1. Lecture and Materials Week 8: State Legislatures October 5, 2017
State Politics
Lecture and Materials
Week 8: State Legislatures
October 5, 2017

2. Class Agenda Discussion of Week 8 Discussant News Articles
Discussion of News Articles from Blackboard
Discussion of Jon Oliver segment
Discussion of Paper on Term Limits
Discussion of Schneier Chapters
Discussion of Ingle Chapters

3. Jon Oliver Segment What are some of the main points?
Does it bother you the number of unopposed seats?
What about barely opposed seats?

4. State Legislatures
All state legislatures but one are made of two houses
Exception is the unicamerial Nebraska Legislature, which is also unique because it is “officially” non-partisan
They follow a similar model to the US Congress, except districts must be equal in size

5. Who leads these bodies All of the State Houses are led by the Speaker
Generally chosen by the majority caucus
Texas House as a whole votes for Speaker
Generally, the leadership positions pay slightly higher
However, Senates are different
Some give the Lt. Gov. (who may be elected independently) powers over the Senate like appointing committees, controlling calender, naming committee chairs
New York and Washington Senates are led by a coalition

6. Size matters Legislative bodies range in size State Senates
From 20 (Alaska) to 67 (Minnesota)
State Houses
Some states call State Assembly and others State House of Delegates
From 40 (Alaska) to 400 (New Hampshire)

7. Nesting of Districts
Some lower chamber seats are nested within the upper chamber seats
Some like New Jersey, Washington, and Arizona elect one Senator and two House members in same district
Others like Minnesota, Alaska, Nevada, Wisconsin, and Oregon have individual seats within the Senate seat
South Dakota is a hybrid due to the Voting Rights Act

8. Multi-Member Districts
Some states use multi-member seats
In West Virginia and Maryland, they can be of different sizes which can lead to partisan mischief
How?
New Hampshire even has a hybrid for its large House of multi- member, single member and then additional seats to balance population

9. Methods for Filling Vacancies
This has become interesting
Because since half use immediately called special elections, we can test party strength vis a vis previous elections for trends
But in many states, the party in power of the seat (or sometimes the governor) appoints the replacement for the rest of the term (or up to the next election)
Members can thus time vacancies outside of regular elections
Some governors use vacancies to swing control of bodies

10. Who controls State Legislatures now?
Republicans!
They control as many chambers as they have since the 1920s
Some due to redistricting control in
Better national coordinantion by GOP for state legislative races
Natural gerrymandering against Dems, plus Dem decline in non- metro areas
The South being so racially polarized

11. What are things that makes the Legislature more/less powerful?
Several things
Full time/part time
Veto override threshold
Ability to get special sessions
Constitutional authority
Particularly with budgets
But some legislatures cede authority
Do they confirm gubernorial appointments?
In Virginia, they appoint judges
Limits or grants to the governor
Other statewide offices

12. Committees
In most states, all committee chairs are of the majority party
Some places may share the chairs
Others may let the minority have a few rather meaningless chairs
Committee chairs and ranking members often get a little more pay
There are often interim committees that are named when the legislature is out of session
Chairs usually chosen by loyalty to the leadership and seniority

13. Types of People in Legislatures
Most legislatures are part time
So members generally have other jobs the rest of the year
Occupation                Total
Business                    30%
     (Owner—13%)
     (Other—11%)
     (Real Estate—3%)
     (Insurance—2%)
Attorney                     14%
Legislator                   12%
Retired                        8%
Consultant                   8%
Educator                     6%
Agriculture                   5%

14. More on Legislators They are disproportionately Older White Male
Educated
Non-veterans
Only two WWII veterans left in Legislatures

15. Legislative Term Limits
Most were passed by the initiative and referendum process
They vary in length from six years (Michigan House) to 12 years (a lot of places)
Some let members sit out a term and run again
Leads to members often running for local offices, higher offices, or the other chamber
Many others try their hands at lobbying

16. Term Limits It does lead to a great deal more of turnover in bodies
But the real winners have been the lobbyists
In Florida, it has led to the absurd
Members are limited to eight years
They elect their leadership classes when they are first elected for when they get to their final terms