Texas Legislature

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Image:Texas House Chamber.jpg The Texas Legislature is the central lawmaking body of the U.S. state of Texas. The first legislative session after Texas became a state occurred in 1846–1847.

Like most state legislatures, it consists of two chambers: a Senate and a House of Representatives. The Texas State Senate has 31 members and the Texas House of Representatives has 150 members. The legislature currently meets in the capitol building in Austin, Texas on odd numbered years, usually from January to June. The sessions may not last more than 140 days. The Lieutenant Governor, elected statewide separate from the Governor, presides over the Senate, while the Speaker of the House, the presiding officer of the House of Representatives, 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 s/he wishes (in 2005, Governor Rick Perry called three consecutive sessions to deal with congressional redistricting). The special sessions have a limited duration of 30 days and the governor sets the agenda.

As established by the Texas Constitution, 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 with the exception that all 31 Senate seats go up for election for the first legislature following the decennial census in order to reflect the newly reapportioned districts.

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.

Currently, both houses of the Legislature are controlled by the Republican Party.

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Sunset Advisory Commission

Except for state agencies mandated by the Texas Constitution, all state agencies are subject to provisions of Texas' "Sunset Law", which mandates a review of the agency and its functions by the Sunset Advisory Commission, a branch of the Texas Legislature.

Under the Sunset Law, each agency has a date on which it will be abolished unless legislation is passed to continue its functions, based on the recommendations of the Sunset Advisory Commission. The purpose of the Sunset Law is to ask a basic question about state agencies: do the agency's functions continue to be needed, or should they be "sunsetted" (abolished) and/or transferred to other agencies? The objective is to abolish functions/agencies that no longer serve a valid purpose, while consolidating needed functions within other agencies having similar responsibilities, thus freeing tax dollars to spend on other needed services.

Agencies are typically reviewed every 12 years; about 20 to 30 agencies go through the Sunset process each legislative session.

The Sunset Advisory Commission is a 12-member body of legislators and public members appointed by the Lieutenant Governor and the Speaker of the House of Representatives (the Speaker selects the five House members and one public member; the Lieutenant Governor selects the five Senate members and the other public member).

Assisting the Commission is a staff whose reports provide an assessment of an agency's programs, giving the Legislature the information needed to draw conclusions about the agencies under review. In addition, each agency must also provide a self-assessment report of its activities (in effect, justifying its existence). In addition, public citizens are encouraged to provide their comments to the reports.

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