Quiz 3 & 4

what % of the TX senate is usually elected during a presidential election year?

50%

about ___% of TX house seats are considered competitive

7

in 2014, ____ was elected governor of TX.

Greg Abbott

the secretary of state publishes the ___, which is the source of official notices or rules, meetings, executive orders, and opinions of the attorney general that are required to be filed by state agencies.

TX register

In what way are TX, Montana, Nevada and north dekota similar?

The legislature of each state only meets every other year

In most instances, the adoption of articles of impeachment results in?

a trial in the senate.

which of the following is NOT among the powers of the speaker of the house in the TX house of representatives?

appoints all members of standing committees

to be eligible to run for TX House you must

be a registered voter

Multimember districts promote majority representation or domination, and single member districts can promote

geographical

why is it very difficult to hold a specific person in TX government responsible for anything?

government is fragmented and policy responsibility is divided.

assume both TX house and senate have passed omnibus transportation bills. the bills are almost identical, w/ slight differences. How will these differences be reconciled prior to the bill being sent to the governor for consideration?

in conference committee

The line-item veto

is a key power of the texas governor.

in any given legislative session, most bills.

make only minor changes to existing law

Fundamentally, the supreme court decisions in baker v. carr and reynolds v smith were based on the principle of

one person, one vote

The house insurance committee is hearing testimony form the TX department of insurance about the effectiveness of recent procedural changes within the department. which legislative function is the committee demonstrating?

oversight

Why is the TX gov'ts power exceptionally weak as compared to that of the governors of some other states?

plural executive system

The drawing of legislative districts to favor one political party over another is termed

political gerrymandering

The lieutenant governor is not formally a senator and cannot vote except in cases of a tie, yet he or she has great power over the senate. Why?

powers similar to those of the speaker of the house

what is currently the TX railroad commissions primary function?

regulation of the oil and gas industry

which office created in 1876 functions as the chief fiscal and revenue forecasting office and is responsible for investing state funds?

the comptroller of public accounts

In TX, the state budget is submitted by

the legislative budget board

A state senator that usually considers all the options and then chooses the one he or she believes is the best is demonstrating the ___ representational role.

trustee