GOVT 2305 EXAM 2

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What is the governors salary?

$150,000, mansion, vehicle, state owned aircraft, and a personal staff

What are the three constitutional qualifications to be governor in Texas?

- Be at least 30 years of age - Be a U.S Citizen - Live in Texas for five years immediately before the election

When. do legislators use business legislation?

- They lack or have weak policy capacity - They are aligned ideologically?

What powers to the governors have?

- To pardon criminals - To appoint people to governing boards and commissions - To declare martial law - To veto acts of the legislature

According to ALEC's own reporting, approximately how of the 826 introduced pieces of legislation based on their proposals ended up becoming law in 2009?

0.14

The number of legislators ALEC claims among its membership is closest to which of the following percentages of all state legislators in the United States?

0.34

When was ALEC founded?

1973

How many legislators are a part of ALEC today?

2000 state legislatures (1/3 of all state legislators)

In order to be eligible to serve in the Texas House, you must be ______ years old; in order to be eligible to serve in the Texas Senate, you must be ______ years old.

21,26

How long can special sessions last?

30 days

Texas senators serve ________-year terms and House members serve ________-year terms.

4,2

Each member of the Texas Senate represents about ___________ people, while each member of the Texas House represents about_________ people.

811,000; 168,000

What is an "Introduction"?

A member files a copy of a bill with the clerk of the house or the secretary of the Senate.

What is ALEC?

American Legislative Exchange Council

What is one thing ALEC is criticized for?

Giving too much power for the business members of the group

Which of the following statements about partisanship in the Texas legislature is correct?

Historically, partisanship has been rather low, but in recent years the legislature has moved into a more partisan era.

What are the states with the most ALEC bills introduced?

Illinois, California, Hawaii, New York, Louisiana

What the only method to remove a governor?

Impeachment and conviction

Which state supreme court reverses the most sentences in criminal cases, though not necessarily the most convictions?

Oregon

What enables the governors to confer grants, licenses, favors and political appointments to supporters?

Patronage

How are most bills killed by chair?

Pigeonholing

What occurs after the legislation adjourns, thus preventing an override?

Post-Adjournment Veto

What do legislation task forces consist of?

Private companies and state legislatures

Which of the following most accurately describes the influential activities undertaken by ALEC in pursuit of policymaking success?

Providing model bills to state legislators with little expertise in particular policy areas

What sets limits of state spending?

Revenue estimates provided by the comptroller

It is the governors responsibility to?

Sign or VETO legislation

Partisan polarization has?

Significantly increased over the last several decades

Representation in Texas is by?

Single member districts

At which level of government is ALEC's primary focus in proposing legislation that it and its supporters wish to become law?

State

What is an line-item veto?

Strike out each line for BUDGET, choose which specific line to veto.

How can the governor's veto be overridden?

2/3rd vote of BOTH house and senate

What is message power?

Any communication between the governor and the legislature, including State of the State message

Legislatures can be removed from ALECs for ANY reason, T o F?

TRUE

What is a "Referral"?

The bill is assigned to the appropriate standing committee.

The media

help choose and frame issues

Which of the following state courts of last resort fully reverses lower court decisions the most?

Texas Supreme Court

What as a reaction to the power under Reconstruction placed strict limits on the governors power?

The Constitution of 1876 - Power was further fragmented among other officeholders - Successful governors are successful politicians

How is the Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives chosen?

The Speaker is elected by members of the House

Who has responsibility for redistricting the Texas delegation to the U.S. Congress?

The Texas legislature

Debate in the senate is?

Unlimited, senators can filibuster

What are the states with the most ALEC bills PASSED?

Virginia, Arkansas, Indiana, Illinois, Montana

In civil cases, the burden is on the plaintiff, and the standard that must be met is known as

beyond a reasonable doubt.

The scrutiny of federal and state courts influences

the legislative agenda

Civil law focuses on __________________, while criminal law focuses on __________________.

disputes about relationships, obligations, and responsibilities; violations of codes of right and wrong as determined by criminal statutes

In the standing committee, the legislators party affiliation and seniority are only of ___ importance?

moderate

Texas has a

one person, one principle

One of the most notable effects of bicameralism in the Texas legislature is that it

permits more opportunities to kill or significantly modify a bill.

Ideological differences between Democrats and Republicans now

play a major role in legislative politis

What types of resolutions are acted on without debate and without requiring members to read the resolution?

resolutions of honor or recognition

The legislature has "directive and supervisory powers" that include the ability to

review each state agency every twelve years

Which of the following has been given as a reason for reforming the way judges are selected in Texas?

the importance of a judicial candidate's name in the current system

The Legislative Redistricting Board has the authority to draw new districts if

the legislature fails to redistrict at the first regular session after the census

At the same time that the Texas Supreme Court become more conservative,

the legislature was also passing laws that favored businesses, creating a situation where it is becoming more difficult for individuals to successfully sue businesses in civil lawsuits.

The majority of the cases that justice of the peace judges hear are those regarding

traffic misdemeanors.

How many corporations are represented by ALECS?

~ 300 corporations

Private sectors members can be remove from ALECs for ANY reason, T o F?

FALSE, can only be removed "with cause"

Corporate take over of American politics?

No, ALEC can introduce but cannot pass.

When are elections held for governors?

Off years

Who has the power to assign members to standing committee?

The speaker and the lieutenant governor

What is the governors most significant power?

Appointment power, allows a degree of control over 400 governmental entities

Which of the following best describes how US state courts fair, in comparison to other courts, in public opinion polls asking about confidence the public has in how well they do their job? (Job approval, here, is being used to measure the courts' legitimacy.)

Approval is higher than European courts but lower than the US Supreme Court

When are special sessions usually called?

At the end of the 140 days to wrap up, to finish bills

Elitist (Pessimistic)

Business control capital and investment so they hold a special privileged place in politics

Pluralists (Optimists)

Business is the same as any other interest, no special treatment

________ is a kind of talking that is used to stall legislation.

Chubbing

How can governors realize more goals than their position allows?

Develop collaborative relationships

Executive power in Texas is?

Divided, and the governor has less formal power than most state governors

Districts must have roughly?

Equal populations

What are the most successful ALEC states? (Ratio of introductions to passed)

Indiana, Montana, Virginia, Idaho

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.

What is the function of the "local and consent" calendar?

It is reserved for uncontroversial bills or bills limited to a localized problem.

What was the only Texas governor to be impeached?

James Ferguson

Who draws the new maps for redistricting?

Legislature

The Texas Legislature has many powers that are not related to legislation, including which of the following?

Legislature - the power to formally count returns for the governor's and lieutenant governor's elections.

A bill in the Texas legislature that would allow a county to establish a new community college would be classified as a

Local bill.

Who becomes the governor after the governor office becomes vacant?

Lt. Governor

Which of the following groups is most likely to be a supporter of ALEC legislation?

Merck Pharmaceuticals

What is "Consideration by Comittee"?

The bill is killed, amended, or heard.

What happens in a Floor Action?

The bill is referred by the standing committee and scheduled for floor debate.

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.

Who has the ability to call special sessions?

The governor

Who rules in cases of no agreement in redistricting?

The legislative redistricting board

Redistricting

The redrawing of congressional and other legislative district lines following the census, to accommodate population shifts and keep districts as equal as possible in population. Especially imporant in texas

Whats the purpose of special sessions?

To address critical problems as defined by the governor

Why was ALEC designed?

To promote pro business legislation

When does redistricting take place?

after each census

Special sessions of the legislature

are called frequently because the legislature is unable to complete all of its required business in the allotted 140 days of its regular sessions.

Texas operating budgets must

balance

Campaigns

first to win the partys primary and then to win the election in November

Which is the most important bill that applies to all people and property throughout the state?

general bill

The agenda for special sessions in the Texas legislature is set by the

governor

A conference committee is a

joint committee created to work out a compromise on House and Senate versions of a piece of legislation.

Which judicial office has existed in Texas since 1837, even before statehood?

justice of peace

Lobbyists and the public also influence

legislators

When the governor strikes out specific spending provisions in large appropriations bills it is called

line-item veto

Legislative districts in the Texas House and Senate are

single-member districts.

If the legislature grants a particular corporation an exception from a state law, it is called

special bill.

In addition to the legislators and the governor, there are others involved in the lawmaking process during both regular and special sessions. Which one official has direct involvement in the legislative process, while other players are involved indirectly?

the comptroller of public accounts

County judges preside over

the county commissioners' court

Which of the following statements about simple resolutions is correct?

they do not require the signature of the governor


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