The 1876 Texas Constitution is among the most detailed state constitutions within the United States. There have been a significantly high number of proposed constitutional amendments since the document became operational on 15 February 1876 (Ericson). From the outset, it is important to note that the high number of amendments to the Texas Constitution is because it is highly restrictive given that the State of Texas can only exercise powers derived from the its Constitution. The Texas Constitution is similar to the other State constitutions because it provides for the separation of powers, but also includes some provisions that are only unique to the government of Texas. The separation of power in the Texas Constitution is actualize by the three branches of government namely the legislature, the executive, and the judiciary, with each of these branches having characteristics that are unique in comparison to those of other States.
Article 3 of the Texas Constitution vests all the legislative power regarding the State of Texas in the legislature. It also provides that the State of Texas Legislature shall consist of the House of Representatives and the State Senate. The Article further provides information regarding the qualifications of representatives and senators in addition to regulating the details relating to the legislative process. It is similar to the United States Constitution in the sense that either the senate or the House of Representative can originate bills, but the origination of the bill relating to revenue is only exclusive to the House of Representatives. As per Section 39, any Bill that passes the two legislative chambers with a two-third majority takes effect immediately upon receiving the signature of the Governor. However, if the Bill does not acquire the support of two-third members in both chambers, it becomes effective on the first day of September, which marks the first day of the fiscal year of the State. Article 3 presents various restrictions relating to legislative processes with Section 49 proving limitations regarding the authority of the legislature to accumulate debt by only ensuring that it can only incur debts relating to specific purposes that are enumerated in the Constitution. This limitation has created the need to amend the provision in a bid to allow the legislature to borrow more. The Texas Constitution also gives considerable powers to the Texas Controller of Public Accounts with regard to the determination of revenue appropriation. For instance, Section 49a provides that one of the functions of the Comptroller of Public Accounts is to certify available revenue as well as the revenues anticipated while ensuring that no appropriation exceeds such an amount, except on cases of emergency and even then there must be a resolution of at least a 4/5ths vote from both legislative chambers. Ultimately, the Comptroller has the power to reject and send back any appropriations that violate the foregoing provisions to the legislature for reconsideration.
With regard to the executive branch of the Texas State government, Article 4 describes the authority and duties relating to the Governor Liutenant Governor, Comptroller, Attorney General, Secretary of State, and Commissioner of the General Land Office. All the holders of the foregoing offices, except the Secretary of State, are elected through the process referred to as plural executive. As per Section 16 of Article 4, the Lieutenant Governor automatically acquires the power of the Governor whenever the Governor takes a trip away from the state of Texas. Accordingly, the powers of the Governor are quite restricted in comparison to the powers of the U.S. President or other state governors. In fact, it appears that the Lieutenant governor has more powers than the governor does since the earlier heads the State Senate and has the power to appoint senate committees. Notably, although the governor appoints various members of commissions and boards, neither the governor nor the legislature can have complete control of the administrative bodies (“Texas Politics - The Executive Branch”). However, the governor has the power to veto bills that the legislature passes, is in charge of the State militia, and can call for special sessions for the legislature as frequently as he desires. During the special sessions of legislature convened by the governor for the purposes of passing laws, the legislature limits itself only to the subjects that the governor submits. Accordingly, the laws passed by the legislature during the foregoing sessions have to be printed in the official General and Special Laws, with most of the these laws being codified in the Texas Statutes (Research Division of the Texas Legislative Council 9). It is worth noting that the extensive powers that enables the Texas Governor to convene the legislature as many times as he desires is more restricted in other state governors.
The Judicial branch of the Texas government derives its authority from Article 5 of the Texas Constitution. It is important to note that the judicial system in the State of Texas is one of the most complex systems in the United States given that it has many layers with numerous overlapping jurisdictions (Kraemer 48). It is also noteworthy that the system establishes two courts of last resort with the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals focusing on the criminal appeals exclusively and the Texas Supreme Court dealing with civil appeals. All the members of the two apex courts gain their positions through statewide elections. Accordingly, the administration of the Texas judicial system is the responsibility of the Texas Judicial Council, the State Bar of Texas, and the Texas Office of Court Administration.
Work Cited
Ericson, Joe and Ernest Wallace. “Constitution of 1876”. The Texas State Historical
Association. 29 Jun. 2016. Web. 30 Jun. 2016. https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/mhc07
Kraemer, Richard. "Texas Politics, 10th Ed." Belmont, CA : Heinle Cengage Learning, 2009.
Research Division of the Texas Legislative Council. “Guide to Texas Legislative Information”.
Texas Legislative Council, 2015, p. 9.
“Texas Constitution and Statutes”. Texas Legislature. n.d. Web. 30 Jun. 2016.
http://www.constitution.legis.state.tx.us/
“Texas Politics - The Executive Branch”. Liberal Arts Instructional Technology Services. 2006.
Web. 30 Jun. 2016. http://www.laits.utexas.edu/txp_media/html/exec/print_exec.html
