________ Must Begin in the House of Representatives Gov 2306

The Legislative Branch of Authorities

The Texas Constitution divides state government into 3 separate but equal branches: the executive branch, headed by the governor; the judicial branch, which consists of the Texas Supreme Court and all state courts; and the legislative branch, headed past the Texas Legislature, which includes the 150 members of the house of representatives and the 31 members of the country senate.

Members of the house of representatives are elected to 2-yr terms and stand for districts of almost 167,500 people each. Senators serve four-year terms and serve about 811,000 people each.

The legislature meets every odd-numbered twelvemonth to write new laws and to find solutions to the problems facing the land. This meeting fourth dimension, which begins on the second Tuesday in January and lasts 140 days, is called the regular session. The governor can straight the legislature to meet at other times besides. These meetings, called special sessions, can last no more than than 30 days and deal only with issues called by the governor.

On the first day of each regular session, the 150 members of the house of representatives choose one of their members to be the speaker of the house. The speaker is the presiding officer of the house. He or she maintains order, recognizes members to speak during debate, and rules on procedural matters.

The speaker besides appoints the chairs and vice chairs of the committees that study legislation and decides which other representatives will serve on those committees, subject to seniority rules. In that location are 31 committees, each of which deals with a different field of study surface area, and v committees that bargain with procedural or administrative matters for the house. Near members serve on two or three dissimilar committees.

In the senate, the presiding officer is the lieutenant governor, who is not actually a fellow member of the senate. The lieutenant governor is the second-highest ranking officer of the executive branch of government and, like the governor, is chosen for a four-year term by popular vote in a statewide ballot.

The first thing that the speaker of the house and the lieutenant governor enquire their respective houses of the legislature to do is to determine on the rules that the legislators will follow during the session. Some legislative procedures are provided for in the state constitution, but boosted rules can be adopted past a house of the legislature if approved by a majority vote of its members.

Once rules take been adopted, the legislature begins to consider bills.

Introducing a Bill

A representative or senator gets an idea for a bill past listening to the people he or she represents and and so working to solve their problem. A pecker may too abound out of the recommendations of an interim committee study conducted when the legislature is not in session. The idea is researched to determine what land law needs to be inverse or created to best solve that trouble. A bill is then written past the legislator, oft with legal assist from the Texas Legislative Council, a legislative agency which provides neb drafting services, inquiry assistance, computer support, and other services for legislators.

In one case a nib has been written, it is introduced by a member of the firm or senate in the member's ain sleeping room. Sometimes, similar bills about a particular outcome are introduced in both houses at the same time by a representative and senator working together. However, whatever bill increasing taxes or raising money for use by the state must offset in the house of representatives.

House members and senators can innovate bills on any subject field during the first 60 calendar days of a regular session. After lx days, the introduction of any bill other than a local nib or a bill related to an emergency declared by the governor requires the consent of at to the lowest degree four-fifths of the members present and voting in the house or four-fifths of the membership in the senate.

After a bill has been introduced, a short description of the bill, called a caption, is read aloud while the sleeping accommodation is in session so that all of the members are aware of the beak and its bailiwick. This is chosen the first reading, and it is the indicate in the process where the presiding officer assigns the bill to a committee. This assignment is announced on the chamber flooring during the commencement reading of the beak.

The Committee Procedure

The chair of each committee decides when the commission volition encounter and which bills volition exist considered. The house rules permit a house committee or subcommittee to meet: (one) in a public hearing where testimony is heard and where official activity may exist taken on bills, resolutions, or other matters; (two) in a formal meeting where the members may hash out and have official action without hearing public testimony; or (three) in a work session for discussion of matters before the committee without taking formal activeness. In the senate, testimony may exist heard and official activeness may exist taken at whatever meeting of a senate committee or subcommittee. Public testimony is virtually e'er solicited on bills, allowing citizens the opportunity to present arguments on different sides of an event.

A business firm commission or subcommittee property a public hearing during a legislative session must post notice of the hearing at least five calendar days earlier the hearing during a regular session and at least 24 hours in accelerate during a special session. For a formal meeting or a piece of work session, written notice must be posted and sent to each member of the committee ii hours in advance of the meeting or an declaration must be filed with the journal clerk and read while the house is in session. A senate committee or subcommittee must post discover of a meeting at to the lowest degree 24 hours before the meeting.

After considering a bill, a commission may cull to take no activity or may effect a report on the bill. The committee report, expressing the committee's recommendations regarding action on a bill, includes a record of the committee'south vote on the study, the text of the beak as reported by the committee, a detailed beak assay, and a fiscal annotation or other impact statement, as necessary. The written report is then printed, and a re-create is distributed to every member of the firm or senate.

In the firm, a copy of the committee study is sent to either the Committee on Calendars or the Committee on Local and Consent Calendars for placement on a calendar for consideration by the full business firm. In the senate, local and noncontroversial bills are scheduled for senate consideration past the Senate Administration Commission. All other bills in the senate are placed on the regular order of business concern for consideration by the total senate in the society in which the bills were reported from senate committee. A nib on the regular social club of concern may not be brought upward for floor consideration unless the senate sponsor of the bill has filed a written detect of intent to suspend the regular society of business for consideration of the bill.

Floor Action

When a bill comes up for consideration past the full firm or senate, information technology receives its second reading. The bill is read, again by caption only, and then debated past the full membership of the bedchamber. Any member may offer an subpoena, simply information technology must exist approved by a bulk of the members present and voting to be adopted. The members and then vote on whether to pass the bill. The nib is so considered past the total body again on third reading and final passage. A bill may exist amended again on third reading, but amendments at this phase require a two-thirds majority for adoption. Although the Texas Constitution requires a bill to be read on 3 dissever days in each house before it tin can take the force of police force, this constitutional rule may exist suspended by a four-fifths vote of the business firm in which the bill is pending. The senate routinely suspends this constitutional provision in order to give a bill an immediate third reading later on its second reading consideration. The house, however, rarely suspends this provision, and third reading of a bill in the firm ordinarily occurs on the 24-hour interval following its 2nd reading consideration.

In either business firm, a bill may exist passed on a phonation vote or a record vote. In the house, tape votes are tallied by an electronic vote board controlled by buttons on each member's desk. In the senate, tape votes are taken by calling the gyre of the members.

If a neb receives a majority vote on third reading, it is considered passed. When a bill is passed in the firm where information technology originated, the bill is engrossed, and a new copy of the pecker which incorporates all corrections and amendments is prepared and sent to the opposite bedchamber for consideration. In the second house, the bill follows basically the same steps it followed in the first house. When the bill is passed in the contrary house, it is returned to the originating sleeping room with whatsoever amendments that have been adopted simply attached to the bill.

Action on the Other Firm's Amendments and Conference Committees

If a neb is returned to the originating bedroom with amendments, the originating bedchamber can either agree to the amendments or request a conference commission to work out differences between the house version and the senate version. If the amendments are agreed to, the bill is put in final course, signed by the presiding officers, and sent to the governor.

Conference committees are composed of 5 members from each house appointed by the presiding officers. Once the conference committee reaches understanding, a conference committee report is prepared and must be approved by at least 3 of the five conferees from each business firm. Briefing committee reports are voted on in each house and must be approved or rejected without amendment. If approved by both houses, the pecker is signed by the presiding officers and sent to the governor.

Governor's Activeness

Upon receiving a nib, the governor has x days in which to sign the bill, veto information technology, or permit it to go law without a signature. If the governor vetoes the bill and the legislature is nonetheless in session, the bill is returned to the firm in which it originated with an explanation of the governor's objections. A two-thirds majority in each house is required to override the veto. If the governor neither vetoes nor signs the bill within x days, the bill becomes a law. If a bill is sent to the governor within 10 days of final adjournment, the governor has until 20 days afterward terminal adjournment to sign the neb, veto information technology, or permit it to become law without a signature.

Constitutional Amendments

Proposed amendments to the Texas Constitution are in the course of joint resolutions instead of bills and require a vote of two-thirds of the entire membership in each business firm for adoption. Joint resolutions are not sent to the governor for approval, simply are filed directly with the secretary of state. A articulation resolution proposing an amendment to the Texas Constitution does not become effective until information technology is approved past Texas voters in a general ballot.

• More Detailed Information on the Steps in the Legislative Process

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Source: https://house.texas.gov/about-us/bill/

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