Texas Legislature

From Freepedia

The Texas Legislature is the central lawmaking body of the U.S. state of Texas. The first legislative session after Texas became a state occurred in 1846–1847.

Like most state legislatures, it consists of two chambers: a Senate and a House of Representatives. The Texas State Senate has 31 members and the Texas House of Representatives has 150 members. The legislature currently meets in the capitol building in Austin, Texas on odd numbered years, usually from January to June. The sessions may not last more than 140 days.

The governor may call the legislature into special sessions (the legislature may not call itself into session, as is the case in some other states). The special sessions have a limited duration of 30 days and the governor sets the agenda. Recent special sessions have dealt with congressional redistricting and school finance. The latest redistricting plan passed for the United States House of Representatives resulted in the gerrymandering of five Texas Democrats (see Texas Five).

As established by the Texas Constitution, a senator must be at least 26 years of age, a citizen of Texas five years prior to election, and a resident of the district from which elected one year prior to election. Each senator serves a four-year term and one-half of the Senate membership is elected every two years.

A representative must be at least 21 years of age, a citizen of Texas for two years prior to election, and a resident of the district from which elected one year prior to election. They are elected for two-year terms, running for re-election in even-numbered years.

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