Chapter 7 Reading Test
In 1923, the Texas Legislature established ____________________ to prohibit African Americans from voting in the Democratic primary.
white primary
In even-numbered years, Texas representatives receive a salary of only ________ per year, not including a per diem.
$7,200
Each member of the Texas Senate represents about ___________ people, while each member of the Texas House represents about_________ people.
811,000; 168,000
While bills must be introduced by a member of the Texas legislature, ______________ can write a bill.
Anyone
When the governor of Texas strikes out specific spending provisions in large appropriations bills it is called
Line item veto
All of the following are part of the process by which the Texas legislature makes law EXCEPT:
Not allowed to filibuster
The Texas House of Representatives is responsible for both impeaching government officials and holding the trials after impeachment
F
The Texas legislature can overturn a post-adjournment veto.
F
The governor of Texas can use the line-item veto on any type of legislation.
F
In Texas, both the lieutenant governor and the Speaker of the House are elected in statewide elections.
False speaker of the house is elected by a roll call vote
Which is the most important bill that applies to all people and property throughout Texas?
General bill
Suppose you wanted to create a method of redistricting that would make races for the Texas legislature more competitive. Which plan would you recommend be enacted to do so?
Give the redistricting process to a non-partisan commission.
The Texas General Land Office is accused of mishandling funds earmarked for hurricane relief and recovery. Who is responsible for investigating?
House, Senate, or both chambers jointly, using the legislature's investigative power
In Texas, why is a governor's post-adjournment veto so powerful?
It cannot be overturned by the legislature.
As in the U.S. Congress, the purpose of a conference committee in the Texas legislature is to do what?
It is a committee designed to make differing House and Senate versions of the same bill identical.
Senators and House members in Texas take office in______________ of odd-numbered years.
January
Although the governor of Texas prepares a budget to submit to the legislature at the beginning of a session, lawmakers typically ignore the document submitted by the governor in favor of a budget document drafted by which of the following?
Legislative Budget Board
The process of ________ involves recalculating how many congressional districts each state will receive based on the state's population.
Reapportionment
________ must begin in the Texas House of Representatives.
Revenue bills
The Texas legislature has "directive and supervisory powers" that include the ability to
Review every 12 years
Candidates for state office and lobbyists have to file quarterly reports detailing their spending and donations with which agency?
Texas Ethics Commission
In the Texas legislature, when a committee chair "pigeonholes" a bill, what happens?
The bill is set aside before it is ever discussed in committee.
Why is the Texas comptroller of public accounts so important to the legislature?
The comptroller informs the legislature how much money it has to spend on the budget
If the governor of Texas decides that he or she does not want a bill passed by the legislature to become law, he or she must do what?
Veto
According to the Texas Constitution, regular sessions of the Texas Legislature are held
for 140 days biennially, occurring in odd-numbered years.
________ is a system of representation that encourages third-party voting because it allows each political party representation in proportion to its percentage of the total vote.
proportional representation
The Speaker of the House and the lieutenant governor are viewed as among the most powerful actors in Texas government because
they have enough institutional powers to be able to influence which legislation passes and which legislation is killed.
The governor of Texas often uses the State of the State address to do which of the following?
to describe his or her legislative priorities and agenda
Which type of districts are used in the Texas House and Senate?
single-member districts
In the Texas legislature, the House has ________ members and the Senate has ________ members.
150 house members; 31 senators.
The power of recognition allows the Speaker of the Texas House to.
Determine who can speak
The Texas legislature is responsible for formally counting the returns for the election of governor and lieutenant governor. This is an example of which one of the legislature's powers?
Electoral power
Districts for members of the Texas House include more people than districts for members of the Texas Senate.
F
General bills passed by the Texas legislature apply only to a specific location like one city or one county.
F
In Texas' bicameral legislature, a bill only has to be passed by either the House or Senate before it is sent to the governor to be signed into law.
F
In the Texas Senate, the Speaker controls legislative debate by selecting who speaks and how long the debate will last.
F
Like the U.S. president, the governor of Texas can kill a bill by refusing to sign it.
F
Members of the Texas House of Representatives are permitted to speak on the House floor for as long as they wish.
F
Pigeonholing happens when the Speaker of the Texas House or lieutenant governor sets a bill aside and does not refer it to a standing committee for consideration.
F
Special sessions of the Texas legislature last 60 days, and there is no limit to the number of special sessions a governor can call.
F
The Texas Constitution permits the election to the Texas legislature of persons who are not U.S. citizens but who have been legal residents of Texas for at least 10 years.
F
Which of the following is true about bicameralism in the Texas legislature?
Since bills must be passed by both chambers, the process requires compromise, but also allows individual members of the legislature the ability to block passage of bills
If the Texas legislature grants a particular corporation an exception from a state law, it is called
Special bill
Which committee in the Texas legislature is a permanent committee that covers one particular subject area?
Standing
By focusing on some things and not others, the media can shape the legislative agenda and what becomes public policy in Texas
T
Conference committees are designed to make Texas House and Senate bills identical to each other.
T
Elected members of the Texas legislature are paid a per diem for up to 12 days if they are doing official business in Austin when the legislature is not in session.
T
Legislative districts must have roughly equal populations to comply with the one-person, one-vote principle.
T
One proposal to reform redistricting in Texas is to remove politicians who have an interest in the outcome from the process.
T
Regular sessions of the Texas legislature last for 140 days and are held every other year.
T
Since the lieutenant governor is elected in a statewide election, he or she represents the interests of all of Texas rather than a smaller geographic constituency.
T
The Texas Constitution forbids the legislature to borrow money to conduct the daily operations of government.
T
In a representative democracy, such as the one established by the Texas Constitution, members of the legislature are elected to represent
The interests of their constituents
Which of the following rules applies to the filibuster in the Texas Senate?
The senator who has control of the floor must always speak in an audible voice, so that he or she can be heard and understood.
Why are factions within parties important?
These groups have their own priorities, and the party must be able to manage the factions to be able to prevent any of the groups from leaving the party.
What is the importance of the Supreme Court's decisions in Reynolds v. Sims and Baker v. Carr?
They declared the constitutional principle of "one person, one vote."
Which of the following statements about simple resolutions of the Texas Legislature is correct?
They do not require the signature of the governor
Impeachment is ___________________ and is an example of the Texas Legislature's ____________ power.
a formal charge by the House of Representatives that leads to a trial in the Senate that could result in the removal of an official from office; judicial
Constituent service can play an important role in
creating a personal relationship between the legislator and the individual constituent, which will give the legislator an advantage when running for reelection.
Texas senators serve ________-year terms and House members serve ________-year terms.
four, two
The agenda for special sessions in the Texas legislature is set by the
governor
In the Texas Legislature, the first four steps in the process for a bill to become a law are:
introduction, referral, consideration by standing committee, and floor action.
In the Texas legislature, there are three types of resolutions that are used:
joint resolution, concurrent resolution, and simple resolution.
A major consequence of the low pay and part-time status of being a state representative or senator in the Texas Legislature is that
legislators often work in professions or industries that have a vested interest in state policy.
In Texas, the ____________________ is responsible for redistricting.
legislature
A bill in the Texas legislature that would allow a county to establish a new community college would be classified as a
local bill
One of the advantages incumbents have when running for reelection is
name recognition and visibility