the texas legislature part ii

The Texas Legislature Part II

How can you look at the Texas Legislature and still believe in intelligent design?

Kinky Friedman

Organization of the Texas Legislature: Party and Factional Organization

• until 1970s: one-party Democratic state

• no real political party organization in legislature

• conservative vs. liberal more important

• Following the 2016 election, Texas was one of 25 Republican state government trifectas: term used to describe single party government, when one political party holds the governorship, a majority in the state Senate and a majority in the state House.

• partisanship in House increasing

• Formal caucus organizations have been active in the Texas legislature for only a relatively short period of time, a result of two traits that have characterized the state lawmaking body throughout most of its history: powerful leaders and homogeneous in terms of gender, race, ethnicity, ideology.

Partisan Composition of Texas State Government, 1992-2013


• legislative caucus: group of legislators who organize to advocate or influence legislation promoting their common goals and interests

• party caucuses: explicitly favor one party or another, direct outgrowths of political parties in the legislature ... do not exercise same degree of influence in organizing Texas legislature as in US Congress ... increase in partisan competition over past two decades has made them increasingly important

• non-party caucuses: might favor legislative initiatives of one party more than another but usually try to distinguish their ideals and goals from party interests ... increasing diversity of membership has spurred the development of non-party caucuses resulting in greater influence in organizing legislative affairs


• Texas Freedom Caucus: newest, founded in 2017 with the aim of connecting conservative grassroots activists with legislation being considered in the House ... 12 members ... oppose any legislation that increases taxes, including bills to create local taxes or utility districts ... although the group's strategy has irritated fellow legislators from both sides of the aisle, most Republican state legislators ultimately have voted with the caucus' proposals

http://www.freedomfortexas.com/





Organization of the Texas Legislature: Lieutenant Governor

• presiding 0fficer of Texas Senate

• elected statewide in partisan elections

• not a senator so could be a member of Senate’s minority party

• 4-year term

• major political force, Senate dominated by presiding officer

• appoints all committee members and chairs (within limitations of seniority)

• refers all bills to Senate committees

• manages flow of legislation in Senate

Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, conservative radio talk show host


• scheduling: Senate bills must be heard in order of appearance on presiding officer’s desk from the first day of regular session.

• recognition: Senators may not speak on record on the Senate floor unless formally recognized by presiding officer.

• votes to break ties in Senate

• makes appointments to some of the state’s most important policymaking bodies

• first in line of succession for governor

• chairs Legislative Budget Board: standing joint committee in Texas legislature, primary source of the state’s biennial budget

• The Power Behind the Throne

https://www.texasmonthly.com/politics/the-power-behind-the-throne-dan-patrick/










• serves on Legislative Council, Legislative Audit Committee, Legislative Criminal Justice Board, Legislative Redistricting Board

• appoints Sunset Advisory Commission and recommends termination of state programs

• collective rather than individual leadership, heading a leadership team made up of supporters in the chamber

Speaker Joe Straus , a moderate Republican who announced he will not

run for re-election in 2018

Organization of the Texas Legislature: Speaker of the House

• presiding officer, Texas House of Representatives

• elected by House membership, election officially blind to party

• pledge card system: members required to tender written pledges of loyalty to current House leadership ... Supporters argue that it is a time-honored process that maintains stability and continuity from one session to the next. Critics argue that it is nothing more than a mechanism for conveniently perpetuating the good old boy network.

• Speaker’s Team: committee chairs and close allies on the floor


• chooses committee chairs and appoints substantive committee members within limitations of seniority rule

• appoints members of all procedural committees (but can’t remove them)

• refers all bills and resolutions to committees

• maintains House schedule

• formally schedules floor action

• recognizes members to speak on House floor

• determines points of order, interprets rules


• makes appointments to some of the state’s most important policymaking bodies

• serves as vice chair of Legislative Budget Board

• serves on Legislative Council, Legislative Audit Committee, Legislative Criminal Justice Board, Legislative Redistricting Board

• enjoys more power relative to his chamber than the US Speaker

Organization of the Texas Legislature: Powers of Presiding Officers

PROCEDURAL POWERS INSTITUTIONAL POWERS

• committee membership

• conference committees

• committee chairs

• referral

• scheduling

• recognition

• rules of procedure

• Legislative Budget Board

• Texas Legislative Council

• Legislative Audit Committee

• Legislative Criminal Justice Board

• Legislative Redistricting Board

Organization of the Texas Legislature: Limits on Presiding Officers

• personality

• ambition

• legislative members: have their own power bases that presiding officers must take into account

• interest groups

• state administration

• governor

• electorate / constituents

Organization of the Texas Legislature: House Floor Leaders

• analogous to floor leaders in the US House

• principal voice of their respective parties in the House

• develop legislative strategy

• communicate strategy with their party through House whips

• less significant than in Congress because of stronger role of the Texas Speaker

• majority leader typically a member of the Speaker’s Team

Organization of the Texas Legislature: House Whips

• encourage party unity

• communicate legislative agenda and strategy to party members

• manage legislative strategy

• encourage party members to

• attend or not attend floor debate

• speak or not speak

• yield their allotted speaking time to other House members

• support bills consistent with and oppose bills inconsistent with party’s legislative agenda

• coordinate efforts of deputy whips on specific bills and resolutions

Organization of the Texas Legislature: Pro Tempore Positions

• honorary positions: preside if Speaker or Lieutenant Governor absent

• Senate membership elects President pro tempore in Senate.

• Speaker appoints Speaker pro tempore in House.

Organization of the Texas Legislature: Legislative Committees

• committee system: several types of committees ... all are subunits of the legislature, which is organized around the committee system

• standing committees

• subcommittees

• conference committees

• ad hoc committees

• interim committees

• select committees

Organization of the Texas Legislature: Types of Legislative Committees

Organization of the Texas Legislature: Standing Committees

• ...basic committees that do most of the work of the legislature

• created at the beginning of each session and continue “standing” until the end of the biennium

• in absence of leadership change are usually recreated for next session

• types of standing committees

• substantive: permanent ... jurisdiction over an area of public policy, handle topics of substance, legislation

• procedural: handle rules, calendars, administration of chamber

• appointments made by a modified seniority system in both chambers

2017 Senate Finance Committee Chair Jane Nelson

Organization of the Texas Legislature: Senate Standing Committees

• Administration*

• Agriculture, Water and Rural Affairs

• Business and Commerce

• Criminal Justice

• Education

• Finance

• Health and Human Services

• Higher Education

• Intergovernmental Relations

• Natural Resources and Economic Development

• Nominations

• State Affairs

• Transportation

• Veteran Affairs and Border Security

*procedural standing committees

Organization of the Texas Legislature: Senate Standing Committees

• composed of 5 to 15 senators appointed by Lieutenant Governor

• most senators sit on 3 or 4 standing committees

• deal with policy issues or ongoing administrative matters

• select committees: formed to deal with special issues that may extend across the jurisdiction of several committees

Organization of the Texas Legislature: House Standing Committees

• Agriculture and Livestock • Appropriations • Business and Industry • Calendars* • Corrections • County Affairs • Criminal Jurisprudence • Culture, Recreation and Tourism • Defense and Veterans' Affairs • Economic and Small Business Development • Elections • Energy Resources • Environmental Regulation • General Investigating and Ethics* • Government Transparency and Operation • Higher Education • Homeland Security and Public Safety • House Administration* • Human Services • Insurance

• International Trade and Intergovernmental Affairs

• Investments and Financial Services • Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence • Juvenile Justice and Family Issues • Land and Resource Management • Licensing and Administrative Procedures • Local and Consent Calendars* • Natural Resources • Pensions • Public Education • Public Health • Redistricting* • Rules and Resolutions* • Special Purpose Districts • State Affairs • Transportation • Urban Affairs • Ways and Means

*procedural standing committees

Organization of the Texas Legislature: House Standing Committees

• most have 9 to 11 members

• requirement that seniority be used in selecting half the members

• members may only serve on 2 substantive committees each session

• procedural committees: members appointed by Speaker, focus on House/government processes

• House committee process

• all bills must go to committee

• before action committee must have: Fiscal Notes, Impact Statements, Criminal Justice Policy Statement, Equalized Education Funding Impact Statement, Water Development Policy Impact Statement, Tax Equity Notes

Organization of the Texas Legislature: Joint Committees

• ...comprised of members of both the Senate and House

• sometimes include civilian members of executive agencies, commissions, councils

• created by Lieutenant Governor and Speaker through special proclamation

• Under normal circumstances, joint committees are created to operate in the interim of legislative sessions, and rarely during a session.

• All joint committees are classified as select committees and do not carry over between legislative sessions.

2015 Texas House Public Education and Economic Development and Small Business Joint Committee

Organization of the Texas Legislature: Other Committees

• subcommittees: established by committee chairs (standing subcommittees in Senate appointed by Lieutenant Governor), consider specialized areas of their standing committees' general jurisdiction

• conference committees: created to negotiate differences on similar pieces of legislation passed by the House and Senate

• ad hoc committees: formed by Speaker and Lieutenant Governor, temporary committees appointed to consider specific issues or problems

• interim committees: established to study a particular policy issue between legislative sessions, such as higher education or public school finance ... can include non-legislative members

• select committees: established for a limited period of time to address a specific problem ... include legislators and gubernatorial appointees ... may be well-funded and highly publicized

Organization of the Texas Legislature: Legislative Staff

• Staff assistance is important to members of the Texas legislature because they are essentially part-time legislators asked to perform a monumental task in a limited period of time.

• The legislature provides members with funds to employ staff assistance, who perform a wide array of legislative services.

• Inadequate staffing means information produced by outside groups important to legislature.

• Texas Legislative Council

• Legislative Budget Board

• Legislative Reference Library

• Texas Research League

• state agencies

Texas legislators and staff arrive for a 2017 3-day tour of the Rio Grande Valley.

Organization of the Texas Legislature: Support Organizations

• The Texas Legislative Council, a nonpartisan legislative service agency, provides bill drafting, computing, research, publishing and document distribution services to the Texas legislature and other legislative agencies.

• created in 1949 and was a major step toward providing research and technical services to legislators, but it has never been adequately funded

• staff conduct legal and public policy research and draft bills and other legislative documents for members of the legislature

• governed by group consisting of Lieutenant Governor, Speaker, chairs of Senate and House committees on Administration, four members of Senate appointed by Lieutenant Governor, nine members of House appointed by Speaker

http://www.tlc.state.tx.us/






• The Texas Legislative Reference Library is a general research and reference service agency that assists members of the Texas legislature.

• created by an act of the Texas legislature in 1969

• the research arm for Texas legislators and state agencies, satisfies the reference and research needs of the legislature, its staff and its committees

• serves as the official reference house of the legislature, holding records of past bills, constitutional amendments and other legislative information

http://www.lrl.state.tx.us/








• The Texas Legislative Budget Board is comprised of the official committee staffers for the House Appropriations Committee and Senate Finance Committee along with serving on the conference committee that reconciles the state budget. Also assist other standing committees on request.

• created in 1949 to help coordinate budgeting and solely dedicated to fiscal analysis and policy to members of the legislature

• prepares initial budget estimate

• prepares fiscal notes on proposed legislation

• between sessions may (with approval of governor) stop spending of a state agency or transfer money from one agency to another

http://www.lbb.state.tx.us/







continued in The Texas Legislature Part III

the texas legislature part ii

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