David Dewhurst
Head of Senate
Joe Straus
Speaker of House
The Texas Legislature
Chapter 29
Section 1
The Function of the Legislative
Branch
House of Representatives
• Responsibilities
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Agriculture and Livestock
Economic Development
Environmental regulation
Higher Education
Natural Resources
Public Health
Taxes (↑ or ↓)
Senate
• Responsibilities
–
–
–
–
Education
Criminal Justice
Health and Human Services
Taxes (↑ or ↓)
Bicameral – two rooms (chambers)
Texas Representative Districts
Qualifications
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
House of Representatives
150 members
Based on population
2 year term
21 years of age
U.S. citizen
Resident of Texas – 2 years
Live in represented area
one year prior to election
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Senate
31 members
Based on equality (1
Senator per district)
4 year term
26 years of age
U.S. citizen
Resident of Texas – 5 years
Live in represented area
one year prior to election
Texas Senate Districts
Texas Senator
Tommy Williams
District 4
U.S. Senators
representing Texas
Kay Bailey Hutchison
John Cornyn
Texas Representative
Rob Eissler
District 15
U.S. Representative
representing Texas
Kevin Brady
8th District
Duties
•
•
•
•
Main responsibility – make the laws
Approve/reject governor appointments
Oversight – power to review activities of other 2 branches
Spending of state monies
–
–
–
–
Prison overcrowding
Education
Taxes
Environment
• Represent the people – listen to voters’ concerns over
current issues
Running the State Government
• Lt. Governor – Senate president – elected by
voters
• Speaker of the House – head of House –
elected by members
• Committees research and draft (create) bills
– Bills can “die” in committee
• Redistricting – redrawing legislative and
congressional districts as the population
changes
– After a census
– Changes political power
How a Bill Becomes a Law
• 2 types of proposals
– Resolution – opinion of legislature
• Honor individuals
• Special groups (school wins state championship)
– Bill – proposed law
Texas State
Governments
Lt. Governor
David Dewhurst
Governor
Rick Perry
The Executive Branch
Chapter 29
Section 2
The Function of the Executive
Branch
• Main purpose – carries out (enforces) the
laws passed by Congress
• Conducts the business of the state
• 99% of the state’s budget
The Governor of Texas
• Head of the executive branch
• Qualifications
– U.S. citizen
– Texas resident 5 years prior to election
– 30 years of age
• 4 year term (but no limit of terms)
• 2 women governors (Miriam Ferguson and
Ann Richards)
Executive Powers of the
Governor
• Make appointments to boards and
commissions
– Approved by 2/3 of the Senate
• Remove officials (i.e. misconduct of
official)
– Approval of Senate for board or
commissions
Legislative Powers of the
Governor
• Send messages to Congress (recommendations)
• Speaks to Congress at beginning of session (state
address)
• Veto power (reject) or signs bills
– Line-item veto (reject a certain part or item of bill)
• Call special sessions of Congress for emergency
business (i.e., educational budget)
Other Powers of the Governor
• Appoints members to
– Board of Pardons and Paroles
– Board of Criminal Justice
– Texas Youth Commission
• Delay executions or grant pardons (get out of jail card)
• Appoint judges to fill vacancies
• Commander in Chief of Texas Guard (Army National
Guard, Texas Air National Guard, Texas State Guard)
• Represents Texas (meetings, celebrations, ceremonies)
Other Elected Members
David Dewhurst
• Lt. Governor
– Chief executive in
governor’s absence
– Carries out
governor’s requests
– Serves as Senate
president
Attorney General
Greg Abbott
– State lawyer
– Represents Texas
in court
– Advises
Congress
– Explains rules to
govt. groups
Commissioner of General Land Office
Jerry Patterson
– Manages
land/mineral
rights owned by
Texas
Comptroller of Public Accounts
Susan Combs
– Chief tax
collector
– Provides budget
estimates to
Congress
– Makes state
expenditures
Commissioner of Agriculture
Todd Staples
– Enforces agricultural laws
– Provides
education/research to
farmers/ranchers and
consumers
– Promotes Texas products
– Protects the environment
Secretary of State
Hope Andrade
• Appointed by Governor
• In charge of state
elections
– Operation
– Education
• Texas/Mexico relations
• International
representative
Boards and Commissions
• Board of Insurance
• Texas Transportation Commission
• Business and Economic Development
Council
• Railroad Commission
• State Board of Education
– Invests and manages $20 billion in Permanent
School Fund for Texas public schools
Elizabeth Jones
Michael Williams David Porter
Railroad Commissioners
Texas State Governments
Financing State Governments
Chapter 29
Section 3
Setting the State
Budget
• Requires careful planning and budgeting
• Sets economic and social priorities
• Estimates how much revenue ($ received) and
expenditures ($ paid out) state gets
• Determines which programs grow, shrink, or
eliminated
The Budget Process
• Budget – plan for how much one expects to
earn & how one proposes to spend the
earnings
• Starts 12 months before Congress meets
– Legislative Budget Board and Governor’s
Office of Budget and Planning
• Committees send budget through bill
process in Congress
How the State Spends Money
2002-2003 Fiscal Year
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
48.7
35
13.9
8.3
.43
2.0
.29
1.1
Legislature
Tobacco
Settlement
2.9
General Govt.
Health
Services
Education
Judiciary
Public Safety
Natural
Resources
Business
Development
Where the State Gets Its Money
• General Sales Tax – varies with the price of item or service
sold
• Motor Fuels Tax – gasoline and diesel
• Sale of Motor Vehicles and manufactured housing
• Franchise Tax – tax on businesses based on value of
machinery and equipment used to produce $
• Tax on utility services, alcohol beverages, tobacco products
• Texas Lottery – education
• Sale, rental, and leasing of land/mineral rights
• Fees and state permits for state services
• Windfall – unexpected source (unreliable)
Influences on the Process
• People
– Special interest groups
– legislators
• Federal (U.S.) decisions
• Court decisions at federal and state
levels