Geographic Districts Texas Legislatures 7 14 A census occurs every 10 years It counts population o Data is used to redraw congressional districts o 2010 Senators represent approx 800 000 constituents More prestigious because you represent more people o 150 house districts o 2010 house members represent approx 160 000 constituents Each district has approx equal representation o Reynolds v Sims one person one vote ex we have 2 districts each district has one vote in what occurs despite their population not fair because each group is different Every person s vote should count Texas legislature is in charge of redistricting o If they fail the Legislative Redistricting Board will perform function If the legislatures cant agree upon the districts it can t pass If it fails it goes to the LRB Our house members are elected from single member districts one from each districts multimembers 2 or more Gerrymandering drawing districts line for partisan political advantage o It gives candidates from a certain party ethnic group or faction an advantage Nationwide in the last election we had more people vote democrat than republics At federal level the democrats have the advantage yet in the US house drawn by states republicans have control o Texas and Gerrymandering 1990 1994 and 2000 2006 2000 2006 we attempted to redistrict the democrats would not agree to the new maps took it to the LRB republicans held an advantage Before it got that far governor perry 14 We redistricted in 2000 the state legislature are responsible for redrawing lines at state level and the US they trying to protect and help their party at state and federal level In 2002 republicans gained control of both chamber In 2004 speaker of the house Tom wanted the Texas legislatures to redraw the line for the U S house districts because he is trying to protect his party This way more republicans will be elected at a federal level The democrats in texas said no we redistricted after the census and wont again until after the census The democrats looked bad The democratic house members leave in the first special session Next session our democratic senators leave so they wont have enough people to vote Eventually they returned and voted Republicans bought the new maps Many minorities sued because it was gerrymandering The court says we can redistrict whenever we like It isn t fair to change rules between the game 15 years down the road when democrats come into power republicans will be paid back for what they did San Antonio Houston Dallas s urban areas consisted of mostly democratic o 3 Tactics reasons for gerrymandering 1 diffuse a concentrated political ethnic minority You re trying to separate people by how they vote democratic You take a district make it 40 Caucasian and 60 minority etc this is not legal because you re trying to diffuse minorities political power 2 concentrate opposition population in one district You do this because they will vote democrat either way so just combine those democrats in one district 3 pairing technique place 2 incumbent legislatures in the same district to ensure one is defeated o Federal courts prohibit racial gerrymandering This is illegal The state can t intentionally diffuse minority voting However it is perfectly legal to intentionally create a minority majority district Qualifications for Member Informal qualifications o White Anglo Saxon Protestant Attorney majority are attorney because they make money they are now 29 of house and 19 of senate so their numbers are decreasing Access to money probably your own business person party texas is republican Qualifications for Member Formal qualifications HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Leader speaker of the house Citizenship U S Age 21 years Residency District 1 year State 2 years Registered voter SENATE Leader Lieutenant Governor Citizenship U S Age 26 years Residency District 1 year State 5 years Registered voter Term 4 years unlimited terms Part time Salary 7 200 per year Term 2 years unlimited terms Part time Salary 7 200 per year o Texas population 46 is the pop is non Hispanic white 37 is Hispanic 12 is African American 4 is Asian American 1 of some other racial or ethnic group o In the 81st Legislative Session 20 of the members of the Texas House were Latino 9 were African American 0 01 or 2 representatives were Asian American 24 were women who account for over 50 of the Texas population Presiding officers o Lieutenant governor Elected in a state wide partisan election running as a Republican or Democrat Not a senator 4 year term Is a member of the executive branch but does all his work in legislative branch he is the head of the senate Currently David Dewhurst The senate rules make him very powerful He has important power puts people in committees leadership positions and chairs decides if the senate will discuss the bill nothing can come to senate without his approval o Speaker of the House Elected by the majority of the house members Is a representative 2 year term Currently representative Joe Straus He appoints members to committees and chairmanships Incumbent person that holds the position Straus speakers rarely face opposition because they know they have to favor republicans only We are becoming more and more partisan When Straus elected some democrats in office and was called a RINO namesake republican o Committees are classified based on function membership and longevity Examples of types of committees Standing permanent exists form session to session Subcommittee more specialized may have a finance committee then subcommittee on loans Conference temporary with members form both chambers Joint permanent with members from both chambers Special we create them to deal with one issue Ad Hoc o Both chambers have help The house has a nonpartisan to support institution called the house research organization institution that provides policy research for the house Senate research center provides policy research for the senate Legislative staff o Legislature provides minimal funds for hiring staff 13 250 for house members 37 500 for senators Senate has more people so more work to do hence the difference of pay o Representatives 2 to 4 staff members o Senators 4 to 14 staff members They must keep some of their staff for a 2 year period Citizen Legislatures o Legislatures for only 140 days o Most income from outside sources can t live on 600 a month o Divided focus between jobs and legislative duties o Because of this they have to make a living They