Texas Senate

Texas State Senate
Texas State Legislature
Type
Type	Upper house of the Texas Legislature
Term limits	None
History
New session started	January 11, 2011
Leadership
President of the Senate	David Dewhurst (R) since January 21, 2003
President Pro Tempore	Leticia Van de Putte (R) since May 30, 2011
Structure
Seats	31
Political groups	Republican Party (19) Democratic Party (11) Vacant (1)
Length of term	4 years
Authority	Article 3, Texas Constitution
Salary	$7,200/year + per diem
Elections
Last election	November 2, 2010 (16 seats)
Next election	November 6, 2012 (15 seats)
Redistricting	Legislative Control
Meeting place
State Senate Chamber Texas State Capitol Austin, Texas
Website
Texas State Senate

Another view of the Texas Senate (2013)

The Texas Senate is the upper house of the Texas State Legislature. There are 31 members of the Senate, representing single-member districts across the U.S. state of Texas, with populations of approximately 806,000 per constituency, based on the 2010 U.S. Census. Texas Senate elections are held every four years on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November on the same date as gubernatorial elections. There are no term limits, and each term is four years long. However, in elections ending in years ending in "2", half of the senators will serve a two-year term, based on a drawing; the other half will fill regular four-year terms. Those who drew the 2-year terms will run in the year ending in "4" for a four-year term. The Senate meets at the Texas State Capitol in Austin. The Republicans currently control the chamber, which is made up of 19 Republicans, 11 Democrats, and one vacancy.

Leadership

The Lieutenant Governor of Texas serves as the President of the Senate. The lieutenant governor's duties include presiding over the Senate, appointing chairs of committees, committee members, assigning and referring bills to specific committees, recognizing members during debate, and making procedural rulings. The lieutenant governor may also cast a vote should a Senate floor vote end in a tie. If the Senate votes to dissolve itself into the Committee of the Whole, in which all members are part of the committee, the President Pro-Tempore resides over the proceedings, with the Lieutenant Governor acting as a regular voting member. Due to the various powers of committee selection and bill assignment, the lieutenant governor is arguably considered more powerful than the Governor of Texas, and is considered one of the most powerful lieutenant governorships in the United States.

Unlike other state legislatures, the Texas Senate does not include majority or minority leaders. Instead, the President Pro Tempore is considered the second most powerful position, and can be reserved to any political party in the chamber regardless if the party is a majority or not. President Pro Tempores are usually the most senior members of the Senate. The President Pro Tempore preside when the lieutenant governor is not present or when the legislature is not in regular session.

The President of the Senate is Texas Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst. The President Pro Tempore is Republican Mike Jackson of District 11 (Bryan).

Senator John Whitmire, a Democrat from Houston, is the Dean of the Senate, meaning he is the most senior member, having served since 1987. Senator Chris Harris, a Republican from Arlington, is the most senior member of his party, and the fourth overall member in terms of seniority.

For the 82nd Legislative Session, which began in 2011, there were only two new, or freshmen, senators, Brian Birdwell, a Republican from Granbury, and José R. Rodríguez, a Democrat from El Paso.

Leaders

Position	Name	Party	Residence	District
Lieutenant Governor/President of the Senate	David Dewhurst	Republican	Austin
President Pro Tempore	Mike Jackson	Republican	Bryan	11

History

Quorum-busting

Further information: Texas Eleven, Rump Senate

There have been at least three cases of quorum-busting in Texas Senate history. The first case was in 1870, with the Rump Senate, followed by the 1979 Killer Bees, and finally the Texas Eleven in the summer of 2003, who were following the example of the Texas house Killer Ds.

Committee Structure

The following represents the Senate committee structure for the 81st Legislature.

• Administration
• Agriculture & Rural Affairs
• Business & Commerce
• Criminal Justice
• Economic Development
• Education
• Finance
• Government Organization
• Health & Human Services
• Higher Education
• Intergovernmental Relations
  • subcommittee: Flooding & Evacuations
• International Relations & Trade
• Jurisprudence
• Natural Resources
• Nominations
• State Affairs
• Transportation & Homeland Security
• Veteran Affairs & Military Installations
  • subcommittee: Base Realignment & Closure
• Criminal Justice Legislative Oversight (joint committee with Texas House of Representatives)
• Bexar Metropolitan Water District Legislative Oversight (joint committee with House)

In addition, the House and Senate operate the permanent joint committee known as the Legislative Budget Board (LBB).

Current composition

Affiliation	Party (Shading indicates majority caucus)		Total
	Template:American politics/party colors/Republican|	Template:American politics/party colors/Democratic|
	Republican	Democratic		Vacant
End of previous legislature	19	11	30	1
Begin 2013	19	11	30	1
March 3, 2013		12	31	0
Latest voting share	61.3%	38.7%

List of members

Senator		Party	District	Home Town	Took Office	Kevin Eltife	Republican	1	Tyler	2004	Bob Deuell	Republican	2	Greenville	2003	Robert Nichols	Republican	3	Jacksonville	2007	Tommy Williams	Republican	4	The Woodlands	2003	Charles Schwertner	Republican	5	Georgetown	2013	Sylvia Garcia	Democratic	6	Houston	2013†	Dan Patrick	Republican	7	Houston	2007	Ken Paxton	Republican	8	McKinney	2013	Kelly Hancock	Republican	9	Fort Worth	2013	Wendy Davis	Democratic	10	Fort Worth	2009	Larry Taylor	Republican	11	Friendswood	2013	Jane Nelson	Republican	12	Flower Mound	1993	Rodney Ellis	Democratic	13	Houston	1990	Kirk Watson	Democratic	14	Austin	2007	John Whitmire	Democratic	15	Houston	1983	John Carona	Republican	16	Dallas	1996	Joan Huffman	Republican	17	Southside Place	2008	Glenn Hegar	Republican	18	Katy	2007	Carlos I. Uresti	Democratic	19	San Antonio	2006	Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa	Democratic	20	McAllen	2002	Judith Zaffirini	Democratic	21	Laredo	1987	Brian Birdwell	Republican	22	Granbury	2010	Royce West	Democratic	23	Dallas	1993	Troy Fraser	Republican	24	Horseshoe Bay	1997	Donna Campbell	Republican	25	New Braunfels	2013	Leticia R. Van de Putte	Democratic	26	San Antonio	1999	Eddie Lucio, Jr.	Democratic	27	Brownsville	1991	Robert L. Duncan	Republican	28	Lubbock	1997	José R. Rodríguez	Democratic	29	El Paso	2011	Craig Estes	Republican	30	Wichita Falls	2001	Kel Seliger	Republican	31	Amarillo	2004†

†Elected in a special election

Notable past members

• Edward Clark, Lieutenant Governor of Texas (1859–1861), Governor of Texas (1861).
• Wayne Connally, Senator from Wilson County (1967–1973), brother of Governor John Connally.
• Lloyd Doggett, Texas Supreme Court Justice (1989–1994), U.S. House of Representatives (1995–present).
• Chet Edwards, U.S. House of Representatives (1991–2011).
• James W. Flanagan, U.S. Senate (1870–1875).
• John Ireland, Texas Supreme Court Justice (1876), Governor of Texas (1883–1887).
• Eddie Bernice Johnson, U.S. House of Representatives (1993–present).
• Rienzi Melville Johnston, U.S. Senate (1913).
• Barbara Jordan, U.S. House of Representatives (1973–1979).
• Earle Bradford Mayfield, U.S. Senate (1923–1929).
• William Neff "Bill" Patman, Senator from Jackson County (1961–1981), U.S. House of Representatives (1981–1985).
• Lawrence Sullivan Ross, Governor of Texas, (1887–1891).
• Joseph D. Sayers, Lieutenant Governor of Texas (1879–1881), U.S. House of Representatives (1885–1898), Governor of Texas 1899–1903).
• Allan Shivers, Lieutenant Governor of Texas (1946–1949), Governor of Texas (1949–1957).
• Preston Smith, Governor of Texas (1969–1973).
• Frank Tejeda, U.S. House of Representatives (1993–1997).
• James W. Throckmorton, Governor of Texas (1866–1867), U.S. House of Representatives (1874–1888).
• Jim Turner, U.S. House of Representatives (1997–2005).
• Matthias Ward, U.S. Senate (1858–1859).
• Ferdinand C. Weinert, Texas House and Texas Senate (1893–1935), Texas Secretary of State (1913).
• Louis Wigfall, U.S. Senate (1859–1861).
• Charles Wilson, U.S. House of Representatives (1973–1996).

See also

• Texas Legislature
• Texas House of Representatives
• List of Presidents pro tempore of the Texas Senate
• Texas Government Newsletter Voting History of the Texas Legislature.

External links

• Official website