The Texas Legislature

Resolutions

Resolutions are expressions of opinion on an issue by a legislative body. There are three types:

• Concurrent Resolutions: Must pass both the House and Senate and generally require the governor’s signature. They are used for matters of interest to both chambers, such as requesting information from a state agency or designating state symbols.

• Joint Resolutions: Must pass both the House and Senate but do not require the governor’s signature. They are commonly used to propose amendments to the Texas Constitution or to ratify U.S. Constitutional amendments.

• Simple Resolutions: Concern only the Texas House or Senate (e.g., adopting a rule or appointing an employee) and do not require the governor’s signature.

Speaker of the House

• The chief presiding officer of the Texas House of Representatives.

• The Speaker is the most important party and House leader and is able to influence the legislative agenda, the fate of individual legislation, and members’ positions within the House.

• They are responsible for referring bills to the appropriate standing committee.

Special Sessions

• The governor may call a special session if the legislature does not finish its business during the regular session or if new problems requiring legislation arise.

• Special sessions last no more than 30 days.

• There is no limit to the number of special sessions a governor can call.

• The governor sets the agenda for the special session, providing them with control over which issues are discussed.

Constituent

• A constituent is a person who resides in a legislative district, and legislators are responsible for representing their interests and concerns.

• Constituent service involves nonlegislative activities (often carried out by staff) that help legislators maintain a relationship with the people in their districts, such as arranging appointments with state agencies, writing letters of recommendation, or giving speeches. This improves a legislator's prospects for re-election.

Requirements

The constitutional requirements for holding office are minimal:

Pay

Legislators cannot expect to live on their legislative salaries.

• $7,200 per year

• $221 per day when legislature is in session

• Up to 12 days per month of per diem if on official business

when the legislature is out of session (16 days if committee

chairs)

• Legislative pensions are quite generous, especially for long-term

legislators. (10 years – 32k per year, 20 years – 64k)

Demographics

The Texas legislature tends to be whiter, more male, college educated, and affluent than the overall Texas population.

• The part-time nature of the job requires members to have jobs that offer flexibility; thus, more than one-third of members are attorneys.

• In 2023, women and minority groups were underrepresented compared to their share of the state population. For example:

  • Women: The Texas population is 50% female, but the House is 31% female and the Senate is 26% female.

  • Latino: The Texas population is 40% Latino, but the House is 24% Latino and the Senate is 23% Latino.

Gerrymandering

• Gerrymandering is the practice of manipulating the boundaries of district maps to favor one party or group.

• It is considered one of the most partisan activities of the legislature.

• It includes partisan gerrymandering (benefiting one party) and racial gerrymandering (advantaging one racial group of voters).

Bills

• A bill is a proposed law sponsored by a legislator and submitted to the clerk or secretary of the respective chamber.

• Bills are categorized as general bills (applying to all people and property in the state), local bills (affecting only local government units), or special bills (granting an exemption from state law).

• Bills must be read on three separate occasions before being passed.

• In the 2023 session, 8,046 bills were introduced, and 1,246 were passed.

One-person – One-vote

• The one-person, one-vote principle requires that all legislative districts must have roughly equal populations.

• This principle was established by the U.S. Supreme Court decisions in Baker v. Carr (1962) and Reynolds v. Sims (1964).

• It ensures that each person's vote counts the same, regardless of where the vote is cast in the state.

Pigeonholing

• Pigeonholing is a powerful tactic that allows a committee chair (or the committee) to kill a bill by simply setting it aside and not bringing it up for committee debate or vote.