The Texas Legislature is far too archaic to provide consistent leadership for a state government; Congress has become too enmeshed with the executive branch and leaves blurry lines drawn in its separation of powers. The ideal legislature would be a modernized version of what the Texas Constitution created. The Texas constitution draws clear lines for separation of powers. The role of a legislative branch is to create laws and be leaders. However since the 1930s, the executive branch of the national government is taking powers away from Congress, and causing this “leadership” branch to become more of a “managerial” branch. United States Federal Legislation is not clearly separate from the executive branch. This causes certain executive powers …show more content…
Congress has become a section of government that simply attaches their names to the bottom of a law. They are a branch of endorsers. The Texas house is a branch of creators. In Texas State Legislation, the law making process begins and ends with legislators. The only time an outside party comes into play is when a bill is signed into law. The Texas Legislation is an engine of the Texas Government. The ideal legislation is the engine of its respective government. Congress is in session far more than that of the part-time Texas legislature. The Texas Legislators must create laws for the second most populated, second largest State, This is not a part time task. The Texas congress could easily be in session year-round. Many issues brought up while the Texas Legislature is not in session are left in limbo as they await the next legislative session. An ideal legislature is working around the calendar to ensure that they are serving as leaders. An ideal legislature could be found in the middle ground between of Congress and the Texas Legislature. This legislature will be in session year round, be the engine of its government, and will have a clear and concise separation of
The local governments in Texas are smaller units that form part of the larger state government. These local government extensions act as the administrative branch of the state government. The state of Texas relies mainly on its constitution of 1876 to establish the various local government jurisdictions. Currently, there are 254 counties, 50 cities, 1,100 education districts and 2,393 special districts in the state serving a population of 26 million people (Collier et al.). Each of these branches of the local government has specific roles, which they are supposed to play.
Our Legislative Branch has two chambers or as some will call it bicameral. The chambers consist of the Senate and the House of Representatives just like the National Legislative Branch. In our Senate we currently have a total of 31 members and there are 150 members in the House of Representatives. Senators hold their seat for 4 years and their election years are spread out while the House of Representatives are elected for two-year terms. In our Texas Legislature we have a few authority figures. “The Texas Constitution provides that the lieutenant governor shall serve as president of the senate, the presiding officer of that body. The lieutenant governor is elected statewide by voters of Texas and is the second-highest ranking officer of the executive branch of government”. (Texas Medical Associaton) In the House of Representatives we have a Speaker of the House who is chosen in each time a new legislature starts by its own members. “The speaker maintains order during floor debate, recognizing legislators who wish to speak and ruling on procedural matters.” (Joe Straus Speaker) There are also many committees who act as important gatekeepers and shape the proposed legislation. (University of Texas at Austin). The main pu...
The legislative process in Texas utilizes an introduction, a committee action, a floor action, and an enrollment in it's lawmaking process. This process can be complicated, however, it is a system that has been used for many years. Thousands of bills go through this organized process every other year and keep Texas modern and running
The role of an executive branch is to carry out the law. Many states switched to the plural executive form of government because state governors were known for abusing their power when appointing friends to political positions or handing out favors when they requested. A plural executive system which means the power of a governor is limited and distributed among other government officials. Which means, that there is not an government official in Texas that has the solely responsible for the Texas Executive Branch. Some of the members of the Texas Plural Executive and their roles are Lieutenant Governor serves as the presiding officer is first in line of succession for governor, is elected to 4 years terms by the public with no terms limits. Attorney General serves as the lawyer for the state also represents the state on civil matters and is responsible for the interpretation of the
The controversy surrounding the 78th Texas Legislature between the Democratic and Republican Party state representations and senators was that there was an attempt to redistrict the recently redrawn congressional districts. This issue of, “redistricting” was indorsed by the Republican Party. The endorsement of “redistricting,” wasn’t surprising considering that the Republican Party had just won the Texas state legislature for the first time since Reconstruction. The Republican Party’s position on the issue was clear through the statements of Tom DeLay, “Texans deserve representation that reflects their values and believes.” Knowing that the redistricting would result in catastrophic losses for the party, the Democrats apposed the idea of, “redistricting.” The Democrats were so opposed to the idea of, “redistricting,” that they fled to Ardmore, Oklahoma. The justification for the party fleeing was said best in the words of state Representative Jim Dunnam, “We're here in Ardmore, Oklahoma, because the real problems of Texas are budget problems, are school finance problems, are health ...
Including the Mexican constitution of 1824, it is the eight constitution in the Texas history. Despite it was written in particular circumstances (breaches of the constitution of 1869), it remains the foundation of state government. The intention of the framers was to prevent abuse due to an excessive power given to the government. Thereby, the current constitution was strengthened by putting all the powers in the hand of the Texans. For instance, the Bill of Rights represents the first article of the constitution. It is lengthier and more detailed than the U.S. Bill of Rights. Texas’ Constitution separates power in tree branches like the U.S. Constitution. However, to prevent an arbitrary and dictatorial governor, corresponding state level cabinet positions are designated by the people through elections. Also, in contrast of many others states where the judges are appointed by the governor, judges in Texas are elected by the
The Texas constitution reflects the set of beliefs, ideals and principles of the individuals who drafted it. Unlike the U.S constitution, the Texas constitution is referred to as a statutory constitution. As the US constitution cannot talk about the local governments of each state, the state constitution fills in this gap out of necessity.I feel that the Texas constitution should be changed in order to amend certain parts that are considered to be outdated and also to protect the new policies that are supported by the current population of Texas. Policies are introduced into the constitution to protect them and as the texas culture changes,the new majority wants to amend what the previous majorities have done. Amending the old constitution
As the 47th governor of Texas, he has and continues to put into motion many new acts and laws that have created a more prosperous Texas. A more prosperous Texas includes the creation of more jobs, a fair legal system, and more adept schools as well as low taxes for citizens and accordingly, low state government spending. These tough economic practices have also been proven through national statistics. According to many s...
He/she can line-item veto part of the bill without vetoing the entire bill. The legislature can override this veto by 2/3 however appropriations bills are generally pass in the last days of session, so the legislature has adjourned by the time the governor vetoes items. In Texas, the governor is not constitutionally mandated to submit a budget. The power is given to the Legislative Budget Board (LBB), which is controlled by the lieutenant governor and the speaker of the house. State agencies must present budget requests to the LBB, and the LBB produces a budget that is submitted to the legislature. The governor has very limited authority over the budget execution unless of a fiscal crisis can the governor exercise any influence.
The Legislative Branch is considered to be the most powerful branch in the Texas government. While no one branch is exceedingly more powerful than the others, the Legislative branch is thought to be less weak because it controls and directs the activities and movement of the government as a whole. While its primary role is to propose and pass bills, resolutions and constitutional amendments, it has a vast influence in all different government aspects.
The Texas legislative is the dominant branch of the state government of Texas and works within the constitutional structure of separation of powers. As it is the representative of the people of Texas and under the 10th amendment to the USA constitution it implements the authoritative powers that only works for the US constitution and Texas and federal law that are applicable (Dye, Gibson & Robinson, 2010). It also has the authority to put into practice the necessary police rule to promote the safety, moral, health and welfare. The Legislature is a bicameral body that consists of the 31 representatives of member of council and 150 members of House of Representatives. The effects of bicameralism are: it helps to stabilize
Local governments in Texas can be broken down into three separate units: counties, cities, and special districts.
“Due to the new constitution retaining the plural executive, which is a fragmented system of authority under which executive officeholders are elected independently of the governor, the Governor is only allowed to appoint the Secretary of State and the members of State Agency boards and commissions” (Texas Politics,2012) Some other roles of the Texas Governor include, making policy recommendations, signing and vetoing bills, estimating taxation, granting reprieves and commutations, declaring special elections, appointing people to state offices, serving as a commander-in-chief of the military, delivering reports on the states conditions, recommending budgets, and conveying special sessions for specific purposes. “Not only can the governor veto bills, but the way our legislative is set up and the way our veto rules are set up, the governor usually vetoes about a week after the lawmakers have left Austin” (Staff, K, 2017). Lawmakers cannot come back as a legislative body unless the governor calls them back, and when he does they can only work on what he tells them they are allowed to work on. “The governor also has line-item veto authority over the budget of the state” (Gibson & Robinson, 2013, p.195). The governor of Texas has the strongest veto power of any other governor. “The Line-item veto means the governor can get rid of specific spending items without vetoing the entire bill” (ibid).
Texas government has a unique style of legislature in the manner in which it functions. In this essay I will attempt to briefly cover: the structure and role of local governments within the state of Texas; the purpose and function of each type of local government; the consolidation of county and city functions into a single governmental entity; and if Texas would be better served by maintaining its several, distinct, types of government, or by consolidating them into broader units of government that would handle the various functions within a single governmental entity.
The plural executive system in Texas, and the cabinet system most other states use are very different in the way its executive systems work. The separation of power being the most identified critical point in between both of these systems.