The Texas Legislature
Lawmaking branch
Primacy of legislature
Irony of the Texas Legislature
Limitations v. powers
Limitations
Brief, infrequent sessions: 140 days in odd-numbered years
Low salary: $7200 per year + $118 per diem in session
No power to call themselves into special session
Balanced budget requirement: government revenue and expenditure must at least "break even"
Powers
Lawmaking
Revenue
Redistricting
1964: Reynolds v. Sims required both HR and Senate to be based on population -"one person one vote"
1965: Kilgarlin v. Martin overturned "one senator per county" as contradicting Reynolds
Single v. multi-member districts
Erosion of rural control of the Legislature
Gerrymandering
Powerful leadership
Lt. Governor
Speaker of the House
Representation and "the Team"
Representation
Both houses directly elected in partisan elections
Elections held every other session
Representation and Texas diversity
Ethnic diversity has increased in the Legislature
Economic diversity remains elusive: most are lawyers or businessmen
The Team
Lt. Governor and Speaker of the House
choose committees
choose committee leaders
refer all bills in their respective houses
Close allies of the presiding officers: "The Team"
Qualifications
HR
Citizen & registered voter
TX resident two years before election
District resident one year before election
21+ years
Senate
Citizen & registered voter
TX resident five years before election
District resident one year before election
26+ years