The Texas legislature is a bicameral body which is composed of a 31-member Senate and a 150 - member House of Representative. The state legislature meets at the capital in Austin. State legislators in Texas salaries consist of making $600 per month or $7,200 per year. Some people feel their salary is too low, others feel as though they should raise their salaries to a sustainable career-level wage. I believe the state legislature should not have their salaries raised and I feel they are currently receiving the amount they deserve. When you take into consideration the amount of work they do and politicians are not well liked by people, are reasons why their current salary pay is justified.
The members of the Texas state legislature who consider
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In an article titled, “How Much Should State Legislators Get Paid” by Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux, it discusses the benefits of increasing a state legislator’s salary. Peverill Squire, a professor of political science at the University of Missouri and an expert on state legislatures created a scale which created to assess professionalism. “The question of salaries has haunted American legislatures since the 1640s,” said Squire. With the use of this scale, the question received a possible answer. Politicians found the state legislatures who meet for longer time periods and give their legislators more resources are capable of being more productive and doing a better job. “…more resources…are more efficient, passing a greater percentage of bills overall and enacting more bill per legislative day” (Thomson-DeVeaux). Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux makes reasonable points in her article on reasons why state legislators should receive a higher salary however, she didn’t take into consideration that politicians are going to try and make a career out of being a state legislature. With an increased salary, legislatures aren’t necessarily agreeing or promising to work better or efficiently. If they aren’t agreeing to doing more or doing better, why should we increase their
The Texas legislature is the dominant branch of state government within the state constitutional framework of separation of powers. “Under the Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, the legislature, as representative of the people of Texas, exercises plenary powers, limited only by the Texas and United States constitutions and valid federal laws” (Texas Legislature). In the 1845-1879 Texas statehood constitution, which laid out the basic legislative framework established the bicameral legislature, which contains the House of Representatives and the Senate. The House of Representatives is formed by forty-five to ninety members, which are elected form counties, cities, or towns for two-year terms. The House of Reps. originated from the British House of Commons, which has the exclusive right to create taxes and spend that revenue, which is considered the ultimate check on royal authority. Therefore, “All bills for revenue shall be originated in the House of Representatives…” (U.S. Constitution), in reference to the fiscal policy. A fiscal policy is the means by which a government adjusts its spending levels and tax rates to
The state bureaucracy administers/implements the laws of Texas. It is run by executives whose job is to see that the laws of the state are implemented according to the will and intent of the Legislature. Ideally, these executive branch officials or bureaucrats are to administer their duties and implement the laws in a neutral manner, uninfluenced by politics. In reality, state bureaucrats are important players in not just implementation, but also policy making. In Texas, there is no overall central governing or controlling authority. Government authority in Texas is very decentralized, and rests within many independent state agencies.
The History of Texas Texas history itself had its own amazing story. The small number of American settlers moved to the land of Texas had led to the dramatic war with the Mexicans. The land of Texas was used to be owned by Mexicans. Due to the argument between Texans and Mexicans caused the battle of San Jacinto and Mexican War. In long ago before American settlers moved to Texas, this place was so rich and an abundance of land.
In Texas, the state legislature is the most important representative institution in the state. Like the US Congress, the Texas Legislature is bicameral. This means that the legislature in split into two separate assemblies; the Texas House of Representatives and the Texas Senate. There are 150 House members and 31 senators, and they meet for 140 days every odd-numbered year. The Texas Legislature is the state's lawmaking branch. Its main function is to enact laws to provide for the health, welfare, education, environment, and economic and general well-being of the citizens of Texas. It also establishes public policy through the passage of bills and resolutions and proposes amendments to the state constitution, which are then submitted to the voters for approval or disapproval.
This constitution of United Mexican States provided for a very weak national government and the powers of the government and its states are not defined which caused increasing tension between each state.
The education conflict in Texas is a major factor of chaos. There is kids without college tuitions. The 2011 Texas Legislature chopped more than a billion dollars from higher education, dashing the dream of college for many Texas students. While scholarships disappeared, many campuses were forced to raise tuition costs, a deadly combination for families without the resources to make up the difference.
In contrast, the Texas State Senate has its focus on the Upper House of the Texas State Legislature. The Senate consists of 31 members, who represent single-member districts settled in Texas. The latest studies confirm that each individual district has an average of 806.000 civilians. Each term a member serves last for four years. Similarly, to the House, the senate has no term limits. The person who leads the Senate is the Lieutenant Governor of Texas. The Lieutenant Governor is considered to many to be more influential. In 2013, the 83rd Legislative Session occurred and six new senators were added to the
Texas Legislature met for the 85th time last spring since statehood. The Texas Legislature passed several laws from State budget, protecting children, schools, sanctuary cities, and many more, at the same time some laws where not passed.
The most common Governmental figure in Texas is the Governor. This power is nothing more than that of a celebrity status. Although the Governor has the power to appoint independent boards and commissions, the senate has to confirm these appointments. This is called senatorial courtesy What is meant when this job is more like a celebrity is because of the Governors ceremonial roles as acting as Chief of State. This increases the Governors popularity and prestige, and broadens the image of the office. One important power or role that the Governor is responsible for is coordinating relations between Texas and other states. This can definitely be an important factor. For example, the need of federal aid during the time of an emergency can require the help of other states. The Governor also acts as the Chief Budget officer of the state. Even though the presiding officer presides over this office, the Governor does have some control. This is a very effective example of a good trustworthy system.
There are many reforms that have been discussed one being to extend the term for members of the Texas Legislature. Many feel that if the Senate is extended to six years and the House of Representative to four years it will allow the members to obtain more experience in fields and be able to not have to worry about when the next election is as often. Many critics feel that the time members are in session are too short to make any real progress, reformers would like to increase the length of legislative sessions from the current 140 days. Others feel that increasing the sessions would allow for more laws and regulations. This will be an ongoing debate where there will always be two sides to the possibility of reform which will impact the possibility of it being passed.
The core function of the Texas Legislature is to formulate and enact laws. Apart from the enactment of laws, the legislative body is also mandated with the functions of shaping the state’s political agenda, performing checks and balances on state of the state’s government, pass the state’s budget, as well as oversee the functions of the administration. Similarly, the body also sets the critical details or a court’s organizational procedures when it comes to matters that pertain to impeachment and court disputes regarding election petitions. It is equally important to mention that the body is also mandated with the function of informing and educating the electorate regarding the critical functions the body is required to deliver to the people as provided for by the laws of the State of Texas (Dautrich and Yalof 684).
Texas has a reputation throughout history of differing views from the federal government in laws and politics pertaining to social, fiscal, and educational issues. On the whole, Texas operates as a largely conservative state. Because of this, policy-making is often right wing. With the institution of a Democratic, liberal president, the State’s dissent from the Federal government has only increased over certain issues. One hot topic of the 2012 Presidential election was immigration. With the major increase in immigration, it is no surprise that the issue was so emphasized. Between 2000 and 2011 there was a 30 percent
The most common Governmental figure in Texas is the Governor. This power is nothing more than that of a celebrity status. Although the Governor has the power to appoint independent boards and commissions, the senate has to confirm these appointments. This is called senatorial courtesy What is meant when this job is more like a celebrity is because of the Governors ceremonial roles as acting as Chief of State. This increases the Governors popularity and prestige, and broadens the image of the office. One important power or role that the Governor is responsible for is coordinating relations between Texas and other states. This can definitely be an important factor. For example, the need of federal aid during the time of an emergency can require the help of other states. The Governor also acts as the Chief Budget officer of the state. Even though the presiding officer presides over this office, the Governor does have some control.
All members of the Texas state legislature should have one common motive. That is, to represent the citizens of their state. Champagne et. al. states that “…members…are responsible for bringing the interests and concerns of their constituencies directly into the democratic political processes” (2017, p.211). In order to effectively do so, a member of the Texas House will represent roughly 168,000 citizens while a senator may represent more than 811,000 constituents (Champagne et al., 2017,
Is Texas public policy effective? The Texas government million-dollar question. This research paper will inform the readers on what public policy and effectiveness is in relation to Texas government. It will review five scholarly journals that all describe public policy and its effectiveness in Texas. It will also discuss one public policy specifically regarding the health care that Texas has imposed upon their prison inmates. The goal of this research paper is to conclude whether Texas public policy is effective or not. It will achieve this goal by concluding through a case study that the health care the government has implemented in Texas prisons for inmates is not