POLS 1337 1st EditionLecture 6Previous Lecture: US Congress and Texas Legislation *Cont’d Lecture from Lecture 5(I) I. Recap from Lecture 5(I)Comparing Congress and Texas Legislation- Similar functions, committees, have age requirements & hold elections for positions- Congress sessions are longer than TX sessionsGreen,Gray Gold Legislature- Green= high salary, large staff - Gray= Average- Gold= Low salary, small staffTexas Legislative Sessions- Based on a strict schedule for Texas (140 days every 2 years), Sessions called by Governor- Other states (most) meet every year, Sessions called by Legislatures- Pre Billing occurs the Monday after Elections, - Speaker of the House: oversees bills & assignments to committees, presiding officer- Lieutenant Governor: “Vice Governor”, head of senate appoints senatorsGhost Voting- Legislators votes are 100% accurate- Voters vote for other legislators (as the other legislators are voting for others…etc)- No consequences have been given to this action although it is not supposed to happenII.Reforming Texas LegislaturePeople advocated a change in the Texas Legislature’s structureMost of these attempts of reforming have failed*(Common concern) Short sessions are not as effectiveThese notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute.Texas is very conservative & sticks with tradition and decided not to follow the same path of other states whom have sessions annually- 140 days of session every 2 years is essentially not enough to time to pass every bill (over 5000 are looked at)Legislatures (especially in GOLD states) have other responsibilities to tend to that prevent them in being able to study all of their information on issues. - Family,children,other jobs come into play on the amount of time they have to work- Some with more time on their hands have the opportunity to be more knowledgeable ofthe facts for an issue*Lobbyists inform legislatures on issues.- Focus on 1 or 2 interests or issues, have a deep understanding in their selection- Expresses beliefs,facts, and ideas to legislatures in hopes of resolving