Texas law making process

Texas Government Structure

Texas government is distinct from those of other states. The government is divided into three branches. These branches are the legislature, the executive, and the judicial. The governor presides over the legislature. Members of the House of Representatives serve for two terms in the legislature. They represent the districts in government. Senators, on the other hand, are elected for four years. The legislature meets every odd-numbered year. These meetings are intended to discuss people's problems and to establish laws.  Every second Tuesday in January the legislature holds meetings called the regular sessions and takes up to 140 days. The regular sessions deal with issues selected by the governor. During the first day of the meeting the speaker is appointed by the rest 150 members. The speaker has the mandate to appoint the chair person and his/her vice who study legislation (Little and David 45).

The Executive Branch

The executive branch of the Texas Government is made up of the Governor who is the head, the Lieutenant Governor, Commission of Land, Education, and Agriculture, three members of Texas Railroad, Controller of Public Accounts and Attorney General. There is a special section known as the Plural executive branch that bound the powers of the Governor. Officers in the executive branch are elected by the public. They address public issues directly unlike the Secretary of the State. The Governor has the power to veto the bills agreed upon by the senate. He is in charge of the militia; the commander (Altman 66). The governor has the power to call the legislature for special sessions. The executive branch has 31 committees. Five of these committees deal with procedural matters of the House. The other committees deal with different matters. The Lieutenant Governor presides the senate therefore is not a member of senate. In the executive branch, the Lieutenant Governor is the second highest. He is appointed in a 4 year term through a statewide election. During the sessions, the Lieutenant Governor and the speaker of the House guide the Legislature to decide on the rules to follow. After the adoption of the rules, the legislature starts to consider the bills (Atannam 71).

The Process of Passing a Law in Texas Government

In Texas Government in order for a bill to become law, there is a process to follow. In case there is need to pass a law of Free Health care in Texas the process is to be involved. In this process to start with, the issue is introduced to the senate or the committee representatives as a draft. The interim committee may help grow out a bill out of the recommendations through the study done during the sessions. The legislature writes a draft law.

After the bill has passed through the committee it is pushed forward to the calendar committee who schedules it for the House floor deliberate. The statement may be amended further in the House floor debate. The bill is passed to the senate upon the passing through the majority votes. In the House floor the bill is debated upon where if passed at this level, the bill may be passed to the Governor. It is important to note that all the bills must be passed to the senate before allowing it to the Governor for approval. Upon receiving the bill the Governor has various options. He has a period of ten to twenty days to either vet, sign or allows the bill into law without signature. The bill can be returned in the House floor of debate if the governor refuses the bill while the parliament is on session. The statement can bill becomes the law if it is not signed within 10 days.

Work Cited