Texas Legislature
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/* Structure and operations */
{{Infobox Legislature
| name = Texas Legislature
| coa_pic =
| coa-pic =
| session_room = Texas State Capitol building-front left front oblique view.JPG
| house_type = Bicameral
| houses = [[Texas Senate|Senate]] <br>[[Texas House of Representatives|House of Representatives]]
| leader1_type = [[President of the Senate]]
| leader1 = [[David Dewhurst]]
| party1 = [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
| election1 = [[January 17]], [[2003]]
| leader2_type = [[Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives|Speaker of the House]]
| leader2 = [[Tom Craddick]]
| party2 = [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
| election2 = [[January 11]], [[2003]]
| members = 181
| p_groups = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]]<br>[[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]]
| election3 = [[November 7]], [[2006]]
| meeting_place = [[Texas State Capitol]], [[Austin, Texas|Austin]]
| website = http://www.capitol.state.tx.us
}}
The '''Texas Legislature''' is the [[state legislature (United States)|state legislature]] of the [[U.S. state]] of [[Texas]]. The legislature is a [[bicameral]] body composed of the [[upper house]] [[Texas Senate]] with 31 members, and the [[lower house|lower]] [[Texas House of Representatives]] with 150 members. The Legislature meets at the [[Texas State Capitol]] in [[Austin, Texas|Austin]]. In Texas, the legislature is arguably considered the most powerful arm of the [[Government of Texas|Texas Government]] due to its [[power of the purse]] to control and direct the activities of state government, as well the strong constitutional connections between the legislature and the [[Lieutenant Governor of Texas]].
The Legislature replaced the [[Congress of the Republic of Texas]] following Texas' entrance into the [[United States]] in [[1845]]. The [[First Texas Legislature|first session of the legislature]] met from [[February 16]] to [[May 13]], [[1846]].
==Structure and operations==
The legislature meets in regular session on the second Tuesday in January of each odd-numbered year.<ref>Texas Government Code 301.001</ref> The [[Texas Constitution]] limits the regular session to 140 calendar days. The [[Lieutenant Governor of Texas|Lieutenant Governor]], elected statewide separate from the [[Governor of Texas|Governor]], presides over the Senate, while the [[Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives|Speaker of the House]] is elected from that body by its members. Both have wide latitude in choosing committee membership in their respective houses and have a large impact on lawmaking in the state.
Only the Governor may call the Legislature into special sessions (the legislature may not call itself into session, as is the case in some other states), and the governor may call as many sessions as he wishes. For example, Governor [[Rick Perry]] called three consecutive sessions in 2003 to address congressional [[redistricting]]. The [[Texas Constitution]] limits the duration of each special session to 30 days; lawmakers may consider only those issues designated by the Governor in his "call," or proclamation convening the special session (though other issues may be added by the Governor during a session).
Both houses of the Legislature are officially organized on a bipartisan basis, with members of both parties serving in leadership positions such as committee chairmanships. Currently (2007), a majority of the members of each chamber are members of the [[United States Republican Party|Republican Party]].
[[Image:Tx-senate.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Texas Senate in session]]
==Qualification for service==
The Texas Constitution sets the qualifications for election to each house as follows:
*A senator must be at least 26 years of age, a citizen of Texas five years prior to election and a resident of the district from which elected one year prior to election. Each senator serves a four-year term and one-half of the Senate membership is elected every two years in even-numbered years, with the exception that all 31 Senate seats are up for election for the first legislature following the decennial census in order to reflect the newly redrawn districts. After the initial election, the Senate is divided by lot into two classes, with one class having a re-election after two years and the other having a re-election after four years.
*A representative must be at least 21 years of age, a citizen of Texas for two years prior to election and a resident of the district from which elected one year prior to election. They are elected for two-year terms, running for re-election in even-numbered years.
Neither the House of Representatives nor the Senate has [[term limits in the United States|term limits]].
== Scandals ==
* On [[May 14]], [[2007]], [[CBS]] [[Austin, TX|Austin]] affiliate [[KEYE-TV|KEYE]] reported on the rampant multiple voting by members of the [[Texas House of Representatives]] during a voting session.<ref>''CBS Channel 42 KeyeTV Investigates: One Lawmaker, Many Votes?'', May 14, 2007, available at [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eG6X-xtVask "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eG6X-xtVask"]; see also Wilson, Nanci, ''One Lawmaker, Many Votes?'', May 14, 2007, available at [http://72.14.209.104/search?q=cache:dtjnlM6g4ZoJ:keyetv.com/topstories/local_story_134224129.html&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=4&gl=us "www.keyetv.com/topstories/local_story_134224129.html"]</ref> The report noted how representatives would race to the nearest empty seats to register votes for absent members on the legislature's automated voting machines. Each representative would vote for the nearest absent members, apparently regardless of party affiliation. This practice was in direct violation of a Rule of the Texas Legislature; however, no house member had ever been disciplined for the practice. The then-Speaker of the House, responsible for enforcement of the rule, issued a statement that discipline for violations of the rule is left to the individual house members.
== Makeup of the Texas House of Representatives ==
{{Main|Texas House of Representatives}}
{{Seealso|Eightieth Texas Legislature}}
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| colspan="2" rowspan="1" align="center" valign="top" | '''Affiliation'''
| valign="top" | '''Members'''<br>
|-
|{{American politics/party colours/Republican}}|
| [[United States Republican Party|Republican Party]]
| 79
|-
|{{American politics/party colours/Democratic}}|
| [[United States Democratic Party|Democratic Party]]
| 71
|-
| colspan="2" rowspan="1" | '''Total'''<br>
| '''150'''
|}
== Makeup of the Texas Senate==
{{Main|Texas Senate}}
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| colspan="2" rowspan="1" align="center" valign="top" | '''Affiliation'''
| valign="top" | '''Members'''<br>
|-
|{{American politics/party colours/Republican}}|
| [[United States Republican Party|Republican Party]]
| 20
|-
|{{American politics/party colours/Democratic}}|
| [[United States Democratic Party|Democratic Party]]
| 11
|-
| colspan="2" rowspan="1" | '''Total'''<br>
| '''31'''
|}
==References==
{{reflist}}
*"Citizen Handbook". [http://www.senate.state.tx.us/CHBook/CHBook.htm The Senate of Texas]. Retrieved [[13 April]] 2005.
*{{Handbook of Texas|id=TT/mkt2|name=Texas Legislature}}. Retrieved [[13 April]] 2005.
*Stanley K. Young, ''Texas Legislative Handbook'' (1973).
*Univ. of Tex., ''The Legislative Branch'' in ''Texas Politics,'' [http://texaspolitics.laits.utexas.edu/html/leg/0200.html] (last accessed Oct. 8, 2006) (stating that "The Texas Legislature is the most powerful of the three main branches of government[,]" primarily because it is "less weak than the other branches").
== External links ==
*[http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/ Texas Legislature Online]
*[http://www.house.state.tx.us/welcome.php Texas House of Representatives]
*[http://www.senate.state.tx.us/ Texas Senate]
*[http://www.lrl.state.tx.us/Legislative Reference Library of Texas]
*[http://www.vote-smart.org/official_state_legislator.php?type=office&state_id=TX&criteria=upper Project Vote Smart - State Senate of Texas]
*[http://www.votesmart.org/official_state_legislator.php?type=office&state_id=TX&criteria=lower Project Vote Smart - State House of Texas]
*[http://texaspolitics.laits.utexas.edu/html/leg/index.html Texas Politics - The Legislative Branch]
*[http://tx.billhop.com Billhop - Texas Legislative Wiki]
{{TexasLegislatures}}
{{Usleg}}
[[Category:State agencies of Texas|Legislature, Texas]]
[[Category:Texas Legislature| ]]