GOVT 2306 Final Exam Review

Congressman are elected in…

Single-member districts

Structure of Congress

Bicameral (Senate, House of Rep)

Senate

31 members (and 31 districts)

House of Representatives

150 members (and 150 districts)

Bills must pass in both houses and…

be signed by the governor

Regular session

held for 140 days on odd-numbered years

Special session

called by the governor and addresses his agenda, lasting no longer than 30 days

Ex. of governor’s powers

Line-item veto, appointment, budgetary, military & police power, message power, veto power, call special seasons

Line-item veto

power to veto specific provisions in an appropriation bill

Appointment

governor makes appointments to over 400 boards/commissioners

Budgetary

creates an executive budget that shows governor’s priorities, but is merely a suggestion and is not that powerful

Military and police power

commander in chief of the state’s National Guard units when they are not under presidential orders

Message power

governor delivers State of the State where they explain the plan for the state over the next two years

Veto power

power to turn down legislature passed by Congress

The lieutenant governor

Serves as acting governor when governor is out of state or incapacitated, succeeds a governor if he dies

Who is the “President of the Senate”

Lt. governor

Powers of the President of the Senate

Deciding vote when there’s a tie, Recognizes who speaks, Assigns legislators to boards and chairs, Assigns bills to boards

Process of impeachment step 1

Majority vote in house is required to impeach (bring charges)

Process of impeachment step 2

Trial is held in the Senate, members of the House prosecute the case, and the Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court oversees the trial. Two-thirds vote to convict

Process of impeachment step 3

If convicted, person is removed from office and barred from holding office

How a bill becomes a law step 1

Introduction

What is the Introduction step when making a bill into a law?

legislator introduces a bill by placing copies of it with the clerk of the House or Secretary of the Senate

How a bill becomes a law step 2

Referral

What is the referral step when making a bill into a law?

after a first reading, the Speaker of the House or lieutenant governor assigns it to a committee

How a bill becomes a law step 3

Committee Action

What is the Committee Action step when making a bill into a law?

Committee changes the bill so it is more acceptable to the entire legislature or to meet the political desires of the leadership or committee members 

How a bill becomes a law step 4

Floor Action

What is the Floor Action step when making a bill into a law?

Bills are scheduled for debate in the House or Senate. House representatives typically get 10 minutes and Senators have unlimited time

How a bill becomes a law step 5

Conference Committee

What is the Conference Committee step when making a bill into a law?

committees composed of Senate and House members meet to make compromises on the bill. Once it is reached, copies are sent to the Senate and House where they must be accepted as is or they die

How a bill becomes a law step 6

The Governor signs or vetos the bill

Concurrent resolutions

Passes in the Senate and House, and is signed by the governor

Joint resolutions

Passes in the Senate and House but is not signed

Simple resolution

Pass only in either the Senate or the House

Plural executive

Executive branch where power is fragmented because of offices that are elected instead of appointed by the governor

Who are the members of the Plural executive?

Governor, Lt. governor, attorney general, commissioner of the general land office, agriculture commissioner, comptroller of public accounts, secretary of state (appointed)

Governor

Head of Texas government, most powerful person

Lieutenant governor

“President of the Senate,” has a bunch of legislative powers

Attorney general

Acts as chief lawyer for the state of Texas

Commissioner of the General Land Office

Manager for most publicly owned lands

Agriculture commissioner

Responsible for enforcing agricultural laws

Comptroller of public accounts

Directs the collection of tax and nontax revenues and issue an estimate of anticipated state revenues before each legislative sessions

Secretary of state (appointed)

Collects information and keeps records, conducts voter registration drives and ensures that election laws are applied uniformly throughout the state

Judges are selected through…

partisan popular elections

Civil law

a branch of law that deals with disputes, usually between private individuals over relationships, obligations, and responsibility

Criminal law

the branch of law that regulates the conduct of individuals, defines crimes, and specifies punishment for criminal acts

Order or courts (lowest to highest)

MJCDCSC : Municipal courts & Justice of the Peace courts, County-Level courts, District courts, Court of Appeals, Supreme Court & Court of Criminal Appeals

Municipal courts

Fine-only misdemeanors; ordinances; limited civil matters; magistrate functions

Justice of the Peace courts

Civil actions under $10,000; small claims; fine only misdemeanors; magistrate functions

County-Level courts

General (usually limited to $200,000 in civil cases). 18 of the courts limited to probate, guardianship, and mental health issues

District courts

General, but may be specialized often into civil and criminal

Court of Appeals

General

Supreme Court

Civil

Court of Criminal Appeals

Criminal

County governments

construction and maintenance of county roads and bridges, law enforcement, dispute resolution, record-keeping, and administration of social services

Main offices of County governments

county judge, sheriff, clerk, attorney/criminal justice attorney, treasurer, tax assessor-collector, surveyor

General-law charter

city with less than 5,000 people, can only act or organize themselves only as explicitly permitted by statutory law passed by the state legislature

Home-rule charter

city with more than 5,000 people, charter is passed by citizens and lays down the rules under which the city will operate

Mayor-council

mayor is chief executive and council is legislative body, has variations where the mayor is stronger or weaker

Commissioner form of local gov.

city is run by small group of elected commissioners who act in both legislative and executive capacities

Council-manager

public policies are developed by the city council and executive and administrative functions are assigned to the city managers

Special districts

School districts, municipal utility district (MUD), community college, hospitals, etc.

What is Municipal utility district (MUD)?

offers services such as electricity, water, sewage, and sanitation outside the city limits

Budget

an estimate of income and expenditure for a set period of time

Texas has which kind of budget?

Balanced budget (revenue = expenditure)

Texas’ main sources of revenue

Sales tax (57.7%), motor vehicles & rentals tax (8.7%), franchise tax (7.1%), Oil production tax (7.1%)

How much federal receipts in TX budget?

$131.9 billion

How much licenses, fees, fines, & penalties in TX budget?

$12.5 billion

Progressive taxes

tax burden falls more heavily on upper-income individuals (wealthy people pay more)

Why does TX have progressive tax?

because there is no income tax

Regressive taxes

tax burden falls more heavily on lower-income individuals

1st step in developing the TX budget

Revenue Estimate (Comptroller estimates how much money Texas will collect)

2nd step in developing the TX budget

Budget Drafting (Agencies submit requests; Legislative Budget Board drafts the budget)

3rd step in developing the TX budget

Legislative Review (House and Senate revise and pass the budget)

4th step in developing the TX budget

Certification (Comptroller certifies the budget is balanced)

5th step in developing the TX budget

Governor’s Approval (Governor signs and may veto specific items)

Members of the Legislative Budget Board

Lieutenant gov, Speaker of the House, Four Senators, Four Representatives

Step 1 in public policy making

Problem Identification - society at large and actors in the political system develop an understanding of how we must think about and address a particular problem

Step 2 in public policy making

Policy Formulation - general ideas that the public and lawmakers have about social and political problems are clarified, and strategies for dealing with these specifically defined problems are developed

Step 3 in public policy making

Implementation - incentives or sanctions to support them are put into effect by a particular government agency; selecting the right agency and managing the budget effectively is key in this step

Step 4 in public policy making

Evaluation - policies are evaluated for effectiveness

Resolution

an expression of opinion on an issue by a legislative body