Chapter 9

Taxpayer Protection Pledge

A commitment made by legislators to oppose any tax increases.

Legislative functions

• Make statutory laws

• Amend state constitutions

• Service constituents

• Bring govt funding to their districts

State Legislatures Ideal

• Members are more personalized (sent by a smaller pool of constituents)

• Representatives are more like regular folk

McNeely on Legislatures

• Value of a legislature is how many votes they can bring for party/cause

• Need to rely on the expertise of others often

• Supermajorities are a threat and can hinder legislative action.

  • Should balance efficiency with diverse representation instead

Geographic representation

Elected officials represent specific geographic areas (zip code representation). Challenges:

• Mix of all types of constituents

• Compromise is only way to win unless you gerrymander

“Equal” divisions of populations

Redistricting in states has permitted deviation of

• <1% for congressional elections

• <10% for state and local elections

One person, one vote

Each legislator should represent the same number of people.

Legal apportionment criteria

• Equality of population

• Contiguity (all portions of a district must be in contact)

• Protected groups

  Shape of district (cannot be bizarre but can be odd?)

Protected groups

Designated by Voting Rights Act (racial minorities like black and hispanic). These groups cannot be worse off with new district drawing.

Gerrymandering

The practice of manipulating electoral district boundaries to favor a particular political party (get the maximum partisan advantage). Packing and cracking are strategies used in gerrymandering to concentrate or disperse voters.

Acceptable vs Unacceptable district shapes

“Odd” shapes become “bizarre” when it reduces influence of protected voters in elections.

Opposing gerrymandering

• Prove violations of legal apportionment

• Arguing excessive partisanship from drawers

• Arguing that redistricting should only be every decade

• Relying on VRA pre-clearance (not anymore)

LULAC v. Perry

Undermined legal arguments used to oppose gerrymandering (perpetual redistricting is legal, and hard to claim excessive partisanship)

Why gerrymandering matters

• It is now easier than ever to gerrymander

• Party in power of tomorrow is controlled by redistricting of today

• Legislative general elections don’t matter when gerrymandering is prevalent

Independent commissions

Bipartisan or nonpartisan bodies established to draw electoral district lines free from political influence.

Alternative redistricting approaches

Require state courts to approve map based on:

• Consistency with natural/political boundaries

• Compactness

• No use of partisan data (voter registration levels, voting histories, etc)

Proportional voting > Independent commissions

Proportional voting would be better because it ends the winner-take-all politics and gives multiple winners to a super district.

Congruency vs Communication models of representation

• Legislators linked to constituents through political parties, elections and interest groups (communication), which can be biased and minimal.

• Legislators and citizens lack congruency (beliefs may or may not overlap, parties elect, not citizens)

Most Important Legislative Activity

Killing bad bills that harm constituents, waste resources, or are ideologically wrong.

Number of bills passed

• 75% killed

• 25% passed

Senate vs House Bill Success

• 20% success in house

• 30% success in senate

Path of a successful bill

• Introduction

• Committee referral

• Subcommittee

• Committee hearings

• Committee action

• Calendar placement

• Second reading and floor consideration

• Third reading and floor vote

• Reconsideration

• Sent to opposite chamber

Legislative uncertainty

• One or more legislators must sponsor a bill but they can be hard to find

• All bills are assigned to a committee but may never be approved

• Bills are assigned to calendars that have different rules

• Bills that are voted on may not pass

• Bills must pass both floor vote and reconsideration

• Bills must pass in both chambers

• Bills that pass both chambers must be exactly alike

• Bills go to governor for veto or approval

Bill traffic jam

Bills are procrastinated on (there’s a lot of them) and so they end up cramming them to the final two weeks of the legislative calendar.

Bill clones

Either a duplicate or companion bill that has more of a chance to pass. Passing an identical bill is a success, specially if not amended.

Readings and Calendars

• Each bill receives up to 3 readings over several days (seconds reading the caption)

• Calendars dictate both rules and timing and controls:

  • Will bill come up in agenda

  • Will debate occur

  • Will amendments be permitted

  • Will a full or expedited vote be required

  • Will the readings happen on the same day

Are all bills intended to pass?

No, some are just symbolic to say that they tried.

How do members determine their position on a bill?

• Sometimes they’re the expert

• Sometimes they look to other legislators for expertise

• Often they follow what interest groups and lobbyists think

Ghost voting

A practice where a member of the legislature votes on behalf of another member who is absent.

• Pros: Increased efficiency when members are absent

• Cons: Lack of integrity of the voting process

Now they banned cameras in the House floor and formally allowed ghost voting (BOOOO)

Hyperpartisanship

Partisanship is not strongly related to the success of senate bills until Republicans controlled the House