Texas citizens now is the time to ensure our state elected officials are made accountable for their actions while serving in the senate congress and house of representative. When our elected officials take office they know they are under inspection of the work they do as a public servant and this includes spouses and possible immediate adult family members. Public servants know certain aspects of their immediate adult family members are under inspection like employment, charities, and other activities for evaluation for nepotism. This is expected of you good citizens of Texas in your personal life and most definitely at your place of employment. Many places of employment have employees sign documents saying they will not do …show more content…
This in turn created the Texas Ethics Commission to impose new restrictions on lobbyists and required lawmakers to reveal their business dealings with lobbyists. It has been more than 25 years since a major rework has been done on the state’s ethic laws. The current legislature is again under scrutiny for flimsy disclosure rules, legislative conflicts of interest, lobbyist wining and dining congressional members, and extravagant lifestyles fueled by special interest groups. “Dark money” has had a corrupting influence on politics so without reforms those abuses will eventually visit Texas. It does not matter what your party affiliation is; unethical actions hurt everyone. Make your voice be heard. It is easier than ever with e-government websites. There are Texas Legislature Online, Texas Legislative Guide, The Texas Senate, and Texas House of Representatives to name a few websites to gather data from. These sites are a wealth of information on Texas legislation before the senate and the house. One of the great features is being able to receive email alerts on particular bills that matter the most to citizens. The Texas Public Information Act gives citizens the right to access government records without any questions asked. There are several watchdog websites that are nonpartisan that explain the legislative laws in layman terms. They are written to give the pros and cons of
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 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
The individual who represents me in the Texas House of Representatives is Representative Jonathan Stickland. Representative Stickland is a Conservative Republican who represents Texas House District 92. He has been a Texas House Member since 2013. Stickland is a supporter of “limited government, transparency, limiting regulation and … [representing] the voters”, instead of the lobbyists (Texas House Member). He also advocates for “Jobs and the Economy”, specifically “lower taxes”, “cut spending”, and letting the “free market principle work”, while also being an advocate for “Family Values”, especially to “defend freedom and liberty for all”(Jonathan Stickland: State Representative). Stickland is a member of the “County Affairs” Committee and
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.
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 legislature is one of the most controversial topics there is, and depending on the individual who is asked one might say it is extremely successful or that it is among one of the closest things to a circus. This critical review examines an article that links the Texas legislature to a fun house, a chaotic event that occurs every two years. The article “Inside The Austin Fun House” is written by Molly Ivins, and published in The Atlantic in May 1975. Ivins is an American columnist and political commentator who while born in California, was raised in Texas. As indicated by the article, Ivins claims that the Texas legislature is just another form of free entertainment. Although the author lacked the ability to accurately address opposing
Since the creation of the United States government, political lobbying has played a large role in influencing the creation and modification of laws. The act of lobbying is to solicit or try to influence the votes of members of a legislative body (Dictionary.com). There has always been controversy surrounding the political lobbying system, due to the potential of corruption through bribery. Two important pieces of legislation became laws as a result of this controversy. The Federal Regulation of Lobbying Act of 1946 and the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 were created to prevent potential abuse within the political lobbying system.
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
Gaurav Sharma Professor Sherry Sharifian Texas Government 2306 SLO#3 April 24, 2017 Local Control in Texas In Texas, there are very many functional Interest groups and lobbyists that operate effectively influencing the policy-making processes. The Interest groups and lobbyists are in close association with policy-makers whereby they act as negotiators of democracy to the citizens who cannot reach the legislatures (Texas Vox: 1). This has impacted local control in Texas greatly. However, the nature of laws that have been passed recently in Texas shows that the policy-makers are diverging from interest from the citizens and favoring individual groups and companies. The following essay will address the impact depicted by Interest groups and lobbyists
Committees and Campaign Promises The Texas House of Representatives serves a key role throughout the law-making process, but who exactly decides what bills pass or do not pass? Well, that is where things start to get complicated as there are various departments that must approve each bill before it is passed. Any congress member can propose a bill, but then it must be assigned to the proper committee for further evaluation. According to Ross Ramsey with the Texas Tribune, only about 23 percent of Texas bills get passed as 1,726 out of 7,419 bills were passed in 2009. That means that as a legislator, one must choose to serve the committees that best suits their
Mohan Karki Prof. Sherry Sharifian Govt 2306 30 Oct. 2017 Running for Texas State Senate Texas is divided into many city, county, districts where a person, who is resident for at least 1 years and citizen of United States can run for the office. There are different offices like United State Representative, Railroad Commissioner, Texas Governor, Texas State Senate, District Judge and so on in Texas. To run for this kind of organization a person should spend a hundred of dollars to promote and other activities. A report from the Texas Tribune shows that Kenneth Sheets, Texas House representative spend $548,844.71 and it cost $20.32 per vote (Essig). 1 This is just one example of how much it can cost to run for one office. Thus, I
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
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.
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.
People with power in the government who rule over us are very important people in our life; with the power they are given; they are given responsibility to lead us and fight for our welfare. Choosing people who represent us in governmental level plays vital role in our life because our future lies in their hands. They are the one who will be responsible of our benefits and sometimes detriment. I have been living here in Texas for past 4 years. Currently, Senator Don Huffines represents me in the Texas senate district 16 and Representative Rodney Anderson represent me in the Texas State House District 105. According to the estimated ACS 2010-2014 reports, there are 846,307 people residing in the senate district 16 in which 332,224 estimated number of household. Estimated 48.3% White, 11.8 % African American, 30.0 % Hispanic, 10% other resides in Texas Senate district 16. Looking at the district map; it looked like it was gerrymandered because it did not have any solid figure or line; it was all crooked line. Majority of the population is between the age of 18-64 years old which is over 60% of the population. 216,508 number of population of age 3 and over are enrolled in school and there is 8 independent school district in which average highest to lowest percentage of people enrolled in are Hispanic (42.9%), White (33.7%), African American (13.8%) and other (10.5%). 447,320 number of people with the age 16 and over are civilian who are employed. 22,332 numbers of families are