This document provides an overview of state legislatures, including their roles in lawmaking, representation, constituent services, oversight, appropriations, and impeachment. It discusses the structure of state legislatures, including the types and names of legislative chambers. The document also covers trends in legislative professionalism using Squire's measure of salaries, session length, and staff/resources. Additionally, it addresses redistricting approaches and the demographics of state legislative membership.

1. POL 318
Spring 2020

3. ATour of State Legislatures

8. LAWMAKING
 Creation of Policy
 1,000 laws in single session
 10-12 bills per legislator
 Total: Considering 101,000
bills and passing 19,000
 Revising constitutions and
ratifying amendments
REPRESENTATION
 Representation of Interests
 Components of
Representation

9. CONSTITUENT SERVICE
 Personalized services to
citizens
 What does legislative work
entail?
OVERSIGHT
 Role in legislative process
 Committee Role
 Examples of Oversight
 Conflict with Executive
Agencies
 Impact of “Sunset” Laws

10. APPROPRIATIONS
 Approving State Budgets
 The “Power of the Purse”
IMPEACHMENT
 What is impeachment?
 Stages of Impeachment
 #1: Impeachment
 #2:Trial
 State Examples
 Why is impeachment rare?

12. Name, Number, andType of Chamber

13.  Legislature
 State Legislature
 General Assembly
 General Court
Kansas
Utah
Kentucky
New
Hampshire

14.  Lower House
 House of Representatives
 House of Delegates
 State Assembly
 GeneralAssembly
 Upper House
 Senate or State Senate

15. “The Unicameral”
Senator
George Norris
(R-NE)

17.  Shift from biennial to annual sessions
 Biennial: 31  6; Annual: 19  44
 Changes in overall size
 Slight decrease in state legislators
 About 7,400 state legislators today
 Changes in legislative membership
 Some states have increased their membership, while
others have decreased over time

19. LARGER LEGISLATURES
 Fewer Members =
Fewer Constituents
 One-Party Dominance
 The Legislative Process
 Population and Legislative
Costs
SMALLER LEGISLATURES
 Competitive Elections
 Legislator Role
 Discussion and Debate
 Decrease in committees

23. PEVERILL SQUIRE
UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI
COMPONENTS OF
SQUIRE MEASURE
 1) Member Salary and Benefits
 2)Time in Session
 3) Staff and Resources
What is the impact
for individual legislators and
the legislature as a whole?

25.  Professional Legislatures
 No extra income
 80% + of full-time job
 Large staff
 Similar to Congress
 Higher population
An example of a
professional legislature
is California.

26.  Professional or Full-Time Legislatures
 Hybrid Legislatures
 Prefer extra income
 66.6% of full-time job
 Intermediate staff
 Middle of population
A hybrid legislature
exists in Louisiana.

27.  Professional or Full-Time Legislatures
 Hybrid Legislatures
 Citizen Legislatures
 Require extra income
 50% of full-time job
 Small staff
 Smaller, more rural states
Montana is an example
of a citizen legislature.

32.  F = Functional
 Has time, staff, and rules to conduct business
 A = Accountable
 Process open and accessible to public
 I = Informed
 Committees and staff; Review of executive branch
 I = Independent
 Runs own affairs; Oversight, Manages Conflict, Lobbyists
 R = Representative
 Diverse membership (social, economic, ethnic characteristics)

34.  Constitutional Basis
 Powers for House and Senate
 Structure
 Size
 40 Senate Districts; 120 House Districts
 Partisan Composition
 Republicans control House; Republicans control Senate
 Professionalism
 Time in Session
 Member Salary and Benefits
 Staff and Resources

35. Found In Article III of Florida Constitution,
the task force develops recommendations
for improving operations and reducing
costs of state government.

37.  State Legislature
 System used in most states
 District lines subject to majority in legislature and veto by governor
 Advisory Commission
 Advise legislature about boundaries
 Draft initial redistricting plans
 Politician Commission
 Elected state officials (not just legislators) may serve as members
 Independent Commission
 Limits direct participation by elected officials

39.  Status
 Occupation
 Education
 Age
 Wealth

40. The Florida Legislature
Tallahassee, Florida

41. DELEGATE
REPRESENTATION
 Representative follows
wishes and preferences of
their constituents
TRUSTEE REPRESENTATION
 Representative listens to
their constituents
 Makes up own mind on
best course of action

42.  Formalistic Representation
 Policy and Allocative Representation; Casework
 Descriptive Representation
 Does state legislature reflect race and ethnicity?
 Does state legislature reflect gender diversity?

44. SUBSTANTIVE
REPRESENTATION
REP. JENNIFER WEBB
(69TH DISTRICT)
 Legislators advocate for
particular groups in society
Rep.Webb could
advocate for pro-LGBT policies
for all homosexuals in Illinois,
whether or not they are in her district.