Texas Legislature
The Texas Legislature is the legislative branch of the State of Texas.
As with all other states except Nebraska, it is a bi-cameral legislature, consisting of a 150-member House of Representatives (led by the Speaker of the House, elected from among the membership of the House, who by custom rarely votes on legislation) and a 31-member Senate (led by the Lieutenant Governor, popularly elected statewide but who votes only in case of a tie). Representatives serve for two-year terms. Senators serve for four-year terms, but due to a provision in the state constitution requiring the entire Senate to stand for re-election after the Federal Census is complete (this takes place in years ending in "2") and another provision which randomly determines which Senate seats will stand for re-election two years or four years thereafter, the seats stand for re-election three times in a ten-year period with roughly 1/2 of the Senate subject to re-election every two years. Texas does not have term limits on members of the Legislature (or any office which, by either the state constitution or state law, is an elected office).
It is one of only four state legislatures, and by far the largest, that meets biennially (every other year)[1]; it meets in regular session only in odd-numbered years and only for a maximum of 140 days (the session begins in January and must adjourn no later than May 31 of that year). Furthermore, the Legislature can only call itself into a special session to bring impeachment hearings and remove a state officer from office. It cannot otherwise call itself into special session; only the Governor can do so, can do so as many times as desired, for a 30-day period each session, and the only legislation that can be considered in such a session is that which the Governor announces in his proclamation calling for one or in an amended proclamation; the Legislature cannot consider any legislation on its own initiative (but can consider congratulatory or memorial resolutions). Furthermore, as part of the "citizen legislature" concept under which the state operates, legislators are paid a mere $7,200 per year for their work (though when in session they are paid a daily per diem amount plus mileage to and from their districts, plus an allowance for office expenses and support staff).
Bills passed and signed take effect either 90 days after final adjournment (usually this is September 1, which is also the beginning of the state fiscal year) or a later date specified in the bill, or (if specified in the legislation) if passed by 2/3 vote of each chamber, at an earlier date (usually, upon the Governor's signature). Joint Resolutions proposing amendments to the state constitution require 2/3 vote of each chamber to be sent to the voters (the Governor's signature is not required). By tradition, the first bills introduced in either chamber (House Bill 1 and Senate Bill 1) are each chamber's version of the General Appropriations Act (the state budget and authorization for spending; it is the only "must pass" bill), and the chambers alternate between sessions on which one will ultimately be the final Act (for example, in the 87th Legislature (2021) Senate Bill 1 became the Act; in the 88th Legislature (2023) House Bill 1 became the Act).
Notwithstanding which party has controlled the Legislature, the legislation passed is generally conservative in nature. This is due in large part to the state constitution, one of the longest and most restrictive in the world, which greatly limits what the legislature can pass. For example, it limits spending to what the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts certifies is the estimated revenue for the next biennium (the period beginning September 1 of the year after the Legislature adjourns in regular session and ending August 31 two years thereafter; the estimate is divided by fiscal year) unless the Legislature declares a "public emergency" and then passes the legislation by 4/5 of both chambers. Also, public debt and pledging the state's credit is severely limited, requiring numerous amendments to the state constitution to allow for legislation which, in Congress and most states, is routinely passed without such a requirement.
As of the 88th Legislature, the breakdown by party is as follows:
| Political Party | House | Senate |
|---|---|---|
| Republicans | 86(*) | 19 |
| Democrats | 64 | 12 |
| Total | 150 | 31 |
(*)At the start of the session; however, on May 9 House Representative Bryan Slaton was unanimously expelled for inappropriate sexual conduct with an intern and obstruction of the investigation, thus lowering the Republican number to 85 and the total to 149. The special election was won by Jill Dutton, a Republican, bringing the totals back to 86/150.
The Texas Constitution mandates a 2/3 quorum of elected members in each chamber for business to be conducted. Democrats (both when they have held control and when they have not) have used this provision to ignore their duty to represent their constituents, by physically leaving the state in order to keep legislation which they opposed from passing, most recently twice in 2021 (during both the regular session and the first special session called).
Criticism
Because Texas does not have term limits for its legislators, many of them have served for decades (for example, former Speaker Tom Craddick has served in the Texas House since 1969). In addition, Texas has no limits on campaign contributions, and has historically allowed members of the minority party to chair committees (though not the major ones such as Appropriations; the practice is more common in the House where the Speaker is chosen by the membership). Furthermore, the extremely low salary paid, and part-time nature of the sessions, limits potential legislators to people who have other occupations or sources of income and can schedule their work around their legislative duties (such as attorneys, doctors, and businesspeople). As such, criticism has arisen that dark-money globalists control the agenda.
One notable criticism is the repeated passage of legislation that would enact the "horrible idea" (Justice Antonin Scalia's observation) of the Convention of States.[2]
References
- ↑ The other three legislatures which do so are Montana, Nevada, and North Dakota.
- ↑ What has technically happened is that there was a call for an "Article V Convention" (another name for such a convention) with an original expiration date if not called; subsequent sessions have extended that date. However, in 2023 yet another attempt was defeated on a point of order late in the session.
