GOVT2305: American Government 2
Lecture 6: The Texas Legislature

Tom Hanna
tlhanna@central.uh.edu

University of Houston

2025-01-01

Announcements and Agenda

Agenda

  • Today: The Texas Legislature

      - Constitutional basis
  - Comparison to US Congress
  - Interesting features
  - Current events

  • Next time: Ethics in Government Introduction

Announcements

The Texas Legislature: Constitutional Basis

  • US Constitution Article I

      - establishes the Congress
  - lists Congressional powers
  - structure of Congress - bicameral
  - Congress not subject to executive

  • Texas Constitution Article III

      - establishes the legislature
  - lists legislative powers
  - structure of legislature - bicameral
  - limits length of sessions
  - limits salaries of legislators
  - legislature is subject to comptroller of public accounts

Why a legislature?

  • What is a legislatures primary responsibility?

  • Why do we choose representatives to fill this role?

      - Why does representation matter?
  - Why a large legislature instead of a smaller council?
  - Why two chambers: House and Senate?

  • What is important in a representative?

      - What are the most important qualities?
  - What are the least important qualities?

Texas’s Legislature Terms and Sessions

Description Texas U.S..Congress
Term Length - House 2 years 2 years
Term Length - Senate 4 years 6 years
Term Limits None None
Legislature Type Part-time (Citizen) Full-time
Session Frequency Biennial Almost always in session
Session Length 140 days every two years Approx. 191 days a year

Salaries, Compensation, and Staff

Description Texas U.S..Congress
Base salary $2,700 $174,000
Per diem $224 proposed
Other reimbursement -- Travel to home district
Number of members 181 535
Number of staffers Over 2,000 ~6,535
Staff Location Austin and home district Washington, DC and home district

Senate Qualifications

Description Texas U.S..Senate
Senator U.S. citizen, a qualified voter, at least 26-years-old. at least 30 years old, a United States citizen for at least nine years
Senator Residency In Texas for the previous five years, and in the district for one year before being elected. a resident of the state they represent at the time of election

House Qualifications

Description Texas U.S..House.of.Representatives
House Member U.S. citizen, a qualified voter of the state, and at least 21-years-old. at least 25 years old, a United States citizen for at least seven years.
House Member Residency In Texas for the two previous years, and in the district for one year before being elected. an inhabitant of the state he or she represents.

Representation in Texas

  • Texas is a majority-minority state1

      - American Indian and Alaska Native: 278,948
  - Asian: 1,585,480
  - Black or African-American: 3,552,997
  - Hispanic or Latino: 11,441,717
  - Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander: 33,611
  - White (not Hispanic or Latino): 11,584,597
  - Some other race: 3,951,366
  - Two or more races: 5,133,738

Representation in Texas

  • 2023 State Legislature

      - 70% male
  - 54% white
  - white male: nearly half

Representation in Texas

Gender History in Texas Legislature: from Texas Tribune

Questions

  • Does it seem likely that this is because people want to elect white males or because they want to elect Republicans and white males dominate the Republican primaries?

  • Is this more of a long run problem for voters or for the Republican Party?

  • Why are minority voters willing to vote for white male Republicans over minority Democrats?

  • Is this a problem for the Democratic Party?

Authorship and License

Do not submit to Quizlet, Chegg, Coursehero, or other similar commercial websites.

Graphics Credit: Unless otherwise noted graphics are from Norton Publishers

Creative Commons License

GOVT2305, Spring 2025, Instructor: Tom Hanna