POLS II

The Texas ____ specifies that the Texas Legislature is to be a ____ body.

What are the two houses of the Texas Legislature?

The upper house of the Texas Legislature (Texas Senate) is composed of __ people.
The lower house (Texas House of Reps.) is composed of ___ people.

The Texas Legislature meets for in regular sessions for no more than ___ days every 2 years, beginning in January of ___-numbered years.

Besides the regular sessions of the Texas Legislature, other meetings for lawmaking purposes- referred to as ____ sessions- may only be called y the governor, are limited to his agenda, and can lost no longer than 30 days.

For special sessions, 

Who can call them? 
What is the time limit?

Concerning special sessions, 

What is their purpose?
Who's agenda is solely followed at these sessions?is

Is there a limit to the number of special sessions the Texas governor can call?

The citizens of the state elect members of the Texas Legislative in ___ elections.

Members of the House of Reps. serve __ year terms.

Is there a limit to the number of terms they can serve in their life?

To serve in the House, a person must: 

-Be a U.S. ____ and a registered ____.
-Reside in Texas ___ years prior to the elections
-Reside in the district ___ year prior to their election
-Be at least ___ years old.

House members receive a salary of ____ per month as well as a per Diem during the most recent legislative session of ____ daily.

Senators are elected to ___-year terms, without limit of terms.

In order to ensure some degree of membership continuity from session to sessions, ___ of the Senate is elected every ___ years.

In order to ensure some degree of membership continuity from session to session, 1/2 of the Senate is elected every 2 years. The exception to this rule occurs after each ___ reapportionment, when all senate seats are contested.

Following such elections, lots are drawn to determine which ___ senators will serve a single 2-year term before reverting back to the normal term of 4 years

In order to serve in the Senate, you must: 

-Be a U.S. ____ and a registered ___.
-Reside in Texas ___ years prior to the election
-Reside in your district __ year prior to elections
-Be at least ___ years old.

Senators receive the ___ salary and per Diem as House members.

What are two privileges of being an elected representative?

Why do elected reps. have the privilege to be free from arrest?

Why do reps. have the right to not be questioned in any other place for words spoken in debate in either house?

What is the largest profession in the legislature?

The diversity in the Texas population is not as readily apparent in the legislature. The membership tends to overrepresent ___ and ___ income group.

Lawyers and businessmen who can more closely control their schedules, especially if they're in some kind of partnership, are more likely to be able to adapt to the "______" nature o the legislature. Those who must be at work on a regular basis likely will not be able to consider legislative service seriously.

Over the past several decades, the Texas Legislature has begun ti inch to a closer approximation of the state's ____ mosaic.

Gains in ____ legislative seats are attributable in part to the use of single-member districts since the 1970s.

Federal Courts rulings questioning the constructability of ___-based apportionment schemes. coupled with persistent Republican electoral strength up and down the ballot, may not be good news for those seek to increase minority representation in the legislature.

Apportionment refers to . . .

The Texas ____ stipulates that the house and senate, respectively, are responsible for dividing the state into apportionment districts.

The Texas Constitution stipulates that the ___ and ____, respectively, are responsible for dividing the state into apportionment districts.

Redistricting occurs every ___ years.

Redrawing lines is necessary because . . .

If you are part of the less populated district, your voice has a ___ chance of being heard.

The 1964 U.S. SUpreme Court Case of Reynolds v. Sims ruled that in a bicameral state legislature, both house had to be apportioned on the basis of _____ amoung districts.

This principle has been expressed in the phrase " __________." Simply, this means that the vote of one person should be worth the same as another's.

The 1876  Texas Constitution has always required that both houses and senate districts reflect ____ division of the population, but it also stipulates that "no single county should be entitled to more than ___ Senator.

Regardless of ____ size, each district must adhere to the principle of one person, one vote.

Of course, it would be practically impossible to create ___ districts, each of which would contain the exact number of constituents in an ideal district. Therefore, the courts have allowed some leeway in this process, and in general, districts may deviate above or below the "ideal" size by about __ percent.

In response to court pressures to redistrict, the House created several ____ districts in the largest urban counties to be giants in and of themselves, all of whom would, in theory, represent them in legislature.

The concept of multimember districts would not be able to prevent the rep. from . . .

First, the Legislative _____ Board was charged with redrawing districts lines when the legislature fails to do so

How many house districts are in Texas?
What are they based off?

What is gerrymandering?

Charges of gerrymandering are ____ tossed about after every redistricting plan is revealed.

Gerrymandering: 

Such charges were exaggerated by the growing partisanship of Texas elections and by the willingness of _____ to challenge the legality of districts drawn primarily by ____ in the 1990s.

The redistricting plan enacted following the 2000 census exemplifies the routine charges of gerrymandering. The ______ Board- made up of the _____, _____, _____, _____, and land commissioner-stepped in to redraw district lines when the house and the senate failed to do so in the 2001 session of the legislature. 4/5 were Republicans

What are divisions of a legislative body charged with initial deliberation on legislative proposals?

In order for a bill to reach the floor of the senate, ___ must cote for it.

In order to get anything accomplished in the legislative areana, someone has to organize these people and get them moving in the same direction. This responsibility falls on ____.

How are the presiding officers of both Houses

Nominated a member of the executive branch, the _____ is charged by the Constitution with presiding over the Senate.

Lt. Gov. serves __ year terms with no limit in reelection.

With being recognized by the ____, a seator may not formally participate in senate debate and thus may not be able to make a point he/she deems important to that debate or to express the views of their constituents.

Who appoints the members of all senate committees as well as their chairs and vice chairs?

Committees have the power to make or break legislature, by determining who serves on each ____.

Who appoints all senate members to conference committees?

What is the purpose of conference committees?

The ___ is responsible for bringing charges against elected officials- including of course, the LT GOV.

The Lt. gov. holds several _____ positions that further strengthen his role in politics. There are offices the hold auto. because he occupies another office.

Who hold the chair for the Legislative Budge Board?

____ appoints members to numerous boards, including the Sunset Advisory Commission, which recommends the re-creation or abolition of most admin. agencies of the state.

Who take over the governors officer? If he were to leave.

Who takes over that person's prior assisngment?

President pro tempore of the senate must take over Lt. gov. position if needed within ___ days of vacancy.

Speaker of the House must win two election. Name them.

Reps. serve ___ year terms.

What is the exception to limited senority system?

Under limited seniority system, the Speaker appoints the chair, vice, and 9 unnamed, remaining 5 are appointed based on ____.

How many months out of the year is the legislature in session?

Committees function as . . .