Roles and Function of the Texas Legislature - Term Paper Example

Roles and Functions of the Texas Legislature The Texas people adopted the Texas statehood constitution in 1845 under the Tenth Amendment of the United States Constitution[May10]. The legislature is a democraticimplementation since it translates the views and opinions of the general masses into public opinion.The process of proposing new laws discussing them, amending them, and finally passing them into law is the traditional function of any legislative body. It also recommend changes to the Texas Constitution through the introduction of bills. From the definition of legislature, it is easy to assume that sole purpose of a legislature is to make laws. However, it has several other functions, which arise from the system of checks and balances over different governing bodies. This paper will therefore extensively discuss the formal and informal functions of the Texas legislature under the Texas constitution and the United States Constitution. The Texas legislature has the power to create a new or amend an old constitution. The Constitution function of the Texas legislature involves making amendments to the national constitution as well to the state constitution. In the US constitution, the Congress make decisions on the laws of the country. Texas does not have a clearly defined body to represents the state constitutional propositions. It is therefore the function of the legislative members appointed to Congress to push for state agenda and policy. However, the state has the power to propose changes to its own constitution without involvement of the US Congress. This is true unless the state laws violate the federal laws, which hold precedence over state laws (Clynch & Lauth., 1991). When amendments to a state constitution regarding a law are underway, the Texas legislature pass statutes that function as the law until it completes the constitutional amendment process. The constitution divides the United States’ Congressinto the Senate and the House of Representatives. Of the 435 seats in the House of Representatives, the Texas State has 36 representatives for each district[Agn08]. Every state is apportioned a number of seats in the House depending on the state’s population proportion in the country[Agn08]. Reapportionment occurs every ten years following a census. The reapportionment involves deciding which districts within the state gets to have representative members in Congress following a decennial census[Agn08]. The process also involves redistricting which involves redrawing of the district lines in the respective state to serve a two-year term. The Texas legislature passes reapportionment bills, which amend the state apportioned counties to both the Senate and the House of Representatives. The state’s legislature also lines up representatives for the Senate. Through the appointment of representatives to the U.S Congress, the Texas Legislature helps to represent the political agenda of the state in Congress. The representatives in the both the Senate and the House of Representatives have voting power on all matters of the Constitution. It is their function to ensure they represent the views of their constituents in Congress. The Texas legislature also helps shape the political landscape of the entire nation. Members of both the Senate and House of Representative vote on certain constitutional issues. For any bills or amendment to pass, it has to receive a two-thirds majority. Certain issues that the bills presented in Congress may affect a state in one or another therefore representatives vote directly on matters that affect their states. Traditionally legislature have an oversight function over other governing bodies. It has standing committees in both houses that hold public hearings where administrative agencies of the state present reports and answer questions regarding their expenditure and implementation of programs. The legislature strengthened its oversight function over state administration through the passing of the Sunset Act of 1977[Max13]. The new law established a Sunset Advisory Commission whose function was to review the state administrative agencies. The commission then submits recommendations to the legislature on the functionality of the administrative agencies, their continuance or reorganization. In 1981, the legislature passed a statute to review rules and regulations of the administrative agencies and their expenditure. The legislature can also make state appointments, remove some state officials and approve planetary budgets of state agencies. Another oversight function of the Texas legislature involves making a formal accusation of a judge or an executive branch official or a governor. The process of impeachment of formally accusing a person involves the accused person standing trial before the Senate. Article XV of the Texas Constitution stipulates that impeachment of a person only extends to removal or disqualification of holding any office of the said party and does not lead to indictment of the accused party since that is the function of the federal government. The Judiciary in Texas interprets the law. However, judicial appointments must be made through recommendations of the Texas legislature. The legislature also limits or extends jurisdiction of the courts, the number of judges that should seat at a certain level of the court system and the general organization of the judiciary. The house passing or amending legislation regarding the courts and judicial matters also serve as a judicial function. Another judicial function involves settling of election disputes. The legislature has the power to declare a winner in an election after the electoral body has tabulated the results. When electoral disputes arise, the House appoint a panel of judges to hear and settle election disputes. The Texas legislature has a function to safeguard guard public interest in matters of state agencies. Legislators with the help from representative of special interests conduct investigations on state agencies and its officials to assess whether the agency is fulfilling its responsibilities to the public. Where there suspicions of illegal conduct, the House General Investigative Committee or the standing committee that has jurisdiction over that particular agency decides on a course of action to take. They legislature may also decide to appoint interim independent committees to not only conduct investigations but also make recommendations on the continuance and removal from office. The Legislative Budget Board of the legislature reviews the state expenditure and scrutinizes the implementations of programs by state agencies. Where there are functionality issues, the board may recommend that the state privatize a particular public service in order to improve it. The above functions are formal function that the Texas Constitution spells out. The state legislators do not only represent the views of their constituents during voting, but they also present specific problems of their constituents to the U.S Congress. It is the norm for the legislators to visit the Texas district to discuss state and national policies. During such forums, they meet the members of the public who air out issues affecting the state in general and ask for national reform regarding that issue. The legislators are also not the only people involved in the law-making process. Lobbyists, activists, the governor, bureaucrats and the citizen also participate in one way or another. The legislature has a duty to ensure that all the stakeholders of the process have a forum to discuss their wishes and recommendations. Through the media, both the legislature and the public are able to express their opinions on certain issues. The educative function of the Texas legislature involves gathering information about public opinion through hearings. The committee process of passing a bill into law involves holding a series of meetings to discuss and take official action. The meeting of hearing public testimony are open to the electorate. The legislature in this manner does a public service of educating the public about political issues. The public hearings are a source of information about pending political matters and a chance for the masses to interact with their representatives and have their political queries answered. In conclusion, the Texas legislature functions like most legislatures. Their main role is to formulate state laws and to represent the state’s interests in Congress. Its primary duty to its constituents is convert public opinion into policies and implementation of these policies. The legislature also safeguards public interest in matters of implementation by ensuring that state agencies that misuse public funds face consequences. It has judicial function through impeachment of governors, judges or state officials. The legislative function extends to more than just making and amending laws. References May10: , (May, 2010), Agn08: , (Agnew, 2008), Max13: , (Maxwell, Crain, & Santos, 2013), Read More