Who can write my Texas Government Application Paper?

Branches of Government

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

 Page 16 of 56 

The government of Texas (and the United States) was founded on several principles. One of the most significant, and most unique in the 1700s when the United States Constitution was written, was the idea of separation of powers: different powers of government should be housed in separate and distinct branches (to read James Madison's defense of this arrangement, read Federalist Paper #47.

To understand why the authors of the United States Constitution chose such an arrangement, consider the context in which they were writing. They had been under a unitary government in Great Britain in which all governmental power was with the King. That power had been abused. They had tried the Articles of Confederation, where the national government had no real power. The alternative was to give the national government power, but control that power by distributing it among the branches. Our government is divided into three distinct and separate branches of government. This refers to the separation of powers-each branch of government is responsible for a certain function of governing:

Legislative Branch: The legislative branch was designed to make the laws. They write, debate and pass legislation that will govern the state of Texas.

The Executive Branch: The executive branch, including the governor and other executive offices (Attorney General, Comptroller, Secretary of State, etc.) was designated as the branch to execute the laws as passed by the legislature.

The Judicial Branch: The judicial branch was dedicated as the branch of government assigned to interpret the laws and apply them to specific situations.

While it was not one of the original three branches of government, we will also talk about the bureaucracy, the lower level officials who are dedicated to delivering the laws and implementing them, as passed by the legislature, signed by the governor, and interpreted by the courts. You can consider the bureaucracy to be the face, hands or feet of the government-its delivery mechanism.

Legislative Branch

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

 Page 17 of 56 

When the authors of the Texas Constitution sat down in 1874 to establish the new government, they had to make many difficult decisions. However, one decision that was not difficult was to invest most of the power of the new government in the hands of the legislative branch of government rather than the executive branch. History had taught them that an unchecked executive was detrimental to the freedoms that Texans had come to demand from government. Two recent experiences with a strong executive were fresh on their minds. First, during the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, had basically suspended the law and made himself a virtual dictator. Following the war, Texas was governed by Edmund J. Davis, who ruled over the most corrupt administration in the history of Texas and tried to stay in office after defeat by force! Is it any wonder that they decided to give most of the power to the legislative branch?

Another reason to invest power in this branch was more pragmatic from their perspective. While most of them would never be governor, most would likely be elected to the new legislature. So, by giving power to the legislature, they were giving power to themselves. While the legislature is more white, more male, more educated, and wealthier than the rest of the state, it is still most representative of the people of Texas. It has a more diverse membership than either the executive branch or the judicial branch. Therefore, many argue that it can better represent the people of Texas. Do you agree or disagree with that logic?

The legislative branch in Texas is called the Texas Legislature. In Washington, the national legislative branch is called the United States Congress. In some states it is called the General Assembly. Let me clarify a few terms:

Legislature: a group of elected officials who write, debate and pass the laws that govern a state.

Legislator: an individual member of the legislature. A legislator is a person, not a group or body.

Legislation: an idea that is introduced in the legislature and called a bill - if a majority of the members of the legislature like it and the governor signs it, it can become a Law.

In the rest of this section, we will talk about the characteristics and functions of the legislative branch. I want you to know these things because they are important.

Legislative Branch

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

 Page 18 of 56 

The Texas Legislature: Bicameral

Like all state legislatures in the United States, with the exception of Nebraska, the Texas legislature is bicameral, meaning that there is a house and a senate. No piece of legislation can become law without the support of each chamber. In order to become law, a bill must go through the committee and floor action in the house, and committee and floor action in the senate.

The presence of two chambers would not really matter except for the fact that they are each very different. These differences mean they function differently and politics varies in each. They differ in the following dimensions:

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

 Page 19 of 56 

The Texas Legislature: Bicameral, continued

Let's take a look at how each of these differences affects behavior (think of how the environment is different in large and small classrooms to get an idea of what we are talking about).

Membership. A large chamber (Texas House -150 members) must be more organized and have much stronger rules and limitations on debate. Members of the Texas House cannot talk indefinitely on a bill and are limited in how many bills they can introduce. On the other hand, smaller bodies are less formal, with fewer rules, less dominant leadership, and fewer limits on debate. Indeed, in the Texas Senate, members can engage in unlimited debate, known as a filibuster, Also, in the smaller body, members serve on more committees and have more individual influence than do members in a larger body.

Length of Term. While members of the Texas House must run for re-election every two years, members of The Texas Senate serve four-year terms. Half of the Senate is up for re-election every two years. For those legislators facing the voters every two years, they must always be running and must be very aware of what the voters in their district (their constituents) want. On the other hand, senators who serve for four years can be a little less concerned in the first two years of their term and then “kick it in” during the last two years before the election.

Size of District. A Texas Senate District is almost five times the size of Texas House district. This means that senators have to represent more people and likely represent a district that is more diverse (different) in terms of race, ideology, income, and issues. This gives the senators a little more freedom to make decisions based on what they believe is best than their colleagues have in the House. Smaller districts (Texas House) tend to be more homogeneous (alike) in terms of party, ideology, income, and issues. Also, the district size means that it is much more expensive to run for a position in the Texas Senate than the Texas House - it can cost more than a million dollars to run for the Texas Senate!

Legislative Branch

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

 Page 20 of 56 

Rules. Because of the size difference, the House of Representatives has a much stricter and formal set of rules than the Senate. The House has a calendar committee, appointed by the house speaker, that determines if a bill gets voted on for how long, and if members can debate it on the floor. House members are also limited in how many bills they can introduce. Such restrictions are not present in the Texas Senate.

Leader. While both chambers have a leader at the top of their chamber, they are quite different. Leadership in the House is headed by the speaker of the house who is elected by the members of the House from the 150 members. He or she (no women have served in this post as of 2007) is usually a member of the majority party (party with the most members) and has significant control over the chamber (assigns bills, appoints committees and committee chairs, etc.). Because of the size difference, the House has a much larger leadership team, including floor leaders, whips, and other leaders.

On the other hand, the president of the Senate is the lt. governor, who is elected by the voters statewide and may or may not be a member of the majority party of the Senate. His (again, there have yet to be any women holding this post) powers are similar to those of the Speaker, but he is not selected by the membership, so they may remove his powers if it becomes necessary.

Legislative Branch

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

 Page 21 of 56 

Committees. Because of its size, the Texas House has almost three times as many standing committees as the Senate and its members serve on fewer committees than do the senators. What that means is that House members may have more power in their little committee, but less influence over the body as a whole, than does a member of the Senate. Because most of the work is done in committees, a senator on five committees has more influence than a House member on two.

The Texas House. Because of these differences, members of the Texas House tend to be more concerned about what their voters want and are much less likely to think about the long-term effects of a bill. It is also likely to be easier to accurately represent a House district because such districts are smaller-they are more likely to be either conservative or liberal, Democratic or Republican, rich or poor, etc. Legislators are more likely to have the characteristics of their districts. That is why there is a higher proportion of women, Hispanics and African-Americans in the House. House members may have more influence on a smaller range of issues (in their committees), but less on a wider range of issues-the leaders have greater control over those.

The Texas Senate. On the other hand, the Senate is much less formal and members are more likely to think about what is best for the state (rather than their districts) in the long run. Because of their large districts and longer terms, they tend to have more freedom in terms of ideology and party. They also have more freedom because of the lax leadership and organization in the Senate. Because Senators serve on more committees and have greater freedom to debate on the floor, they have more influence on the final outcome of a wide range of bills than do their counterparts in the House. The Senate is much more of an informal “club” than the House.

Legislative Branch

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

 Page 22 of 56 

The Texas Legislature: Other Characteristics

While the focus of this lecture is the things that make the Texas Legislature unique and set it a part from legislative bodies in other states, there are many things that it has in common with those other chambers. Before focusing on the differences as expressed in the lecture, let's look at what the Texas Legislature has in common with other state legislatures.

First, as noted above, it is bicameral, just like all state legislatures except Nebraska's.

Second, the Texas Legislature has biennial sessions - they meet once every two years. Only five states, including Texas, have bienniel sessions. The sessions are limited to 140 days every odd-numbered year. That means they have to write budgets looking two-and-a-half years down the road. That is difficult to do, because the economy may change a great deal in two years. This means that they often have to come back in special sessions between the regular sessions to adapt the budget.

Third, the members of the Texas Legislature sit by political party with Republicans gathered on one side of the floor, Democrats on the other. This makes it difficult to make friendships and build coalitions across party lines. That is one reason party is so important. In the past, members sat by seniority (who had been there the longest), but that has changed as the two parties became more balanced.

Legislative Branch

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

 Page 23 of 56 

The Texas Legislature: Other Characteristics, continued

Fourth, the Texas Legislature is considered to be semi-professional. This means that it is not a full-time job like being in Congress, but the salary is large enough and the demands high enough that legislators cannot work another full-time job. Legislators do, however, need another source of income to supplement the approximately $20,000 they receive annually ($7,200 salary, plus additional money for housing and travel). The staff support is pretty good (above average during session) and turnover is about fifteen percent a year. A fully professional legislature has a higher salary, more staff and less turnover. A legislature that is not professional is often more prone to the influence of lobbyists and bribes.

Fifth, both chambers have very centralized leadership. The speaker of the House and the lt. governor have a great deal of control over their chambers, including assigning members to committee , assigning bills to committee, deciding who will speak on the floor, and determining who will chair or lead each committee.

Finally, while party has historically mattered little in the Texas Legislature (everyone was a Democrat), party is now becoming increasingly important. Historically, party was less important than region, urban/rural splits, and ideology. However, as the two parties have become more balanced and distinct (Democrats more urban and liberal, Republicans more conservative and rural), party has become more important. Interestingly, as the Republican majority has grown larger, party may once again be becoming less important as Bedroom Republicans fight as much with Boardroom Republicans as Republicans do with Democrats. Right now, Democrats are pretty much irrelevant.

Legislative Branch

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

 Page 24 of 56 

The Texas Legislature: Functions

Although each state legislature across the country is unique, they each are expected to perform similar functions that contribute to the successful governing of that state. As you will hear in the lecture, they are to make laws, write and pass a budget, represent the people, educate the public, and oversee the bureaucracy. Listen to the lectures and read your text to learn more about these functions. However, before doing that, think about why the legislature is the best branch of the three to undertake these activities.

First, it is the largest branch of elected officials. At the state level there are only a handful of elected officials in the executive branch (governor, lt. governor, comptroller, land use commissioner, attorney general, and commissioner of agriculture). While there are a lot of judges elected throughout the state, there are only a few judges elected at the state level. On the other hand, there are 181 legislators, so they are more likely to be representative of the diversity of the state.

Second, the members of the legislature are elected from districts all across the state. They are the only branch that must represent the geographic diversity of the state.

Third, the members of the House of Representatives are elected to two-year terms, giving them more of a reason to adequately represent the interests of the citizens than any other branch (the governor is elected to four-year terms and most state judges to six-year terms).

Let’s turn now to the five functions performed by the Texas Legislature. We will spend a great deal of time on each of these below, but for now, let me just whet your appetite:

Lawmaking Function: the most common and most important function of any legislative body in a representative democracy is that of lawmaking. It is the legislature that makes the laws that govern what you do in Texas. The ideas are developed, debated, discussed, changed, and passed in the Texas Legislature. These bills become the laws that govern the state.

Legislative Branch

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

 Page 25 of 56 

The Texas Legislature: Functions, continued

Manage Revenues and Budgets: every two years, the members of the Texas Legislature determine who much money the state will raise through taxes, fees, and other means, and then how that money will be spent. They develop, debate, discuss, and pass a biennial budget.

Representative Body: Third, the Texas Legislature is designed to represent the interests and desires of the people of Texas. That is why they are elected.

Bureaucratic Oversight: A major, and often least performed, function of the legislature is oversight- making sure that the bureaucracy is doing what it promises and doing what it says in an effective and efficient manner.

Public Education: One of the functions that is becoming increasingly important is that of making sure the public knows and understands what its government is doing. With technology and the Internet, the public is demanding, and gaining, increased access to the legislative process.

Legislative Branch

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

 Page 26 of 56 

Institutional Leadership

The first function we will examine is that of lawmaking-we will look at the ways the legislature organizes itself to perform that very important function. There are four organizational units that are important to this function:

1. Leadership

2. Committees

3. Parties

4. Caucuses

Leadership is the one centralizing force in the legislature.

Like any governing institution, the Texas Legislature must have leaders. These are the people with the power to make sure the bills get passed, the budget gets written, and the legislature does its job. The leader of the House of Representatives is the Speaker of the House. Joe Straus has held that post since 2009. He is elected by the members of the House. The leader of the Senate is the President of the Senate, Lt. Governor David Dewhurst (2005-Present). He is elected statewide and does not have to have the support of the members of the Senate to lead it. Each of these folks is the most important person in each of their chambers.

Legislative Branch

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

 Page 27 of 56 

Institutional Leadership, continued

While both leaders are important, there are some differences between the speaker and the senate president. The speaker is elected by the members of his chamber, while the lt. governor is elected by the people of the State of Texas. Second, the speaker is elected to the House of Representatives by the people of his or her district and then is elected to be speaker by the members. He or she must represent his district while being concerned about the state of Texas at the same time. The speaker must balance between the two while the lt. governor is elected statewide and does not have to represent a district. Finally, the lt. governor is elected to a four-year term, like the governor and other statewide officers (and the members of the Senate), but the speaker is elected to a two-year term by his or her district and to a two year term by the members.

One thing you must keep in mind is that the formal powers of both the speaker and the lt. governor are granted by the rules that organize that body and are voted on at the beginning of each session by the members of that body. What the members giveth, the members can (but seldom do) taketh away.

Understand that both the lt. governor and the speaker of the house are more powerful than the governor of Texas. I would suggest as well that the comptroller of the State is also more powerful than the governor.

Legislative Branch

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

 Page 28 of 56 

Formal Powers

The offices of the speaker and the lt. governor each have powers associated with them that will be possessed by anyone in these positions. Without these powers, the speaker and lt. governor would have only their personalities and personal skills to rely on to get anything accomplished. Compared to leaders in other states, the formal powers of the leaders of the Texas Legislature are very strong.

For all intents and purposes, they appoint the members and chairpersons of the committees (although the speaker does have to give some appointments on seniority, he or she can still stack the committees to his advantage). In twelve state chambers, that power of committee assignment and chair assignment does not belong to the leader, but instead to a committee.

In six others, appointments must be approved by the members. Leaders in Texas also determine who will chair each committee - given the power of the committees to determine the fate of a bill, controlling the fate of a committee chair controls the fate of that bill. This power is a good one, but it is difficult, and if you mess up, it can really look bad for you as the leader.

Third, the leaders of the Texas Legislature have the power to assign the bills to committee. In a few states, that power belongs to a committee of members or the clerk. Whoever, or whatever, controls the bill assignment process controls the flow of legislation. As presiding officers, all leaders have the power to recognize people to speak on the floor just as the Texas leaders do.

Legislative Branch

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

 Page 29 of 56 

Formal Powers, continued

Fourth, leaders in both chambers have the power to recognize who will speak on the floor, thereby controlling the nature and flow of debate. If the speaker knows that he or she wants a bill to pass and knows that one of the members does not, the speaker may neglect to recognize that person to speak on the bill, thus controlling the bill's fate.

Fifth, both leaders control if and when bills are heard on the floor. In the House, the order of bills is determined by the Calendar’s Committee which is appointed (members and chairs). In the House, this committee, controlled by the speaker, determines the order in which bills will be heard, and if a bill is put at the end of the list, it will not be heard. In the Senate, the rules require that bills be heard in the order they are reported from committee-however, the Senate gets around this by introducing, on the first day, a bill that no one wants to be passed, called a blocking bill. This bill is first on the calendar every day, and someone will move to suspend the rules so that it is not voted on. Once the rules are suspended, the lt. governor can go in whatever order he or she wishes!

Finally, both the lt. governor and the speaker of the House have the power to appoint members of Conference Committees. If a bill passes both chambers, but with some differences, each chamber appoints some members to find a compromise. The members of these important committees are determined by the speaker (House members) and the lt. governor (senators). What they do will determine the fate of the bill.

In short, the leader of the Texas Legislature is very powerful. He or she can basically doom any bill to death and virtually guarantee the success of all but the most unpopular bills. Is that a problem? Should one person have that much power? To read more about these formal powers, check out this Web site.

Legislative Branch

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

 Page 30 of 56 

Informal Powers

Not all powers of leadership are formal or associated with the office. In fact, I would argue that the most significant powers are those not associated with the office, but rather associated with the person holding the office. Leadership in a body of elected equals is usually more about personality and personal skills than it is about brute power. While Speaker Laney and lt. governor Perry had very similar formal powers, their informal skills are very different and, will likely render one less effective than the other. Let's look at the informal powers of the two current leaders.

Speaker Joe Straus came to the position of Speaker after several years in the House, but came to the position initially with more votes from Democrats (he is a Republican) than Republicans - he defeated sitting Speaker Tom Craddick. He is now (2012) in his third term and is getting pretty well established in the job. He was challenged by a more conservative Republican for the position in 2011 and was challenged again by another conservative (Bedroom) Republican in 2013, although the challenge was not considered serious. Heis getting more familiar with his members. He knows their abilities, their strengths, their weaknesses, and the kinds of arguments necessary to get their vote. This experience and knowledge are his key informal powers.

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

 Page 31 of 56 

Committees: Types

The Texas Legislature processes over five thousand bill proposals every session in less than six months. How is that possible? The primary reason is that the legislature divides itself into committees for the sake of completing its lawmaking tasks. Legislative committees are merely subgroups within the legislature dedicated to completing some particular function or task. They are made up of members of the legislature, both House and Senate.

There are four key types of committees in the Texas Legislature, based on the degree to which they are permanent and whether they include members of both chambers or just one chamber.

Standing Committees: Standing committees are by far the most important committees in the Texas Legislature. They are permanent (exist from one session to the next) and include members of only one chamber-House standing committees have House members and Senate standing committees include senators. Standing committees cover a general category of bills. Education committees handle all education bills. In 2011, there were thirty-six Standing House committees and eighteen Standing Senate committees. Every bill introduced in the House or Senate must be assigned to a committee for review. A few of the Standing committees have subcommittees, which are specialized subdivisions of the standing committee.

Joint (Interim) Committees: These committees are relatively permanent, especially those that meet during the interim (the period when the legislature is not in session) and they usually contain members of both chambers. They usually address particular topics that are of political interest. Interim committees are important because they allow the legislature to continue to work and get things done even when they are not officially in session.

Legislative Branch

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

 Page 32 of 56 

Committees: Types, continued

Ad-Hoc (Select or Special) Committees: Ad hoc, or special / select committees, are temporary, usually existing for one session and containing members of just one chamber. House select committees have House members and Senate select committees have Senators. These committees are usually created to deal with “hot” political topics.

Conference Committees: As noted earlier, conference committees are formed when each chamber passes different versions of a bill and a compromise needs to be considered. They are temporary (existing only long enough to address that bill), deal only with a specific bill, and contain members of both the House and Senate. Conference Committees are often used as a way to kill a bill that legislators don’t want passed, but the public does. The most significant committees are the standing committees (forty in the House and fifteen in the Senate. Each of the standing committees has a specific jurisdiction and deals with all legislation in that jurisdiction during the regular legislative session. Most standing committees handle about thirty to forty-five bills per session, but others like Business and Industry and Public Education may handle well over one hundred bills. This allows the legislature to deal with numerous bills at the same time.

Special committees exist to respond to a particular hot topic at a given time. There are presently two special committees in the Senate dealing with Texas border affairs and electric utilities deregulation. There are presently no special committees in the House.

Finally, the Senate currently has thirty-one interim committees! Those committees will deal with a wide variety of legislation during the eighteen months that the legislature is not in its regular session.

Legislative Branch

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

 Page 33 of 56 

Committees: Actions

Standing committees are very powerful in the Texas Legislature because they have the power to dispose of legislation without it ever going to the whole chamber for a vote. If a standing committee recommends that a bill pass the floor, it probably will pass. If a standing committee does not pass a bill out of committee it definitely will die. If a standing committee recommends a bill not go to the floor, it will probably not pass. Once a bill is assigned to a standing committee, that committee has four options:

1. Inaction (do nothing): Committees in the Texas Legislature are not required to act on bills or even give them a hearing. If they do nothing, then a bill is dead and never goes to the floor. This is the fate of the vast majority of bills in the Texas Legislature. For example, during the 2007 session, 20, 258 bills were referred to the Senate Finance Committee. Of those, only 88 were reported out (goes to the floor).

2. Report Favorably as Amended: If a majority of the members of the committee like the concept of the bill, they may make some minor changes (amendments) and then recommend that it be passed by the entire body. The amendment process allows members to take advantage of the expertise they have developed on the committee.

Legislative Branch

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

 Page 34 of 56 

Committees: Actions, continued

3. Report Favorably As Is: Sometimes, but not too often, a bill is so good as it is that the committee members don’t feel it necessary to make any changes. In such cases, they will vote it out of committee and recommend the members pass it as it is.

4. Report Unfavorably: Although it is rare, a committee can send a bill to the floor with an unfavorable report-suggesting that the members of the body vote against the bill. Usually, if the committee does not like a bill, they will just do nothing with it. However, if a minority of the committee members want it voted on by the whole body, this step might be taken.

A look at the disposition of bills by one House committee, Agriculture and Livestock, gives you an idea of its power. During the 1997 legislative session, this committee received thirty-one bills to consider. Six of those bills never left the committee. Of the remaining twenty-five bills, nineteen became law, one was vetoed, another died in a second committee and four died on the floor. In other words, the committee prevailed in twenty-five of the thirty-one cases, for a success rate of better than 80%. In another committee, Business and Industry, a full third of the bills never left the committee at all!

In short, a glance at these two committees indicates just how important the committees are when it comes to controlling the flow of legislation. Can you imagine how congested the whole process would be if the legislature tried to process five thousand bills with no committee system?

Legislative Branch

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

 Page 35 of 56 

Committees: Benefits

As should be clear by now, standing committees are critical to an effective legislative process. They provide significant benefits to the legislature as a whole and to legislators individually. Let's take a quick look at both sets of benefits.

First, how does the existence of committees benefit the legislature as a whole?

1. It allows for multi-tasking: The presence of numerous subgroups within the legislature means that the institution can numerous bills at the same time. While the Committee on Agriculture is considering a bill in hearings, a half-dozen other committees are also considering bills. This is a very efficient process.

2. It allows for the killing of bad bills with little effort: Not all bills introduced in the Texas Legislature are good bills or would make good laws. Indeed, I would argue that many are not good at all, and even the person introducing that bill does not want it to pass. If the entire body had to debate and discuss every bill, even the bad ones, their work would never get done. Instead, they can send them to committee, which lets them die with no effort, fuss, or muss.

3. It makes Good Bills Better: Because members of the committees often have significant experience in the policy area of the bills they review (i.e., many of the members of the Education Committee are former teachers or school administrators), they can use their expertise to improve bills. The process of informed debate and discussion in the committee can strengthen good bills before they go to the floor for a vote.

4. It takes advantage of membership expertise: One reason committees can improve the quality of bills is that the members of a given committee often bring useful expertise to that committee. For example, a former farmer will bring useful knowledge to the Agriculture Committee, as would a banker to the Finance Committee.

Table of Contents

 Page 35 of 56 Welcome to Section 3!

Legislative Branch

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

 Page 36 of 56 

Committees: Benefits, continued

Now, let’s turn to how the presence of a committee system benefits individual members of the Legislature.

It let’s members use their own expertise: The presence of the committee system lets individual members take advantage of their own policy strengths and focus on issues in which they are interested. This allows them to do their best work. While the leaders choose the committee members, members request certain committees based on their own needs and interests and leaders usually try to grant those requests.

It helps members get re-elected: Not surprisingly, most members of the Texas Legislature want to get re-elected. The committee system helps them meet this goal by allowing them to work on issues that are important to the district and to the constituents who will (or will not) re-elect them . For example, a legislator from a rural district can help his or her district by being on the Agriculture Committee. A legislator from an urban district might choose to serve on the Human Services Committee. Indeed, a look at the committee members for the House Human Services Committee finds most members are from urban districts.

It is a source of power and influence: In addition to wanting to be re-elected, most legislators like power and influence. The committee system allows them to have some power not only within their committee, but outside it. By influencing the outcome of bills in their own committee, the members can influence what goes on elsewhere.

It is a source of public exposure: It is often said that, “In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is King!” This means that while you may not know everything about something, if you know more than anyone else, then that is enough. By being on a committee, you become a spokesperson regarding the issues that the committee deals with. If those issues become “hot,” you may be able to ride the publicity to higher office.

Legislative Branch

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

 Page 37 of 56 

Political Parties/Caucuses

Legislative caucuses and legislative parties are very similar. Indeed, one might think of the legislative party as a caucus based on a common party affiliation. However, we set the two apart because of the critical role that political parties play in the formal organization of the Texas Legislature. Leadership is selected and committee assignments made based on the party distribution of the legislature. If the Republicans have a majority, they usually get the key leadership positions and get control of key committees. If the Democrats have a majority, they get them instead.

Historically, neither partisan caucuses, nor ethnic or gender-based caucuses mattered much in the Texas Legislature. However, this has changed dramatically in the last few years. Now, political party affiliation, ethnicity, and gender are three of the biggest and strongest predictors of how a member of the Texas House or Senate is going to vote on a bill. Why has this shift taken place? The reason is simple: numbers. As the Republican Party has grown in size to the point where it can compete with, and even defeat, the Democratic majority, they saw utility in working together.

When there were only a few Republicans, it made no sense to vote along party lines, because the Republicans would always lose. Now, with both parties competitive, there is pressure to stay within the party line.

Historically, party loyalty was drowned out by ideology and regionalism. Conservatives, regardless of party, voted together on ideological issues, and legislators from various regions voted together for whatever was in the interest of their regions, regardless of party.

Likewise, when there were only a handful of Hispanic or African-American members, minority members could not afford to make race an issue. Now that they control almost a quarter of the seats, a united minority caucus has a lot of power. They can use those united votes to get concessions on significant issues. In a similar manner, as the number of women approaches 20%, they realize that if they are united, they can make a significant difference on women's issues.

Legislative Branch

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

 Page 38 of 56 

Formal Stages of the Lawmaking Process Part 1

Not surprisingly, there is a formal process by which a bill becomes a law. While there are many steps to this process, we will narrow it down to seven steps. Your textbook talks about five steps, but I view the process of taking the bill through the second chamber as a step (they do not) and I add the inclusion of a Conference Committee (the textbook does not). Now, let's look at these steps:

Step 1 (Bill Introduction): Before a bill can become a law, it must be introduced by a member of that chamber and then referred to a committee for discussion. Only members of the House can introduce House bills and only members of the Senate can introduce Senate bills. The governor cannot introduce a bill. The Supreme Court justices cannot introduce a bill. Even God would have to get a member of the chamber to introduce a bill! Further, senators cannot introduce bills in the House and House members cannot introduce bills in the Senate. Legislators get their ideas for bills from a variety of sources, including their own experiences, their constituents, lobbyists, or the governor.

Step 2 (Bill Referral): Once the bill is introduced, the presiding officer of the given chamber (speaker of the House and president of the Senate) are empowered to assign it to committee. They can assign it to any committee they can justify. If a presiding officer wants a bill to die, he or she will send it to a committee where the presiding officer knows that will happen. If he or she wants it to pass, the presiding officer will send it to a committee that he or she believes will make that happen. Both the House and the Senate have a Committee on State Affairs, which can accept most any bill given that it has to do with the affairs of the state. Take a look at the Web site to see the range of issues that this committee can consider.

Step 3 (Committee Action): Once the bill has been referred to a standing committee by the presiding officer, that committee has the power to act (or not act) on that bill. As noted earlier, the committee can do nothing, report favorably ("as is" or as amended) or not report favorably. Most bills never leave the committee of jurisdiction. This is a critical stage of the process because it is where most bills die. If the bill gets out of committee and to the floor, the members of the House or Senate may or may not accept the recommendation of the committee-they usually do what the committees says, but do not have to.

Note: In the House, a bill that has gone out of a standing committee must go to the Calendars Committee. This committee determines which calendar the bill will placed on (Emergency Calendar, Major State Calendar, General State Calendar, or Local Consent and Resolution Calendar). This committee exists only in the House and does not have a counterpart in the Senate.

Legislative Branch

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

 Page 39 of 56 

Formal Stages of the Lawmaking Process Part 2

Step 4 (Floor Action): If a bill survives the Standing Committee (and the Calendar Committee in the House), then it goes to the floor to be heard by all of the members of that chamber. They will usually do what has been recommended by the standing committee. According to the rules of the House and Senate, each bill must be read three times on three different days in each chamber. The first reading occurs when the bill is introduced and assigned to committee. The second reading occurs when the bill is reported out of committee-this reading is the most important one and opens the bill up to debate and discussion. If a bill passes second reading, it is very likely to pass third reading the next day. The second reading is the most important. The reason for the three-reading rule is that no one can ram something through. This can be overruled by a two-thirds vote.

Once a bill is on the floor, the members of that body have four options to dispose of it.

1. Put It So Far Down the Calendar that It Will Not Be Heard: In both the House and the Senate, there’re are ways of placing bills so far down the legislative calendar that they are unlikely to be heard. If they are not heard, they cannot pass and become law.

2. Pass It As It Was Received From the Committee: Unlike the committee, where the most common action is to let the bill die, the most common floor action is to pass it as the committee recommended. The assumption is that the members of the committee did their work and it is now a good bill.

3. Pass It with Amendments: A second option is to pass the bill, but with some changes or amendments on the floor. Just as in committee, the members liked the bill, but wanted to add or delete a few things.

4. Table (kill) It: Finally, not all bills that come out of committee will be passed on the floor. However, it is very rare that the bill should be defeated on a straight yes or no vote-that would be embarrassing for the leadership and the committee that reported it out. Instead, someone will move that the bill be “laid on the table” for further discussion at a later date- in reality, it means that the bill will not be coming back for a vote and, for all intents and purposes, is dead.

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

 Page 40 of 56 

Formal Stages of the Lawmaking Process, Part 2 cont'd

Step 5 (Repeat in Other Chamber): Once a bill has passed the first three steps to get through the House or Senate, it must then repeat those steps in the other chamber. Bills can go through both chambers in two different fashions:

1. Consecutively: The process we are describing here is consecutive passage, going through the two chambers in order. The bill is introduced in one chamber, passes, and then is sent to the other chamber after all steps are completed in the first. The bill as introduced in the second chamber is introduced by the chamber, not a particular member.

2. Concurrent Passage: Another process that is less common is to have the bill working its way through the two chambers at the same time (concurrently). At the same time a House member introduces the bill in the House, a Senator introduces the identical bill in the Senate. The bills then work their way through the two chambers at the same time.

Step 6 (Conference Committee): If the bill gets a majority of the members to vote for it in each of the two chambers in identical form, then it goes to the governor’s desk for his or her signature. However, if it passes both chambers, but in different form (even if the differences are minor), then it must go to a conference committee. Recall that a conference committee has members of both chambers, usually five from each, appointed by the speaker of the House and president of the Senate, dedicated to resolving the differences between the two bills.

If the members of each chamber like the compromise proposed by the conference committee, they vote to concur in the report, accept the changes, and the bill goes to the governor’s desk. If they do not agree with the changes, they vote not to concur and send it back to the conference committee for another shot. A vote not to concur in either chamber will send it back to the conference committee.

Legislative Branch

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

 Page 41 of 56 

Formal Stages of the Lawmaking Process, Part 2 cont'd

A vote not to concur in either chamber will send it back to the Conference Committee.

Step 7 (The Governor): Finally, if a bill survives this rigorous legislative process, it will be sent to the governor of Texas for the final step of the process. This is the only step that is not in the legislature. The governor has three options to respond:

1. Sign it Into Law: By far the most common response is to sign the bill into law. The governor signs the bill and it becomes a law.

2. Allow it to become Law Without His or Her Signature: The governor may allow the bill to become law without his or her signature-this is often done in cases where the governor opposes a bill but knows the public supports it. Governor Ann Richards allowed the Lottery Bill to become law in Texas, but did not sign it.

3. Veto the Legislation: If the governor strongly opposes a bill, he or she will veto it, keeping it from becoming law. If that is the case, the legislature can try to overturn the veto, but that takes a two-thirds vote in each chamber and is almost impossible. The governor of Texas, like forty-three other governors, has a special kind of veto, called the line-item veto, that he or she can use to stop part of a bill from becoming law. There are some vetoes that cannot be overridden. He or she must sign or veto a bill within ten days of getting it from the legislature - if the governor does not, it becomes law (see above). However, if the legislature is not in session at the end of that ten days, the bill dies without his or her signature - that is an override-proof veto.

4. Legislative Branch

5.  

6. Top of Form

7. Bottom of Form

8.  Page 42 of 56 

10. Informal Rules of Legislative Behavior

11. Just as in any aspect of life, certain behaviors are appropriate, and others are not. For example, although it is not written down anywhere as a formal rule or law, belching in public is not acceptable (except among pre-teen and teenage boys!). Certain behaviors, written down or not, are appropriate in certain situations, and others are not. The legislative world is no different. There are certain things that you just do not do if you hope to be successful in a legislature. You can abide by all of the formal rules, but if you neglect to understand or abide by the informal rules, you will have little or no success. How does a new member learn these informal rules if they are not written down anywhere? In the same ways that you learn what is and is not appropriate.

12. First, they learn by observing. They watch their colleagues and learn from the success and failures of others, just as you learned as a child from watching your parents.

13. Second, they learn by asking. A smart new legislator will make friends with a senior member and ask him or her what some of the "informal rules" are. Finally, they must sometimes learn by trial and error. It is likely that a new member who speaks too much will soon learn that such behavior makes it difficult for his or her legislation to pass and will then alter his or her behavior accordingly.

14. Legislative Branch

15.  

16. Top of Form

17. Bottom of Form

18.  Page 43 of 56 

20. Informal Rules of Legislative Behavior, continued

21. Please consider the following “don’ts” as the Informal Rules:

22. 1. Don’t Lie About what a Bill Does. While you may consider politicians to be dishonest by nature, honesty is expected in debate and discussion among legislators (sort of like honesty among thieves!). If you lie about the potential consequences of a bill and legislators are hurt politically by the real consequences of that bill, then you have lost your credibility and your ability to be effective.

23. 

24. 2. Don’t Engage in Personal Slander of Members during a Debate. Floor and committee debate should be about the merits of the bill. You may not vote for a bill because of the person who introduces it (you think that person is an idiot), but you don’t say that and you do not call that person an idiot during the debate. In fact, to prevent such face-to-face controversy, legislators address their comments to the presiding officer rather than to the other members.

25. 3. Don’t Be an Obnoxious Loser or Winner. Understand that there is always another day and another bill in the legislature. Today’s enemy is tomorrow’s friend, so don’t piss them off. If you lose, don’t snort and stomp around, accusing people of things, and if you win, don’t rub their noses in it. You will want to be able to work with these people on other issues in the future.

26. 

27. 4. Speak on Topics you Know Something About. By definition, politicians like to hear themselves talk. However, if a legislator speaks on every bill, whether or not he has knowledge of the issue, he or she will get very little respect from their colleagues. Legislators who speak on everything generally influence nothing.

28. 5. Don’t Grandstand (Showboat). Legislators who are successful are those who do their jobs whether or not they get publicity. Those who just show up for the cameras and don’t do their jobs well will find themselves getting very little accomplished.

29. Legislative Branch

30.  

31. Top of Form

32. Bottom of Form

33.  Page 44 of 56 

35. Decision Making Factors in the Lawmaking Process

36. Let's assume that you are a member of the Texas Legislature and you are trying to decide whether to vote for or against a bill. What factors are likely to play into your decision?

37. What Do Your Constituents think? Perhaps the most common source of guidance is a legislator's constituents. What do the voters in the district think about the bill? However, on most of the issues facing the legislator, the voters have no opinion, are divided, or could care less (for example, they could care less about how you vote on a technical amendment to a water rights bill).

38. What Are Your Own Ideology and Views? Often legislators already know what they will do before a bill comes for a vote because they have a set of deeply held views on certain issues. They are liberal or conservative. For example, few legislators have to ask around to determine how they will vote on school prayer, abortion rights, or gay marriage. Those decisions are determined by their ideology.

39. What about Trusted Colleagues? One of the best sources for voting cues (how to vote) for legislators is other legislators. This is particularly true for relatively new legislators who turn to trusted and more experienced colleagues for advice. While it may be difficult to find out what constituents want, colleagues are easy to get to and knowledgeable about the issues.

40. Legislative Branch

41.  

42. Top of Form

43. Bottom of Form

44.  Page 45 of 56 

46. Decision Making Factors in the Lawmaking Process, cont'd

47. 

48. Don’t Forget the Lobbyists. While colleagues may know a lot about a variety of issues, no person is more knowledgeable on a given issue than the lobbyist who focuses exclusively on a given issue. For example, if the bill is about health care, the lobbyist from the American Medical Association will be on top of it. Legislators often turn to lobbyists they trust (and usually agree with) on critical issues. This is particularly true in Texas where legislators have to work other jobs.

49. Public Opinion? Don’t forget public opinion. Elected officials, especially those who want to run some day for higher statewide office, are keenly aware of public opinion and may defy their own values and the advice of colleagues to avoid going against it.

50. 

51. Governor or Party Leaders? If you are of the same party as the governor and this bill is important to him or her, you are likely to defer to that person. If you are not of the same party, you may look to other leaders of your party within the legislature or other statewide officeholders. Legislative leaders are very important because of the powers we discussed above.

52. Understand the degree to which each of these factors matter will vary from issue to issue. On a hot button issue like taxes, constituents will matter. On an issue that is part of the governor’s agenda, he or she will take the lead. On moral issues, ideology will rise to the top. On procedural and technical matters, party leaders will take the lead.

Legislative Branch

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

 Page 46 of 56 

Key Players in the Lawmaking Process

As you are, I am sure, quite aware of by now, while all legislators are important, some are more important than others! Let's look at those key players:

1. Speaker of the House (House) and Lt. Governor (Senate)

2. Committee Chairs

3. Senior Members

4. Members of Key Committees for your Bills

5. Issue Experts

The one thing that all of these positions or people have in common is the possession of knowledge. There are two types of knowledge that are important in the legislative arena and different leaders possess these types in different quantities. First, people in formal positions of power, such as the speaker of the House and the lt. governor, as well as very senior members of the legislature, are likely to possess a great deal of procedural knowledge, that is the knowledge of how things get done and how to make the legislative process work. This knowledge can be used to gain support or success on a variety of issues, because all issues must pass the legislative process to become law.

A second type of knowledge normally possessed by members of the committee, committee chairs, and policy experts is subject knowledge, that is, the information about education, public safety, insurance or whatever the particular piece of legislation is about. Some people develop policy expertise or subject knowledge because of their occupations outside of the legislature (for example, teachers generally know a great deal about education, lawyers understand the law). Others gain this knowledge via years of service on a particular committee or in the legislature. This kind of knowledge is usually possessed by the committee chairs, committee members, and policy experts. Knowledge of a particular issue can be translated into influence because you can trade that knowledge for support on other legislation.

Legislative Branch

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

 Page 47 of 56 

Budget and Taxation

In the eyes of many, the most significant thing that the legislature does every two years is pass the budget for the state. If they do not pass this budget, then state officials don't get paid, the roads are not maintained, and schools don't open. Compared to almost any other state, the budget powers of the Texas Legislature are strong and the powers of the governor are weak. The key players in the Texas budget process are the members of the Legislative Budget Board, the members of the House Appropriations Committee, and the members of the Senate Finance Committee. These men and women are responsible for writing the budget that will pay for state activities for the following two years.

The Legislative Budget Board includes the speaker of the House and the lt. governor as well as the house chairs of Appropriations and Ways and Means and Senate Finance Committees. The lt. governor appoints three more members and the speaker of the House two for a total of tenmembers, all of them state legislators (5 Senators and 5 House members).

Once the LBB has prepared a budget, it is submitted to the legislature which almost always passes it. The Legislative Budget Board is responsible for preparing and monitoring the state’s budget. The governor also can, and usually does, present a separate budget, but it is often ignored in favor of the one proposed by the LBB.

Legislative Branch

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

 Page 48 of 56 

Budget and Taxation, continued

One additional responsibility of the Legislative Budget Board is to conduct agency performance reviews. At least every seven years, they review the activities and performance of bureaucratic agencies. However, they do not really happen very much nor are they very rigorous. To get a good feel for the range of responsibilities of the Legislative Budget Board, check out the Web site Legislative Budget Board Responsibilities.

What about the role of the governor? He can veto the entire budget, or parts of it. In cutting out parts of the budget, he uses something called the line-item veto. The governor can use this only on the budget and cannot increase spending, but only cut it.

What factors contribute to the writing of the budget? First, members of these committees must consider the basic level of services that the government must provide. Government cannot quit funding roads, education, or public safety. Second, they must consider current economic conditions. Good economic times free up more money for the legislature to use for a variety of purposes. Third, they must consider the needs and desires of the people. Childcare assistance may not be a basic function, like education or roads, but if the voters demand it, legislators generally find a way to fund it. Finally, each member must consider his or her basic philosophy of governing-should government spend all it has on programs or should it return some to the voters to use however they wish?

The budget for the 2000-01 is almost $100 Billion! If you were on the budget committee, how would you allocate that money?

Legislative Branch

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

 Page 49 of 56 

Representational Roles

The Texas Legislature is considered to be a representational body. In fact, the legislative branch is often called the representative branch of government. What exactly does that mean? What does it mean to represent someone?

Generally, legislators may define representation in one of three ways:

1. Trustee Roles: First, some, most often senators, define representation in terms of their responsibility to do what they think is best, regardless of what the members of their district believe or want. These people rely on their knowledge, their experience, and their understanding of the issues to do what they believe is best and hope the voters trust their judgment. Because the longer terms and larger districts, senators are more likely to do this.

2. Delegate Role: Another member, more than likely a member of the House, tends to view representation as doing what the voters from your district want, even if you disagree with them. The delegate says I was sent here to do what the voters want me to do, even if I might disagree. It is my job to do what they want. Members of the Texas House are more likely to take this approach.

3. Politico Role: Finally, a third approach is to view representation in terms of a combination of the first two, sometimes playing the role of trustee and other times playing the role of delegate. On issues that are very important to me, I will take the Trustee role. On issues that are very important to the district, I will take the delegate role. The type of issue being considered will in part determine the balance between the two roles.

Which do you think is right? Is a person being arrogant if he or she believes that he or she knows better than the voters from that person's district, or is that person really in a better position to make an informed, educated decision because he or she is in the legislature? Is it any more noble to abdicate your responsibility in the name of doing what the voter wants even if you know that what he or she wants is not best for him or her? Is the person who takes one role, then the other, just copping out on the hard decisions? What do you think? Which approach to representation is the best?

Legislative Branch

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

 Page 50 of 56 

Members

A different view of representation is known as mirror representation. By this definition, a body is representative of a state or country if its members have the same characteristics of the population, only in smaller numbers. This is the same as saying a model ship is a representation of a full-sized ship if it looks the same, has the same number of guns, and is the same color. By this definition of representation, the Texas Legislature does not do very well. Women, Hispanics, African-Americans, and young people are all under-represented in the Texas Legislature, while old people, attorneys, businessmen, wealthy people, and educated voters are all over-represented.

The 83rd (2013-2014) Texas Legislature reflects this disparity:

This view of representation makes some assumptions about the meaning of representation and human behavior. It assumes first that representation requires having someone like you to represent your interests. Second, it assumes that people from the same group (women, Hispanics, etc.) all act the same and that the only person who can adequately represent a woman is a women, etc. Do you believe this? Can a man adequately represent the needs and views of a woman? Can a middle-aged white guy adequately represent the views of a twenty year old minority female?

Finally, this approach also assumes that we want a legislative body that mirrors us. Just because Texas has a low education level, does that mean we want our legislators to be uneducated? Just because Texas has a higher proportion of poor people than most states, does this mean we want 30% of our legislators to be below the poverty line? As you listen to this lecture think about why mirror representation is not apparent in Texas and decide if that is a good or bad thing.

Percent of Legislators that are Women, 2012 
Women are more likely to be elected to office in some states than in others. This is true for election to the legislature. This difference is important, because we know that women legislators support different issues than men, represent their constituents differently than men and make decisions differently than their male counterparts. In Colorado, four in ten legislators are women. Women make up more than thirty percent in seven states. On the other hand, they make up less than fifteen percent of the legislature in 8 states. The percentage of women in the Texas Legislature is considerably lower than the national average, with only fifteen states having fewer female members than the Lone Star State. Generally, women are less likely to be elected in Southern states, conservative states and states with more professional legislatures. Why do you think women do not do as well in Texas as some other states? Does this matter? How might we change that?

Source: NCSL.ORG

Number of African American and Hispanic American Legislators
2009
Just as it is expected that a legislature with ,more female members will do a better job of representing the needs of women in a state, it is likely that an all-white legislature would not be effective at representing Hispanic or African American citizens as legislators who came from their community. A look at the tables below reveals that the proportion of African American legislators in the state (9%) is lower than some (esp. Southern) states, but a pretty accurate reflection of their proportion of the state’s population (11.8 percent). On the other hand, the proportion of Hispanic American legislators (20%) is well below the proportion of the population who are Hispanic (37.8%)-  why do you think that is?  Does it matter?

Legislative Branch

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

 Page 51 of 56 

Elections

How do we ensure that our representatives do indeed represent us? Elections! Members of the state house must face the voters every two years and members of the Texas Senate run for four-year terms. At this time, legislators either choose to seek another term and face the evaluation of the voters, or they step aside and let someone else seek the position. For those seeking to return, the election is expected to be an evaluation of the way they are representing their voters. If they are doing a good job, they will be returned, if not, they will be defeated.

What is necessary for representation to take place via elections? First, the voters must have a real choice between the candidate in office and another, different candidate. A look at the 2006 election results suggests that elections in Texas could not instill representative tendencies: 80 of the 150 House seats had only 1 candidate from a major party (Libertarians ran candidates in several districts, but got no more than 20% of the vote anywhere)! In only 11 of the 150 races did the challenger win or even have a serious chance. In short, in over 80% of the cases, the voter really did not have an alternative if his or her legislator was failing to represent him or her adequately. In 8 of 15 Senate Seats (over half), the legislator in office did not have an opponent.

Why is competition so low?

1. Incumbent advantage: The incumbent is the person already holding the office. Because the incumbent has an advantage in name recognition (folks already know who he or she is) and the ability to raise money (lobbyists will take care of them), an incumbent is hard to beat, so he or she is seldom challenged.

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

 Page 52 of 56 

Elections, continued

1. Partisan Gerrymandering: More than three-quarters of the Texas Legislative seats are considered to be safe for one party or the other because of gerrymandering (drawing a district to advantage or disadvantage of one group). Democrats do not have a realistic shot of winning about forty percent of the seats and Republicans cannot win about a quarter of them, therefore, they seldom field a serious candidate.

2. Racial Gerrymandering: As was noted earlier in the course (under elections), the Supreme Court now requires that the districts include a certain proportion of seats that can be won by a candidate who is African-American or Hispanic. This has created many districts that are so heavily Democratic (minority districts) or so heavily Republican (non-minority districts) that competition is nonexistent.

3. High Cost of Running: If a candidate who is not the incumbent is to have a realistic shot at winning a seat in the Texas House, he or she must be able to raise several hundred thousand dollars. To be competitive in the Senate you may need to spend close to or above $1 million! For a job that pays $7,200 a year! This discourages many qualified candidates from running. Besides the financial cost, there is also the time commitment of running for office.

Why do you think competition for these offices is so low? Does this concern you? Why or why not?

Legislative Branch

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

 Page 53 of 56 

Bureaucratic Oversight

One of the least understood, least appreciated, but potentially most significant functions of the legislature, is its role in overseeing the activities of the bureaucracy, or the executive branch offices. The legislature is supposed to make sure that the bureaucratic agencies charged with putting its laws into action actually are doing that. However, this may be the least performed of the five legislative functions for a variety of reasons.

First and foremost, there is not political reward in doing oversight (unless you discover a $1,200 hammer or $20,000 toilet seat). Voters may pay attention when a legislator passes a bill or when he or she gets a grant for the district or has a bridge built in the district. However, they seldom pay attention when a legislator makes sure the bureaucrats are doing their job.

Second, effective oversight takes a great deal of work, time and effort. Members of the Texas Legislature do not possess the time or staff to engage in such comprehensive work where the rewards are likely to be so small.

When legislators do engage in oversight, it can generally take one of three forms: casework, performance review hearings, or the budget process.

1) Casework: This occurs when you respond to a concern or question by a constituent. A constituent calls and is having a problem with the bureaucracy. You solve these problems, but only one at a time. It has a very limited effect.

2) Performance Review Hearings: As noted above under the budget process, members of the Texas Legislature (namely the Legislative Budget Board) are supposed to hold performance review hearings for bureaucratic agencies at least every seven years. At these hearings, they can perform comprehensive oversight.

However, this does not happen very often-rather than every seven years, the reviews occur about every twelve years and they are seldom effective because the people doing the reviews (the legislators) are seldom as prepared as the bureaucrats-remember the Texas Legislature is not professional and has relatively limited staff.

Legislative Branch

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

 Page 54 of 56 

Bureaucratic Oversight, continued

3) Budget Process: Every two years, each agency must go before the appropriate standing committee and the appropriate budget subcommittee and request its budget money for the next two years. At this time, these committees are supposed to explain why they need the money they are asking for and defend their spending practices. The committees are supposed to analyze these requests critically and make sure each agency is being efficient and effective. However, this often does not happen because of the relationship between the agency, the committee, and the interest group, called the cozy triangle or iron triangle. (Why does this role make sense for the legislature to perform as opposed to the courts or executive branch?)

First, as the author of the laws, the legislature understands the intent of those laws and, obviously, would be the best institution to evaluate if that intent is being met by the agency.

Second, bureaucratic agencies are technically part of the executive branch so asking that branch to evaluate performance is somewhat akin to asking the fox to watch the hen house!

Third, the legislature is structured most effectively to oversee the agency-for every major agency, there is a matching and experienced legislative committee. There is a Department of Education and a Committee on Education. There is a Department of Public Safety and a House Committee on Public Safety. Finally, with its stable structure and membership, the legislative branch is the only institution that can build up seniority and experience to compete with the senior members of the bureaucracy. Long-time members of the legislature can remember the promises, kept and unkept, made by bureaucrats over the years!

Given these advantages that the legislature has in oversight, why is it so seldom done?

Legislative Branch

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

 Page 55 of 56 

Educating the Public

What do we mean by "educating the public"? What kind of information can the legislators and the legislative institution provide to voters? First, they can educate the public on the activities of the legislature regarding issues pertinent to them,: such as taxes, education, public safety, health care, etc. Second, they should educate the public on the intricacies of the legislative process and how the process works. Few people have a good understanding of the legislative process and therefore often have a negative image of the legislative institution that is not unwarranted. Third, legislators can use technology to explain the pros and cons of various issues and let the voters get a feel for the debate over issues. Finally, legislators can use modern technology to get their constituents involved in the political process. They can provide voters with schedules of votes, committee hearings, etc., and other opportunities for input, as well as giving them access via e-mail.

If you are a Legislator, there are three methods for doing this:

1. Personal Meetings with Constituents: When constituents come to see you or call you or you go out into the district, you have the opportunity to educate them about what you are doing, what is going on in the legislature and how the legislature works.

2. Traditional Media: Historically, this has meant doing radio and television interviews and sending out monthly or quarterly newsletters. However, with the rise of the cable television and segmented audiences, you can now take advantage of public access television or purchase relatively cheap time on cable networks. This will allow you to target your audience (i.e., tailor your message for the Home and Garden Network or Spike TV).

3. Modern Media: With the rise of the Internet, state legislators have a convenient and cheap way to keep voters informed about what they are doing with e-mails, Web pages, listservs, and blogs. All Texas legislators have public Web sites and many run blogs and try to answer their own e-mails. The Texas Legislature has long been a leader in providing information via the Internet.

While legislators can use modern technology for these noble purposes, they can also use it to build support for their own positions or political ambitions. Take a look at some political Web pages and decide how they are being used!

See the next page to see how Texas compares!

How Does Texas Compare: The Texas Legislature

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

 Page 56 of 56

Percent of the Legislators that Are Democrats, 2003

With the exception of Nebraska unicameral legislature, every state legislature in America is made up of Democrats and Republicans. The proportion of Democrats and Republicans varies considerably across the country as you can see below. While the South was dominated by the Democratic party only twenty years ago, it is interesting to note that of the five most Democratic institutions, only two, Arkansas and Alabama were from the south. Such deep south states as Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana are controlled by the Democrats, but the Republicans have a growing and significant presence. Texas is almost in the bottom of this split, with 40.88% of the Texas Legislature being Democratic. Democrats control more seats in 22 states and fewer in 27 states (Nebraska’s unicameral legislature is non-partisan). This makes a difference because we know that politicians are more responsive and policies representative of the public when both parties are strong. Think about how different government might be in Texas today if the Democrats still controlled over ninety percent of the seats as they did not more than twenty years ago. Does it matter?

Source: National Conference of State Legislatures. 2003.

2009 Base Salary for State Legislators

per year (or $20,000 during a session year)?

Source: Hovey, Kendra A. and Harold A. Hovey. CQ’s State Fact Finder 2002: Rankings Across America. Washington, D.C.: CQ Press, 2002, p. 100

State Legislators per One Million in Population, 2002

It is generally assumed that the more legislators there are per citizens, the better the legislature will be able to represent the interests of those citizens. A legislator that must represent 600,000 people will have a more difficult time representing them than one who must represent 60,000 or 20,000 people. In New Hampshire, a small state with over 400 legislators, every million citizens are represented by 343 legislators, meaning that each legislator represents under 3,000 people. On the other hand, each million Californians are represented by four members, meaning that each represents, on average, 250,000 people!! Texas has less representation than all states except California (ranked 49) with 9 members per 1 million citizens (averages 111,000 citizens per legislator). This means that citizens in Texas are generally going to be under represented. Do you believe one person can adequately represent 111,000 people?

Source: Hovey, Kendra A. and Harold A. Hovey. CQ’s State Fact Finder 2002: Rankings Across America. Washington, D.C.: CQ Press, 2002, p. 98.

Total Number of Legislative Staff, 1996

It is often said that a legislative institution is only as strong as its support staff. Legislators can only make good decisions and good policies if they have good, unbiased information to combat that provided by the governor, the bureaucracy, the media and the lobbyists. Unlike most measures of effectiveness, the Texas legislature does very well when compared to staffing patterns in other legislatures. Only three states (New York, Pennsylvania and California) had more staff members in 1998 than did the Texas General Assembly. You may notice that it is generally the larger states that provide the most staff, because their members are expected to do more constituent work and these states are usually policy leaders. On the other end, sparsely populated states like Vermont, South Dakota and New Mexico provide very limited staff for their legislators. The large staff is particularly important in Texas where the members must hold other jobs (or just be rich) in order to make ends meet. In states with small staffs, legislators find it difficult to compete with the governor, the interest groups, or the bureaucrats.

Source: Survey conducted by the National Conference of State Legislatures, 1996

Massachusetts did not complete the survey

Percent of Legislators that are Women, 2003

Women are more likely to be elected to office in some states than in others. This is true for election to the legislature. This difference is important, because we know that women legislators support different issues than men, represent their constituents differently than men and make decisions differently than their male counterparts. In Washington state, almost forty percent of all legislators are women. Women make up more than thirty percent in seven states. On the other hand, they make up less than fifteen percent of the chamber in 7 states. Texas is in the middle, with nineteen states having a lower proportion of women legislators and thirty having a higher proportion. Generally, women are less likely to be elected in Southern states, conservative states and more professional legislatures. Why do you think women do not do as well in Texas as some other states? Does this matter? How might we change that?

Source: National Conference of State Legislatures. 2003

A Comparison of the *Professionalism of State Legislatures

Legislative Institutions vary considerably from one state to another. Some, like California, New York and Michigan, are like the U.S. Congress, with well paid, experienced members and full-time, well paid staffs. On the other hand, some, like New Hampshire, North Dakota and Wyoming, don’t meet very often, pay their members very little and offer little support staff. Texas is generally in the middle, ranked 21st out of the fifty states in professionalism. Texas only meets 140 days every two years and pays its members only 600 per month, but has a relatively stable membership and very strong staffing. The fact that the Texas legislature is not very professional is important because it means that lobbyists, staff and the governor are more likely to influence what the legislature does than if they were better informed and better paid. Until Texas raises its salaries and makes its legislative sessions annually, neither of which are likely in the near future, it will remain less professional than other large states, like California, Florida, New York and Michigan, and it will remain at the mercy of interest groups and lobbyists.

*Professionalism is measured in Terms of the annual membership turnover, days in session and annual salary of members. Calculated from the Book of the States.