Texas Government

Texas Government 2306

September 19, 2015

Essay One

Some factors for amending the Texas Constitution are, a joint resolution describing the amendment is introduced among the house and the senate, a 2/3 vote of both bodies: 100 in the house and 21 in the senate. The secretary of state prepares an explanatory statement describing the amendment. The state attorney general approves the statement. The amendment is placed twice in newspapers. A copy of the amendment is placed in county courthouses. A majority vote by the people, then the Govern proclaims the amendment. "THE TEXAS CONSTITUTION ARTICLE 17. MODE OF AMENDING THE CONSTITUTION OF THIS STATE." THE TEXAS CONSTITUTION ARTICLE 17. MODE OF AMENDING THE CONSTITUTION OF THIS STATE. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Sept. 2015.”

There have been several attempts to revise the Texas Constitution of 1876, but no majority consensus could be reached. In 1971, Chief Justice Robert Calvert and a group of people formed the task force for court improvement to draft a proposed revision to the judicial article. During the fall of 1972, eight citizens' conferences were held throughout the state to provide a forum for discussion of the proposal. Revisions were made, and the final product was presented in 1973 to the session of the legislature. The revised proposal called for a quality selection of judges. If that was rejected by the voters, a proposal for neutral judicial elections would then be submitted to voters. In the end the legislature rejected the proposal. Also in 1972, voters approved the establishment of a constitutional revision commission. The commission proposed sweeping modernization of the Texas Constitution, including merit selection of appellate judges. The constitutional revision commission also suggested that the alternative of nonpartisan elections be submitted to a vote, but the merit selection plan was its primary proposal. The most serious attempt at revision occurred in 1974, when the Texas Legislature convened a...