Macias 1
Maria Macias #1883712 2017SP GOVT 2306-73434 Local Control in Texas May 2, 2017 Local Control in Texas Do you know the difference in power between state legislature and local control? Let me begin by giving you some background information. 1 According to Konni Burton, “Counties, cities, and all manner of special purpose districts (which include our independent school districts) are creations of the state government. They exist at the sole discretion of the state; receive their responsibilities, powers, and restrictions from the state; and are subject to the direction of the state.” (Burton) In Texas, there are many municipalities which are known as “home-rule” cities which have a “population of more than 5,000 that has, in accordance
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Their primary goal is to defend local control for the benefit of their communities and citizens. The first article that relates to fracking, explains that Texas senators and Texas representatives received large campaign contributions from oil and gas industries. For that reason, they believe Texas senators and representatives were against local city ordinances adopted that were in place to protect public health and safety. The next article talks about how some of the biggest polluters are large companies that fail to pay fines or clean up their sites. Their argument is that they would like more freedom to penalize these polluting industries for the safety and well-being of their communities. (Texas Vox) The final article was related to the plastic bag ban and surcharge, which according to Governor Abbott was what he would consider overregulation; this ban was later …show more content…
“Both the House and Senate versions would ban cities, counties and universities from prohibiting law enforcement officers from asking about a person’s immigration status or enforcing immigration law.” (Dallas News) In this case, local government would be penalized and fined if they went against this ban. It is very unfortunate because a lot of innocent undocumented people would now be afraid to report any form of crime from fear of deportation. I believe that it is the responsibility of all branches of government including local to determine what is best for their citizens but it is equally important for them to carefully review the effects that any laws or regulations will have one the community as a whole and not just target specific groups.
4 Works Cited "Local Control Archives." TexasVox: 4 The Voice of Public Citizen in Texas. N.p., n.d. 5 http://www.texasvox.org/tag/local-control/ Web. 6 01 May 2017.
Matt Rinaldi. 4 "Liberty Trumps Local Control, by Matt Rinaldi." TribTalk. 6 N.p., 12 Mar. 2015. 5 https://www.tribtalk.org/2015/03/12/liberty-trumps-local-control/ Web. 6 01 May 2017.
Burton, Konni. 6 "Local Control: 1 A Tool, Not The Rule." Empower Texans. 7 N.p., 11 Oct. 2016. https://empowertexans.com/commentary/local-control-a-tool-not-the-rule/ Web. 6 01 May
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.
In the State of Texas, the Council-Manager form of government is preferred by all of the major cities, except for Houston who prefer the Mayor-Council form of government. Under the Council-Manager form of government, the voters are at the top of the hierarchical structure. In this capacity, the voters elect a small City Council, including a mayor, who is the presiding officer over the City Council. Although the Mayor is symbolically the “Head of State”, he or she is not the head of government. The Mayor and City Council have the authority to appoint four of the city’s government officials: the City Manager, the City Attorney, the City Clerk and the Municipal Judge (some cities elect this position). Moreover, although weak in this form of government, the Mayor has a vote on many issues impacting the city; however, lacks any type of veto authority (except in a few cities), which means that laws are passed by on a majority-rule voting system of the total City Council Members, meaning all City Council Members must vote in order to pass a law. Most importantly, the Mayor and City Council primary role lies in the establishment of a strategic vision for the city. Once this is accomplished, the Mayor and the City Council are responsible for generating a strong mission statement that aligns with a set of clear goals, resulting in effective government policy guidance for execution by the City Manager to run the city. Collectively, the Mayor and City Council hire the City Manager who has full management authority, to execute the Mayor’s and City Council’s vision for the city. However, a City
The people of Texas are diverse and carry their “big can-do attitudes and accents” (Pearson); making Texas a bigger than life state. The political culture of Texas is impacted by two different subgroups of
There are many different opinions on how much power the governor of Texas should have than other states. Some people debate on whether Texas government should have a singular executive instead of plural executive. There are pros and cons of having a plural executive model and at times they believe that it can be more democratic than the single executive model. The governor’s power is debated about whether or not they have not enough or too much power with governing the state of Texas.
Howell states that “educational development at the county level is significant to Texas history for several reasons.” One reason that he states, is that “it provides a measure of how important free public education was to the citizens of Texas counties by comparing how quickly they complied with various state school laws passed late in the 1850’s”
Over the course of United States history, Texas has always been a peculiar state. It has had it's fair share of triumphs and downfalls, some of which were the Battle of The Alamo, the defeat of the Spanish army, and its acquisition by the United States. Although the history of Texas might seem to dominate the opinions of many, the governmental component is no different. In fact, some have debated if the very foundation of our government is a democracy or a republic. In response, and through thorough research, I have concluded that Texas is, in fact, a democracy, because there is a multitude of electoral systems, an array of elected positions that citizens can run for, and a myriad of court systems to which justice can be served.
The Local and state officials? The inability to enforce laws from the federal level uniformly throughout counties
Texas is the second most populous state as well as the second largest state in the United States of America (Brown, Langenegger, Garcia, Lewis, & Biles, 2014). With a huge number of people currently calling Texas their home, it would make sense to draw the conclusion that the Texas government must make this state a great place to live by serving its citizens to the best of its abilities. However, it is best not to make assumptions and in order to ascertain whether the local government actually fulfills this role we must look at multiple aspects of the government.
The government of the state of Texas is a difficult and complicated institution that is composed of many different levels. The question comes in to everyone's mind at one time or another whether or not to trust the government. It could be that people believe that the officials will take advantage of their power, or simply people don't like the idea of being controlled by someone who is not a family member or friend. To avoid this centralized power, the government is divided into stages and this is a reasonable ground for trusting the government. Government runs this state and it does deserve to be trusted.
In my analysis of the Texas Constitution I will assess the three branches of our State Government, the Legislative Branch, Executive Branch and finally the Judicial Branch. Our State Government resembles our National Government in various ways but also in very different ways which we will review in this essay. I will identify a handful of criticisms and problems associated with the provisions in each of these branches of our State Government and identify suggested reforms that many feel are needed.
The government of the state of Texas is a difficult and complicated institution that is composed of many different levels. The question comes in to everyone's mind at one time or another whether or not to trust the government. It could be that people believe that the officials will take advantage of their power, or simply people don't like the idea of being controlled by someone who is not a family member or friend. To avoid this centralized power, the government is divided into stages and this is a reasonable ground for trusting the government. Government runs this state and it does deserve to be trusted.
In this essay I will compare and contrast the different legislative agendas of various interest groups involved with the Texas Government. An interest group (also called an advocacy group, lobbying group, pressure group, or special interest) is a collection of members that are determined to encourage or prevent changes in public policy without trying to be elected. The essay will discuss the four kinds of interest groups, trade, professional, single and public, as well as provide one detailed example of each type. It includes examples from the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers, Texas AFT, MADD and TexPIRG interest groups, which are just a few of the many groups in existence out, but it provides an idea of what different types of
This highlights the dilemma of public policy orientation under the thumb of budgetary limits and demonstrates the difficulty of establishing priorities in the protection and furthering of the public's interests. Another issue of public interest to Texans, and one that truly dominates headlines
Local control is in close contact with the people hence it is easier for local control to enact a ban as compared with the state Government. The local control bans however fails to progress due to some court decisions that dictate that local control as well as the bans imposed by them are void. However, the local control has the interest of people at heart. According to the people of Texas, there should be put measures which ensure that the environment is well conserved. Texas people were having the power to preserve their environment until the policy-makers passed bills that denied Texas citizens the mandate to preserve their environment any longer. According to the articles, gas and oil extraction as well as excursion of wastewaters led to experiences of Earthquakes in Texas which called for more control on the mining process by Texas oil industries. Sadly, the law-makers’ current bills insinuated that those industries would continue to handle their business normally leaving the citizens with zero control over their
Texas is a state that has always been recognized for its size and politics. Elections are a huge part of democratic societies that are intended for citizens to choose their public leaders and approve the policies set by candidates. Political parties and interest groups also play a key role in shaping opportunities for public participation. Most Texans and historians know that the Democratic Party’s historical dominance is important to state politics. It is less likely that people are not aware of the consequences of the one-party system for public participation and democracy in Texas. Like many of the rim South states, the white elitist belonged to the Democratic Party which stemmed from the end of Reconstruction until the late 20th