Texas Legislative Process Essay

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The Texas legislative process is governed by the Texas constitution as well as the House of Representative and the Senate. Its primary function is to enact laws to provide for the health, welfare, education, environment, and economic and general well-being of the citizens of Texas. It also establishes public policy through the passage of bills and resolutions and proposes amendments to the state constitution, which are then submitted to the voters for approval or disapproval. When a bill is proposed, it must go through the legislative process before it becomes a law. The legislative process is very long and has many steps. If a bill is denied at any point in the process it is then throw away and forgotten. The process begins with the introduction of the bill to either the house or the senate. To introduce a bill in the House of Representatives, a state representative must first submit the required number of …show more content…

To consider if the bill goes on to the next step, it must first recieve a four-fifths vote from the comittee.Immediately after a bill has been observed by the committee, a determination must be created on whether or not a fiscal note or alternative impact statement is needed and, if so, a copy of the bill is distributed to the Legislative Budget Board for preparation of the note or statement. In getting ready the note or statement, the Legislative Budget Board might consult the state agencies affected by the legislation. Within the house, the fiscal note must be connected to the affected bill before a public hearing on the bill may be held, and if the bill is according from committee, the fiscal note should be connected to the bill once it 's written and distributed to the members of the house. Senate practice is for a copy of the fiscal note to be provided to the committee members before the bill is reported from committee and to be enclosed as a part of the senate committee