Legislators Should Do Longer Hours Essay

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

A full time legislature is a legislature where the members consider their jobs as being full time. The members are well paid and committees are well staffed. Legislators meet for the most part of the year and are paid as full time employees. Their extended time in office and the ability to devote their time to issues allows them to perform their duties more effectively. A full time legislature allows adequate time for debate and hearings among the legislators and the public, therefore the decision making process is more informed. Legislators do not have to meet all year round in order to get their work done. Spending too much time in the legislature takes the

Did you know that the average high school student in today’s society has the same levels of anxiety as a psychiatric patient in the 1950s? According to psychologist Robert Leahy, school these days can get a little tough– especially when most students’ first response to a heavy backpack full of homework is to worry over whether or not it can be done. In the past decade, Leahy and other psychologists have noticed a steady nationwide increase in the amount of stress caused by schoolwork among high school students (Slate Magazine). What does this mean for tomorrow’s leaders and future generations of dignitaries? Scientists have concluded that sleep deprivation, long-term health problems, and declining overall academic achievement are

Today, career politicians are constantly looking for what will aid them in getting reelected. They become more loyal to their campaign fund contributers than to the people whom they represent. This increases the likelihood of having corrupted politicians in office, as they use the government as a vehicle to further their own career (Kurfirst, 1996, p. 123, 129). George Will, a well-known political journalist, was quoted as saying “[The] worst feature of professionalism in politics is that it obliterates the proper distance between the representatives and the represented” (Kurfirst, 1996, p. 125). Even James Madison agreed that legislators were meant to represent the people, not hold office as a career. In The Federalist No. 57 (1788), he wrote, “From this change of men must proceed a change of opinions; and from a change of opinions, a change of measures.” The lack of new faces in Congress today symbolizes that the American legislative branch is straying from its intended purpose.

This branch holds a bicameral body that composes of the House of Representatives and the Senate. The whole purpose of this branch is to produce the laws for the Texas government and to represent the Texans as a whole. For example, in the textbook Government and Politics in the Lone Star State by L. Tucker Gibson, Jr. and Clay Robison, the general ideas discussed about the laws goes from "local legislation that affects one city or county to general statewide policies and proposals for constitutional amendments." In order to make sure this is accomplished, the branch meets every 2 years to discuss and regulate the laws of Texas on a 140 day period between January and the end of May. The person who conducts these sessions is the lieutenant government. This government body is made up of 150 members in the House of Representatives and 31 members from the

As mentioned previously, Proposition 140 was not just simply a bill to enact term limits to state legislatures but one of reducing the expenditures to the legislatives staff. Prior to Proposition 140, California had enjoyed relatively large legislative staffs and nonpartisan organizations, such as The Legislative Analyst’s Office. After the passing of Proposition 140, legislative costs of the state had to be reduced significantly, with The Legislative Analyst’s Office and the Assembly and Senate Research greatly reducing their staff, with The Legislative Analyst’s Office in particular reducing its staff from 98 to 43 during the first two years alone (Robinson, pg.8). Funding aside, term limits have also negatively impacted the legislative staff that remained. One challenge that legislative staffs now face is job instability. In contrast to the long-time incumbents of the past that would guarantee a long-term job, staff are now highly susceptible to short-term jobs that could range anywhere from a single term bosses to 14 year ones. Another challenge that staff face is their new roles in the relation with legislators. With current turnover rates of legislators, staff are now burdened with the responsibility of teaching legislators about the daily operations of the legislature. Where as in the past, legislators could rely on there long time careers as

First, congress salaries are very heavily bashed on by the public. An average congress member attains a salary just shy of $100,000. Many members of congress start off making roughly $80,000-$90,000 annually. Therefore, an abundance of people argue that their salary is too high. Although they have a decent salary to sit on, they aren’t overly wealthy. In contrast, members may work their way up in power, yet don’t generate much of a raise other than a few thousand annually. Back when the constitution was being formed, many of our nation’s top builders predicted a president leading the USA. Granted the president description was extremely vague, we soon realized how powerful presidency and high powers truly are. After several presidencies and wars, among other awry events, we quickly discovered the roles and objectives of these political leaders. Furthermore, the role of presidency has been altered greatly over the course of time. The separation of power ultimately led to the creation of a two-party system. Lastly, the issue of re-election arises. Re-election rates have generated a fair amount of complaints among American’s. The idea of limiting terms for congress members has become a common thought. If this followed through, it may generate mixed feelings for our country. Everybody has different stances on our nation’s higher powers, but perception is critical, depending on the

Former governor Rick Perry once said “When you have a full-time legislature, they just feel pretty inclined to be doing something. So they are going to dream up new laws, new regulations and new statutes-and generally all of those cost money.” (Champagne) Government does not need to be involved in everything, but it is necessary to try and keep order and to protect the citizens. An additional argument against a full-time legislation is the belief that it would increase corruption due to the fact that the legislators would have more time together to deliberate and give in to the temptation of unethical practices. (Champagne 217) My opinion is that a full-time legislature would offer more time and money for the job to be completed thoroughly. Instead of scheming, they would be able to research and discuss the bills as they are being submitted. It seems that corruption is caused for two reasons. The first being that currently there is simply not enough time to tackle all the issues, so when one is approached with being persuaded to support a certain bill, they act on it when they might not have even known that it existed. Secondly, the minimal amount of pay for this job could play a role in one being tempted to these corrupt practices for money or to enjoy things that they would otherwise not have access to. Whether the legislature is currently corrupted or would be so if it becomes a full-time, it is difficult to deny the fact that the legislature is not an

Currently members of our legislative branch are only paid $7,200 per year with an additional personal allowance of $128.00 a day that they are in session. Many feel that his low pay opens the door to dependence on special interests who will entice a member to support a bill that they would normally not support. Others feel that the biggest criticism is how short the legislature session is. Currently when the members are in session it is only for 140 days every odd year unless they are called back in a special session. This limited time causes bills to get passed without properly being reviewed.

The constitution mandates the legislators to hold biennial sessions; however, the governor also has the constitutional power to call for special or emergency sessions. Accordingly, the constitution empowers the legislators to amend the constitution, set policies, and also manage all state run institutional affairs. As mentioned in the first question, the constitution empowers the legislators to conduction processes such as legislative oversight and constituent functions, which are necessary whenever it comes to the implementation of government policies and programs. In a nutshell, the constitution of Texas simply provides a means for the legislators to follow the law especially when it comes to performing critical functions of the

The Texas Legislature should continue to serve as part-time lawmaking bodies. This has been this way for over 137 years, and has become tradition. There are several reasons why it is a better idea to keep the part-time lawmaking. People fear that if they start meeting in regular session each year it would cause increased governmental power and spending. (Texas Politics- Newell, Prindle, Riddlesperger, Dovovan, Smith, Mooney) If the government met more often the people would think that they would make more rules and have more

The stories of Texas Legislatures going bankrupt, applying for food stamps, and stretching every dollar to make ends meet, are more than true. Why do Texas lawmakers get paid so little? Ross Ramsey, writer of Rich Man, Poor Man, Beggar Man, Lawmaker, and Morgan Smith, writer of Part-Time Legislature Can Create Financial Hardship, both shine light on the matter in their articles for the Texas Tribune.

The Texas state legislature should be reconstructed to meet annually rather than biannually. Because Texas is met on a bi-annual basis, the beginning of each session is typically filled with bills that are declared emergency measures. As a result of Texas only meeting for a one hundred and forty day period, an unfortunate consequence is that bills need to be rushed and may miss something important or even may not be looked at during the session. However one may argue that the biannual meetings for a one hundred and forty day period still serve a useful purpose. suppose the Texas legislature was extended on time and/or how often they met, who is to say that the legislature will not simply have more time to procrastinate. It is tenable to think

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,

The Texas AFT wants to influence the legislator because the school districts have been left to try to make up for inadequate state aid by raising local tax rates, even as the state has continued to make it much harder for them to accomplish this. Basically, all they want to do is handle the budget crisis in the school districts of Texas. To analyze the successes and failures of Texas AFT in influencing legislation is short and sweet; school systems are still under budgeted and local taxes are still being raised to help the schools. The only break educators have received was in 2006 with “surplus” dollars tax swap for which the bill is now belatedly coming due.