Term
| Bicameral Texas Legislature |
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Definition
A Legislature that has two bodies
1. House of Representatives
2. Senate |
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Term
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| Legislator's per day allowance covering room and board expenses while on state business |
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Term
Senate = 4 years
House = 2 years
No term limits |
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Definition
What are the terms for two chambers - Senate & House of Representatives?
Are there term limits? |
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Definition
| A legislative body that meets in regular session only once in a 2 yr period |
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Definition
| Legislative session of up to 30 days, called by governor, during interim between regular sessions |
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| biennial 140-day session of TX legislature beginning in January of odd-numbered years |
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Definition
| legislative body that meets in regular session only once in 2 yr period |
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Term
| to create districts with equal-sized populations |
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Definition
| What is ultimate goal of redistricting? |
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Definition
| drawing district lines to enhance or diminish power of one party or racial/ethnic group |
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| Act that declares that states with history of electoral discrimination against minority groups must pre-clear redistricting plans w/ US Dept of Justice or US District of District of Columbia |
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| restrictions that exist in some states about how long an individual may serve in state and/or local elected offices |
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Term
| president of the Texas Senate |
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Definition
| Lt Governor of Texas, serving in his constitutional role |
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Definition
| legislator who serves temporarily as legislative leader in absence of Senate President or House Speaker |
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| Speaker of the Texas House |
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Definition
| State representative who is elected by fellow representatives to be office leader of the House |
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Definition
| subunit of legislature, appointed to work on designated subjects |
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| organization of legislators who are all of the same party, and which is formally allied with a policial party |
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Definition
| campaign to determine who shall be the speaker of the Texas House for a given biennium |
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Definition
| legislative scandal of 1971-1972 that resulted in a bribery conviction of the House Speaker & other officials and set stage for the 1973 reform session |
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Definition
| House members who make up the Speaker's team, assisting the Speaker in leading the House, either informally, or in a role as a committee chair or other institutional leader |
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| Leadership team in House consisting of Speaker and his most trusted allies among the members, most of whom the Speaker appoints to chair House committees |
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| Nonparty legislative caucus |
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Definition
| organization of legislators that is based on some attribute other than party affiliation |
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Definition
| The rule in the TX Senate requiring that every bill win a vote of two-thirds of the senators present to suspend the Senate's regular order of business, so that the bill may be considered |
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Term
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Definition
| The Senate calendar listing bills on which the author or sponsor has given notice of intent to move to suspend the regular order of business in order that the Senate may consider them |
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Definition
| TX Constitution requires three readings of a bill by legislature; this reading is when bill is introduced, its caption is read aloud & is referred to committee |
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Definition
| TX Constitution requires 3 readings of bill by legislature; this reading is final reading in a chamber, unless the bill returns from the other chamber with amendments |
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Definition
| TX Constitution requires 3 readings of a bill by legislature; this reading is when debate and consideration of amendments occure before the whole chamber |
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Definition
minimum number required to conduct business (as in a legislative body)
Required minimum is 2/3rds of member on the floor |
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Definition
| A formal way of halting action on a bill by means of long speeches or unlimited debate in the Senate |
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Definition
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| Bill that has been given final approval on third reading in one chamber of the legislature |
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Definition
| Bill that has been given final approval by both chambers of legislature and is sent to the governor |
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Definition
| Budget in which legislature balances expenditures with expected revenues with no deficit |
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Definition
| govt spending in the current budget cycle that exceeds govt revenues |
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Definition
| total outstanding amount the govt owes as a result of borrowing in the past |
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| budget execution authority |
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Definition
| authority to move money from one program to another program or from one agency to another agency |
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Definition
| joint legislative committee (w/ large staff) that provides legal advice, bill drafting, copyediting and printing, policy research and program evaluation services for members of legislature. |
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| Legislative Budget Board (LBB) |
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Definition
| A joint legislative committee (w/ large staff) that prepares the state budget and conducts evaluations of agencies' programs |
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Definition
| An executive branch in which power & policy implementation are divided among several executive agencies rather than centralized under one person; the governor does not get to appoint most agency heads |
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| The constitutional declaration that the Lt. Governor succeeds to the governorship if there is a vacancy |
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| Governor in his role as the official head representing the state of TX in its relationships with the national government, other states & foreign dignitaries |
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Definition
| The governor as the top official of the executive branch of Texas state government |
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Definition
| Governor's role as head of state militia |
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Definition
| The governor, who is charged with preparing the state budget proposal for the legislature |
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Definition
| The governor's authority to reduce the length of a person's prison sentence |
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Definition
| Message that the governor delivers to the legislature, pronouncing policy goals, budget priorities, and authorizations for the legislature to act |
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Definition
| The formal, constitutional authority of the chief executive to reject bills passed by both houses of the legislative body, thus preventing their becoming a law without further legislative action |
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Term
1. Tenure
2. Appointment
3. Budget
4. Vetoing & signing bills |
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Definition
| What are 4 variables used in Joseph Schlesinger's scale of Governor's powers? |
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Term
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Definition
| A process by which a govenor, when selecting an appointee, defers to the state senator in whose district the nominee resides |
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Term
| Overrepresentation & Underrepresentation |
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Definition
| Higher & lower numbers, respectively, that would be expected from a group in comparison with that group's numbers in the general population |
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Term
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Definition
| the elected official who is the chief counsel for the state of Texas |
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| Comptroller of Public Accounts |
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Definition
| The elected official who is the state's tax collector |
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| elected official responsible for managing & leasing the state's property, including oil, gas and mineral interests |
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Definition
| elected state official in charge of regulating & promoting agriculture |
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Definition
| Terms of office for members of boards & commissions that begin and end at different times, so that a governor is not usually able to gain control of a majority of the body for a long time |
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Definition
| Full-time, 3-member paid commission elected by the people to regulate oil and gas and some transportation entities |
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Definition
| The state agency that oversees local school districts & disburses state funds to districts |
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Term
| Administrative Procedures Act |
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Definition
| Statute containing Texas's rule-making process |
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Definition
| State official appointed by the governor to be the keeper of the state's records, such as state laws, election data and filings, public notifications, and corporate charters |
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Term
| Public Utility Commission |
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Definition
| A full-time, 3-member paid commission appointed by governor to regulate public utilities in TX |
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Term
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Definition
| Partly judicial; authorized to conduct hearings & issue rulings |
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Term
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
(formerly TX Natural Resource Conservation Commission) |
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Definition
| A full-time, 3-member paid commission appointed by governor to administer the state's environmental programs |
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Definition
| Official appointed by governor to direct the Dept of Insurance and regulate insurance industry |
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| Executive commissioner of health and human services |
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Definition
| The official appointed by governor to oversee the state's multi-agency health and human services programs |
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Definition
| A government regulatory agency that consistently makes decisions favorable to the private interests that it regulates |
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| Officials appointed by the governor to represent the public before regulatory agencies |
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| law that sets a date for a program or regulation to expire unless reauthorized by legislature |
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| A term used for policies that open up agencies to public participation & scrutiny and that minimize conflicts of interest |
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Term
| Full-time equivalent (FTE) |
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Definition
| A unit of measurement for number of employees |
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Term
1. Public Utility Commission
2. Texas Commission for Environmental Quality
3. Texas Workforce Commission
4. Board of Pardons & Parole
5. Railroad Commission |
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Definition
| What 5 commissions are full-time and paid? |
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Term
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Definition
| an exchange of personnel between private interests and public regulators |
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Definition
| city court with limited criminal jurisdiction |
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Term
| justice of the peace court |
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Definition
| Local county court for minor crimes & civil suits |
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Definition
| New trial, necessary for an appeal from a court that is not a court of record |
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Definition
| Statutory county court to relieve county judge of judicial duties |
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Definition
| Court of general jurisdiction for serious crimes and high-dollar civil cases |
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| Constitutional county court |
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Definition
| Constitutionally mandated court for criminal and civil manners |
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Definition
| Intermediate appellate court for criminal & civil appeals |
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Definition
| Court of last resort in civil & juvenile cases |
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| Texas Court of Criminal Appeals |
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Definition
| Court of last resort in criminal cases |
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Definition
| Request for Texas Supreme Court review, which is granted if four justices agree |
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| Application for discretionary review |
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Definition
| Request for Texas Court of Criminal Appeals review, which is granted if four judges agree |
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