What kind of duties are fulfilled when a governor calls the state house of

How much staff is needed? How should it be organized? Is a full-time legislature better than a part-time one? Questions like these deserve attention, although I doubt that the answers are the same in every place. Whether the legislature is more professional or more amateur may not be critical either. Just what combination of resources or how much of each type is optimum or sufficient probably varies from state to state.

A vital part of a legislature's capacity is the quality of the legislators themselves. In considering quality, we have to deal with the issue of professional versus citizen legislators-that is, those who are relatively full-time careerists on the one hand and those who are essentially part- and short-timers on the other. In just about every legislature, some of each type exist.

But in some legislatures for example, California, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan and Pennsylvania professionals predominate, while in others for example, Montana, New Hampshire, Vermont and Wyoming citizens predominate. It is not possible to say that one type of member is more desirable than another for a legislature, or just what mix works best. Quality also applies to the personal characteristics of legislators, and especially of legislative leaders.

The reputations of legislatures in California during the late s and early s and Florida and Minnesota during the s and s were based in large part on the substantial number of able, intelligent, energetic, dedicated and politically skillful individuals who served at the time.

These members made a marked difference in the performance of the legislature. Legislators with such characteristics clearly contribute to legislative performance everywhere. The integrity, or the ethics, of the legislature is an integral part of capacity. Although we do not define legislative goodness strictly in terms of the ethical behavior of members, the ethics of the capitol community and the type and enforcement of ethics laws are among the factors that affect how legislators function.

Legislatures characterized by integrity are likely to do better than those where the ethical conduct of members is over the line or too near the line. Legislative integrity in deed and in spirit matters not only to the public, but also to the overall ability of the legislature to fulfill its representational responsibilities. Institutionalism is related to a combination of factors that pertain to a legislator's identification with the senate or the house and with the legislature as a political institution.

Three of the most important ones are concern, community and continuity. Concern has to do with a sense of, identification with, or dedication to the legislature, all of which are likely to promote the performance of balancing power and making law.

For a legislature to be good, it needs members who care about its well-being and who engage in institution-building activities or at least do not engage in activities that are institutionally harmful or destructive.

Members who are institutionally inclined will defend the legislature against criticism they believe unjust and will discourage colleagues from running against the institution in order to win office. Community encompasses the culture and norms of the legislature.

It requires some level of agreement on the need for civility and some manifestation of collegiality. Informal socializing among legislators helps to build community. In most places such interaction has been in decline in recent years; nonetheless, it remains an element of institutionalism, and one that seems to facilitate the performance of legislative functions. Continuity is probably as important to institutionalism as anything else.

Some continuity of membership and staff not only provides for greater knowledge and skill on the parts of lawmakers, but it promotes institutional values. It takes a while for most new members to identify with and develop concern for the legislature as an institution that merits their support. Continuity does not require extremely low turnover of membership, but only that some members serve for a decent period of time.

By requiring that everyone turn over with relatively brief regularity and by discouraging legislators from identifying with an institution they are passing through, term limits run counter to institutional continuity. The 18 states that currently limit terms are at a disadvantage when it comes to having a good legislature. This model of the good legislature is based on three principal legislative functions-balancing power, representing constituencies and lawmaking.

The factors that facilitate performance of these functions are capacity and institutionalism. Some might suggest a different model, but on the basis of what I have read and observed of legislatures, I think this is as good as any place to start thinking about what makes a legislature good.

It will not be easy to bring to life the categories discussed here; it is virtually impossible to measure the several dimensions of the good legislature and to rank the legislatures of the 50 states on goodness. What is most measurable is probably least significant and what is probably most significant is least measurable.

Uprooting a legislature from the political culture of its state cannot be done. What serves well in Vermont might not serve well in California, and vice versa; and what serves well in Iowa might not serve well in Florida, and vice versa. Comparing legislatures across states is tricky business; giving legislatures numerical scores is impossible business. But even if measurement is beyond our ability, it is about time that we figure out roughly what a good legislature is and roughly how well our own legislature is measuring up.

Alan Rosenthal comments that most of his criteria for a good legislature cannot be easily measured, and they are certainly subjective. But that shouldn't stop you from trying to evaluate how good your legislature is.

Give your legislature a grade on each of the following questions. Does your legislature initiate and enact its own legislation and make independent decisions about the state budget?

New bills are referred to policy committees in their chamber of origin. The committee chair decides whether or not to hold a hearing on the bill, and whether or not to hold a committee vote on it. Bills are frequently amended in committee before they are voted out. If the vote in committee is favorable, the bill is forwarded to a rules committee that makes decisions on which bills are placed on the calendar of the chamber to be heard.

Bills can be amended once more on the floor, and if passed they are sent to the other chamber for its consideration. If a compromise is achieved, the new bill is sent back to the floor of the Senate and House for a final vote.

If the conference committee bill is approved in both houses of the legislature it is then sent to the governor where it will be signed into law, vetoed, or remain unsigned.

Another way for a bill to become law in some states is a legislative referral , an action by the legislature and the governor that places the legislation on the ballot for voters to decide approval or disapproval.

In a separation of powers governmental system, the three branches of government are expected to share power rather than allowing one branch to have disproportionate power over the others.

This arrangement of governmental powers has been commonly known as the checks and balances system, a particular vision of governmental design enshrined in the U. Constitution by the Founding Fathers.

The third principle role a legislature plays, therefore, is balancing the power of executive. In American government, no funds can be spent by an executive agency unless an express allocation is made by a legislative enactment the budget is set in a bill enacted into law just as any other statute.

State legislatures assume the role of oversight in order to assure that laws are being implemented efficiently and effectively in the manner originally intended by the legislature. These analysts and auditors attempt to assess progress toward the objectives and goals of policies and agencies reflecting the original intent of the legislation.

The use of legislative policy analyses and audits has been credited with increasing efficiency and effectiveness in state government, thereby saving taxpayers money and improving program performance. Legislatures periodically review the rules and regulations employed by the executive branch in order to determine whether the intent of the law is being realized. This review process often accompanies budget hearings and ultimate budget approval for state agencies. Sunset laws are those pieces of legislation featuring a built-in expiration date for a statute.

Legislation of this nature allows the legislature to review, implement changes in, or terminate a program simply by not renewing an existing law. While sunset laws ensure the bureaucracy will be subjected to periodic review, the process of review is often time-consuming, can be quite costly, but only rarely results in the termination of a program.

By holding the purse strings at both the state and federal level, the independence of the legislative branch ensures that the bureaucracy and executive branch agency leadership remains quite dependent upon legislative support. Thus, oversight is permitted and the executive branch is prevented from becoming unresponsive to lawmakers and their constituency.

Furthermore, by reviewing and controlling federal funds given to the state through intergovernmental programs such as interstate transportation, environmental regulation, Medicaid, etc. Importantly, citizens who wish to know how those federal funds are being spent in this state and localities can contact their legislator and request an accounting. This type of constituent service is an important part of legislative representation.

In the area of the promotion of sustainability, your state legislator should be able to provide you with specific, timely information concerning what federal and state programs are in place to address sustainability concerns. State legislatures vary across the country in terms of their official names, the length of time they stay in session, the number of legislative districts they use, their party affiliations, and the way it operates.

Historically, most of the original American colonies were governed by unicameral legislative systems until a gradual process of adoption of bicameralism started and picked up momentum. Another difference between state legislatures concerns time status — some states have full-time legislatures meeting frequently on an annual basis, while other states have part-time legislatures that meet biannually and infrequently.

Many rural states tend to have a part-time legislature, while the states with larger populations are likely to have full-time legislatures. Texas is an exception in this regard, with the second-largest population and a part-time legislature. Full-time legislatures are typically found in the states with highly urbanized populations see Tables 6. Hybrid legislatures tend to have intermediate-sized staffs, and they are typically found in states with moderate-sized populations. The compensation they receive for this work is quite low and requires them to have other sources of income in order to make a living.

The legislative staff available to lawmakers in these states are typically few in number. State legislatures are also diverse in terms of their size and their party composition. Legislators prefer policies that favor the preferences of voters in individual districts, and thus the size of a district matters when considering the implications of certain policies. In terms of partisan alignment, in Republicans gained a sizable majority of all legislative seats and won their biggest legislative victory in more than a decade.

In , Republican majorities took control of both houses in 30 state legislatures and Democratic majorities control both houses in 10 states. In the other 10 states, the two parties split control of the state legislature, with one party having supremacy in one house and the other party having control of the other chamber see Table 6. The number of bills introduced into legislatures and enacted into law also varies greatly across the American states.

For example, 14, bills were introduced and bills were enacted into law in New York in In stark contrast, there were only bills introduced and bills enacted into law in Wyoming in the same year. Comparisons are made with the bills introduced and enacted in regular sessions in Table 6.

General-purpose local governments, which include county governments, municipal governments, and town and township governments, provide a wide range of services that affect the day-to-day lives of citizens. Services such as police protection, road, street and bridge infrastructure, parks and recreation, and land use zoning are typical duties of general-purpose governments in the United States.

These governments feature both an executive and legislative function, and the executive function is discussed elsewhere. This section focuses on the legislative role of general-purpose local governments whose legislative bodies are boards of county commissions, city councils, and town boards of aldermen or selectmen.

Counties function primarily as the administrative appendages of a state, and thus they implement many state laws and policies such as carrying out elections at the local level. Municipal government in America originates from the English parish and borough system. The English parish was involved in both church service and road maintenance, while the English borough engaged in commercial and governmental affairs.

These traditional aspects of civic society in England were gradually merged into a single entity and developed into the concept of municipality in the United States. The date is usually January 1 of the following year, unless the bill is an urgency measure or specifies another date. A bill moves through the legislative process and, if agreed upon by both houses, is sent to the Governor.

If the Governor signs the bill or allows it to become law without his signature, it is enacted into law. The unit also prepares and delivers bills to the Governor for consideration. Upon enrollment, the bill is again proofread for accuracy and then delivered to the Governor. The enrolled bill contains the complete text of the bill with the dates of passage certified by the Chief Clerk of the Assembly and the Secretary of the Senate. Other APA requirements apply.

See APA rule-making procedures. The motion must be made on the day the vote is taken. The file number changes each day as bills move on or off the Daily File.

File numbers are assigned to measures on second and third reading and unfinished business. Legislation is taken up on the Assembly or Senate Floor in chronological order according to file number. Items considered on the Floor are referred to by file number. The clerk assigns it a number and reads its title and sends the bill to be printed. The bill is then referred by Rules committee to a standing committee for a future hearing.

The Legislative Counsel determines which bills are fiscal bills, pursuant to Joint Rule Fiscal bills must be heard by the Assembly and Senate Appropriations Committees in addition to the appropriate policy committees in each House.

All fiscal bills are referred to a fiscal committee. The budget bill is referred only to the Budget Committee. Most other fiscal bills are heard by the Appropriations Committee if they have been approved by policy committees. If the fiscal committee approves the bill, it usually then moves to the Floor. The State fiscal year begins July 1 and ends June 30 of the following year. The federal fiscal year begins October 1 and ends September 30 of the following year.

The packet of analyses is then made available for Members to reference during Floor Sessions. Passes are not required for the viewing area in the gallery above the chambers. Subsequent committees of reference require a Daily File notice of two days. Legislative Counsel may opine on germaneness, but the determination of germaneness is decided by the Presiding Officer, subject to an appeal by the membership.

It contains indexed versions of the Assembly, Senate, and Joint Rules; biographies of Members; and other useful information. The handbook is published by the Assembly Chief Clerk and Secretary of the Senate for their respective houses. This does not preclude the bill from being set for another hearing. There is no motion for the bill to progress out of committee. It is published in weekly volumes by each house. House Resolutions require adoption by a majority vote of the Assembly.

An author may move a bill to the inactive file if he or she wishes to take it up at a later date. INTERIM The period of time between the adjournment of the first year of the biennium and the reconvening of the second year of the biennium.

Joint resolutions require the approval of both the Assembly and Senate but do not require approval by the Governor. The Journal is the minutes of the meetings of the House, printed daily. Appointments staff also may be responsible for obtaining political clearances and for managing the confirmation process with the state legislature. Governors face varied, complex and numerous legal issues. Some relate to formal responsibilities of the office, such as making appointments to the state judicial branch, deciding whether to grant clemency to state prison inmates and preparing the state to deal with emergency and crisis situations.

Other legal issues are less predictable, including investigations related to ethics standards the governor has established for his or her administration. Therefore, it is essential that he or she fully understand and effectively address the many diverse legal questions and problems that will arise during an administration.

The resolution of legal issues often results in significant consequences statewide and produces broad and lasting effects on state citizens. Legal counsels typically report to the governors either directly or through the chief of staff. Governors need time to manage and interact with their staff and their department and agency heads, to decide on policy and legislative initiatives and to meet with legislators, media representatives, advocates and individual constituents.

Governors also represent their states in Washington, D. Many governors will schedule time for economic development activities on a national or international scale. In addition, governors are called on to represent their state or their party at numerous civic and political events. In some cases scheduling strategy and decisions are managed solely by the governor and the scheduling director, while in others, strategy and decisions are managed by a team of senior staff members ex.