Rodgers 1Abigail RodgersCritical Thinking and Writing Essay The Texas Constitution has come a long way since it was first created in 1836 when Texas gained its independence from Mexico. This constitution “incorporated English common law and lifted many provisions almost word-for-word from the U.S. Constitution” (Maxwell 58). Since 1836, 5 more Texas constitutions have been adopted including; the Constitution of 1845, the Constitution of 1861, the Constitution of 1866, the Constitution of 1869, and the Constitution of 1876, which was composed at the Constitutional Convention of 1875 and is still used to this day. Throughout history and the writing of the six constitutions, it has been clear that Texans have been trying to strip power away from the state government (Maxwell 60). Although power was handed down to the local governments and counties, which is what Texans wanted, the Texas Constitution has been a target for criticism and ridicule over the years. Compared to the U.S. Constitution, the Texas Constitution is very lengthy and detailed, one of the main reasons it is criticized. In addition to the document being criticized as a whole, there are certain criticizes that accompany each individual branch. The legislative branch consists of a 31-member senate and a 150-member house of representatives, and their jobs are to pass bills and conduct biennial legislative sessions. Although the legislative branch of the Texas Government is the strongest of the three branches, there are still many issues that need to be resolved. These issues include; sessions limits of 140 days, no term limits, and unfairly low salaries. Because of the low salaries and limited sessions, it is difficult for the Texas legislature to function properly and get bills passed efficiently (Maxwell 65). If I could change one thing out of the three that I mentioned above, it would be to 1. Maxwell, Earl, et al. Texas Politics Today. Centage Learning, 2013-2014.2. Texas Politics. Liberal Arts Instructional Technology Service, 2005, www.laits.utexas.edu/txp_media/html/leg/0205.html. Accessed 20 Dec. 2016.Rodgers 2raise the Texas legislator’s salaries. Legislators are only paid $7,200 a year, or $14,400 for their two-year term. This may seem like a lot for only working those 140 days during the biennial sessions, however this equates to only $12.86 per hour (Texas). When all the extra hours the legislators put in outside of the office are taken into account, the hourly compensation is reduced to way below minimum wage. These are the people making our state laws and overseeing the executive branch, and they are realistically being paid less than minimum wage. In my eyes, this is unfair, and action should be taken to raise the salary of our hard-working legislators. Raising pay would also promote efficiency, as seen in states where the pay for legislators is higher. Compared to the other 43 states that pay their legislators an annual salary, Texas is ranked third from the bottom (Texas). Being that Texas is one of the largest, more urbanized states, it does notmake sense that they are only being paid one of the lowest salaries. Although the legislators are also paid a per diem personal allowance for every day of the 140-day session, they still only receive a yearly average of $16,160 a year. (Texas). To move forward, the salaries of the members of the legislative branch should be raised to promote efficiency, which enables them to enact policies that the public prefer (Maxwell 65). The executive branch of the Texas government includes the Texas governor, along with the staff that works alongside him. This establishes a plural executive, which means “executive powers are divided among a number of independently elected officers- the governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general,” and several others (Maxwell 66). This is one of the main problems that occurs within the executive branch. Unlike the President of the United States who has his cabinet secretaries that are there to serve him, in the Texas system, the voters are in charge of electing The Governor’s officials, giving him no power or direct authority over them (Texas). Often, the officials are not even from the same political party or share the same point of view as 1. Maxwell, Earl, et al. Texas Politics Today. Centage Learning, 2013-2014.2. Texas Politics. Liberal Arts Instructional Technology Service, 2005, www.laits.utexas.edu/txp_media/html/leg/0205.html. Accessed 20 Dec. 2016.Rodgers 3the governor. This causes the Texas Governor to occupy wat is called a “weak office” because power is dispersed into the hands of “a vast array of independently elected officials” who overseevery important items such as state budget, education, and the transportation system. (Maxwell 70). If Texas were to make any changes to the executive branch, I believe the men and women that work alongside the governor should be from the same political party and share the same viewpoints to ensure that the executive branch operates smoothly and soundly. The judicial system in Texas, is “vast and complex – a multilayered set of public and private institutions and processes responsible for enforcing and adjudicating our laws in overlapping federal, state and local jurisdictions” (Texas). One of the main problems that occurs within the judicial system is the lack of funds that is necessary to facilitate the efficient administration of justice to the people. The annual spending budget for public safety has a huge budget of $3.3 billion, however, despite this large sum of money, challenges in ensuring public safety and administering the proper justice still result from insufficient funding (Texas). Even though it mayseem that the officers, attorneys, and judges are tough on crime, they are unable to run a fully functioning justice system because of inadequate funding. (Texas). To ensure the safety of myself, as well as the others around me, I would raise the budget of the judicial branch to ensure the law enforcers can do their jobs in protecting the citizens of Texas. Although there have been other criticizes of the judicial branch such as term length and the method of selection for judges, expanding the budget is the most important step to ensure our safety. The Texas Constitution is criticized for many things, however, overall the government is not horrible and operates fairly well. When steps are taken to fix some of the