Thanks to Stephanie S. Simpson, Executive Director of the Texas Prosperity Project for this information.
The legislature is composed of two legislative bodies “bicameral".
Neither the House of Representatives nor the Senate has term limits.
The Texas Constitution sets the qualifications for election (House & Senate):
Senate: (31 members)
A senator must be at least 26 years of age
A citizen of Texas five years prior to election
A resident of the district from which elected one year prior to election
Serves a 4-year term
One-half of the senate is elected every two years in even-numbered years
*All 31 senate seats will be up for election in 2012 (following the census to reflect redistricting)
The Lieutenant Governor (David Dewhurst), is elected statewide separate from the Governor (Rick Perry). Lt. Gov presides over the Senate
House of Representatives: (150 members)
Must be at least 21 years of age
A citizen of Texas for two years prior to election
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
The Speaker of the House (Joe Straus) is elected from that body by its members
The Legislature meets in regular session on the second Tuesday in January of each odd-numbered year. They will go back into session in January 2011. The Texas Constitution limits the regular session to 140 calendar days.
Both the Lt. Gov. & Speaker of the House have wide latitude in choosing committee membership (in their respective houses)
Both have a large impact on lawmaking in the state
Governor:
Only the Governor may call the Legislature into special sessions (in other states, the legislature can call a special session)
The Governor may call as many sessions as he/she wishes
The Texas Constitution limits the duration of each special session to no more than 30 days
*Lawmakers may consider only the issues designated by the Governor during a special session
Other issues may be added by the Governor during a special session
