Deck 3: The Texas Legislature

Question 1

In the early twentieth century ________ areas were generally overrepresented in many state legislatures.

A) urban
B) minority
C) rural
D) wealthy

Answer 1

C

Question 2

To be eligible to run for the Texas Senate you must

A) meet a minimum income qualification.
B) be at least 26 years of age.
C) have resided in the district for at least two years.
D) have resided in the state for at least three years.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

What percentage of the Texas Senate is usually elected during a presidential election year?

A) 25 percent
B) 33 percent
C) 50 percent
D) 100 percent

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Which state does not pay its legislators a salary except for a per diem expense based on federal policy?

A) New Hampshire
B) New Mexico
C) Texas
D) Oklahoma

Question 5

Because of high levels of controversy surrounding redistricting,about a dozen states use this method of redistricting:

A) independent commissions.
B) state boards appointed by the governor.
C) committees composed of equal numbers of Senate Democrats and Republicans.
D) having citizens vote among competing redistricting plans.

Question 6

Why was the Legislative Redistricting Board's multimember plan invalidated by a federal court in 1971?

A) the "Matthew syndrome"
B) dilution of the impact of rural voters
C) findings in Lawrence v. Texas
D) possible unfairness to minority voters

Question 7

In what way are Texas,Montana,Nevada,and North Dakota similar?

A) They are all in the central time zone.
B) All four voted for Mitt Romney in the 2012 election.
C) All have unlimited speed limits on certain controlled-access highways.
D) The legislature of each state only meets every other year.

Question 8

Why did 11 Texas senators go to Albuquerque,New Mexico on July 28,2003?

A) They attended an important conference on redistricting issues.
B) They were ordered to do so by Governor Rick Perry.
C) They feared being forced to participate in a special session.
D) They were plotting a strategy for a Democratic takeover of the Senate.

Question 9

How long is the Texas legislative session?

A) 140 days
B) 6 months
C) one year
D) two years

Question 10

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

A) democratic
B) geographical
C) republican
D) equal

Question 11

In 2010,there were about 811,147 constituents per state senate district in Texas.What is the only state that had more constituents per senator?

A) Massachusetts
B) New York
C) Florida
D) California

Question 12

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

A) redistricting.
B) reallocation of seats.
C) political gerrymandering.
D) reapportionment.

Question 13

Redistricting is

A) generally synonymous with reapportionment.
B) the process of allocating U.S. senators to districts.
C) carefully controlled by a commission of the United States Congress.
D) drawing district boundary lines for political advantage.

Question 14

In 2014 the percentage of women in the Texas legislature was about __ percent.

A) 14
B) 22
C) 37
D) 47

Question 15

About one third of the Texas legislature is composed of

A) women.
B) blue collar workers.
C) Hispanics.
D) lawyers.

Question 16

What percentage of the Texas House of Representatives is elected during a presidential election year?

A) 25 percent
B) 33 percent
C) 50 percent
D) 100 percent

Question 17

What is the pay of a member of the Texas legislature,taking into account salary and per diem compensation,in a year that the legislature is in session?

A) nothing
B) $28,200
C) $55,800
D) $74,100

Question 18

What is the annual limit on special legislative sessions in the state of Texas?

A) 2
B) 5
C) 9
D) None of these answers is correct.

Question 19

To be eligible to run for the Texas House you must

A) be a registered voter.
B) be at least 26 years of age.
C) have resided in the district for two years.
D) have resided in the state for three years.

Question 20

Fundamentally,the Supreme Court decisions in Baker v.Carr and Reynolds v.Sims were based on the principle of

A) equal rights for minorities.
B) "he who has the gold makes the rules."
C) states' rights.
D) one person, one vote.

Question 21

After the sixtieth day,before a bill can be considered on the floor of the senate,a two-thirds vote is almost always required.Why?

A) two-thirds super majority is always required in the senate
B) quorum requirements of the Texas Constitution
C) senate rules about the order bills come out of committee
D) None of these answers is correct.

Question 22

The House Insurance Committee is hearing testimony from the Texas Department of Insurance about the effectiveness of recent procedural changes within the department.Which legislative function is this committee demonstrating?

A) lawmaking
B) budget and taxation
C) oversight
D) management

Question 23

Closed riders are amendments to an appropriations bill that are

A) closed to further changes except from the standing committee that originally authored the bill.
B) shielded from public inspection until they go to conference committee.
C) proposed in a closed committee for state security reasons.
D) those amendments proposed in a special session.

Question 24

Each election year,about ________ of the House members face opposition in the general election.

A) a quarter
B) one-third
C) half
D) two-thirds

Question 25

Which of the following is NOT among the powers of the speaker of the house in the Texas House of Representatives?

A) committee chair appointment
B) bill referral to committees
C) appoints members to calendar committee
D) appoints all members of standing committees

Question 26

The House and Senate can override a governor's veto with a _________ vote.

A) majority
B) three-fifths
C) two-thirds
D) four-fifths

Question 27

Assume both the Texas House and Senate have passed omnibus transportation bills.The bills are almost identical,with slight differences.How will these differences be reconciled prior to the bill being sent to the governor for consideration?

A) by a special committee that is chaired by the speaker and vice-chaired by the lieutenant governor
B) in conference committee
C) the governor's staff will reconcile any differences
D) in the standing committees that have jurisdiction

Question 28

Who submits a recommended budget to the Texas legislature?

A) a standing committee in the senate
B) the Legislative Budget Board
C) a standing committee in the house
D) the governor's office of budget and management

Question 29

About __% of Texas House seats are considered competitive.

A) 7
B) 19
C) 27
D) 39

Question 30

Most campaign contributions for Texas legislature races come from

A) super PACs.
B) contributors who live outside the district.
C) the candidates' political party.
D) federal matching funds.

Question 31

What is the first formal act of the Texas House at the beginning of a legislative session?

A) calling in the governor to give a speech
B) ratifying the results of the most recent election
C) designating a sergeant at arms
D) electing a speaker of the house

Question 32

Which of the following describes how major and minor bills submitted in the Texas legislature are similar?

A) They are equally distributed among the standing committees.
B) They are equally likely to pass the legislature.
C) They are equally likely to have companion bills submitted in the other chamber.
D) They receive final action toward the end of the legislative session.

Question 33

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.

A) traditional
B) delegate
C) moral
D) trustee

Question 34

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?

A) the bully pulpit and the ear of the governor
B) senatorial tradition
C) powers similar to those of the speaker of the house
D) a popular sovereignty mandate

Question 35

Define bicameral and biennial.Discuss the arguments for and against biennial sessions.

Question 36

What are the two different calendars for minor bills in the Texas State House?

A) local and consent
B) consent and priority
C) priority and routine
D) routine and extraordinary

Question 37

In any given legislative session,most bills

A) pass committee muster but are voted down after floor debate.
B) make only minor changes to existing law.
C) die in conference committee.
D) clear every hurtle, but are vetoed by the governor.

Question 38

In an average legislative session in the Texas legislature,about __ percent of all bills introduced will actually be passed into law.

A) 2
B) 11
C) 24
D) 41

Question 39

Which type of legislative committee is most important?

A) standing
B) conference
C) interim
D) special

Question 40

High turnover rates in the Texas legislature are due primarily to

A) term limits.
B) voluntary retirement.
C) electoral defeat.
D) involvement in scandals.

Question 41

To what extent has partisanship played an increased role in Texas politics in recent years? What explains this increased partisanship?

Question 42

Discuss why in the Texas legislature most legislation is passed in the final two weeks of the session.

Question 43

Discuss why equity of representation is a recurring concern in Texas.What actions have been taken to address these concerns?

Question 44

What are the two key leadership positions in the Texas legislature,and what are the key powers of each position?

Question 45

What factors explain why most Texas House and Senate seats are what political scientists call noncompetitive?

Question 46

What are the informal rules of the Texas legislature?

Question 47

What are the delegate and trustee representational roles? Do you think a representative should be primarily one or the other? Why?

Question 48

Examine the advantages and disadvantages of single-member and multimember districts for majority and minority voters.

Question 49

What are the formal qualifications for a Texas House member? What are the formal qualifications for a Texas Senate member? What are the typical characteristics of people elected to the Texas legislature?

Question 50

How well are Texas legislators compensated? What are the potential problems around this level of compensation?