( 26 R)
Liberals ( 61 D – 5 R) Populists ( 2 D - 1 R)
Organizing for Influence• Passing a bill requires sponsorship and support
• Strong leadership at odds with party caucuses
• House - Speaker versus the caucus coalitions
- Democrats in 1980s to compete with Clayton and Lewis’ power bases
- Texas Conservative Coalition
- Legislative Study Group
• Senate - Lt. Gov. versus the liberal faction
– Little organized opposition until 1993 ( 13 R)
– 2/3 vote rule to pass legislation
Legislative Committees• Standing - substantive or procedural
– Operate when legislature is in session (p.110)
– Special ( ad hoc) temporary issue specific
• Interim - between regular sessions
• Joint - Combination of House and Senate members
• Conference - joint committees design to coordinate bills with different language
• Assignments made by speaker - can split 50% appointed and 50% based on seniority
Legislative Process
• Both chambers must pass identical bills
• House initiates revenue bills
• Simultaneous or Separate starts
• Committee hearings
• Calendar Process
• Governors Agreement
Bills and Resolutions• A bill creates a new law or amends an
existing law.• A joint resolution proposes an amendment
to the Texas Constitution or ratifies an amendment to the U. S. constitution.
• A simple resolution only affects that chamber.– Used to set up housekeeping rules at beginning
of a regular session• A concurrent resolution expresses will of
both chambers but has no authority of the force of law.
How a Bill Becomes a Law• Best if bill flow simultaneously through both
chambers• Introduced in 1st reading• Referred to a committee for study
– Chair decides agenda– Public hearings ( 5 days notice)– Formal meetings ( not public)
• Committee options:– Approve or amend– Defeat– Send to a subcommittee– Ignore (HB 3074)
Getting on the Calendar• A bill must make it to the floor of the
chamber for a 2nd reading • House Calendar Committee
– Must give 36 hours notice– Must take a public vote within 30 days– Standard is to accept specific bill and
universally reject all others– ‘97 Memorial Day Massacre
• Senate Administrative Committee– Frivolous stop gap bill– 2/3s rule applies thereafter
2nd Reading of Bill
• Most important part of continuing process once bill is on calendar
• Bill is reviewed, discussed and/or amended– Time limits in the House, none in Senate (filibuster)
• Voting Methods– Voice, Machine, Roll-call
• After passing 3rd reading becomes an engrossed bill.
• Conference committee to finish if bills are not same - becomes an enrolled bill.
Final Step
• Governor has choice to sign the bill, veto the bill or ignore the bill.
• Legislator can override veto with 2/3 vote but only if during the time frame of a regular session.
Legislative Staff• Centralized
– Legislative Council ( interim comm.)• drafts bills, studies issues, sets up calendars
– Legislative Budget Board ( interim comm.)• prepares budget and evaluates agency operations
• Chamber specific staff– Senator - 8 to 15 paid staff members– Representative - 4 to 7 paid staff members
• House of Representatives– House Research Organization (HRO) - 5 research analysts, 3
administrative assistants• Senate
– Senate Research Center
Influences on Behavior
• On each other– “backscratching, logrolling, and pork barrel
politicking ”
• Governor’s power– veto and the special session
• Lobbyist’s power– valuable source of information– valuable source of campaign funds– Ethics Commission and accountability
Legislature and Political Change
• Can police and change for better with voter assistance - Sharpstown.
• Public holds officials accountable.
• Power of the leadership can inhibit or slow the process of change.
Legislature and Democracy• House calendar can end or limit deliberation
- 2/3s rule covers Senate.• Committee is best place for worthwhile
deliberation as long as chair will allow discussion.
• Powerful leadership steers legislature toward a majoritarian type democracy.
• Influential interest groups and powerful lobbying staffs push system to a more pluralistic democracy.