POLS 207 EXAM 3: TAMU SMITH

Which programs do state and local governments provide?

Health care, education, vaccinations, safeguarding of water supplies, hospital/health centers, nursing homes, medicaid/medicare

impeachment process

Impeachment typically initiated in lower house

Tried in upper house

Requires two-thirds vote to convict

Senate acts as jury

Political not legal process

executive positions in Texas

Chief administrator

Chief legislator

Political party leader

Ceremonial head of state

Chief negotiator

State opinion leader

Crisis manager

Chief administrator

in majority of states, allowed to choose their cabinet; oversees preparation of state budget (not so much in Texas); resolves conflicts within administration, coordinates state bureaucracy, and acts decisively to eliminate any scandals when it occurs

Chief legislator

significant number of bills written and introduced, message power (state of the state address), special session power

Initiates major statewide legislative programs

Serves as the "initiator" of public policy decisions by sending bills to the legislature

Maintains relationships with legislators as well as lobbyists

Can use the veto power

Can also call special sessions of the legislature

Political party leader

not really in Texas, not strong parties

Ceremonial head of state

difference between head of government is who handles the day to day operations

Head of state= ceremonial leader (face of nation)

Head of government= person that handles day to day operations

different powers of the governor in Texas

Governors have Formal powers (granted by state constitution or statutes) and Informal powers (stemming from personal strengths)

Informal powers matter more in Texas (governor must learn to effectively use informal persuasive powers to sway legislators)

Institutionally WEAK position

Setting priorities

Providing leadership

Can call special sessions

Can use veto power

Line-item veto: rejection of specific items in bill

Governor-legislature relations

different types of vetoes

Post- adjournment veto: if governor doesn't like the bill being passed; issued when legislative session is over preventing legislature from overriding it

Reduction veto: to reduce or move spending around

Line-item veto: Can reject particular items in a bill

Full veto: The veto power of the president

What is the role of governors in the budget process?

Oversees preparation and passing of state budget

In the dual budgeting system: Governor and legislature both design their own budget, but governor's is always thrown away when sent to legislature

What are executive orders?

A rule, or order, issued by the president/Governor to an executive branch of the government and having the force of law. Holds same power as federal law, but congress can pass a new law to override it

Know the different executive positions across the states (lieutenant governor, attorney general, etc.)

Lieutenant governor

Attorney general

Treasurers, auditors, and comptroller

Secretary of state

Personal staff

Lieutenant governor:

performs duties comparable to those the vice president of the U.S. does for the president

Attorney general

has more real powers and responsibilities than the lieutenant governor (but in Texas lieutenant governor has more power than attorney general)

Treasurers, auditors, and comptroller

help control the public purse (funds raised by gov by taxation)

Secretary of state

chief custodians of state records in 35 states

Personal staff

governors hire a small group of dedicated personal aides

Ag commissioner: in charge of all weight measures across the state, making sure food is proper to distribute

Why is the post-adjournment veto so powerful?

Because it occurs after legislative session has ended, preventing the legislators from being able to overturn it

What is the No Child Left Behind Act?

Tied federal funding for schools to standardized test scores

What is gross domestic product?

GDP is the total value of all the goods and services produced in the United States in a year; a measure of the size of the U.S. economy

What are progressive taxes?

Increases with higher levels of state income; Income goes up ^ tax percent % goes up ^

What are regressive taxes?

Overall state and local taxes are regressive, which is largely attributed to state and local government reliance on sales and property taxation rather than progressive income taxation

Income goes up ^ tax percent % goes down

Lower income pays higher burden of taxes: hurts lower income individuals

What are the different sources of tax revenue for both state and local governments?

-Property taxes (most important revenue for local government; usually regressive)

-Sales taxes (most important source of revenue for state government)

-Excise taxes (cigarette, alcohol, gas)

-Income taxes (progressive or flat, with various exemptions)

-Corporate taxes (popular with voter; may cause business to relocate)

-Lottery and gambling revenue

-User charges (fastest source of state and local revenue)

How are property tax exemptions used?

Properties that are used for nonprofit, charitable, religious, educational, and other public purposes are generally tax exempt.

Why do states look to keep their corporate taxes low?

May cause businesses to relocate, Texas is a pro-business state! "Texas is open for business"-Rick Perry

Which taxes are considered regressive?

-General sales tax.

-Local property taxes.

-Proportional taxes- fixed tax rate; sounds fair but is inherently regressive in nature

What are excise taxes?

Taxes that are most likely to try and govern behavior, one of the two ways governments manipulate spending (taxing and spending), cigarette, alcohol, and gas; "SIN taxes"

What is meant by tax burden?

Taxes as a percent of a person's income; the larger the proportion of the income paid in taxes, the

larger the tax burden

Which level of government is affected the most by limitations on taxation?

Local Government

How do most Americans feel about taxes?

Most americans think taxes are too high

What are the merit and spoils systems?

-Merit: A type of staffing system where anyone can get a job as long as they pass the requirements for that job

-Spoils: whomever wins the political election has the power to appoint whomever they please

What is outsourcing?

Taking jobs from within the state, company, or nation and hiring or contracting an outside company or organization to do the same work for a cheaper rate

Know the different types of bonds

-General obligation bond

-Revenue bond

General obligation bond

paid out of a general obligation fund; backed by the full faith and credit of the government that issues them. Pledges the full taxing powers of the government to pay both the principal and interest due on the bonds. More secure, so lenders are willing to accept lower interest rates on them

Revenue bond

get it from whatever is built; finance income-producing projects such as toll booths; whatever you make from the building you created is your profit; issued by government for specific projects and backed only by whatever revenue the project generates

How is academic performance measured?

Standardized testing: not a good measure of intelligence though

Educational attainment (graduation) / Dropout rate

What are magnet schools?

Schools emphasizing instruction in particular areas in an effort to improve quality and attract students

What are charter schools?

Schools operated with public funds by private community groups under a charter from public school districts or other granting agency

What are vouchers?

Vouchers allow a student to move into a different school, usually when the school is failing

When can money be given to religious educational institutions?

Lemon Test

-Government can give money to church based schools if it's for a secular (nonreligious) purpose

--Furniture, equipment, food, etc

--Not on religious textbooks

-Cannot advance nor inhibit their religion

--Most money goes to catholic schools bc more exist

-Avoid any excessive government entanglement

--Take it case by case

--Govt doesn't tell you where to go so pass this rule up

How do states ensure local compliance with state educational policy?

Bureaucratic oversight and allocation of funding to local school districts

What body typically controls education within a state?

State Boards of education: 15 member body that determines what we learn K-12, such as curriculum and textbooks

Where do most schools get their revenue from?

Property Taxes, which varies widely and causes inequalities

What do school superintendents do?

Are professionally trained educators that handle day to day activities of the school; usually appointed by school board, so they can be fired as well

Why is zoning important?

Help the government coordinate services with land use, stabilize property values, community planning.

Who is responsible for public welfare?

US Government pays for public welfare but the state government actually administers it; joint effort

What is the payroll tax?

-Tax that is levied on and withheld from an employee's wages

-Feature of the social security act

--Induced states to enact unemployment compensation programs through the imposition of the payroll tax

What has been the effect of Social Security?

Largely responsible for the elderly's "victory" in the war against poverty.

What changes occurred with the introduction of the TANF program?

1. devolution of power to the states

2. ENDED 60-yr-old AFDC FED CASH ENTITLEMENT PROGRAM for low income fams with kids

3. allocates lump sums to the states for cash welfare payments

Federal aid was given to state programs to assist poor families, but it required that individuals could only be on welfare for a total of five years, two years max at one time. Caused reductions in the number of people on welfare rolls. Stressed temporariness. You could still be on assistance if you were working because you were contributing money back to welfare benefits.

Fed gov paid for it but the state administered it- Joint program

What is Medicare?

A deferral health care program for people over the age of 65.

Joint program

Which public assistance program do states spend the most on?

Medicaid - a healthcare program that assists low-income families or individuals in paying for long-term medical and custodial care costs; joint program, funded primarily by the federal government and run at the state level, where coverage may vary.

Most expensive single program for the states

Outsourcing

-Governments are moving towards outsourcing jobs

-Government not doing job but getting someone else to do it.

-In Houston, still does contracting with a different company and the government does not do its own job

-In order to not outsource, they draw in companies and draw in Tax exemptions

Tax exemptions

The mayor system of bureaucracy system (state bureaucracy) you get a job there, you get promoted, if its a merit system you do all the things because you are able to. Merit system is you being promoted because you can do the job(skills) vs the spoils system where it was not about what you know but who you know.

Texas still uses for the most part the spoils system

Merit system:

-us getting a job in the bureaucracy, get promoted; able to in a merit system, having skills and resources

--Getting job because you can do it

Spoil system

-government hiring who they want, qualities do not matter. Giving the job title to friends/ family

--"Spoiling" your acquaintances

--Majority of Texas is spoil based

Zoning

-Deals with proper land usage in the local level

-"Residential, commercial, etc."