POLS4342Final

The House and Senate are made up of how many members respectively?

\-The House of Representatives: 150 members

\-The Senate: 31 members

How often and for how long does the Texas Legislature meet?

Meets every two years, on the second Tuesday in January of odd-numbered years, for 140 days.

What are the qualifications to be a Texas State Senator?

o   U.S. citizen

o   At the time of their election, a qualified voter of Texas

o   Resident of Texas for at least five years next preceding their election

o   The last year thereof a resident of the district for which they shall be chosen

o   At least 26 years of age

What are the qualifications to be a Texas House Representative?

o   U.S. citizen

o   At the time of their election, a qualified voter of the state

o   Shall have been a resident of this State two years next preceding his election

o   The last year thereof a resident of the district for which they shall be chosen

o   At least 21 years of age 

What are the terms for Senators and Representatives?

\-House of Representatives: 2-year terms

\-Senate: 4-year terms

Who presides over the Senate?

\-The Lieutenant Governor (also known as the President of the Senate)

\-Dan Patrick

What are some powers of the Lt. Gov?

\-Appointing chairs of committees, committee members, assigning and referring bills to specific committees, recognizing members during debate, and making procedural rulings.

\-Chairman of LBB and Leg Council

\-Can choose not to recognize a person when they want to speak

What is the party make-up of the Texas Senate (i.e. how many Dems/Republicans?)

12 Democrats, 19 Republicans

Be able to name powerful committees in the Senate

·       Senate Finance (where our $ is spent or cut)

·       Business & Commerce (all industry bills)

·       State Affairs (pensions, social bills, etc)

·       Senate Administration

Who presides over the House of Representatives?

\-Led by the Texas Speaker

\-Dave Phelan

What are some powers of the House Speaker?

·       Maintaining order within the House

·       Recognizing members during debate (not in the same way the Lt. Governor does)

·       Ruling on procedural matters

o   Point of order is either overruled or sustained

·       Appointing members to the various committees and sending bills for committee review

·       Gets to choose half of the committee members (senior member representatives get to choose the other half)

What is the party make-up of the Texas House (i.e. how many Dems/Republicans?)

64 Democrats, 86 Republicans

Be able to name powerful committees in the House

·       Calendars (sets bills)

·       Local & Consent Calendars (sets local and consent bills)

·       Licensing & Regulation (Occupational Licenses, Liquor, Beer, etc)

·       State Affairs (Pensions, Social Bills)

·       Appropriations (Where the money goes)

·       Redistricting (duringN a redistricting session)

·       Public Education

·       Ways and Means (tax bills)

How many times does a bill have to be read on the Senate and House floor?

o   3 times

\-Includes when its read and referred, when its debated, the second vote

Is the Legislature meant to pass or kill bills?

o   The system is built in such a way to discourage passing bills

Name at least two ways to “kill a bill”

o   Filibuster (Senate)/Chubbing (House of Representatives).

§  Filibuster: Senators can talk as long as they like, so long as their comments relate to the bill at hand.

§  Chubbing: The House has time limits. A representative has 10 minutes to speak but can go longer if a majority approves. If the majority wants to get things moving, the minority must find another way to slow progress. They chub, using the full 10 minutes on each piece, of legislation in front of their target, delaying consideration until the majority gives up or the legislative clock runs out.

o   Second, Weaponize Parliamentary Procedure

§  “Run out the clock”

§  The power of this tactic directly corresponds to the number of days remaining in the session. With the right deadline looming, what might have been a pesky inconvenience at the start of the legislative sessions turns into a weapon of mass destruction.

o   Power of persuasion

§  Make a powerful threat

§  Advocate with the Governor, have them kill the bill for you

__The contract lobbyist (Joe Garcia)__

§  They represent multiple clients on multiple issues

§  They’re hired not necessarily for their knowledge on an issue, they’re hired for their knowledge of the process and their connections

§  The contract lobbyist’s goals are to protect the interests of their client

§  Contract lobbyists don’t just know the process, they’re a part of it. As an important cog in the wheel, contract lobbyists are much better able to anticipate problems and pivot based on their past experiences.

o   __The in-house lobbyist (government relations)__

§  An in-house lobbyist is an employee of a private entity or organization whose lobbying activity is a significant part of their duties or whose sole job is to lobby.

§  They’re often experts in their field

§  They only represent the client they work for

o   __The non-profit/Association lobbyist (there are nuanced differences but they are kind of together. Not all associations are non-profits)__

§  These are the leaders of an association or not-for-profit organization.

§  Much like an in-house lobbyist, they represent the specific needs and goals of the association.

§  But they also are managing the members of their association. There can be a lot of varying personalities and goals of each individual member, so the GR person must balance those interests with the Association.

§  The Association lobbyist often uses grassroots organizing to lobby and gain support of the Legislature.

·      What does a lobbyist do?

o   A lobbyist encourages people to play an active role in their government-it’s protected by the First Amendment as our right “to petition the government.”

o   According to JFK, “lobbyists are expert technicians capable of examining complex and difficult subjects in clear, understandable fashion.”

o   A lobbyist is paid by an organization to promote the organization’s positions to federal and state legislatures and, less frequently, to administrative agencies.

§  They represent public entities, private entities, non-profits, associations, and interest groups.

o   Lobbyists are paid to monitor and influence legislation

o   Professional lobbyists research and analyze legislation or regulatory proposals, attend legislative hearings, and educate government officials and corporate officers on important issues

o   Lobbyists also work to change public opinion by influencing “opinion leaders”

o   Opinion leaders are those in leadership within the legislature, or those who have influence in government

o   A lobbyist goal is to educate members before making a decision

o   They represent the opinions and goals of our client, give lawmakers both sides

·      How does a lobbyist gain access?

o   How Lobbying Influences Government, Step 1: Access

o   Lobbyists need access to policymakers in order to make their cases.

o   Access is granted when the policymaker has received campaign contributions from the group, is sympathetic to its interests, or the group’s policy objectives are important to constituents back home.

o   Lobbyists depend on their personal relationships with members of the legislature and the executive branch, which are based on keeping in regular contact.

o   Many lobbyists have served in government themselves. This means they have worked, in some cases for years, with the very people they are now lobbying, and this experience gives them invaluable insights into how things are accomplished.

Explain the “Pay-as-you-go” Constitutional Budget Limit

o   Requires that all appropriations are within available revenue in the fund from which the appropriations are made

Name at least two budget players and what their roles are

o   LBB

o   The Comptroller

o   Office of the Governor

o   State Auditor’s Office

o   House Appropriations & Senate Finance

o   House Ways and Means --- can’t talk budget without talking taxes

What is the “Biennial Revenue Estimate” and why does it matter?

o   At the beginning of the session, the Comptroller’s office issues the biennial revenue estimate, which is an estimate of the funds likely to be available from taxes and other revenue sources over the next two years (this is your allowance, Legislature. This is what you can spend)

·      Explain what the Sunset Process is in Texas

o   The Texas Legislature passed the Texas Sunset Act in 1977, at a time when scandals at both the federal and state level had eroded public confidence in government institutions.

o   Texas was the second state in the country (behind Colorado in 1976) to create a Sunset Process

o   Movement that comes out of a lack of competence in government spending and in general, government

o   Phase One: Sunset staff performs extensive research and analysis to evaluate the need for, performance of, and improvements to the agency under review.

o   Phase Two: The Sunset Commission deliberates and sees what to do on whether to adopt recommendations (what they want to keep and they create their report and give that to the legislature)

§  Get their recommendations from public hearings.

o   Phase Three: Legislative Action. Once recommendations come out, the legislature can decide whether or not to adopt the legislation.

What is the goal of Sunset?

o   Evaluate whether an agency should be abolished and hold the agency accountable by examining the agency, their programs, how they’re spending money, how they’re executing programs, and how they’re carrying the intent of the legislature

Be able to recognize the parts of a bill (i.e. the caption, what part of the bill is making new law, effective dates, definitions)

o   The caption: relating to…

o   What part of the bill is making new law: if the bill is underlining, that is new law (law that did not exist before). If the words are struck, it means that the current law is being amended.

o   Effective dates: this bill shall take affect September 1st, 2023…

o   Definitions: In this section, Higher Education means XYZ…

What is a point of order? And what does it often do to a bill?

o   When a point of order is upheld, it goes back to the committee

o   When it goes back to committee, it is real hard to get it back to the floor in time in back for debate/session

o   It’s a great way to kill a bill

How does a legislative member get a bill heard in committee?

o   Once committee are appointed and organized, the committee coordinator prepares a schedule for regular committee meetings.

o   1. Request Hearing: To have a bill placed for on the calendar for a hearing, members must request a hearing from the Committee Chair. Once your bill is referred, you immediately asking for a hearing. DON’T WAIT!

o   2. Chair Sets Committee Agenda: The committee chair determines which bills will come up for a hearing. The chair likely will not give a hearing to a bill which has opposition.

o   3. Committee Sub: If the Chair has told you there are issues with the bill as filed, or you’ve negotiated issues in your bill, you request a committee substitute to resolve the issues

§  Committee substitutes are an amended version of a bill presented in a committee.

·      If a point of order is raised and sustained on the floor that Com. Sub. Is not germane wholly or partially to the original version of a bill, the bill is returned to Calendars Committee.

·      The committee may either have the original version printed and placed on the calendar or sent back to committee.