Texas House of Representatives

Infobox Legislature
name = Texas House of Representatives
coa_pic = Texas House Seal.png session_room = Texas House Chamber.jpg
house_type = Lower house
leader1_type = Speaker of the House
leader1 = Tom Craddick
party1 = R
election1 = January 11, 2003
leader2_type = Speaker pro Tempore
leader2 = Sylvester Turner
party2 = D
election2 = January 11, 2003
members = 150
p_groups = Democratic Party
Republican Party
meeting_place = House Chamber, Texas State Capitol, Austin
website = http://www.house.state.tx.usThe Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the Texas Legislature. The House is composed of 150 members from an equal amount of districts across the state, with each constituency consisting of nearly 140,000 people. Representatives are elected to two-year terms with no term limits. The House of Representatives convenes at the Texas Capitol in Austin.

Leadership of the House

The Speaker of the House presides over the body. The Speaker's duties include maintaining order within the House, recognzing members during debate, rule on procedural matters, the appointment chairships and members to committees, sending bills for committee review.

Unlike other state legislatures, the House does not include majority or minority leaders for parties within the House. The Speaker Pro Tempore is a ceremonial position.

The current Speaker of the House is Tom Craddick of District 82 (Midland). The Speaker Pro Tempore is Sylvester Turner of District 139 (Houston).

Leaders

Past notable members

* Dolph Briscoe, Governor of Texas from 1973 to 1979.
* Tom DeLay, U.S. House Representative (1985–2006) and House Majority Leader (2003–2006).
* Kay Bailey Hutchison, current U.S. Senator, 1993 to present.
* Barbara Jordan, feminist advocate and U.S. House Representative from 1973 to 1979.
* Rick Perry, current Governor of Texas, 2000 to present.
* Coke R. Stevenson, Governor of Texas from 1941 to 1947.
* Sarah Weddington, attorney for Jane Roe for the 1973 "Roe v. Wade" case in the U.S. Supreme Court.

Recent controversies

House voting controversy

On May 14, 2007, CBS Austin affiliate KEYE reported on the rampant multiple voting by members of the House during a voting session. ["CBS Channel 42 KeyeTV Investigates: One Lawmaker, Many Votes?", May 14, 2007, available at [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eG6X-xtVask "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eG6X-xtVask"] ; see also Wilson, Nanci, "One Lawmaker, Many Votes?", May 14, 2007, available at [http://72.14.209.104/search?q=cache:dtjnlM6g4ZoJ:keyetv.com/topstories/local_story_134224129.html&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=4&gl=us "www.keyetv.com/topstories/local_story_134224129.html"] ] The report noted how representatives would race to the nearest empty seats to register votes for absent members on the legislature's automated voting machines. Each representative would vote for the nearest absent members, apparently regardless of party affiliation. This practice was in direct violation of a Rule of the Texas Legislature; however, no house member had ever been disciplined for the practice. The then-Speaker of the House, responsible for enforcement of the rule, issued a statement that discipline for violations of the rule is left to the individual house members.

Craddick removal controversy

Chaos erupted in the Texas House of Representatives on Friday, May 25, 2007, when Rep. Fred Hill, R-Richardson, attempted to offer a motion to remove Tom Craddick as Speaker and have the House elect a new speaker. Craddick (also a Republican) refused to allow him to make the motion.cite web | title=The House struggles to move forward | author=R.G. Ratcliffe and Gary Scharrer | work=Houston Chronicle, chron.com (May 27, 2007) | accessdate=2007-05-27 | url=?] The attempts to oust Craddick continued through the weekend as other Republicans made additional motions, which were also disallowed. The last time a Texas House speaker was removed by the members was in 1871, when the House adopted a resolution removing Speaker Ira Evans. The Republican House majority removed Evans because he was seen as cooperating too much with Democrats on an elections bill. While Craddick's close allies say this is just an effort by Democrats to gain greater control of the Legislature before the legislative and congressional redistricting process of 2011, Rep. Byron Cook, R-Corsicana, says the fight is about Craddick consolidating power with lobbyists and using campaign contributions to maintain control in the House: "This is about the convergence of money and power and influence," Cook said."

References

External links

* [http://www.house.state.tx.us/ Texas House of Representatives]