| Home |
 |
Chapter 23 |
|
Although it is the most visible office in Texas government and the public believes it has considerable power, the office of the governor is weak in formal powers. In reality there is no single elected official ultimately responsible for the executive branch of Texas government. The governor can veto legislation and call special sessions of the legislature. Despite the limitations of the office, the appointment power offers the governor an opportunity to make a strong mark on state government. A governor can be influential, however, through his personality, personal adroitness, staff appointments and ability to express his agenda.
The Structure of the Plural Executive
Unlike the president of the United States, Texas governors have no formal cabinet that serves at their pleasure. Instead, other members of the executive are mainly elected independently of the governor and therefore act autonomously. With the growing two-party system, conflicts between the governor and other executive officials have increased.
The Governor
The personality and leadership styles of Texas governors have varied widely as have their accomplishments. Texas governors must be at least 30 years of age, a U.S. citizen and a resident of Texas for at least five years. Until 1978 every governor for 104 years had been a Democrat. Most governors have been well educated white males, but two women have served in the office. With rising campaign costs, candidates must usually have a great deal of personal wealth in order to succeed. Previous public experience is generally a pathway to the governor’s office in Texas; however, when President George W. Bush was elected Texas governor in 1994, he had not had any previous formal government experience. Informally, he had served as advisor to his father, former President George Bush.
The governor can be removed from office through impeachment and Texas is one of only a few states that has impeached a governor. If the governor dies, is impeached or leaves office before his term is finished, the lieutenant governor fills out the unexpired term. As of 2004 the governor is paid $115,345 and is provided a mansion, staff, travel expenses and a security detail.
The main powers of the governor are appointments, the veto of legislation, line-item veto authority over the budget, and the authority to call and set the agenda for special sessions of the legislature. The governor has very limited budgetary powers since the Legislative Budget Board takes the lead in this area; the governor can propose to transfer funds between programs or agencies with the approval of the LBB.
While the governor does appoint members to many of the 200 board and agencies, most members serve staggered six year terms thus limiting the governor's influence over them. The governor can only fire members he has appointed and only with the approval of the legislature. Many appointees are major campaign contributors.
As part of the judicial powers, a governor can stay executions and, with the recommendation of the Board of Pardons and Paroles, grant full or conditional pardons or commute a death sentence to life imprisonment. The governor as commander-in-chief of the state's military force is responsible for maintaining order within the state and responding to various disasters by mobilizing the National Guard.
Potentially, the governor also has a number of informal resources that can be used to shape public policy and the administrative process. Governors have used their staffs, their access to the mass media, their party roles, and their relationships to key interest groups to bring pressure to bear on legislators and other elected officials.
Other Offices of the Executive Branch
The second highest ranking official in Texas is the lieutenant governor, although the executive powers of this office are limited. The lieutenant governor does succeed the governor if the governor dies, resigns or is removed from office. This is primarily a legislative office and because of the power and influence it has over legislation, the lieutenant governor is often considered the most powerful person in state government. In addition, the lieutenant governor also chairs the Legislative Budget Board.
The attorney general is the state's chief legal officer and acts to defend laws of the state. In addition, this office enforces anti-trust and consumer protection laws and helps to collect child support payments. The attorney general is primarily a civil lawyer with little responsibility in criminal law, with the exception of death penalty appeals and assisting local prosecutors. This office can give legal opinions on the actions of other state and local officials.
The comptroller of public accounts is the state's primary tax administrator, accounting officer and revenue estimator. Since Texas is a pay-as-you-go state the comptroller plays an important role in providing the revenue estimates for the biennial state budgets. The budget cannot become law without the comptroller's certification that it falls with official revenue projections.
Commissioner of General Land Office manages the public lands and their mineral rights in Texas, which consists of approximately 22 million acres. Revenue from mineral leases on public land is dedicated for education through permanent funds. The commissioner also manages the Veteran Land Program that provides low-interest loans to veterans for purchase of land and houses.
The commissioner of agriculture carries out the laws regulating and benefiting the agriculture sector of the state's economy. In addition, the commissioner provides support for agriculture research and education, administers consumer protection laws in weights and measures, packaging and labeling and marketing.
The only appointed executive is the secretary of state who has a wide range of duties. These include granting charters to corporations, processing extradition of prisoners to other states, and most importantly, administer the election laws.
The constitutional office of state treasurer was abolished in 1995 through an amendment.
Elected Boards and Commissions
Of the more than two hundred boards and commissions that head most state agencies, only the Texas Railroad commission and the Texas State Board of Education are elected. These boards and commissions are authorized by statutory law and serve to further disperse administrative responsibilities. Although the governor appoints individuals to these boards, the governor's control is diluted by board members' staggered terms, the need for senatorial approval of the governor's appointments, and legal requirements relating to the composition of these boards. The Railroad Commission was originally created to regulate railroads in the state and it also regulated trucking for many years. It has oversight of oil and natural gas production and lignite mining in Texas. The State Board of Education is composed of fifteen elected members who oversee the investment of monies in the Permanent School Fund and some oversight over textbook selection an curriculum standards. Day-to-day administration of education is done through the Texas Education Agency, which is under the direction of the appointed commissioner of education.
The Texas Bureaucracy
More than a million Texans are employed by state and local governments. Collectively, they and the agencies for which they work, are known as the bureaucracy. The bureaucracy has the primary responsibility of carrying out public policies adopted by the legislature and local governing bodies. But administrative agencies also are involved in virtually every stage of the policy-making process. Legislators depend on administrative agencies for advice when they draft public policies, and they rely on them to help assess the success and failure of policies.
The Growth of Government in Texas
In 1967 there were 388,312 full-time state and local government employees in Texas. Thirty years later there were 1,112,355 state and local government employees. At the state level, approximately 80 percent of public employees work in higher education, public safety and corrections, or in social services (including welfare and health care). Although there has been a substantial expansion of programs at all levels of government in Texas, the state still ranks low in per capita expenditures. Texas was fiftieth among the states in per capita state government spending – $2,611 per person – in 2000.
Bureaucrats and Public Policy
The bureaucracy carries out the policies of the legislature and is involved in the policy-making process. When things go wrong and problems go unresolved, there is a tendency to blame bureaucrats. But often government employees are unfairly blamed for complex problems that elected policy makers have been unwilling or unable to resolve. The fragmented structure of the executive branch of state government is, in itself, a major obstacle to the efficient, responsive delivery of public services. There also is the potential for agencies headed by appointed part-time boards to become unaccountable to the electorate and susceptible to the influence of special-interest groups.
Strategies for Controlling the Bureaucracy
The Texas bureaucracy ahs operated for many years as a revolving door for young attorneys and professionals to gain valuable experience in regulatory areas and to make contacts in state government. They then moved on to higher paying jobs in the private sector using their knowledge of the government to help their employer. The ethics reform law of 1991 put restrictions on how quickly members of regulatory agencies could move into the private sector regulated by that board.
Through sunset legislation, Texas became one of the first states to require formal reviews of how effectively state agencies are doing their jobs. Most state agencies are subject to periodic review and reauthorization by the legislature. The process has not reduced the size of the bureaucracy, but it has helped rid state government of obsolete agencies and produced greater accountability.
The legislature has also empowered the comptroller to conduct performance reviews of state programs to promote efficiency and reduce waste. Although many local governments have adopted merit employment systems, state government functions under a decentralized personnel system. It is highly fragmented, with each agency largely free to set its own personnel policies.
Chapter Objectives
After mastering the concepts in this chapter, you will be able to
|