Legislatures and Legislators in State Politics

Functions of State Legislatures

• Enacting laws

• Considering amendments and appointments

• Approving budgets: Single MOST important function

• Serving constituents

• Overseeing state agencies

State Legislatures Enacts Laws

Write, debate, and pass laws

• Collectively consider 101,000 per session, pass about 19,000

State Legislature considers amendments and appointments

Help approve constitutional changes and confirm governor’s picks

• Checks executive power

State Legislature approves budgets

Single MOST important function

• Decide how state money is spent

State Legislature serves constituents

Help people in their district (complaints, services, local issues)

State Legislatures oversee state agencies

Monitor state agencies to make sure they follow laws

• Frequently need to challenge state administrators (Prevents misuse of power)

Structure of Legislatures

Bicameral: Two chambers (49 states)

Unicameral: One chamber (Nebraska only)

Legislature Chambers

• Senate

• House

Senate

Fewer members, longer terms, lead by the governor/senate president

Must be:

• 26 years old

• 5 years citizen

• 1 year district resident

House

More members, shorter terms, lead by the speaker

Must be:

• 21 years old

• 2 years citizen

• 1 year district resident

Texas State Legislature

• Biennial session (140 days every 2 years)

• 31 Senators

• 150 Representatives

Legislative sessions

Regular session: Scheduled lawmaking period

Special session: Called for urgent issues

Making of a State Legislator

Typically selected from the upper-middle class segments of the population

• Flexible work responsibility or retired persons; lawyers, business owners, physicians

• Most are college educated

• Average age is 56 years

• Many are lawyers, trained to deal with public policy

• Most are part-time legislators (not full-time politicians)

Descriptive representation

Looks like population

Substantive representation

Represents interests of the population

Legislatures representation

Less descriptive, more substantive (represents interests rather than the population directly)

Reapportionment

Redistributing seats based on population (after census). Ensures "one person, one vote" equality

Malapportionment

Unequal people per district, makes votes unequal

Districting

Drawing boundaries for voting districts (every 10 yrs)

Partisan Gerrymandering

Lines drawn to help a political party (Dem or Rep), to win more seats

Incumbent Gerrymandering

Lines drawn to protect current officeholders, to keep them in power

Seats–Votes Relationship

How votes translate into seats (not always equal!)

Racial Gerrymandering

Drawing districts to help/hurt racial groups

Multimember Districts

One district elects multiple representatives

Who draws district lines?

Usually state legislatures (sometimes independent commissions)

How often are district lines drawn?

Every 10 years (after census)

Splintering/Cracking Districts

Splitting a group of voters across multiple districts; dilutes their voting power

Packing Districts

Concentrating a group of voters into one district; wastes their votes in one place

Legislative Committees

Different “departments” of Congress; reduce legislative work to manageable proportions by providing for a division of labor among legislators.

Functions of the legislative committees?

Legislatures have ~20–30 standing committees that:

• REVIEW BILLS

• HOLD HEARINGS

• APPROVE/KILL BILLS

Who decides legislative committee personnel??

LEGISLATIVE LEADERSHIP (speaker/senate leader) assigns members based on skills/occupational background

Pigeonholing

When a committee ignores a bill, doesn’t schedule hearings, takes no action, causing the bill to die quietly

• Most bills die in committee

Most committees reflect the views of…

The overall views of the chamber

Are State legislatures popular with the American people??

NO

Despite:

• Institutional reforms of the past decades

• Higher salaries

• More professional legislators

• Longer sessions

• Increased staff and better resources

The public’s disdain may be part of the popular cynicism for politics generally.

Governor’s post-adjournment veto

Happens after the legislature has ended its session (adjourned)

• Since lawmakers are no longer in session, they can’t come back to override the veto

• So the governor’s veto is basically final

Principal–Agent Model

The “principal” (Legislature) delegates authority to

an "agent" (Executive branch) who may have different goals and more information

Problems with the Principal-Agent Model

• Information asymmetry

• Bureaucratic drift

Information asymmetry

Executive knows more than legislature

Bureaucratic drift

Agencies don’t follow legislative intent

Baker v. Carr Significance

Courts can review redistricting cases, Redistricting is justifiable (not a “political question”)

Baker v. Carr date

1962

Reynolds v. Sims Significance

“One person, one vote”, Districts must have equal population

Reynolds v. Sims Date

1964

Shaw v. Reno Significance

Race cannot dominate districting, Districts based mainly on race can be unconstitutional

Shaw v. Reno Date

1993