Senator Juan And The Texas State Senate Essay

However, Straus created the committees which will oversee gambling issues, assigned members to them and selected which bills are referred to which committees. So far, most of the gambling legislation filed in the Texas House has been referred to committee. That filed in the Texas Senate, where Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst presides, has not been referred.

Moreover, it is full of nonessential, and unorganized legislations that have since become outdated and invalidated, and this should be ratified by being rewritten in a more clear, to-the-point, and modernized manner so that the Texas legislating process can function more efficiently and effectively. In addition, the lack of time the Texas Constitution allocates for the Texas House and Senate to meet in correlation with the demands of such a vastly populated state, is beyond outdated, and calls for modification. Moreover, the small salaries these members receive also unduly limits the attention our Executive Branch members can direct towards their responsibilities to Texas and its citizens. Furthermore, although it is important to put some limitations on the power of government, the extreme limitations that the Texas Constitution places on the Legislative and Executive branches unnecessarily impedes the Texas legislating

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.

Rubesh Phaiju Professor Sherry Sharifian GOVT 2306-71003 28 November 2017 Committees Texas House of Representative consists of many committees which are working for the development of society and the people. Some of the committees which I would consider, if elected are Opioids & Substance Abuse Select Committee, Business & Industry Committee and Economic & Small Business Development Committee.

The 1876 Texas State constitution is the basic framework of today’s legislature it consists of three branches the legislative branch which is comprised of the house and senate, and the executive and judiciary branch. In the following paragraphs we will discuss the Texas legislature’s major responsibilities relative to checks and balances.

In order to become a member of the Texas state legislature, there are certain demands that must be met. A senator, for example, must be twenty-six or older, a U.S. citizen,

The Texas Legislature has powers either by non-legislative power or legislative power. The legislative power includes power that can be passed by bills and resolutions, and non-legislative powers by functions falling outside the lawmaking function. In general the Texas Legislatures responsibilities are to set public policy by passing bills and resolutions. It supervises the state bureaucracy through the budgetary process and the Sunset Act, this act provides review and termination of state agencies. The Texas Constitution sets Legislative power in two houses, a Senate of 31 members and a House of Representatives of no more than 150 members. The Texas Constitution stipulates the terms of the office and qualifications, for example House members

Question One: These committees are permanent committees in the House and Senate that continue from one Congress to the next and focus on legislation in a particular area.

1.  Should the Texas Legislature continue to serve as a part-time lawmaking body, only meeting in regular session for 140 days every two years, or should it change to a full-time body meeting in regular session each year?

The fourth power is the power to appoint reps to conference committee. The fifth power is the power to recognize points of orders/amendments. The sixth and last power is the power to interpret procedural rules. However, all the power is concentrated with the leaders of the House and Senate respectively. All the other power is held when the individual legislators get to vote or act in defiance. Within the Texas House of Representatives and the Senate there are power restraints. The presiding officers may have all the power, however, their power is balanced and checked. This is similar to the Judicial, Executive and Legislative branches of our federal government because they all balance the power within each other. Presiding officers can have their power checked by the governor threatening to veto, not support, or simply gut the bill taking away its teeth. Another way a presiding officer can get his power limited is by group efforts to solve issues of getting bills passed or even block them in the house or senate.The political/economical ambition of the Texas Governor, those beneath him, or of those found in the legislative bodies, is another way of power

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).

If I were to become a senator of Texas I would have to be at least thirty years of age, have been a citizen for nine years, and live within the state of Texas. Since the Senate consists of a hundred members, two per state, I would be one of two people to be elected for Texas State Senator.I would be active six terms and would make $174,00 a year. A Congressional Session usually last most of the year. The Senate met 136 days through the course of ten months according to Congress.gov.

Committees are very important and an essential part of the bureaucracy process in Congress. Bills begin and end their lives in committees, regardless if they are passed into law or they are rejected. Congressional committees fall into several areas of specialization, but are mostly responsible for accepting, analyzing, amending and passing into federal laws. The laws enacted and passed into law by Congressional committees ultimately affect all citizens as they are laws that govern the actions of people and set the standards for their adequate and expected behavior. Committees and subcommittee levels also provide venue opportunities for interest groups and agency bureaucrats to meet and held hearings, which ultimately make its members directly

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,

Texas has also long supported an increase in border security. In 2006, Gov. Rick Perry announced a plan that assigned Department of Public Safety personnel as well as other resources to the border to assist in law enforcement. He also added an additional $3.8 million in grant funding for state criminal justice planning funds to the Texas Border Sheriff’s Coalition. (Texas House of Representatives) The state’s legislative policy has been one of strict anti-immigration. In Texas’s 81st Legislative session, the issue of Voter ID arose. The Voter ID bill would require photo identification or two forms of other identification in order to vote. During the 81st session, Democrats filibustered to prevent the issue from being voted upon, it is very likely this is the only reason the bill did not pass and it likely will pass should it reappear in the 82nd session.