Texas House of Representatives
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Texas House of Representatives | |||||
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| Type | Lower house | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Speaker of the House | Tom Craddick, R since January 11, 2003 |
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| Speaker pro Tempore | Sylvester Turner, D since January 11, 2003 |
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| Members | 150 | ||||
| Political groups | Democratic Party Republican Party |
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| Meeting place | House Chamber, Texas State Capitol, Austin | ||||
| Web site | http://www.house.state.tx.us | ||||
The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the Texas Legislature. The House is composed of 150 members from an equal amount of districts across the state, with each constituency consisting of nearly 140,000 people. Representatives are elected to two-year terms with no term limits. The House of Representatives convenes at the Texas State Capitol in Austin.
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[edit] Leadership of the House
The Speaker of the House presides over the body. The Speaker's duties include maintaining order within the House, recognzing members during debate, rule on procedural matters, the appointment chairships and members to committees, sending bills for committee review.
Unlike other state legislatures, the House does not include majority or minority leaders for parties within the House. The Speaker Pro Tempore is a ceremonial position.
The current Speaker of the House is Tom Craddick of District 82 (Midland). The Speaker Pro Tempore is Sylvester Turner of District 139 (Houston).
[edit] Leaders
| Position | Name | Party | Residence | District |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Speaker of the House | Tom Craddick | Republican | Midland | 82 |
| Speaker Pro Tempore | Sylvester Turner | Democratic | Houston | 139 |
[edit] Current composition
- See also: Eightieth Texas Legislature
| Affiliation | Members |
|
| Republican Party | 79 | |
| Democratic Party | 70 | |
| Vacant | 1 | |
| Total |
150 | |
| Majority |
9 | |
At the beginning of the regular session, the Republican Party held an 80-69 advantage with one vacancy that was later filled by the GOP, creating an 81-69 Republican majority. After the Regular Session, Kirk England left the GOP and joined the Democratic Party. On December 18, 2007, Democrat Dan Barrett won a special election. On February 1, 2008, San Antonio Democrat Robert Puente resigned; Roland Gutierrez was elected to replace Puented in a May 10 special election.
[edit] List of members
- See also: Eightieth Texas Legislature
[edit] Past notable members
- Dolph Briscoe, Governor of Texas from 1973 to 1979.
- Tom DeLay, U.S. House Representative (1985–2006) and House Majority Leader (2003–2006).
- Kay Bailey Hutchison, current U.S. Senator, 1993 to present.
- Barbara Jordan, feminist advocate and U.S. House Representative from 1973 to 1979.
- Rick Perry, current Governor of Texas, 2000 to present.
- Coke R. Stevenson, Governor of Texas from 1941 to 1947.
- Sarah Weddington, attorney for Jane Roe for the 1973 Roe v. Wade case in the U.S. Supreme Court.
[edit] Recent controversies
[edit] House voting controversy
On May 14, 2007, CBS Austin affiliate KEYE reported on the rampant multiple voting by members of the House during a voting session.[1] The report noted how representatives would race to the nearest empty seats to register votes for absent members on the legislature's automated voting machines. Each representative would vote for the nearest absent members, apparently regardless of party affiliation. This practice was in direct violation of a Rule of the Texas Legislature; however, no house member had ever been disciplined for the practice. The then-Speaker of the House, responsible for enforcement of the rule, issued a statement that discipline for violations of the rule is left to the individual house members.
[edit] Craddick removal controversy
Chaos erupted in the Texas House of Representatives on Friday, May 25, 2007, when Rep. Fred Hill, R-Richardson, attempted to offer a motion to remove Tom Craddick as Speaker and have the House elect a new speaker. Craddick (also a Republican) refused to allow him to make the motion.[2] The attempts to oust Craddick continued through the weekend as other Republicans made additional motions, which were also disallowed. The last time a Texas House speaker was removed by the members was in 1871, when the House adopted a resolution removing Speaker Ira Evans. The Republican House majority removed Evans because he was seen as cooperating too much with Democrats on an elections bill.[2] While Craddick's close allies say this is just an effort by Democrats to gain greater control of the Legislature before the legislative and congressional redistricting process of 2011,[2] Rep. Byron Cook, R-Corsicana, says the fight is about Craddick consolidating power with lobbyists and using campaign contributions to maintain control in the House: "This is about the convergence of money and power and influence," Cook said."[2]
[edit] References
- ^ CBS Channel 42 KeyeTV Investigates: One Lawmaker, Many Votes?, May 14, 2007, available at "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eG6X-xtVask"; see also Wilson, Nanci, One Lawmaker, Many Votes?, May 14, 2007, available at "www.keyetv.com/topstories/local_story_134224129.html"
- ^ a b c d R.G. Ratcliffe and Gary Scharrer. [? The House struggles to move forward]. Houston Chronicle, chron.com (May 27, 2007). Retrieved on 2007-05-27.
