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Responsible for our everyday well-being and state society as we know it the Texas legislature takes on a lot of responsibilities that some may have a blind eye to. When it comes to Texas's governing body is crucial to know the different branches that come with the government. When talking about most policies that take place in Texas, it is very important to understand the Texas legislature and how it works. Here's everything you need to know about the Texas legislature and responsibilities that come with it.
What is the Texas legislature you may ask? The Texas legislature is what is known as a bicameral body which consists of 31 members of Senate and an additional 150 members of House of Representatives. Similar to most legislators the Texas
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Typically several states have only one district of congressional. Many other states employ what is known as independent commission to draw District Maps. An independent redistricting Commission is a council with the authority to drive to implement electoral District Maps.
Another key important aspect of the Texas legislature is in regards to the sessions that are held. Due to the Texas Constitution, this limits the regular session to 140 calendar days the Texas legislature will commonly meet and what is known as a regular season which consists on the second Tuesday in January and of each odd number year.
Now the legislature of Texas is what can be known as the law making part of Texas. The main responsibility of the Texas legislature is to provide laws that benefit health, general welfare, good public education, and an overall well-being of citizens native to Texas. The Texas legislature is also responsible for establishing public policy with the passing of different bills and the creation of resolutions, Also with the power to admit a Texas Constitution, which then is released to the citizens of Texas voters for agreement of the policy changes or the disagreement of the policy
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Before entering the United States, Texas had a few other existing constitutions, the Coahuila y Tejas, the 1836 constitution of the Republic of Texas, and a few others. The current Texas Constitution included nearly 289 sections which were then organized into 17 different articles upon being ratified in the year 1876. After this 211 additional sections have been included, but 66 of the original Texas constitution sections along with 49 of the newly added sections have thus been removed. Today in total the Texas constitution holds 385 sections. From the year 1876 to the year January 2015 it is noted that the Texas legislature has proposed more than or equal to 666 amendments to Texas's current constitution. The Texas Constitution is comprised of 17 different
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.
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 individualistic and traditionalistic characteristics. The combination of traditionalism and individualism has had a huge impact on the state and Texas’ seven different constitutions. The shift in power between 1827 and 1876 has impacted the political diversity Texas has today. Looking at the specifics of these subcultures, the traditionalists believe government should benefit the wealthy and powerful, and that government services must be limited.
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...
By 1875 the need to rewrite the Texas Constitution had become very evident, and a Convention was held to rewrite the Constitution. The constitution written then was the fifth that the state has been ruled under, and is the one still in place today. At that point in Texas history, the state was primarily agricultural,
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
Texas politics is an interesting ecosystem of power, rules and regulations. Of course, in typical Texas fashion, most of the politics we engage in we do our own way. From governors who stay in office for a decade to our extremely diverse demographics, Texas is extremely unique. This uniqueness of course comes with its critics, benefits, and downsides. This is particularly true with the Texas Court system compared to both the federal courts and many other states.
Typically, when making Texas laws, government officials discount the political beliefs of its constituents; partly due to time constraints. Stretches in committee debates will allow the voice of Texans, that are currently being overlooked, the adequate attention that is necessary to introduce bills. Therefore, I support an increase in Texas Legislature’s regular sessions; it gives leaders more time to fully represent their constituents.
So finally, on 29 December 1846, the 29th Congress met and concluded in the Joint Resolution of Congress that the Republic of Texas was to be accepted as a new state in the United States under a republican government, equal to all of the original states before it and in every respect. Texas was entitled to two representatives in the House of Representatives until the government did a census of Texas’s people.
Our government here in Texas has three major parts that play a significant part in our decision making process. These levels have been deigned to decentralize power and make it more affective for the public's needs. The primary level is the Texas legislature. It is almost a given to say that everyone has at least heard of the legislature. Some variables that the legislature contains are the Lt. Governor, the Speaker of the house of Representatives and Committee Chairs. The Speaker acts as the presiding officer over the house and has two levels of power. These two levels are institutional powers which allow the officer to preside over the Legislative Audit Committee and Sunset Advisory Committee.
The Texas Executive is composed of seven offices, decentralizing the power to administer the state bureaucracy. “Presidents not only have responsibility for running the executive branch, they must also deal intensively with the legislative branch.” He along with the Vice President is elected through an electoral college in which every state has several seats proportional to its representation in the congress that comprises both the House of Representatives and the Senate. The President is elected for a term of four years and a President can serve maximum two terms. The President is not only the head of the state and the government; he is also the commander in chief of the armed forces. The President has the power to either pass the legislations approved by the Congress into laws or veto them to reject them. The President cannot dissolve the Congress, but has the power to enact executive orders. He also appoints judges to the Supreme Court in consent with the senate. “It is the president’s responsibility to demand that staff members analyze a full range of options and their probable consequences before they offer the president their
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
The Texas Constitution delegates authority to three departments; Legislative, Executive, and Judicial. The Legislative Department consists of the Senate consisting of 31 members, and The
The most powerful members of Texas legislature is Lieutenant Governor of often know as President of the Senate even lieutenant governor of Texas is more powerful than the governor. Lieutenant Governor is an executive branch position that are elected separately of the governor. Ironically, the executive branch responsibility almost there in no existences except in the case of the death of governor, surrender, removal from the office or absence from the state. The responsibility is not transparent yet for the people because even in the governor the responsibility is not existences.
Overall the legislative duties and responsibilities consist of declaring war, raise and support armies; provide and maintain a navy; regulate commerce; borrow and coin money; establish and collect t...
It is the branch of government that is most closely related to citizens. They are typically elected by those in the district in which they represent, and they are expected to call to the needs of their district. If the executives represent the countries as a whole, the legislature represents the local areas of the country. They have six functions, each with their own level of responsibility. The six functions are representation, deliberation, legislation, authorizing expenditure, making governments, and oversight. In our political system, we decided on a bicameral (two-chamber)