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53-737: As defined by the Texas Legislature , the official service area of HCCS includes the following school districts: In 1927, the Houston Independent School District founded its first community colleges, Houston Junior College (for whites), which later evolved into the University of Houston and the Houston College for African American students (now Texas Southern University ). In 1971, the district founded HCCS after HJC's and HCN's evolutions into

106-654: A 31-member Senate and a 150-member House of Representatives . The state legislature meets at the Capitol in Austin . It is a powerful arm of the Texas government not only because of its power of the purse to control and direct the activities of state government and the strong constitutional connections between it and the Lieutenant Governor of Texas , but also due to Texas's plural executive . The Legislature

159-401: A bill from a committee", which led to subsequent reforms. Reports of Committee After a committee has completed work on a bill, it reports the bill to the appropriate house during the "reports of committees" in the daily order of business. Reported bills are immediately given a second reading. The houses do not vote on a bill at the time it is reported; however, reported bills are placed on

212-562: A committee to "kill" a bill, sometimes without even a public vote; in Colorado, the power was notably repealed in a citizen initiative constitutional amendment in 1988 driven by various reform groups. When a committee refuses to vote a bill out of committee, a discharge petition can be passed by the broader membership. The specifics vary from state to state; for example, in 2004, a report found that New York State "places more restrictions than any other state legislature on motions to discharge

265-552: A large impact on lawmaking in the state. Only the governor may call the Legislature into special sessions, unlike other states where the legislature may call itself into session. The governor may call as many sessions as desired. For example, Governor Rick Perry called three consecutive sessions to address the 2003 Texas congressional redistricting . The Texas Constitution limits the duration of each special session to 30 days; lawmakers may consider only those issues designated by

318-506: A majority party, this is known as the majority being "rolled". When there are bills which most of the majority oppose, roll rates are a measure of the majority party's avoidance of voting on those bills. Committee review Committees review bill, often holding hearings to gather information and opinions, and can propose amendments to bill similar to legislative bodies throughout the world. Most bills cannot be enacted into law until it has been referred to, acted upon by, and returned from,

371-491: A per diem of $ 221 for every day the Legislature is in session (also including any special sessions). That adds up to $ 38,140 a year for a regular session (140 days), with the total pay for a two-year term being $ 45,340. Legislators receive a pension after eight years of service, starting at age 60. Article III, Section 10 of the Texas Constitution requires that 2/3 of a chamber's members be present to constitute

424-494: A quorum for conducting business (this is greater than what is required for the United States Congress, which only requires a simple majority of a chamber's members). This has resulted in several instances where, in an effort to block legislation from passing, a sufficient number of members have fled the state in order to deny a quorum. The most recent of these attempts took place during a 2021 special session of

477-470: A standing committee in each house. Reference to committee usually follows the first reading of the bill. Each committee is set up to consider bills relating to a particular subject. Standing committees are charged with the important responsibility of examining bills and recommending action to the Senate or House. Often on days when a legislature is not in session, the committees of each house meet and consider

530-451: Is available to ensure that legislation and accompanying discussion proceed as orderly as possible without bias. Bill drafting and submission The lawmaking process begins with the introduction of a bill in either the House of Representatives or the Senate. Bills may be introduced in either house, sometimes with the exception of bills increasing or decreasing revenue, which must originate in

583-540: Is called the Nebraska Legislature , but its members are called state senators. The first bicameral American legislature was formed in 1619 as the Virginia House of Burgesses . The legislatures of the initial Thirteen Colonies usually consisted of an elected lower house and an appointed upper house , the latter of which also functioned as an advisory council to the colonial governor. After

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636-640: Is committed in their presence or view while in Texas. They may make an arrest pursuant to a warrant anywhere in Texas. The HCC Police Department is divided into six divisions: Administrative, Criminal Investigations, Patrol, Bike Patrol, Training, Communications. HCCTV began in 1994 when the City of Houston chose the Houston Community College System (HCCS) to operate one of its educational access channels . Already in place since 1980, HCCTV

689-488: Is done by committees. The legislature as a whole relies on its committees to report out only those bills deserving the consideration of the entire house. Through standing committees, each bill is addressed by a group of members who have special knowledge of its subject. Some members of the legislature have expert knowledge of particular subjects of legislation, and these members are usually placed on committees to take full advantage of this specialized knowledge. For this reason,

742-711: Is headquartered in Denver, Colorado and has a lobbying office in Washington, D.C. Additionally, privately funded organizations with ideological leanings have annual meetings attracting many legislators. These include the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a conservative organization, and the State Innovation Exchange (SIX), its progressive counterpart. As of 2017, 24 of 99 chambers have limits on

795-693: Is located at the HCC District Campus. HCC offers several sports activities to its students throughout its campuses; the sports offered include: Southeast College is home to two separate campuses in different parts of the HCC Southeast service area. It is in Pecan Park . The Felix Fraga Academic Campus is located a mile and a quarter east of Downtown Houston at 301 N. Drennan St. The campus opened in January, 2010 and

848-413: Is not considered by the full house, the bill is defeated. The house of origin, upon return of its amended bill, may take any one of several courses of action. It may concur in the amendment by the adoption of a motion to that effect; then the bill, having been passed by both houses in identical form, is ready for enrollment. Another possibility is that the house of origin may adopt a motion to non-concur in

901-606: Is the constitutional successor of the Congress of the Republic of Texas since Texas's 1845 entrance into the Union . The Legislature held its first regular session from February 16 to May 13, 1846. The Legislature has completed its 88th session , and the next session is the 89th session , scheduled to convene on January 14, 2025, at noon ( CST ) after the 2024 Texas elections . The Texas Legislature meets in regular session on

954-508: Is the start of the state's fiscal year). Bills can (and many are) pre-filed before the start of a session: for regular sessions the lower numbers are reserved for bills with high priority by Legislative leadership (with HB1 and SB1 specifically reserved for each chamber's version of the General Appropriations Act, the state's budget and spending authority). Although members are elected on partisan ballots, both houses of

1007-586: The American Revolution and the establishment of the United States, most states wrote new constitutions which had direct elections for both chambers of the legislature. This model helped influence the U.S. Constitution and was then adopted by new states which later joined the union . Members of the smaller chamber represent more citizens and usually serve for longer terms than members of the larger chamber, generally four years. In 41 states,

1060-437: The U.S. Senate , because that chamber's makeup is prescribed by the U.S. Constitution .) During a legislative session , the legislature considers matters introduced by its members or submitted by the governor. Businesses and other special interest organizations often lobby the legislature to obtain beneficial legislation, defeat unfavorably perceived measures, or influence other legislative action. A legislature also approves

1113-404: The governor and to try articles of impeachment. (In a few states, a separate executive council, composed of members elected from large districts, performs the confirmation function.) Nebraska originally had a bicameral legislature like the other states, but the lower house was abolished following a referendum, effective with the 1936 elections. The remaining unicameral (one-chamber) legislature

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1166-492: The state legislature is the legislative branch in each of the 50 U.S. states . A legislature generally performs state duties for a state in the same way that the United States Congress performs national duties at the national level. Generally, the same system of checks and balances that exists at the federal level also exists between the state legislature, the state executive officer (governor) and

1219-475: The 52 absent Democratic members of the House. The bill passed upon the eventual return of enough state Democrats to constitute a quorum in the legislature. The Texas Legislature has five support agencies that are within the legislative branch of state government. Those five agencies are as follows: State legislature (United States) [REDACTED] [REDACTED] In the United States ,

1272-602: The Felix Fraga Campus is also the host location of HISD's East Early College High School . See also: List of companies in Houston See: List of colleges and universities in Houston [REDACTED] Category [REDACTED] Texas portal Texas Legislature The Texas Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Texas . It is a bicameral body composed of

1325-418: The House of Representatives. The order of business in each house provides a proper time for the introduction of bills. Bills are usually assigned consecutive numbers, given in the order of their introduction, to facilitate identification. Usually a bill cannot become enacted until it has been read on a certain number of days in each house. Upon introduction, a bill is usually read by its title only, constituting

1378-483: The Legislature are officially organized on a nonpartisan basis, with members of both parties serving in leadership positions such as committee chairmanships. As of 2022, a majority of the members of each chamber are members of the Republican Party . The Texas Constitution sets the qualifications for election to each house as follows: State legislators in Texas make $ 600 per month, or $ 7,200 per year, plus

1431-465: The Legislature. On July 12, 2021, during a special session, at least 51 Democratic members of the House fled the state in two charter jets bound for Washington, D.C. , in an effort to block Republican-backed election legislation from passing. The lawmakers planned to spend at least three weeks in Washington, running out the clock on the special session, which began July 8. During their time away from

1484-590: The Middle East. Houston Community College ran a satellite campus in Education City. However, in early 2016 HCC announced that they were "massively scaling back operations" and closed this campus. Over a five-year period, Qatar's government paid HCC approximately $ 30.5 million to subsidize the Education City campus. In a news interview, the HCC Board of Trustees Treasurer said he did not support continuing

1537-788: The National Conference of The Council of State Governments (CSG), headquartered in Lexington, Kentucky, with offices in Washington, DC; New York City; Chicago; Atlanta; and Sacramento, and at the annual meetings of CSG's regions, The Southern Legislative Conference, The Midwestern Legislative Conference, the Eastern Regional Conference and CSG West, and at the Legislative Summit of the National Conference of State Legislatures , which

1590-529: The University of Houston and Texas Southern University respectively. In its early days, HCCS once used HISD school campuses for teaching facilities with classes during evenings and weekends like its founders. Around 1997, HCCS began to transfer operations to community college district-operated campuses throughout the HCCS service area. The country of Qatar operates Education City to bring U.S. universities to

1643-494: The basis of representation in most state legislatures was modeled on that of the U.S. Congress : the state senators represented geographical units, while members of the larger chamber represented population. In Reynolds v. Sims the Supreme Court decided upon the one man, one vote standard for state legislatures and invalidated representation based on geographical units regardless of population. (The ruling does not affect

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1696-428: The bill, the entire legislature gives consideration to its passage. At this time, the bill may be studied in detail, debated, amended, and read at length before final passage. If the majority vote in favor of the bill, it is recorded as passed. Transmission to second house A bill that is passed in one house is transmitted, along with a formal message, to the other house. If the bill is not reported from committee or

1749-512: The bill. After the first special session expired on August 6, Governor Abbott called a second session the next day. State District Judge Brad Urrutia granted a restraining order on August 9 temporarily protecting the absent Democrats from arrest by the state, however this restraining order was overturned by the Texas Supreme Court . On August 10, with the chamber still lacking a quorum, Speaker Dade Phelan issued arrest warrants for

1802-413: The bills that have been referred to them to decide if the assigned bills should be reported for further action. For most bills, the recommendations of the committee are followed, although either house is free to accept or reject the action of the committee. Bills reported favorably by a committee may be placed on a regular calendar (the agenda of the deliberative body). Most of the work of the legislature

1855-421: The calendar for the next legislative day. This second reading is made by title only. The regular calendar is a list of bills that have been favorably reported from committee and are ready for consideration by the membership of the entire house. Third reading Regardless of where a bill is placed on the calendar, once the bill is considered and adopted, this is called the third reading. At this third reading of

1908-492: The campus. "We're a community college to educate kids in our district," he said. When HCC first sent teachers to its Qatar campus, the Qatari government made some of them return to the United States because they were Jewish. HCC operates its own police department . As peace officers, state law grants HCC Police the power to arrest without warrant for any felony, breach of the peace, disorderly conduct or intoxication offense that

1961-424: The first reading of the bill. Because a bill is usually read by title only, it is important that the title give the members notice of the subject matter contained in the bill. A 2013 study of state legislatures found that of the 99 studied, about half, 53, had roll rates below 5% . And most, 83, had roll rates below 10% . When a bill passes where most votes are from the minority party and "moderate" members of

2014-575: The governor in his "call," or proclamation convening the special session (though other issues may be added by the Governor during a session). Any bill passed by the Legislature takes effect 90 days after its passage unless two-thirds of each house votes to give the bill either immediate effect or earlier effect. The Legislature may provide for an effective date that is after the 90th day. Under current legislative practice, most bills are given an effective date of September 1 in odd-numbered years (September 1

2067-567: The larger chamber is called the House of Representatives. Five states designate the larger chamber the assembly, three states call it the House of Delegates, and one has just one chamber. Members of the larger chamber usually serve for terms of two years. The larger chamber customarily has the exclusive power to initiate taxing legislation and articles of impeachment . Prior to the United States Supreme Court decisions Baker v. Carr (1962) and Reynolds v. Sims (1964),

2120-608: The legislature is considered full-time, the session may last all year, with periodic breaks for district work. Some states have varying lengths for odd-numbered and even-numbered years, or allow for a fixed number of either legislative or calendar days. Georgia for example, allows only 40 legislative days per year, and Wyoming allows 60 legislative days per term and no more than 40 per one calendar year. Whereas in Michigan , New Jersey , New York (in odd-numbered years), Ohio , Pennsylvania and Wisconsin (in odd-numbered years),

2173-452: The legislature often accepts the final recommendations of its standing committees. As has been noted, however, the legislature does not completely abdicate its responsibility for the consideration of pending bills. If the need arises, the members of either house can force a committee to take action on a bill, or they can ignore the committee's recommendations. Pocket veto and discharge petitions Pocket veto powers are common, which allows

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2226-862: The legislature the legislative assembly . The responsibilities of a state legislature vary from state to state, depending on state's constitution . The primary function of any legislature is to create laws. State legislatures also approve budget for state government. They may establish government agencies, set their policies, and approve their budgets. For instance, a state legislature could establish an agency to manage environmental conservation efforts within that state. In some states, state legislators elect other officials, such as governor. State legislatures often have power to regulate businesses operating within their jurisdiction. They also regulate courts within their jurisdiction. This includes determining types of cases that can be heard, setting court fees, and regulating attorney conduct. Other responsibilities Under

2279-399: The manner of appointing the state's presidential electors . Formerly, state legislatures appointed the U.S. Senators from their respective states until the ratification of the 17th Amendment in 1913 required the direct election of senators by the state's voters. Sometimes what the legislature wishes to accomplish cannot be done simply by the passage of a bill, but rather requires amending

2332-401: The number of bills that a legislator can introduce per year according to NCSL . Most limits are set by internal legislative rules, while Louisiana's legislature is limited by constitutional amendment. Generally, the legislative bodies and their committees use either Mason's Manual of Legislative Procedure or an amended form thereof. During official meetings, a professional parliamentarian

2385-456: The second Tuesday in January of each odd-numbered year. The Texas Constitution limits the regular session to 140 calendar days. The lieutenant governor , elected statewide separately from the governor , presides over the Senate, while the Speaker of the House is elected from that body by its members. Both have wide latitude in choosing committee membership in their respective houses and have

2438-400: The sessions usually last all year. Four state legislatures – Montana , Nevada , North Dakota and Texas – meet only biennially. In the early 1960s, only 19 legislatures met annually, but by the mid-1970s, it had increased to 41. The latest legislature to switch to annual sessions was Oregon in 2011, following a voter-approved ballot measure. Many state legislators meet every year at

2491-420: The state judiciary . A state is permitted to use a parliamentary system , or any other system of government, if it so desired. In 27 states, the legislature is called the legislature or the state legislature , while in 19 states the legislature is called the general assembly . In Massachusetts and New Hampshire , the legislature is called the general court , while North Dakota and Oregon designate

2544-414: The state constitution. Each state has specified steps intended to make it difficult to alter the constitution without the sufficient support of either the legislature, or the people, or both. All states except Nebraska have a bicameral legislature. The smaller chamber is called the senate, usually referred to as the upper house. This chamber usually has the exclusive power to confirm appointments made by

2597-537: The state legislative chambers, they also advocated for federal voting legislation such as the For the People Act . Governor Abbott stated that representatives, upon return to the state, would be arrested and escorted to the state legislative chambers to fulfill their lawmaking duties. He additionally noted he would use his power to call successive special sessions until such a time as the legislature met quorum to vote on

2650-433: The state's operating and capital budgets, which may begin as a legislative proposal or a submission by the governor. In most states, a new state legislature convenes in January of the odd-numbered year after the election of members to the larger chamber. The period during which the legislature remains in session varies by state. In states where the legislature is considered part-time, a session may last several months; where

2703-450: The terms of Article V of the U.S. Constitution , state lawmakers retain the power to ratify Constitutional amendments which have been proposed by both houses of Congress and they also retain the ability to call for a national convention to propose amendments to the U.S. Constitution. After the convention has concluded its business 75% of the states will ratify what the convention has proposed. Under Article II , state legislatures choose

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2756-881: Was named for Felix Fraga by the HCC Board of Trustees in honor of his dedication to the educational, social, and economic success of the young people of Houston's southeast community and his devotion to improving their neighborhood. Fraga served as an HISD trustee and as a member of the Houston City Council. Today he is the Vice President of External Affairs for the Neighborhood Centers, Inc. The Felix Fraga Campus hosts classes to over 1,500 students every semester. Its flagship offerings include Maritime Logistics, Pre-Engineering, and other STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) classes. Most core courses are also available. In partnership with HISD,

2809-404: Was the college system's video component, producing programs of education, training and college promotion. HCCS operates Houston Community College Television (HCCTV) on Xfinity Channel 19, TV Max Channel 97, Phonoscope Channel 77 and Cebridge Channel 20 and streamed over the internet. The studio complex, which has one large studio unit, five editing suites, and a digital master control system,

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