POLS 207 2nd Edition Lecture 12 Outline of Last Lecture I Characteristics of State Legislators a Occupation Education Ethnicity Gender Wealth and Social Status II The Incumbency Advantage a Visibility Money Structure III Professional vs Less Professional Legislators a Professional Legislators full time job low turnover higher salaries provide more services IV The Lawmaking Process Chart a House or Senate Introduction Referral of a bill b Committee Action c Floor Action d Conference Committee e Governor acts V Legislative Districts Single member malapportionment VI Drawing of District Lines VII Homework Reading a Chapter 5 Parties and Campaigns in the State Section State Party Organizations and Activists b Chapter 6 Legislature Section Leadership and Role Playing in the States Outline of Current Lecture I Strategy of Redistricting for the Majority Party II Another Look at Dividing a Circle District Splintering Cracking Packing III Role of Court Review IV Redistricting in Texas V Characteristics Facts and Details about the Texas State Legislature VI Ranking State Legislature Functionality Accountability Informed Independence Representativeness VII Why is Nebraska a unicameral legislature VIII Governors Qualifications and Salary Current Lecture Redistricting State Legislatures and Governors Strategy of Redistricting for the Majority Party majority party in the state legislature will try to draw districts lines that advantage their party not all states have gerrymandering districts districts that advantage one party over the other some states have divided government o state legislature dominated by one party o executive branch dominated by another party o if you have divided gov when the state legislature draws districts lines executive branch has to sign it so lines are more balanced between parties 26 states with unified government 24 of which significantly advantaged one party in districts gerrymandering to advantage the majority party through creative district line drawing o comes from Governor Gerry from Massachusetts Another Look Dividing a Circle District Splintering Cracking splintering minority party o dividing support for minority into as many districts as possible Packing divide so that minority party wastes votes o majority sacrifices one district to have majority in other districts The Role of Court Review the court reviews the districting plan to see if it purposely disadvantages a minority group o if so then it is ruled unconstitutional How do courts know when true partisan gerrymandering has occurred o mostly look at the oddity of the shape Redistricting in Texas A common goal has been the creation of majority minority districts majority minority district a district in which the majority of the district is a minority 50 plus is African American Hispanic a combination etc benefits minority groups support this because these districts are more likely to elect minorities to the state legislature minorities are more likely to support Democrats but Republicans will be more likely to support majority minority districts o think of the packing strategy packing minorities into a district in order to create stronger Republican districts in surrounding areas Do majority minority districts strengthen or diminish minority power o Diminishes voting influence but o Strengthens ability of some minorities to be elected to state legislature Courts will strike down any redistricting that directly manipulates race Legislative Redistricting Board LRB o made up of several state officials responsible for redistricting o redraws district lines if and only if the state legislature fails to do o created in 1948 in case legislature fails to come up with a redistricting plan Characteristics of Texas State Legislators pretty similar to the characteristics of the country as a whole will occur in Texas as well occupation education women underrep minority representation is slowing going up income etc Facts and Assorted Details about the Texas Legislature Legislature Seats o 150 House districts 31 Senate districts o they are single member districts about 40 states elect their legislatures in this way o so House has 150 members in House and 31 state Senate o 150 house members serve 2 year terms 31 Senate members serve 4 year terms o generally noncompetitive about 2 3rds to 3 4ths are noncompetitive which is due to redistricting to create safe seats for majority party packing minority party o Texas has a median turnover sometimes relative high turnover sometimes low turnover o has become more professionalized over 20 years which makes it more attractive to serve in state legislature and has helped keep members member turnover is due primarily to members leaving voluntarily Biennial Sessions o length meets every other year for 140 days o special sessions can ONLY be called by the governor the governor also sets the agenda for the special session Pay o about 7200 o benefits earn 124 a day while in session 150 x 140 days 17 500 7200 24 700 o total about 25 000 Who has power in the Texas Legislature 1 Speaker of the House a legislative calendar b makeup of committees reward supporters put the best people on a committee c refer bills to committees 2 Lieutenant Governor a important in state legislature even though member of executive branch b presiding officer of state Senate VP is presiding office of national Senate i unlike VP Lieutenant Governor actually does run the Senate Ranking the State Legislature 5 Criteria used by the Citizens Conference on State Legislatures o 1 Functionality how well does the legislature function adequate times how long verse what needs to be done how effectively time is used what is the cooperation between the two house how is continuity from session to session Texas ranked 45th biennial sessions make it harder only 140 days o 2 Accountability how accountable is the legislature to the general public the visibility of the legislature how much do we know about their votes public openness record of votes what is the media coverage lobbying regulation Texas ranks 36th o 3 Informed adequate time to study proposals how can you be informed if you don t have enough time to study bills short legislative sessions hurt both functionality and informed what goes on while the legislature is not in session which is a time when legislatures can be informed size and specialization of staff can help keep legislatives informed Texas ranks 43rd o 4 Independence how independent is legislature in
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