Annual Legislative Sessions

Texas’ current constitution was written in 1876 and some would say it has served the state well over the last 133 years. Others argue that it is not perfect, which is why there is the ability to amend the constitution to suit the state’s growing and changing needs. Since 1876 the population has grown from a little over a million to over 24 million. Texas has grown out of a dominant farming/ranching region to become an urban state. In addition, the landscape has changed physically, politically, culturally, and economically. Texas is not the state it was in 1876. That’s why 456 times voters have approved legislation to alter our constitution, but never have we made an amendment to change our biennial legislature to an annual one.

Having legislative sessions every other year is a very unhealthy way to run a state as large as Texas. Not only is the land mass of Texas massive, the population growth has just moved Texas from the third most populous state to the second and its still growing. To have legislators who come in every two years and work a 140 day session is not enough. There is to much work to be done to keep up with the changing times. Especially knowing how politics normally play out, one can assume that much of a legislator’s time is thrown away with lobbyists, partisan issues, and personal pursuits. To think of how much time is actually spent on real law making work is very sad. That’s why the only way to get more done and operate at a faster more efficient rate is to have annual sessions. It wouldn’t hurt to make the sessions longer either. There needs to be full-time legislators who are actually keeping up with Texas, instead of some vacationer who comes to chat every other year for a few months.

Now convincing these legislators to come and actually do their job might be a little tough, seeing as they have family in their home districts and constitutes to please, but if there was an actually salary involved with the position, it might make a difference. $20 a day is not enough for anyone and is leading to the corruption and political crap taking place. To even get elected requires a lot of time off from a person’s real job and most often a back ground of money. To hold office, and leave your job every other year for 140 days, and only receive 7,200 a year (plus their daily stipend while in session), requires a lot of money. This means that most of the legislators come from money or have a really good job. There needs to be legislators whose job is to represent and guide Texas, not to have a side job making some laws for Texas. There needs to be a reasonable salary involved so the legislature can start legislating and will include more than just those privileged with money. There needs to be a legislature representing the diversity of Texas.

Once legislators are actually getting paid minimum wage, there will be much less up roar about having sessions annually. Once there are sessions annually, the legislature will be able to watch and alter their bills more frequently, spend more time developing the best solutions, be able to over-ride more Governor veto’s, and keep up with the rapid growth of Texas. Since it is absolutely not possible for human nature or the system to eliminate partisan politics, lobbyists and hidden agenda, there needs to be enough time for the actual law-making stuff too. Sessions every other year is only enough time to cover the BS and slap some half-assed work together. The only way for Texas to properly unfold in this twenty second century is to go to an annual legislative session with legislators getting paid a decent salary.