Texas Legislature: Lone Star State's Unique Governance Explained

From biennial legislative sessions to pauper's wages for lawmakers, Texas is the nation's leading outlier when it comes to self-governance.

A lot of that goes back to the state's inherent distrust of government as an institution and antipathy toward politicians as a breed. But another reason might be that after doing things a certain way for such a long time, nobody has ever made a compelling case for changing much, at least on the surface.

So let's take a look at some of Texas' unique ways of running a state, along with some examples of how it's done in some of the 49 others.

Michael Hailey photographs the Texas House chamber at the first day of the 88th legislative session on Jan. 10, 2023. The next session begins Tuesday.
Ricardo B. Brazziell / American-Statesman

Legislative sessions: 140 days every odd-numbered year

The every-other-year part dates back to the Texas Constitution of 1876, which, although amended dozens of times since then, remains the state government's foundational document.

The 140 days part was formalized in 1960 as part of a batch of legislative reforms early in the same decade.

Fun fact: 46 of the other 49 states meet annually. The three that don't – Montana, Nevada and North Dakota – have populations that are a mere fraction of Texas', which is about 30.5 million people.

Annual salary: $7,200 per year

For Texas lawmakers, the good news is they get paid whether they are in session or not. The bad news is that the pay is $600 a month and hasn't been raised since the early 1970s.

The better news is, when they are in session or otherwise working on legislative business outside of their districts, they can draw a $221-a-day allowance, generally called a "per diem." And the best news is, lawmakers who stick around long enough are rewarded with a pretty good pension.

It's tied to the salary and pension schedule of Texas' state district judges, who start out earning $140,000 annually and it tops out a $194,400 after 12 years. Lawmakers are vested in the state pension plan once they complete 12 years in office.

When looking just at salaries, Texas lawmakers are in the bottom tier of the states. Take Alaska, which has way more territory and way fewer people: A lawmaker there draws $85,000. In California, which has more people but less acreage, the pay is $128,215. But it's a full-time job in both states.

Then there's New Hampshire, which has a population of about 1.4 million and a House of Representatives with 400 members. They each are paid $100 a year. But each member only represents about 3,500 residents. A Texas state representative, by contrast, has upward of 200,000 constituents.

Get to work, then sit and wait

The same principle that limits when the Legislature is in session yanks back the leash on when laws can actually be passed. The Texas Constitution says the House and Senate have to wait 60 days before they can start passing laws. That's why, to an outside observer, it looks like there's not a lot going on in either chamber other than a whole lot of glad-handing for the first couple of months of any session.

But there's a pretty easy detour around that constitutional roadblock. If the governor declares an issue to be an emergency, it can be dealt with in pretty short order, assuming lawmakers are willing to go along. In legislative speak, "emergency" is not necessarily a prairie fire or anything like that; it's just something the governor wants done.

In recent sessions, some state leaders and individual lawmakers have chafed under the rules that make for a slow start, which in turn always means a mad rush at the end to get bills over the finish line. So watch for them to look at ways to speed up the process this time, either by a one-off shelving of the rules, or by an effort to amend the state constitution.

Speaking of the Texas Constitution ...

Well, it's kind of a mess. It was written and ratified after the post-Civil War Reconstruction era ended, and, as mentioned earlier, it was designed to keep a tight rein on state government and the people who run it.

It wasn't perfect. In fact, it was so imperfect it had to be amended 530 times over the 149 years of its existence. And if every amendment passed by the Legislature had been accepted by voters, the count would reach 714.

By contrast, the U.S. Constitution that was ratified in 1788 has only 27 amendments. The first 10, called the Bill of Rights, were adopted almost right out of the starting gate. And one of the 17 others – the 20th, to be exact – actually repeals one of the other added amendments. That one was the 18th, which enshrined into the national fabric a little experiment known as Prohibition. That, of course, banned the manufacture, transportation and sale of alcohol.

Even though Texas lawmakers have proven themselves to be OK with amending the state constitution piecemeal, they were decidedly less open to a wholesale rewrite. The House and Senate in January 1974 turned themselves into a constitutional convention for the purpose of streamlining the mishmash that the 1876 document had become.

Seven months and $3 million later, the effort fell flat. The constitutional convention needed a two-third majority to put the results of their labors on the statewide ballot. But it fell three votes short. No effort has been made since.