Texas Government
Terms
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- Characteristics of TX Legislature
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181 Members
Meets in regular session for 140 days every other year
Represent single-member districts
House has more rules and restrictions than the Senate - Diffusion Gerrymandering
- the minority party is mixed into the majority party so that only majority representatives are selected
- Concentration Gerrymandering
- concentrates teh opposition into one district so they will have less influence; in this way the majority can still get the number of seats they want
- Pairing Gerrymandering
- draw new lines and current representative end up in each others districts
- Typical Texas Governor
- white, Protestant, educated, conservative, "Good Cittizen", married, professional, male
- Election of Texas Legislators
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legislative elections are held on General Election days
Primary elections are held to nominate legislative candidates
Legislative candidates require a plurality vote to win election to office - Powers of Presiding Officers
- Appoint most committee members; Appoint committee chairs; Assign bills to committees; Schedule legislation for floor action; Interpret procedural rules when conflict arises; Appoint chairs to conference committees; Serve and appoint members to the Legislative Audit Committee and the Sunset Advisory Commission
- Senatorial Courtesy
- the Senate will ordinarily not confirm the appointment of an individual to whom the senator from the appointtee's district objects
- Information and Research
- Is the most important tool used by the state bureaucracy and lobbyists to affect legislation
- Ex Officio
- holding a position because some other office is held. Holding two offices
- Texas Redistricting
- Texas Constitution requires the state legislature to reapportion the seats (allocation representatives to districts) in both houses of Congress after each national census
- "Benefit Theory" of taxation
- those who use, pay more
- Characteristics of Special Session
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Is held whenever called by the governor
Is limited to a maximum of 30 days
Can consider only subjects subitted by the governor - Two thirds rule
- the process by which bills are scheduled for floor action in the Texas Senate
- Special Bill
- gives an exemption to persons and/or property from a general bill
- Joint Resolution
- the process the legislature uses to ratify amendments to the United State Constitution
- Reynolds vs. Sims
- determined that the legislature district lines be redrawn every ten years after the Federal Census
- Functions of the TX Attorney General
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Enforcement of anti-trust and consumer protection laws
Defends orders issued by regulatory agencies
Issues advisory opinions on legal questions involving state and local governments - Progressive Tax Rates
- increase as the base increases; for example, federal income taxes
- Regressive Tax Rates
- taxes for which the effective rates are higher for low and middle income taxpayers; for example sales and consumption taxes
- Line of succession
- Lt. Governor, president pro tempore, the chief justice of the texas supreme court will preside over the senate if the governor is being tried on articles of impeachment
- Fiscal Priorities in TX
- Education; Health & Human Services; Transportation; Other; Public Saftey & Criminal Justice; General Government
- Secretary Of State
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Keeper of the "Great Seal of TX"
Regulates notaries
Regulates TX elections
Grants charters to TX corporations
Regulates clubs like AAA - Weak office of Governor
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Independent elections of other key executives
Inability to appoint members of all state boards and commisssions - Plural Executive
- an executive branch of government in which other officeholders are elected independently of the governor
- Constitutional Powers of the TX Governor
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Appointing judges to vacancies on state courts
Line item veto on budget bills
Call special sessions - Qualifications for Governor
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At least 30 years of age
Not be a Communist, Facist or Nazi
Belief in a Supreme Being
Be a Qualified voter - Simple Majority
- the process by which articles of impeachment must pass the Texas House
- Severance Tax
- a tax levied on the removal of natural resources (oil, and gas) from the earth
- Legislative Budget Board
- responsible for proposing the legislature's version of the proposed biennial budget. The governor also propses a budet to the legislature
- Sunset Advisory Commission
- systematically evaluates most government agencies and departments. The commission may reconmmend restructuring, abolishing, or altering the jurisdiction of an agency.
- Zero Based Budgeting
- Starts from scratch every year but assumptions and negotiations cause cuts
- Incremental Budgeting
- Most used system; based on the previous spending record and adds a % increment to adjust for inflation and population growth; its flaws are a loss from next years budget
- State Comptroller of Public Accounts
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Estimates the state's income for the proposed bienniel budget
Central Accounting officer of the state
Chief tax collector
Budge revenue estimator (budget must go to this office before Governor approval) - Railroad Commission
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Grant permits to drill oil
Enforcing controls on strip mines
Regulating intrastate railroads - "Good Tax"
- raises sufficient revenue; meets least resistance by the public; costs little to collect