Texas Constitution:Article III, Section 26 and Texas Constitution:Article III, Section 24-a: Difference between pages

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{{DISPLAYTITLE:Article III, Section 26 of the Texas Constitution (''<small>"Apportionment of Members of House of Representatives"</small>'')}}{{Texas Constitution|text=Adopted February 15, 1876:
{{DISPLAYTITLE:Article III, Section 24-a of the Texas Constitution (''<small>"Texas Ethics Commission; Legislative Salaries and Per Diem"</small>'')}}{{Texas Constitution|text=Added November 5, 1991:


'''The members of the House of Representatives shall be apportioned among the several counties, according to the number of population in each, as nearly as may be, on a ratio obtained by dividing the population of the State, as ascertained by the most recent United States census, by the number of members of which the House is composed; provided, that whenever a single county has sufficient population to be entitled to a Representative, such county shall be formed into a separate Representative District, and when two or more counties are required to make up the ratio of representation, such counties shall be contiguous to each other; and when any one county has more than sufficient population to be entitled to one or more Representatives, such Representative or Representatives shall be apportioned to such county, and for any surplus of population it may be joined in a Representative District with any other contiguous county or counties.'''
'''(a) The Texas Ethics Commission is a state agency consisting of the following eight members: (1) two members of different political parties appointed by the Governor from a list of at least 10 names submitted by the members of the House of Representatives from each political party required by law to hold a primary; (2) two members of different political parties appointed by the Governor from a list of at least 10 names submitted by the members of the Senate from each political party required by law to hold a primary; (3) two members of different political parties appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives from a list of at least 10 names submitted by the members of the House from each political party required by law to hold a primary; and (4) two members of different political parties appointed by the Lieutenant Governor from a list of at least 10 names submitted by the members of the Senate from each political party required by law to hold a primary.'''
 
'''(b) The Governor may reject all names on any list submitted under Subsection (a)(1) or (2) of this section and require a new list to be submitted. The members of the commission shall elect annually the chairman of the commission.'''
 
'''(c) With the exception of the initial appointees, commission members serve for four-year terms. Each appointing official will make one initial appointment for a two-year term and one initial appointment for a four-year term. A vacancy on the commission shall be filled for the unexpired portion of the term in the same manner as the original appointment. A member who has served for one term and any part of a second term is not eligible for reappointment.'''
 
'''(d) The commission has the powers and duties provided by law.'''
 
'''(e) The commission may recommend the salary of the members of the Legislature and may recommend that the salary of the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Lieutenant Governor be set at an amount higher than that of other members. The commission shall set the per diem of members of the Legislature and the Lieutenant Governor, and the per diem shall reflect reasonable estimates of costs and may be raised or lowered biennially as necessary to pay those costs, but the per diem may not exceed during a calendar year the amount allowed as of January 1 of that year for federal income tax purposes as a deduction for living expenses incurred in a legislative day by a state legislator in connection with the legislator's business as a legislator, disregarding any exception in federal law for legislators residing near the Capitol.'''
 
'''(f) At each general election for state and county officers following a proposed change in salary, the voters shall approve or disapprove the salary recommended by the commission if the commission recommends a change in salary. If the voters disapprove the salary, the salary continues at the amount paid immediately before disapproval until another amount is recommended by the commission and approved by the voters. If the voters approve the salary, the approved salary takes effect January 1 of the next odd-numbered year.'''


|editor=
|editor=


Note that the Texas Attorney General, in Tex. Att'y Gen. Op. [https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/1961/ww-1041.pdf#page=5 WW-1041] (1961), opined that: " ... ."
Under Section [[Texas Constitution:Article III, Section 24|24]] of this article,  
 
None.


|recent=
|recent=


* ''Abbott v. Mexican Am. Legis. Caucus'', 647 S.W.3d 681, [https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=13028638643669327056#p700 700] (Tex. 2022) ("[W]e recognized in ''Smith'' that Section 26's requirements 'are inferior to the necessity of complying with the Equal Protection Clause.' 471 S.W.2d at 378. However, the burden is on the State to show that noncompliance with Section 26 is 'either required or justified to comply with the one-man, one-vote decisions.' ''Id''. Thus far, the State has asserted no such justification here. The possibility that it could do so in further proceedings does not render the Gutierrez Plaintiffs' Section 26 claim facially invalid for purposes of whether immunity has been waived.")
None.


|historic=
|historic=


* ''Clements v. Valles'', 620 S.W.2d 112, [https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=16878065276628951484#p115 115] (Tex. 1981) ("Finally, the failure of the plan in House Bill 960 to allot two representative districts to Nueces County is not justified by the necessity of complying with the Voting Rights Act . . . . Appellees introduced evidence of two alternate plans which created two districts wholly within Nueces County and maintained the voting strength of the Hispanic population, as required by the Voting Rights Act. Although a legislative enactment is entitled to a presumption of validity, it is our opinion that House Bill 960 violates the Texas Constitution and must be declared invalid in its entirety.")
None.
 
* ''Smith v. Craddick'', 471 S.W.2d 375, [https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=12960073997449546181#p377 377] (Tex. 1971) ("Section 26 requires that apportionment be by county and when two or more counties are required to make up a district of proper population, the district lines shall follow county boundaries and the counties shall be contiguous. A county not entitled to its own representative must be joined to contiguous counties so as to achieve a district with the population total entitled to one representative. The only impairment of this mandate is that a county may be divided if to do so is necessary in order to comply with the equal population requirement of the Fourteenth Amendment.")


|seo_title=Article III, Section 26 of the Texas Constitution ("Apportionment of Members of House of Representatives")
|seo_title=Article III, Section 24-a of the Texas Constitution ("Texas Ethics Commission; Legislative Salaries and Per Diem")
|seo_keywords=Article 3 Section 26, house districts, equal population
|seo_keywords=Article 3 Section 24-a, legislative ethics, legislator salary
|seo_description=The members of the House of Representatives shall be apportioned among the several counties.
|seo_description=The legislative power of Texas is vested in a Senate and House of Representatives.
|seo_image=Texas_Constitution_of_1876_Article_3.jpg
|seo_image=Texas_Constitution_of_1876_Article_3.jpg
|seo_image_alt=Article III: Legislative Department
|seo_image_alt=Article III: Legislative Department
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}}
}}


[[Category:Election Law]]
[[Category:TxCon ArtIII Sec]]
[[Category:TxCon ArtIII Sec]]

Revision as of 14:41, August 1, 2023

Added November 5, 1991:

(a) The Texas Ethics Commission is a state agency consisting of the following eight members: (1) two members of different political parties appointed by the Governor from a list of at least 10 names submitted by the members of the House of Representatives from each political party required by law to hold a primary; (2) two members of different political parties appointed by the Governor from a list of at least 10 names submitted by the members of the Senate from each political party required by law to hold a primary; (3) two members of different political parties appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives from a list of at least 10 names submitted by the members of the House from each political party required by law to hold a primary; and (4) two members of different political parties appointed by the Lieutenant Governor from a list of at least 10 names submitted by the members of the Senate from each political party required by law to hold a primary.

(b) The Governor may reject all names on any list submitted under Subsection (a)(1) or (2) of this section and require a new list to be submitted. The members of the commission shall elect annually the chairman of the commission.

(c) With the exception of the initial appointees, commission members serve for four-year terms. Each appointing official will make one initial appointment for a two-year term and one initial appointment for a four-year term. A vacancy on the commission shall be filled for the unexpired portion of the term in the same manner as the original appointment. A member who has served for one term and any part of a second term is not eligible for reappointment.

(d) The commission has the powers and duties provided by law.

(e) The commission may recommend the salary of the members of the Legislature and may recommend that the salary of the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Lieutenant Governor be set at an amount higher than that of other members. The commission shall set the per diem of members of the Legislature and the Lieutenant Governor, and the per diem shall reflect reasonable estimates of costs and may be raised or lowered biennially as necessary to pay those costs, but the per diem may not exceed during a calendar year the amount allowed as of January 1 of that year for federal income tax purposes as a deduction for living expenses incurred in a legislative day by a state legislator in connection with the legislator's business as a legislator, disregarding any exception in federal law for legislators residing near the Capitol.

(f) At each general election for state and county officers following a proposed change in salary, the voters shall approve or disapprove the salary recommended by the commission if the commission recommends a change in salary. If the voters disapprove the salary, the salary continues at the amount paid immediately before disapproval until another amount is recommended by the commission and approved by the voters. If the voters approve the salary, the approved salary takes effect January 1 of the next odd-numbered year.

Editor Comments

Under Section 24 of this article,

None.

—Attorney Steve Smith

Recent Decisions

None.

Historic Decisions

None.

Library Resources

Online Resources

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