Toward the end of the legislative session, fear rises as bills line up at the Texas governor’s desk. With the governor’s power of vetoes, it seems that lawmakers in Texas are losing their power. In Texas, the governor, Greg Abbott has the power to veto any bill that is present to him with no limit. During the recent session, 6,968 bills were sent to the governor’s desk for approval. Abbott will not make a decision until the legislative period is over to avoid challenges and to make his decision permanent. During these last few weeks of the legislative period, the governor holds a tremendous power over the lawmakers. Lawmakers are inclined to “curry favors” with the governor in order to get their bills passed. Greg Abbott, for example, has
The United State’s Constitution, the shortest written Constitution in the world, only has twenty-seven amendments, and now it is time to add another. The power of a presidential line-item veto was denied to the Clinton Administration in 1998, but with this last Congress being the least productive Congress ever, it is time to re-think the power distribution in the legislative process. In Congress, on average, only 10% of the bills proposed make their way through, and ever reach the President’s desk. In this modern day and age a bill, on average, is 3,105 words. When Congress was first created the idea was that each proposed legislation would be contained in one bill, now bills are comprised of various provisions. Which is why the power of the line-item veto would be beneficial to expand presidential authority. This line-item veto authority is the ability to cross out certain provisions while still being able to sign in to law the entire bill. This would be beneficial to the United States government, as an amendment that would allow the president to cut out unnecessary spending to in turn lower the national deficit. The United States government needs to pass an amendment to allow Presidents to use the line item veto.
Web. 09 Feb. 2011. O'Connor, Karen J. "Chapter 20: The Context for Texas Politics and Government. " American Government Continuity And Change, 2006 Election Update Texas Edition.
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.
University of Texas at Austin. Texas Politics, The legislative Branch. Austin, 2nd Edition-Revision 94 2009, Liberal Arts Instructional Technology Services.
The Texas government is a complex system whose ultimate purpose is to serve its citizens. Oftentimes, its complexity in certain aspects causes problems in its efficiency in serving. The way the Texas Constitution is written, how local governments run, the judicial, legislative, and executive branches’ efficiency, as well as Texas public policy and fiscal policy result in a government that is not set up to best serve its citizens. By 1875 the need to rewrite the Texas Constitution had become very evident, and a Convention was held to rewrite the Constitution.
The Governor of Texas needs to not only be a citizen of the United States, but also reside in Texas for at least five years immediately preceding the election in order to fully understand the policies Texas residents’ are dealing with, the culture of Texas, as well as how Texas’ political decision impacts the rest of the nation. Both the President and the Governor are required to give an address to the legislatures, which cover very similar topics. The President’s State of the Union address “…recommends to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient;” while the Governor of Texas gives the Condition of the State in which, “…he shall recommend to the Legislature such measures as
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.
McCandless was a person who loved hiking he loved the outside. He wasn't anti social he wasn't someone who put himself in a bubble to block the outside world. But Chris felt that the materialistic things in his life were the things that made him the person that he was. So decided to let everything go, start a new life in the mountains in Alaska without no one in sight.
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...
The writers of Texas’ constitution had good intentions but the current iteration of the Texas Constitution has not weathered the test of time as well as the U.S. Constitution. In the present day, Texas legislature is heavily influenced by interest groups due to a dominating political party, thus slowing the progress of the part-time legislature by pushing the agenda agreed upon by both the party and interest group. Part of Governor Rick Perry’s platform in 2012 was “adapting the Texas model to the U.S. Congress.” Opponents argued that The Texas legislature is working as intended and should not be
As seen quite often in the Obama administration, legislation gets stuck and lost in Congress due to the polarization of the parties in recent years. In Obama’s case, he has frequently threatened to go around the House and Senate if they could not reach an agreement or would shoot down his plans. Cato’s Pilon points out, however, that the hurdles of Congress are no mistake. Pilot states that the framer’s of the Constitution knew what they were doing, and this was intended to keep the checks and balances as well as accountability to the public (Lyons,
Otto von Bismarck once said, “Laws are like sausages, it is better not to see them being made.” The arduous process that a bill undergoes in order to become a law may seem grueling and pointless; however, the processes high caliber of difficulty allows for the extreme prestige and exclusivity of bills that are passed. Because the process is so exhausting, and filibusters, subsequently requiring a super-majority vote to pass a bill, have always been such a threat in Congress, historically, bills that attempt to reform sensitive issues have not fared well in the legislative branch. However, when Congress does pass controversial laws, it then also faces the task of effectively enforcing them. But, when the process is carried out to completion, laws that are enforced have significant impacts on the everyday lives of the American people—such as laws concerning abortion rights. In the United States, the government and Congress have significantly affected the rights of women with regard to abortions through laws that either restrict or guarantee their legality and availability, while the government’s capacity to do so is affected by the principle of federalism along with that of the separation of powers.
"Texas Politics - Texas Political Culture." Welcome to Texas Politics. University of Texas at Austin, 2011. Web. 15 Mar. 2011. .
The American system of politics, based on Federalism, distributes power, roles, and responsibilities between the federal government and the state government. Although these two governments are separate, they are unified because of the United States Constitution, the foundation of the laws and the governmental system. Nonetheless, the unity of the two governments has not curtailed the exorbitant number of cases filed in the Supreme Court ranging from gun control to physician-assisted deaths. The Supreme Court final verdict sets a precedent for future cases. As a result, the Supreme Court has a momentous effect in allocating authority between the state and the federal government.
The politicians are at a point where they are opposing each other’s thoughts approaching an anti-abortion measures. The people that pass the laws are at a standstill when reaching a decision to allow or deny abortion. Changes are currently being made to existing bills to further help justify the court’s split on abortion laws. Kevin Wagner has observed each side of the situation raising money to support their cause. Now, congress is looking towards the 2016 election to resolve this issue. Conversation between democratics and republicans have been constant to see who would change the wording of bills already set in stone or who misinterpreted the