Question

How representative is the legislature of the people of Texas? In what ways can representation be defined? What reforms would make the legislature more representative?

Demographics	House	Senate
Male	121	23
Female	29	8
Age: under 30	0	0
Age: 30 to 39	26	0
Age: 40 to 49	48	6
Age: 50 to 59	35	11
Age: 60 to 69	30	9
Age: 70+	10	5
Incumbents (and previously elected)	124	28
Freshmen	22	3
Democrat	55	11
Republican	95	20

Answer 1

Solution =

The Texas House of Representatives is composed of 150 members, each elected for a two-year term. A member of the house must be a citizen of the United States, must be a qualified elector of the state, and must be at least 21 years old. He or she must have been a resident of the state for two years immediately preceding election, and for one year immediately preceding election must have been a resident of the district from which he or she was chosen.

The house of representatives elects one of its own members as presiding officer--the speaker of the house. The house creates and enforces its own rules and judges the qualifications of its members.

The house of representatives, together with the state senate, constitute the Texas Legislature. The duties of the legislature include consideration of proposed laws and resolutions, consideration of proposed constitutional amendments for submission to the voters, and appropriation of all funds for the operation of state government. All bills for raising revenue considered by the legislature must originate in the house of representatives. The house alone can bring impeachment charges against a statewide officer, which charges must be tried by the senate.

Though their overall count is growing, women remain incredibly outnumbered in the Texas Legislature— just 42 seats in the House and Senate are currently held by women.

The dearth of female legislators is most notable among the Republican ranks. GOP lawmakers control 102 seats in the Legislature but only 12 of those seats are filled by women. Republican women fare far better in the Senate, where they hold almost a third of the GOP-held seats. But their numbers have steadily dwindled in the House in recent years, dropping to six this year.

The GOP added to its modest legislative diversity with the election of Pete Flores, the first Hispanic Republican state senator. But the number of Republicans in the Legislature who are people of color actually dropped from five in the last legislative session to four this time around. Meanwhile, Texas voters more than doubled the count of white Democrats in the Legislature, halting a years-long decline. Those gains were largely made in the GOP-held seats that flipped to Democratic control in November. Overall, people of color — long a majority in the state — remain significantly underrepresented in the Legislature.