Texas Senate

Texas State Senate
Texas State Senate
	Texas State Legislature
Type
Type	Upper house
Term limits	None
New session started	January 11, 2011
Leadership
President of the Senate	David Dewhurst, (R); since January 21, 2003
President Pro Tempore	Mike Jackson, (R); since May 30, 2011
Structure
Members	31
Political groups	Republican Party (19); Democratic Party (12)
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

The Texas Senate is the upper house of the Texas Legislature. There are 31 members of the Senate, representing 31 single-member districts across the state with populations of approximately 672,000 per constituency. 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 and do not coincide with the presidential elections. There are no term limits, and each term is four years long. The Senate meets at the Texas State Capitol in Austin. The Republicans currently control the chamber, which is made up of 19 Republicans and 12 Democrats.

[edit] 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^{[citation needed]}, 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 for 26 years. 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 there are only two new, or freshmen, senators, Brian Birdwell, a Republican from Granbury, and José R. Rodríguez, a Democrat from El Paso.

[edit] Leaders

Position	Name	Party	Residence	District
Lieutenant Governor/President of the Senate	David Dewhurst	Republican	Austin
President Pro Tempore	Mike Jackson	Republican	Bryan	5

[edit] History

[edit] 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.^[1]

[edit] 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).

[edit] Current composition

Affiliation	Party (Shading indicates majority caucus)		Total

	Republican	Democratic		Vacant
End of previous legislature	19	12	31	0

Begin	19	12	31	0
Latest voting share	61.3%	38.7%

[edit] List of members

	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
Steve Ogden	Republican	5	Bryan	1997
Mario Gallegos, Jr.	Democratic	6	Houston	1995
Dan Patrick	Republican	7	Houston	2007
Florence Shapiro	Republican	8	Plano	1993
Chris Harris	Republican	9	Arlington	1991
Wendy Davis	Democratic	10	Fort Worth	2009
Mike Jackson	Republican	11	La Porte	1999
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
Jeff Wentworth	Republican	25	San Antonio	1993
Leticia R. Van de Putte	Democratic	26	San Antonio	1999
Eddie Lucio, Jr.	Democratic	27	Brownsville	1991
Robert L. Duncan	Republican	28	Lubbock	1997
Jose Rodriguez	Democratic	29	El Paso	2010
Craig Estes	Republican	30	Wichita Falls	2001
Kel Seliger	Republican	31	Amarillo	2004