43 The Role Played by Texas’ Governor
Learning Objectives
By the end of this section, you’ll be able to
- Understand the roles played by Texas’ Governor
- Discuss the veto power of Texas’ Governor
- Clemency power
- Appointment power
- Budgetary power
The Roles Played by Texas’ Governor
The governor makes policy recommendations that lawmakers in both the state House and Senate chambers may sponsor and introduce as bills. The governor also appoints the Secretary of State, as well as members of boards and commissions who oversee the heads of state agencies and departments.
The constitutional and statutory duties of the Governor include:
- Signing or vetoing bills passed by the Legislature.
- Serving as commander-in-chief of the state’s military forces.
- Convening special sessions of the Legislature for specific purposes.
- Delivering a report on the condition of the state to the Legislature at the beginning of each regular session.
- Estimating of the amounts of money required to be raised by taxation.
- Accounting for all public monies received and paid out by him and recommending a budget for the next two years.
- Granting reprieves and commutations of punishment and pardons upon the recommendation of the Board of Pardons and Paroles and revoking conditional pardons.
- Declaring special elections to fill vacancies in certain elected offices.
- Appointing qualified Texans to state offices that carry out the laws and direct the policies of state government. Some of these offices are filled by appointment only. Others are ordinarily elected by the people, but the governor must occasionally appoint individuals to fill vacancies. The governor also appoints Texans to a wide range of advisory bodies and task forces that assist him with specific issues.
Veto Power
The governor has the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Texas Legislature.
The Governor has line-item veto power, enabling the governor to veto individual components (or lines) of a bill.
The Governor of Texas’ ine-item veto power applies only to spending measures, only to a bill that “contains several items of appropriation.” When a bill contains several items of appropriation, the Governor “may object to one or more of such items, and approve the other portion of the bill.” Ibid. Thus, the Governor may line-item veto one or more “items of appropriation” without vetoing the entire appropriations bill.
Time to consider
The governor must sign or veto legislation within 10 days of transmittal (excluding Sunday), or it becomes law without his/her signature. There is no “pocket veto” for the Governor of Texas.
For legislation transmitted with less than 10 days left in the session, the governor has 20 days after adjournment to act, or the legislation becomes law without being signed.
This latter provision allows a Governor to veto legislation after the Legislature has adjourned, with no opportunity for the Legislature to override a veto.
In practice, a Governor’s vetoes are rarely