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Texas Government
Texas
state government is divided into executive, legislative,
and judicial branches. The governor is the chief
executive of the state and is elected for a four-year
term of office. The Texas Legislature includes 31
members in the Senate and 150 members in the House of
Representatives. State senators are elected for
four-year terms. Representatives are elected for
two-year terms. Legislatures are paid $600 per month
plus $90 per term during regular and special sessions.
The lieutenant governor serves as the president of the
Senate. At the beginning of each regular session,
members of the House of Representatives elect a Speaker
of the House who serves as presiding officer. The
Legislature convenes for regular sessions on the second
Tuesday of January during odd numbered years. The
governor may call special sessions. Although not a
frequent occurrence, special sessions have been called
for major issues such as the state budget and
educational school tax reform. Texas sends two senators
and 30 representatives to the U.S. Congress (up three
from the 1980 census), for a total of 32 electoral
votes. The office of Treasurer of the State of Texas
was abolished by Constitutional amendment approved by
the voters in an election Nov. 7,1995. Martha Whitehead
was the last person to hold the office.
Some
Pertinent Texas History
When
Texas declared independence from Mexico in 1836, the
land grab was on and Texans quickly claimed territory
for their new Republic. From the headwaters of the Rio
Grande in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado, the
western boundary stretched north to the 42nd parallel in
Wyoming and followed the Rio Grande south through New
Mexico to the Gulf of Mexico. The Sabine River set the
eastern boundary. The northern border meandered along
the red River to the 100 degree meridian, then extended
into present day Kansas. From there, the Arkansas River
set the boundary into central Colorado. A long arm of
territory reached into Wyoming. When Texas was
admitted into the United States, these land claims were
forced to be dropped prior to admittance. As part of
the negotiations to enter the "Union", Texas was given
the right to divide itself into an additional four
states at some point in the future, for a total of 5 "Texian"
states, though no one has ever considered it worthwhile
- it still has that right! Texas was admitted to the
Union on December 29, 1845, as the 28th state. Some
would say that things have gone downhill ever since, but
to quote Congressman Davy Crockett of Tennessee,
Alamo Hero, “You all can go to Hell! I’m goin to Texas!”
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