The Texas Governor

The Governor of Texas is the chief executive of the state and is elected by the citizens every four years. The Governor must be a US citizen, at least 30 years old, and a resident of Texas for the five years immediately before the election. No term limits for the TX governor; s/he may serve as long as the people keep reelecting him/her.

The Governor makes policy recommendations that lawmakers in both the House and Senate chambers may sponsor and introduce as bills. The Governor appoints the Secretary of State, as well as members of boards and commissions who oversee the heads of state agencies and departments.

The constitutional and statutory duties of the Governor include:

·                 *Signing or vetoing bills passed by the Legislature.

·                 *Serving as commander-in-chief of the state's military forces.

·                 *Convening special sessions of the Legislature for specific purposes.

·                 *Delivering a report on the condition of the state to the Legislature at the beginning of each regular session.

·                 *Estimating of the amounts of money required to be raised by taxation.

·                 *Accounting for all public moneys received and paid out by him and recommending a budget for the next two years.

·                 *Granting reprieves and commutations of punishment and pardons upon the recommendation of the Board of Pardons and Paroles and revoking conditional pardons.

·                 *Declaring special elections to fill vacancies in certain elected offices.

·                 *Appointing qualified Texans to state offices that carry out the laws and direct the policies of state government. Some of these offices are filled by appointment only. Others are ordinarily elected by the people, but the Governor must occasionally appoint individuals to fill vacancies in those offices. The Governor also appoints Texans to a wide range of advisory bodies and task forces that assist him with specific issues.

Texas Executive Branch is divided among independently elected agency heads—in accordance with Jacksonian democratic theory (that most officeholders should be elected);

Typically the governor is a moderate-to-conservative male WASP with background in business or law.

Democratic Primary is usually a contest between liberal-to-moderate and moderate-to-conservative candidates, with the latter usually winning.

Republican Primary usually competitive between moderate-to-conservative candidates (when the seat is vacant—competition in the primaries when an incumbent is seeking reelection is rare and discouraged)

          --Big $$ is spent for the candidate to receive name recognition

Tenure/Removal/Succession

          Since there are no term limits, the time a governor may serve will depend on the mood of the electorate and the willingness of the incumbent to continue to run for reelection. 

          The only other available means of removal of the governor is impeachment by the state house of representatives (by majority vote) and conviction by the senate (by 2/3 majority vote)

          Lt. Governor succeeds the governor if the latter resigns, dies, or is otherwise incapacitated.  Should both governor and lt. governor become disqualified, the president pro tempore of the state senate becomes governor.  Upon the accession of the lt. governor to the governor’s office, the state senate elects one of its own to serve as lt. governor until the next legislative session begins.

Governor’s staff is professional, full-time.  Staff will provide information and assistance to the governor in carrying out state administrative policy and law.

          --Staff will serve as advisors in securing gubernatorial appointments to state boards, agencies and commissions and to the state judiciary in case of vacancy

          --Staff will serve as liaisons between the governor’s office and the legislature. Will effectively serve as lobbyists for the governor’s office, pressing for the governor’s legislative agenda.

          --Staff will assist the governor in planning, in conjunction with various state agencies and various local and regional councils of government to bring them into harmony with state aims

Governor’s Tools of Persuasion

Governor has weak formal powers as granted by the state constitution.  His ability to exercise informal powers will depend in part on the nature of the formal powers, as well as his own personality, prestige, PR ability, political expertise, political supporters, the political climate of the state, and his own luck.

Formal tools of persuasion:

          VETO: formal legislative tool (may be overridden by 2/3 vote of the legislature—rarity that this happens; only one veto overridden in the last 60 years)

          --made effective by the shortness of the sessions (most bills are going to be permanently vetoed, largely because the governor has 10 days during the session to act, and because most important bills are passed in the last few days of the session; should the session expire before the governor vetoes the bill, there is nothing the legislature can do to attempt to override).

          --Governor is in strong legislative bargaining position simply by being able to threaten a veto; this may force the legislature to reconsider the content of certain bills that are must-pass, but may cause controversy between the governor and the legislature.  Pressure is also put on executive agencies if, when threatening a veto, the governor is threatening to cut the lifeline of crucial state $$ to them.  The agencies may then be forced to bring their administrative activities into line with the governor’s policy aims. ---This also gives the governor leverage with lobbyists (should the lobbyist decide to support the governor’s programs, the lobbyist may in turn receive promise from the governor not to veto bills that are vital to that lobbyist’s clients).

          --Line Item Veto makes it possible for the governor to veto appropriations within a larger appropriations bill (this is an all-or-nothing power; the line item veto cannot be used to reduce appropriations, it can only be used to remove them altogether)

          BARGAINING POWER: Political leaders working with the governor will weigh costs and benefits. Must be willing to give in order to give.       

          --Governor’s commitment to a bill may determine if negotiation over it is possible

          --Timing of a bill coming out of the legislature is crucial; if a bill is brought up too late in the session, it may not receive any attention.  Governor can work with the legislative leadership to determine when and how a bill will be discussed

          --Contributors may have influence over when a bill will have gubernatorial support or not. Those who give will often receive, though not always.

          --Governor’s hope of future campaign support, either for reelection to the governor’s post, or for higher office may determine his/her position on a bill

          --Who supports/opposes the bill? Are these credible, legitimate, and powerful lobbies or constituent groups, or are they fringe groups with little popularity?

          --Degree of legislative support or opposition for the governor’s position may determine where the governor actually falls on a political issue. Support for a losing cause may => loss of prestige or respectability in the eyes of the public

          --What are the political benefits to be gained? Those offering greater benefits will often receive more favorable attention from the governor. (e.g., if the interests that support a certain position are strong politically, then the governor may agree to go along with them; if they are politically small and weak, then he may not go along with them)

          --Fear of alienating interests that may provide postgubernatorial economic opportunities or political assistance (no one wants to damage their chances of financial security and such in the long run, by signing bills that may be harmful to one’s own personal chances of success after political life)

          --Bargaining and agreements during the pressession season between the governor, legislative leadership, special interests, and state bureaucrats greatly enhances the chances of a bill receiving favorable attention and passage through the legislature during the session.  –Failure to reach an agreement will usually result in the death of the bill, either by legislative neglect (if it was the governor’s pet bill) or gubernatorial veto (if it was the legislature’s pet bill).

          --hope of success after presession bargaining and agreement, because both the legislative leadership and governor are one the same side; no threat of a veto is necessary, keeping the governor on good terms with the legislature; legislative leadership knows that the bill will receive the governor’s signature if it is passed out of the legislature.  

 

Special sessions: legislative subjects of special sessions are determined solely by the governor (legislature may act independently on non-legislative subjects, e.g., resolutions, constitutional amendments, appointments, impeachments, etc.)

          --last for 30 days only

          --special sessions are bargaining tools with special interests, because one side may be for having a session, another side may be against it; special sessions allow the attention of the whole state political process to be directed to one specific area of policy (e.g., school finance reform or redistricting)

 

Message power of the governor: State of the State address required at the start of each legislative session

          --governor, to be effective, must use mass media wisely—“go public” only for vital legislation.  Use of the media for ordinary legislation may => public apathy for any gubernatorial initiatives.

 

Fact-Finding Commissions (Blue-Ribbon Commissions): appointed by the governor from various ranks of citizens, politicians and interest group representatives.

          --used to float trial balloons for certain issues to measure public enthusiasm or acceptance

          --may be used to increase support for a measure

          --may be used to delay the consideration of political hot potatoes

 

Executive Tools of Persuasion

Governor has high responsibilities, but no direct power granted to meet them by the constitution.

          --Fragmentation of the executive branch of the Texas government into numerous elected offices => independently minded executives, not beholden to the governor’s agenda.

          --Indirect appointment powers for several agency heads; governor appoints board or commission, which in turn appoints the chief executive of the agency

          --boards/commissions are usually appointed for a fixed, 6-year term. These are staggered, so that the governor in power has a difficult time getting a majority of his own appointees on a board at any given time during his administration

          --lobbies may affect the outcome of gubernatorial appointments; if a special interest group is intensely opposed to a person being appointed to a board, then the governor may go with the demands of the interest group; the governor may also pressure the interest group to change its focus and to concede some items on its agenda.

          --Senatorial courtesy—senators usually defer to the appointee’s home district senator and decline confirmation if that senator deems the appointee “personally obnoxious”. 

          --Administrators within the agencies want a sympathetic commissioner or board member, will lobby the governor to get what they want

          --judicial appointments during a term for judges who resign or die or are removed during their term of office.

          --Governor may not remove elected officials from office—nor may he issue directive orders to state agencies not complying with the governor’s view of how a law should be interpreted and enforced.  Change may be brought about only by the governor’s own effective use of his power to “go public”.

Texas Bureaucracy:

 

Bureaucracy is designed to administer the law and to implement public policy.  It is the part of government that most citizens will have contact with in some form or fashion for most of their lives.

 

As society grows more complex, bureaucracy will also proliferate (Max Weber’s theory)—the diversity of the population will increase, the resources needed will multiply, and the difficulty of knowing one’s neighbors will => need for further regulation of various aspects of human relationships.

 

State bureaucracy and local bureaucracy are much larger per capita than the national bureaucracy; much of what we encounter regularly in “government” is state or local bureaucracy.

                --some efforts to reduce size of government have => privatization of many social service and health/safety services, etc.  (e.g., prisons, drug rehab. programs, ambulance services, trash collection, road construction, etc.)

                --Unfunded federal mandates to states (national government directs the states to comply with a new program created in federal law but does not provide monetary support to make compliance possible. => states scrambling to raise taxes or to cut social programs [makes the states look bad, the national government remains untarnished])

                --Unfunded state mandates to special districts or to cities and counties (e.g., state mandates that the public school classroom size be only 20 students leaves districts desperately trying to find ways to skirt the mandate or to cut back on some programs or teachers’ salaries)

 

Ideally, bureaucracy is supposed to be “neutral” in its policymaking decisions and in its administration of the law

                --national government instituted civil service exams and merit-based promotion to attempt to reach neutrality

                --TX government has established a board/commission system with an appointed board/commission that is not very susceptible to gubernatorial removal, and that then appoints an executive director to head the agency and conduct day-to-day agency operations and administration

                --local districts and cities have instituted non-partisan elections and council-manage systems of government (in many cases)

                --Reality is that PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION IS POLITICS, because politics is a public decision-making process that affects the course of public life

 

Ideally, bureaucracy is structured hierarchically, with a chief executive at the top and the administrators and such below him/her to follow his/her orders. 

                --US government operates on this system more or less consistently. The president is at the top, his appointed secretaries of major departments below him, the deputy and undersecretaries below them, and the administrators and career bureaucrats below them

--TX government does not have a centralized bureaucracy, thus does not have a well-defined hierarchy of power.

 

Ideally, bureaucrats are specialized in their areas of expertise => “better, more efficient administration and is a major source of bureaucratic power.”

 

It is impossible to separate formulation of policy (legislative activity) from administration of policy (bureaucratic activity) --- Politically successful agencies grow; those that are failures will be cut and grafted or left to die.

 

Clientele Groups will ally with state agencies. Political bedfellows will often work together to see that rules and regulations are implemented that are to the benefit of all involved (state agencies often are closely tied to special interests and regulate industries or professions very loosely)

                --interest groups lobbying on behalf of agencies—seeking allies in the legislature to gain appropriations for some state agencies at the expense of other state agencies (each bureaucratic agency seeks to acquire as much money as possible, even if it means reducing programs at other state agencies)

 

Chairmen of legislative committees often are sought as allies by the state administrators

                --more often though, state administrators seek alliances with the legislative leadership and chairs of the senate finance committee and house appropriations committee

 

Governor’s impact on the bureaucracy: influence over legislature in appropriations bills, etc.,  relating to the agencies

                --appointments to boards and commissions, though limited; decentralized executive authority in the state has => increased administrative autonomy.

 

Iron Texas Star: special interests need friends in the bureaucracy and in the legislature and in the governor’s office.  All five areas (house, senate, governor, bureaucracy, and special interests work together to formulate public policy that will be favorable for all parties affected by it).

                --maintaining friendships; putting friends in power and keeping the friends in power once there

 

Good public relations for the agency is crucial sometimes in getting appropriations requests granted and winning battles with other state agencies for limited dollars available.  E.g., the DPS and the TDCJ receive better public approval and visibility than the Alcoholic Beverage Commission or the Texas Lottery Commission

 

Longtime government employees may be real brains behind creation and implementation of various laws—career bureaucrats often pull the strings behind the scenes; gubernatorial appointees and elected execs. usually are not the power behind the operations.

 

Collection of information about types of legislation needed

                --information is given by or interpreted by an agency in its own interests’ favor

 

Administrative Law: meaning of the law (passed in the legislature)  is defined by administrative law, as are the effects of the law on special interests and the general public

                --administrative law may in fact modify the decisions made by public officials.  Executives often have a wide range of possibilities for enforcing the law, and may choose which laws to enforce and which to ignore

 

Accountability within the Bureaucracy:

                --Elective Accountability: difficult to determine popular will or public interest, since most people who vote for these state agents are the staunchly politically active.  Elected administrators are more or less “invisible” from the public eye, because they do not try to attract attention to themselves.

                --Legislative Accountability: Sunset Advisory Commission (to expand, diminish, or renew existing agencies on a 12-year basis; operates independently to review agencies and sends recommendations to the legislature for final action on those recommendations).  – Problems of indebtedness of legislators to special interests also make it difficult for the legislature to hold the state agencies responsible for their activities – Legislative committee hearings are “invisible” to the public eye (most people will never go to Austin to watch what is going on behind the scenes) – Prominent legislative boards are not visible to the public, either (e.g., the Legislative Budget Board, the Legislative Audit Committee, the Legislative Council)

                --Accountability to the Governor: would result in a cabinet system much like that in place at the federal level in the United States; governor’s office is visible to the public (and gets blamed for problems, anyway); does not solve the problem of entrenched interest group activity, however.

                --Bureaucratic Accountability: Accountability to the special interests that the agencies regulate => regulations in favor of the very professions and industries that are ostensibly the subject of government restraint

                                --open meetings laws require all government bodies to hold their meetings in public

                                --open records laws require all boards, etc., to publish their proceedings and make them available to the public for only the cost of the reproduction of them.

                                --whistleblowers are protected from retaliation by superiors under state law, but they may still suffer for their actions within the office

                                --ombudsmen serve in some agencies as the intermediary between citizen and agency when the former feels the latter has committed an injustice or administrative error or oversight

 

 

 

 

Texas Administration:

 

No one single individual is really in charge of the administrative bodies.  Over 220 separate agencies, boards, and commissions operate each more or less independently of the governor and the legislature and of each other—significant degree of overlapping jurisdiction and confusion in which offices are responsible for which areas of policy. 

 

Elected Executives: elected because the constitutional writers hoped to prevent the concentration of power in any one single individual government official. => general public’s ignorance of administrators’ identities and activities.

                Attorney General (Greg Abbot)—Lawyer for all state officials and agencies; may interpret the laws in absence of court opinions (interpretations of the AG are not binding on state officials or anyone else); represents the state in civil and criminal litigation (mostly in the higher state courts and in federal courts); heads an office of about 500 lawyers who serve as assistant attorneys general

                                --anti-trust

                                --consumer protection

                                --insurance, banking, and securities

                                --child protective services

                                --law enforcement

                                --environmental protection

                                --highways and transportation

                                --charitable trusts

                Comptroller of Public Accounts (Carol Keeton Strayhorn)—overseer of the state’s financial activities

                                --tax collection

                                --pre-audit accounting officer; certification of approximate state income for biennium

                                --certifies state financial condition at the close of the fiscal year

                                --managing state deposits and investments

                                --paying warrants

                                --enforcing tobacco laws

                Commissioner of the General Land Office (Jerry Patterson)—manager of the state’s public lands’ rentals and leases

                                --awards leases for exploration of state lands and state’s mineral rights

                                --chairs the Veterans Land Board (low interest loans to veterans for land/home purchases and home improvements)

                                --chairs School Land Board (oversees approx. 20 min. acres of public land that may be leased or explored for minerals—approx. $190 min. dedicated to public education’s Permanent School Fund)

                Commissioner of Agriculture (Susan Combs)—administration of law, research, education and regulatory activities relating to agriculture            

                                --checking meat market scales

                                --inspecting gas pumps for accuracy

                                --administrative laws for labeling pesticides

                                --promoting the Texas agricultural products

                                --serving the interests of both agribusiness (principal constituency) and farm-workers and consumers. 

                Lt. Governor (David Dewhurst)—serves as ex officio chair of Legislative Budge Board, Legislative Council, and Legislative Audit Committee.  Influences Sunset Advisory Council and Legislative Criminal Justice Board.

 

Appointed Executives: meant to be held to greater gubernatorial accountability

                Secretary of State (Roger Williams)—serves at pleasure of governor

                                --custodian of the State Seal

                                --state’s chief elections officer

                                --records repository for the state officials and businesses and commercial interests

                                --publishes rules and regulations issued by the state agencies

                                --commissions notaries public

                Adjutant General: 2-year term, chief administrative officer of the Texas National Guard and State Guard

                Health and Human Services Commissioner—heads the Consolidated Texas Health and Human Services System. Probably, this is the most cabinet-like agency in the Texas government.

                Insurance Commissioner—2-year term; regulates the Texas insurance industry

 

Boards and Commissions: some are elected, others are appointed, some are a combination of both

                Texas Railroad Commission (Victor Carillo, Michael Williams, and Elizabeth Ames Jones)—three-member commission, each elected statewide in partisan elections for a six-year term (staggered)

                                --regulation of the state’s oil and natural gas utilities, pipelines, and drilling and pumping

                                --regulation of the state’s intrastate railroad transportation

                                --regulation of the oil and gas industry’s waste disposal

                                --protection of the surface and subsurface water supplies from oil/gas contamination

                State Board of Education—elected from 15 separate districts in partisan elections for staggered 4-yr. terms

                                --policymaking body overseeing the Texas Education Agency

                                --state commissioner of education is appointed by the governor

                                --chair of SBOE is appointed from the membership by the governor for a 2-year term

                               

Ex Officio Boards (members hold their places on the board by virtue of serving in another office)

                Texas Bond Review Board—comprised of lt. governor, speaker, governor, comptroller.

                                --reviews/approves all bonds and long-term debt of state agencies

                Agriculture Resources Protection Authority (15 members, 9 are ex officio, the rest are appointed)

                Texas Cosmetology Commission (7 members, one ex officio, rest appointed)

                Texas Turnpike Authority (12 members, 3 ex officio)

 

Appointed Boards (selected by the governor with senate consent; may be selected by other officials, depending on the board’s importance)

                Usually unsalaried, set policies for their agencies, appoint their own chief administrators

                Staggered terms, usually 6-years in length.

                Appointees often representative of the groups with economic interests in the board’s policies and politics.