Chapter 8
The Texas
Executive Branch
The Governor
• Texas governor position is weak by design
– 1876 Constitution (currently in place) reaction to
overly powerful governor during Reconstruction
• Governor is one member of plural executive
– Multiple elected offices independent of governor
• Unique to Texas, most state governors appoint and
remove these executive positions (that Texans
elect)
– Important functions outside governor’s authority
• Budget most notably
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The Governor
• To be successful, the governor must:
– Use appointments well
– Willing to veto, but also to negotiate
• Win support for policy agenda from legislators,
interest groups, and other vested parties
– Convince public to adopt vision for state
– Since governors have limited power, it becomes
more important to be popular among voters.
The Governor
• Formal powers of Texas governor
– Call special sessions of the legislature
– Pardon criminals
– Permit fugitives to be extradited
– Appoint state board and commission members
– Veto acts of the legislature
– Give the State of the State address
– Declare martial law
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The Governor
• Informal powers of Texas governor
– Biggest power is the power to persuade
– Address the legislature
– Set the agenda for state government
• Cooperation/influence with legislature,
agencies, boards/commissions
– Media covers governor statements and politics
– By far, the most visible state government official
The Governor
• Formal requirements to run
– Thirty years of age
– U.S. citizen
– Resided in Texas for the prior five years
• Informal requirements (viable candidates)
– Strong name recognition
– Prior elected experience
– Successful at fund-raising for campaign and party
– Support from national party
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Governors of Texas and Their
Terms of Office since 1874
Campaigns
• Campaigns usually start election year January
• Party primaries held in March
• General elections in November
– Follow the national calendar
• Currently, GOP primaries more consequential
than general election for statewide offices
• Candidates must fund-raise and make the
rounds before then.
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Campaigns
• State size makes governor campaigns
expensive for two reasons:
• Travel distances to fund-raising and events
– Rallies, editorial board meetings, debates
• Travel costs add up (air, gas, cars, hotel,
meals, mobile tech)
• 20 different advertising media markets
– Television and radio ads run by geographic
region
• Even in online ad era, most money is spent on TV ads
WHO ARE TEXANS?
2010 Election Results, by County
Margin of victory
Dallas
> 30%
Fort Worth
20 – 29%
10 – 19%
0.1 – 9%
Rick Perry (R)
0.1 – 9%
10 – 19%
20 – 29%
> 30%
Bill White (D)
Houston
San Antonio
Austin
SOURCE: Texas Secretary of State
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Governor Impeachment Process
• State constitution does not specify reasons for
impeachment
• Majority of Texas House must vote to impeach
• Trial held by state Senate
• Texas Supreme Court chief justice presides
• Two-thirds of state senators present must vote to convict
• James (Pa) Ferguson (D) was the 26th Governor of
Texas and only one to be impeached
• In 1925 Miriam (Ma) Ferguson (D) (wife of Pa Ferguson)
became the 29th Governor of Texas. 1st Female
Governor. Two for the price of one.
Succession
• Lieutenant governor becomes governor if governor
resigns, dies, or impeached
– 1999 Gov. George W. Bush resigned to run for the
presidency, Lt. Governor Perry became governor
– Special election within Senate to appoint new Lt
Governor from the Senate.
• Another special election held in the senatorial district of
the new Lt Governor to replace the empty seat.
• Lt. governor becomes acting governor when
governor is out of state or incapacitated
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Compensation
• Annual salary
$115,345
• Governor’s mansion
• State limousine
• Use state-owned
aircraft
• Personal staff
Thinking Critically about the
Executive in Texas
2007
Rick Perry received $
from Merck, the only FDA
approved pharmaceutical
company to offer an HPV
vaccine called Gardisil.
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Governor’
’s Staff
• About 250 staffers
– Most are responsible for policy work.
• Topical experts, legislative lobbying
– Some are on the political side.
• Schedulers, press secretaries
–Not allowed to campaign; just like any other
office
–State never pays for campaign events or
work
Executive Powers of the Governor
• Significant appointment power
• In four-year term, governors make about 3,000
appointments
• Approximately 200 boards, commissions, and agencies
oversee important state functions
– Ex: University regents, Public Utility Commission
• Appointees must be approved by the Senate.
– Take office immediately after governor appoints
• Thus, in practice, Senate rejects more than it ratifies.
• Senatorial courtesy - Senator from the appointee’s
district must approve of the appointment.
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Budget Power
• The governor has a line-item veto.
– Yet cannot impound or transfer funds
– Once money has been appropriated by the
legislature, it must be spent.
• Governor has little authority over budgetary
process other than the ability to veto.
– Budgetary duties belong to others in the plural
executive and legislature.
Military Power
• Governor is commander in chief of Texas National
Guard
– Unless under the president’s command
• Wars and other crises, presidents call upon National
Guard units
• Hurricane Ike… in Galveston deployed troops
• Can declare martial law
• Has been employed under extremely devastating
natural disasters (hurricanes) and riots
– Not used in over 70 years
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Legislative Powers of the Governor
• Message power
– State of the State address
• Outlines priorities for the next two years
• Tries to set agenda and outline a budget
– Media attention to governor speeches and events
• Governors also lobby
– International, national, and state policy makers
• Personally or via staffers
• Advance policy agenda articulated during campaign
Legislative Powers of the Governor
• Veto power
– Post-adjournment veto (“strong veto”)
• Veto after legislature ends session, preventing
override
– Line-item veto
• Gov. can veto specific elements of
appropriations bills.
– Use depends on governor, legislature partisanship
• When governor and legislature majority are same party,
fewer policy disagreements, hence fewer vetoes.
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Legislative Powers of the Governor
• Governor authority to call special sessions of
the state legislature
• Legislature can be called to convene in
special session at any time of the year
– Sessions last 30 days
• Governor sets legislative policy agenda
– Deal only with issues/policies governor identifies
– Governor can recall unlimited number of sessions
Judicial Powers of the Governor
• State judge vacancies filled by the governor
– All state judges are elected, but many retire or
otherwise leave office during their tenure.
– 95 percent of judges are re-elected, thus judges
appointed by governor likely to remain in office
• Governors can give 30-day stay of execution
– Any other change to any sentence must first be
recommended by the Board of Pardons and
Paroles
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The Plural Executive
Multiple independently elected positions
Do not report to governor, may be of any party
• Governor
• Lieutenant Governor
• Attorney General
• Comptroller Public Accounts
• Land Commissioner
• Agriculture Commissioner
• Secretary of State*
• Railroad Commission (3)
(governor appoints)
Elected Officials in Texas with
Executive Responsibilities
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Campaign Contributions in 2010
and the Plural Executive
The Plural Executive
• Secretary of state
– Chief election officer
• In charge of registration
• Collects election data from county judges and
clerks
– Maintains other state records, but largest role is
with elections
– Not comparable at all to U.S. secretary of state
– Appointed by Governor
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The Plural Executive
• Lieutenant governor
– Powers in state constitution and state senate rules
– Presides over Texas Senate
– Performs as acting governor when governor is
unable to perform duties
– Chairs Legislative Budget Board
– Breaks tie votes in Senate
– Appoints Senate committees and chairs
The Plural Executive
• Attorney general (AG)
– Elected official who is the chief counsel for the
state of Texas
• State’s highest civil attorney
• In charge of all civil cases where state is a party
in the lawsuit
–When state is sued, or when state sues
• Can issue opinions for agencies that have the
impact and force of law
• Collects child support
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The Plural Executive
• Commissioner of General Land Office (GLO)
– Elected official responsible for managing and leasing the
state’s property
• Texas owns or has mineral interests in 20.3 million
acres of land, plus all underwater lands 10 miles out
from the coast.
• Responsible for 18,000+ producing oil wells
• Responsible for awarding drilling exploration rights on
state land
• Protects environmental quality of state land and water
The Plural Executive
• Commissioner of agriculture
– Elected official in charge of regulating and
promoting agriculture
• Enforces agricultural laws including quarantine
laws, food inspection, disease and pest control
programs, weights and measures
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The Plural Executive
• Comptroller of public accounts
– Elected official who is the state’s tax collector
• Invests state money
–Pension funds, debt, current accounts
• Oversees taxation
–Collection, current totals, projections
• Estimates state revenues
–Influences how much legislature can budget
The Plural Executive
• Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC)
– Full-time, three-member paid commission elected by the
people to regulate oil and gas and some transportation
entities
• Six-year terms, one member elected every other year
• Regulate trucking, rail freight, oil and natural gas
industries
– Controlled production to maintain price stability
• Today, the RRC no longer regulates railroads!
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The Plural Executive
• State Board of Education (SBOE)
– 15 member elected body that sets some education policy
for the state and has limited authority to oversee the Texas
Agency and school districts. Serve 4 years.
• Elected in geographic districts representing different
state regions
• Recommend commissioner of education candidates to
governor
• Education commissioner oversees Texas Education
Agency (TEA)
• Texas Education Agency
– The state agency that oversees local school districts
and disburses state funds to districts
Boards, Commissions, and
Regulatory Agencies
• Bureaucracy: complex structure of offices,
tasks and rules employed by large-scale
institutions to coordinate tasks and personnel
• At this point, Gov. Perry has appointed every
single state bureaucratic appointee to every
position the state constitution allows.
– Over 12 years as governor, unprecedented
opportunities to appoint and influence state policy
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Boards, Commissions, and
Regulatory Agencies
• Multimember appointed boards
– Appointed by governor and approved by Senate
– Examples: Dept. of Parks & Wildlife, Dept. of Correction, Public
Utilities Commission, Ten boards of trustees of Texas’s colleges
and universities run thirty-seven general academic institutions,
nine medical schools and nine major services
• Single executive boards
– Appointed by governor, approved by Senate
• Examples: Dept. of Insurance has just one commissioner to
direct the Department of Insurance and regulate the
insurance industry. Health and Human Services
Commissioner to oversee the state’s multi-agency health
and human service programs.
Sunset Advisory Commission
• Sunset Advisory Commission (SAC)
– Evaluates utility of state agencies
– Once every 12 years, each agency can be
abolished unless legislature votes to renew it.
– Agencies must justify their existence.
• Detail how they meet legislative mandates.
– 58 agencies have expired under the SAC
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