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Pros And Disadvantages Of A Full-Time Or Part Time Legislature

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A Full-Time or Part-Time Legislature

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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 …show more content…

It also reduces the costs associated with the legislative process. A disadvantage of a part time legislature is that it is difficult for the public to contact the part time legislators. A part time legislature does not allow sufficient time to consider all bills brought to the legislature. There is the possibility of a conflict of interest because the legislators have other occupations. The legislators cannot debate and consider bills effectively because they have split responsibilities between the legislature and their full time jobs. The legislators may also be absent from a session when they are needed because of commitments from their occupations. A part time legislature weakens the effectiveness of the legislative process and risks unchecking the executive arm of the government (Tucker, …show more content…

There are special sessions that are called by the governor. The legislative process in Texas is a hybrid system with a combination of both the full time legislature and the part time legislature. The 140 day sessions is a short period to conduct all the business of the state and the constitution gives the governor the power to call as many special sessions needed in order to complete important state business. These special sessions are short and do not exceed 30 days. Reducing the duration of these sessions is important to ensure that the government does not govern too much. At the end of a legislative session any bills that have not been approved by both houses die on the last day of the session. The governor can use the threat of a special session to motivate legislators to focus on issues that are of concern to the governor. The compromises that are possible between Texas 140 day sessions and a full time approach include a reduction of costs and the availability of adequate time to discuss and debate legislations. The sessions are limited to 140 days, but if there are issues that need legislative attention, then the governor can convene special sessions to address these issues (Tucker,

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