Texas State Government

1
Texas State Government

• The Texas Legislature
• p. 636 - 640

2
The Function of the Legislative Branch

• The Texas legislature is bicameral, meaning two
  rooms or houses. The two houses are
• Senate
• House of Representatives
• Lawmakers from both chambers decide how much
  money should be spent on education, whether taxes
  should be raised or lowered, and how to help the
  economy.

3
Duties

• The Texas legislature makes laws that govern
  Texas.
• Other duties include
• Approving or rejecting the governors
  appointments
• Using the power of oversight to review the
  actions of other branches of government.
• Discusses how state monies should be spent
• What to do about prison overcrowding,
• Taxes
• Education
• The environment
• Legislatures represent the people of Texas so
  they listen to voters concerns about current
  issues.

4
Running the State Government

• The Texas legislature is composed of 31 members
  in the Senate and 150 members in the House of
  Representatives.
• It meets every two years.
• The lieutenant governor, elected by voters of the
  state, serves as the Senates president.
• The House of Representatives elects a Speaker of
  the House.
• Committees help the legislature carry out tasks
  such as studying problems and drafting bills.

5
Running the State Government

• One important duty of the legislature is
  redrawing legislative and congressional districts
  as the population changes.
• This is known as redistricting and may determine
  which party controls the state legislature.
• Redistricting occurs after a census is completed.
• Redistricting creates many arguments in the Texas
  legislature because it changes the distribution
  of political power.

6
How a Bill Becomes a Law

• There are two types of proposals that can be
  considered by the state legislature
• Resolution
• Bill
• A resolution officially expresses the
  legislatures opinion about a subject.
• Resolutions are used to propose amendments to the
  Texas or U.S. Constitutions or to set rules of
  conduct.
• A bill is a proposed law.
• A bill that is approved by both the House and
  Senate and signed by the governor becomes a law.

7
How a Bill Becomes a Law

• A bill is first read before the entire House or
  Senate and assigned to a committee.
• The committees listen to people who favor the
  bill and who oppose it.
• The committees decide if the rest of the House or
  Senate should consider the bill.
• Most bills are not recommended for further
  consideration. Those bills are said to have died
  in committee.
• A bill that is recommended for further
  consideration must be debated by the entire House
  or Senate. Then they vote.

8
How a Bill Becomes a Law

• If a majority votes in favor of the bill, then
  that bill usually will be considered by the
  legislators in the other house.
• Once a bill has been approved by both the House
  and Senate, it goes to the governor.
• If the governor signs the bill, it becomes a law.
• If the governor vetoes the bill, it does not
  become a law unless two-thirds of ht House and
  two-thirds of the Senate vote to override the
  veto.