Chapter 7 Flashcards
(23 cards)
Difference between Washington Legislative and Texas Legislative
Texas only meets every other year for 140 days and is part-time
Texas House
150 representatives, serve two-year terms
Texas Senate
31 representatives, serve 4-year terms
What makes law making difficult in the Texas Legislative?
Strict time limits on sessions and the bicameral system
Texas House requirements
-Be 21 years old, a registered voter, and a US citizen
-Texas resident for 2 years
-Reside in their district for at least 1 year
Texas Senate requirements
-Be 26 years old and a registered voter
-Texas resident for 5 years
-Resident in their district for at least 1 year
Why is pay for legislatures so low?
To discourage legislators from living off the wages and go work in the civilian life
The role of the Texas Legislature is to __.
Create laws
Who can call special sessions?
Only the Governor
Apportionment
The process of redrawing district lines after every census to reflect population shifts
Gerrymandering
The act of drawing representative
districts in order to help or hinder a person, or a political
party, from winning an election
Lieutenant Governor
An elected official separate from the governor
-Appoints every senate committee member plus chair and vice-chair
-Assigns bills to committees
Speaker of the House
Chosen by members of the House to a two-year term
direct debate, send bills to committees, appoint the Appropriations Committee and half the members of
most standing committees, choose committee chairs.
Standing committee
Deliberative bodies formed
each time the legislature meets that deals with topics of
recurring interest
A permanent committee
Special committee
Temporary committees formed by
the legislature for limited or nonroutine purposes
Conference committee
A joint committee of House and Senate
members whose purpose is to iron out the differences between
the House and Senate versions of a bill
Interim committee
A special committee formed to study a
topic or problem between sessions of the legislature
What are the two types of regular committees?
Substantive- shape legislation (laws)
Procedural- sets the process bills must follow
who appoints the committee chair?
chamber leaders
pigeonholing
The act of setting aside a bill in committee and refusing to consider it
How is a bill introduced in the House?
First reading: The bill goes to one of the committees set by the speaker. There, it can either be ignored or signed
Second reading: Members can choose to amend the bill with a majority vote. If it is voted against, it dies
Third reading: final chance of amending it. Needs a 2/3rd vote in order to be signed into law.
How is a bill introduced in the Senate
First reading: Lieutenant Governor signs the bill to a committee. Can be ignored or tagged (postponed for 48 hours)
Second reading: 5/9 of senators (18) must vote in approval to bring the bill to the floor.
Third reading: 2/3rd to amend, signed to pass
How does the Governor affect the bill-making process
They have 10 days to sign, reject, ignore, or let it become law without a signature (20 days if the bill comes on the last day of the 10-day period)
Legislature can override the veto with a 2/3rd vote from both chambers
