The Legislature branch is one of the three branches of the state government in the Texas Constitution. It includes 150 members in the house of representatives and 31 members in the state senate. Members that belong to the house of representatives are elected to a two-year term and are representatives of districts that have about 167,500 people each. In contrast to the house of representatives, senators serve a four-year term and are responsible for serving about 811,000 people each. The legislature is required to meet every odd-number of years to write new laws and to find solutions to any problems facing the state. The regular session meeting begins on the second Tuesday in January, and the session lasts for 140 days. The governor directs …show more content…
According to the house procedure, the committee or subcommittee is permitted to meet by three ways; in a public hearing, in a formal meeting, or a work session. As for the senate, testimony can be heard, and an official action can be taken at any meeting of a senate committee or subcommittee. Most of the time, public testimony is solicited on bills, which allows citizens the opportunity to present arguments on different sides on an issue. After a committee considers a bill, they have the power to take action or to issue a report on the bill. The report that is filled by the committee expresses the recommendations regarding actions on a bill, such as the record on the committee’s vote on the report, the text of the bill as reported by the committee, a bill analysis, and a fiscal note or other impact statements. The printed copy of the report is then distributed to every member of the house or …show more content…
The bill I chose is titled “HB 375” and the caption is “relating to providing for the carrying of handguns without a license and to related offenses and penalties.” The purpose of the bill is to amend some of the chapters from the penal code, government code, and the local government code so individuals that can legally possess a firearm can carry their handguns without an LTC. The provisions also allow individuals to carry in certain locations and the penalties associated with carrying a firearm without an LTC are removed. As mentioned in the essay earlier there are steps involved in the process of the bill. The bill was filled in the house of representatives on November 16, 2016. The bill has been read once and was referred to the homeland security and public safety. In the committee process, the chairs of the committee considered the bill and decided to meet in a public hearing. Since March, 28 2017 the bill has been pending in the
The law making process is a lengthy process. First, a representative must have an idea for a new law and they become the sponsor of this bill. The representative must present to the bill to the Clerk of the House if it is in the house (H.R. Bills), or in the Senate (S Bills). The Government Printing Office, GPO, then prints the bill and distributes it to each representative. The Speaker of the House, for further study, then assigns this bill to a standing committee within the house. The standing committee studies the bill and its contents and has two options, either to release the bill with a recommendation to pass it or lay it aside so it cannot be voted on. If the bill is released, it may be voted on or sent into debate within the house and needs a majority vote for the bill to move onto the Senate. Within the Senate, the bill must go through one of the Senate’s sixteen standing committees, and as with the House of Representatives, the bill is either released or pigeonholed. If it is released, a simple majority passes the bill. The bill takes another step into a conference committee, which is made up of members of the Hou...
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...
Contrasts in the lawmaking methodology utilized as a part of the House and Senate reflect the distinctive size of the two chambers and individual terms of its parts. In the House, the dominant part gathering is inflexibly in control, stacking advisory groups with lion 's share party parts, and utilizing principles to seek after enactment supported by its parts. In the Senate, singular parts are better ready to hold up the procedure, which prompts lower similarity costs, however higher exchange costs. The complication of the lawmaking procedure gives rivals different chances to murder a bill, making a solid predisposition for the present state of affairs.
Every odd-numbered year, the legislature assembles to make new laws to fix modern issues occuring in the state. These meetings always begin on the second Tuesday of January and is called the regular session, which lasts up to 140 days. The Governor can direct the legislature on matters for no more than
Within the Constitution, there are many features that are absolutely vital to the success of not only the longevity but success of the government it established. Certain features prevent one aspect of government becoming tyrannical in its power, and some establish the role of constituent states in policy making. While each of these is different, each with a similar role, each must be examined for the reasoning behind their addition to the Constitution. These specific additions are checks and balances, the separation of power, and Federalism.
Today Texas is no longer a rural state but a modern state where the populations, jobs, and economy have grown but the biennial tradition remains. In a normal session thousands of bills are introduced "and the 140-day limitation places a considerable restriction on the legislature's ability to deal with this workload". This part-time legislature puts restrains on how well the legislature functions letting a lot of bills "die in the end-of-session crush of business because there isn't time to consider them". Governing a large urban state is difficult, and its even more difficult trying to prepare a budget for a two-year period, it leaves room for errors and leads to deficiencies. Arguably an annual budget would be more fitting for today's large state, as the two-year budget is an apparent outdated
This “two house” structure is composed of the Texas Senate and Texas House of Representatives, with a total of 181 state legislators total. The Senate is presided by the President of the Senate, the Lieutenant Governor. He is elected statewide independently of the Governor. Even thought he is a member of the Executive Branch, he contains a lot of power and influence in the Legislature. In addition to serving as the Chairman of the Legislative Budget Board and the Legislative Council, he has the authority to assign bills to specific committees, casts a vote in the case of a tie on the Senate floor, and serves as a member on the Legislative Redistricting Board. Other than the Lt. Governor there are 31 Senators in the Senate. Each is elected from their own district in staggered elections, for a 4-year term with no term limit. The requirements to be a Texas Senator are being a US citizen, a resident of TX for 5 years and your district for 1, be registered to vote for 5 years, and be at least 26 years old. The House of Representatives is presided by the Speaker of the House. He is elected by his fellow house members from a house district. His job is to keep order on the House floor during debates by recognizing the various members who speak and ruling on questions. He must also sign all bills passed by the Legislature, all while having all the powers of a regular Representative of the House. Like the Lt. Governor of the Senate, he also serves on the Legislative Council, Legislative Redistricting Board and Legislative Budget Board. The requirements to be a Member of the House are to be a US citizen, a registered voter, a resident of TX for 2 years and of your district for 1, and at least 21 years old. The Governor of Texas, while apart of the Executive Branch, does have select Legislative powers. Only he can call the Legislature into Special Sessions, and he decided the purpose for these sessions. Committees
And is introduced by the speaker of the house and can be introduced as early as 60 days prior to session. It is numbered and is read for the first time, then assigned to a committee, each house has standing committees that consider their bills. Each committee has a chair ( from the majority) and a ranking member ( from the minority) they edit the bill so that it may pass onto the floor with different stages of review including analysis, and public hearing, then the house debates and votes, the bill os then sent to the calendar committee for assignment to a calendar. When the committee has reported the bill favorably to the floor the speaker determines which bills are discussed and for how long. Bills are then considered by the whole house at once, it's called, a ‘committee of a whole.’ Roll call votes are done electronically in the house or can be done by voice booting with a collection of “yeas” and “nays”. The bill then goes to second reading, editing, debating and then voted on again and then goes to a third hearing to make more changes before it is sent to the senate. The senate majority leaders determines which bills are scheduled when and for how
The members include the chair of Senate and House administration committees. Four senators selected by the lieutenant, nine representatives are chosen by the House speaker and the Lieutenant governor and the Speaker who serve as a chair and vice chair, respectively. Three standing committees manage the Council activities that are the executive, the finance and subject matter committees. The executive committee supervises all the operations of the legislative council, the finance mange the expenditures and support salaries and financial plan (Dye, Gibson & Robinson, 2010). Lastly, the subject matter committee analyzes and prioritizes the study projects or even works as a study committee. The Texas Legislature regular session meets in January on the second Tuesday of each odd-numbered
The Texas legislature is considered the most powerful branch of government because of its aggressive use of the power of the purse to control and direct the activities of state government. The Texas Legislature is the state legislature of Texas and meets in the state capitol of
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 membership of the standing committees of each House is chosen by a. vote of the entire body; members of other committees are appointed. under the provisions of the measure establishing them. Each bill and resolution is usually referred to the appropriate committee. committee, which may report a bill in its original form, favorably. or unfavorably, recommend amendments, or allow the proposed amendments.
Following committee review the bill would normally go to mark-up. But often, bills are sent to a subcommittee for consideration and debate. Subcommittees often hold hearings. At these hearings anyone is allowed to attend. The purpose of these hearings is to allow supporters of the bill to give testimony on support of the bill either in person or by writing.
The judicial branch of governments overall purpose is to interpret the law. The Judicial Branch of government checks the power of the executive branch by vetoing executive actions. The Judicial branch keeps the legislative branch under control through the ability to declare anything the legislative branch does as unconstitutional13. In order for an issue to be brought before the Supreme Court, the problem must first qualify to be heard. An issue that mainly involves a state’s law will more than likely not be brought before the Supreme Court. An issue will only be brought before the Supreme Court if the problem is appealed to a certain point. When appealed through the rest of the court system, you must create documents that give all necessary
First, in the long process of a bill becoming a law is introducing a bill. After someone from Congress in either chamber has come up with an idea for a bill they must introduce it. For members of the House of Representatives this is easy. All they have to do is put their idea in a mahogany box at the front of the chamber called the hopper. Now for a Senator to introduce a bill they must either hand it to the clerk of the Senate or they must talk about it in a presentation to their peers in a floor speech. Sometimes though Senators can cut down this process by adding their bill as an amendment to legislation that is already being processed. This saves them a lot of time. Also, new ideas for bills are labeled depending on what chamber they come from. Bills from the house will always be labeled with an H.R. with its number behind it. Well bills from the Senate will always be labeled with an S. followed by its number.