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| [[Category:Featured Article]]<indicator name="featured">[[File:Featured_article_star.svg|25px]]</indicator>{{DISPLAYTITLE:Article III, Section 24 of the Texas Constitution (''<small>"Compensation and Expenses of Members; Duration of Regular Sessions"</small>'')}}{{Texas Constitution|text=As amended November 5, 1991:
| | {{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: |
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| '''(a) Members of the Legislature shall receive from the public treasury a salary of six hundred dollars ($600) per month, unless a greater amount is recommended by the Texas Ethics Commission and approved by the voters of this State in which case the salary is that amount. Each member shall also receive a per diem set by the Texas Ethics Commission for each day during each regular and special session of the Legislature.''' | | '''(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.''' |
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| '''(b) No regular session shall be of longer duration than one hundred and forty (140) days.''' | | '''(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.''' |
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| '''(c) In addition to the per diem the members of each House shall be entitled to mileage at the same rate as prescribed by law for employees of the State of Texas.''' | | '''(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.''' |
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| | '''(d) The commission has the powers and duties provided by law.''' |
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| Under the Republic of Texas constitution (1836) and each of the state's first four constitutions (1845, 1861, 1866, & 1869), legislators were specifically authorized to set their own daily compensation and mileage rate.
| | '''(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.''' |
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| For example, the 1845 constitution (Art. III, § 23) provided: "Each member of the Legislature shall receive from the public treasury a compensation for his services, which may be increased or diminished by law . . . ."
| | '''(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.''' |
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| As adopted in 1876, this section read: "The members of the Legislature shall receive from the public treasury such compensation for their services, as may, from time to time, be provided by law, not exceeding five dollars per day for the first sixty days of each session; and after that not exceeding two dollars per day for the remainder of the session; except the first session held under this Constitution, when they may receive not exceeding five dollars per day for the first ninety days, and after that not exceeding two dollars per day for the remainder of the session. In addition to the per diem the members of each house shall be entitled to mileage in going to and returning from the seat of government, which mileage shall not exceed five dollars for every twenty-five miles, the distance to be computed by the nearest and most direct route of travel by land regardless of railways or water routes; and the Comptroller of the State shall prepare and preserve a table of distances to each county seat now or hereafter to be established, and by such table the mileage of each member shall be paid; but no member shall be entitled to mileage for any extra session that may be called within one day after the adjournment of a regular or called session."
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| Between 1881 and 1991, the Legislature passed twenty-five proposed amendments affecting this section. Only five of those were approved by voters. Amendments were approved in 1930, 1954, 1960, 1975, and 1991.
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| Note that the Texas Attorney General, in Tex. Att'y Gen. Op. [https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/1967/cm0104.pdf#page=3 M-104] (1967), opined that: "[The 1960 amendment to this section provided] in addition to per diem and traveling expenses an annual salary for members of the Legislature, thus recognizing that official duties of members of the Legislature are performed throughout the year and are not limited to duties performed while the Legislature is in session." And that, in Tex. Att'y Gen. Op. [https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/1969/cm0408.pdf#page=6 M-408] (1969), he further opined that: "In view of the foregoing, we are of the opinion that there exists no constitutional inhibition as to the use of state funds and their application to group sickness and accident policy premium payments for legislators themselves. . . . We do not interpret such a benefit as additional 'salary', 'per diem' or 'mileage', as those terms are used in Article III, Section 24 of the Constitution of Texas." Nevertheless, a substantial question exists regarding the constitutionality under this section of the significant and preferential retirement benefits currently provided to members of the Legislature. While the pension payments of regular state workers are calculated based on their own salaries, legislative retirement benefits are based on the salaries of full-time state district judges.
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| * ''Walker v. Baker'', 196 S.W.2d 324, [https://texaslegalguide.com/images/196_SW2_324.pdf#page=6 329-30] (Tex. 1946) (emphasis in original) ("[I]f the Senate has the power to convene at will [], it has the power to have as many sessions as it elects; in fact, it could remain in continuous session for the purpose of passing on the Governor's appointments; but a member could not collect any pay for his attendance, because he would not be attending a session of the ''Legislature''. . . . This per diem, multiplied by the number of days the Legislature remains in regular or called session, is the entire compensation a member is entitled to receive, and for it he must attend the legislative sessions and perform all the other duties of his office each biennium.")
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| * ''Spears v. Sheppard'', 150 S.W.2d 769, [https://texaslegalguide.com/images/150_SW2_769.pdf#page=2 770] (Tex. 1941) ("Article III, Section 24, [] provides, in part, as follows: '. . . .' This provision of the Constitution definitely fixes the pay of a member of the Legislature at 'a per diem of not exceeding $10.00 per day for the first 120 days of each session,' and does not make the right to such per diem dependent upon actual attendance on the sessions of the Legislature. All that is required is that the Legislature be in session and that the claimant be a member thereof. This provision of the Constitution was doubtless so drawn because, as is well known, much of the work of the Legislature is performed in committee meetings during recess periods.")
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| * ''Terrell v. King'', 14 S.W.2d 786, [https://texaslegalguide.com/images/014_SW2_786.pdf#page=6 791] (Tex. 1929) (emphasis in original) ("By the foregoing article the Legislature is forbidden to provide any greater ''compensation'' for the services of the members of the Legislature than the stated per diem and mileage. Save as measured by duration of sessions, regular or called, no warrant can be found in the Constitution for the payment of per diem compensation to members of the Legislature. . . . So much of the resolution is therefore in contravention of section 24 of article 3 as undertakes to provide that the members of the committee from the House and Senate shall receive ''as compensation'' the sum of ten dollars per day for each day they serve.")
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| |seo_title=Featured Article: Article III, Section 24 of the Texas Constitution ("Compensation and Expenses of Members; Duration of Regular Sessions") | | |seo_title=Article III, Section 24-a of the Texas Constitution ("Texas Ethics Commission; Legislative Salaries and Per Diem") |
| |seo_keywords=Article 3 Section 24, legislator salary, legislative benefits | | |seo_keywords=Article 3 Section 24-a, legislative ethics, legislator salary |
| |seo_description=Between 1881 and 1991, the Legislature passed twenty-five proposed amendments affecting this section. Only five of those were approved. | | |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 |