Mr. Johnson #2 - Politics at the State Level

The next few questions had to do with Mr. Johnson's agenda specifically dealing with the implementation on the local and/or state level. In order to discuss this, Mr. Johnson first gave me a short review of the state government structure which I will now relay to you.

Every state, except Nebraska, has a mirror replica of the federal government. Nebraska, however, has adopted a unicameral Congress, since ultimately, the power to establish the state governments is Constitutionally left to the states. In most states, Congress is divided into a Lower and Upper House, rather than using the conventional terms of Senate and House. In Texas, however, we mirror the federal terminology of Congress as well. There are 31 Senators and 150 Representatives in Austin, one of the largest state government's in the entire nation.

Texas mimics the federal government in other patterns as well. The House must be the first to adopt a budget plan, and the Governor must sign the budget deal in order for it to go in effect. The budget primarily oversees all state agencies, such as the State Department of Health and Human Services, the Texas Department of Transportation, and other similar agencies, along with the public universities such as Texas A&M.

In Texas, the government is in session in Austin every other year, or every odd year to be more precise. The session is from January to May, and after 140 days, the session must end no matter at what point they are or how much they have accomplished. This structure was put in place to limit the amount of action state governments could take. The only way to extend the session, which does frequently happen, is if the governor calls a special session which can only be done for specific issues. These sessions last for 20 days extra at a time. Because of the time limits, Texas Congress is generally inefficient at acting until the last two months of session, when the political pressure truly piles on.

In the off-session period, Congressmen and women will receive assignments in a Standing Committee, AKA an Interim Charge. In these committees, a Congressperson will receive a specific issue on which they will spend their interim time studying and detailing out, so that when Congress is back in session in two years, they will be able to present on it. They are not allowed to study or draw bills external to their assigned issue. These committees occur essentially during the even years, when Congress is not in session.

Although state governments have many responsibilities at their respective level, many citizens will frequently ask about an issue that is out of their politicians reach - for example, health care, which is primarily a federal legislation, is something that states will have little control over (provided that the opt-out provision does not pass, as I explained earlier this week). Although it is still out of his jurisdiction, if Mr. Johnson is elected, he will still be responsible for properly directing individuals to the correct office for dealing with the health care issue. He cannot simply push them away, and sometimes, he may even be forced to help that individual with their form process.