This is where the "magic" happens.
When you first meet me, it may seem my few basic interests include pop culture and shopping. However, one of my other big interests is tracking Texas politics. Nerdy, I know.
I recently moved home to San Antonio, after spending the last seven years in Austin in school and working in various political positions. Instead of writing about traditional communications, I thought I would focus my blogs on Texas politics and procedures for the upcoming legislative session.
Today I thought I would start off with some basic legislative lingo so you will be prepared for the session.
Session: This is the 140-day period every two years in which the legislators can vote on statutory changes. The time frame generally runs from mid-January through the end of May in odd numbered years.
Special Session: The governor may call a “special session” to work on a specific issue that was not properly addressed during the regular session. The last special session was held in July 2009 and dealt mostly with transportation infrastructure and finance issues.
Sine Die: This is a Latin phrase meaning “without a day.” Every day during the session, the legislature adjorns until a specific time the next day or following week. The last day of the legislative session both the house and senate bodies adjourn “sine die.” Sine die also involves many celebrations for both members and exhausted staffers.
Interim: This is the time period in between regular/special sessions. House and senate committees are given unresolved issues to study over the interim, and typically hold a series of hearings on these issues and then release reports prior to the start of the new session.
Constituent: This means you. Each of us are constituents to both a House and Senate member. If you don’t know who your elected officials are, you should find out and then subscribe to their e-newsletters so you can know what they are working on for you.
That should be enough to get you started – next time we’ll start looking at the legislative process. And get excited, because sine die 2011 is less than 300 days away!
Image from the Texas Tribune.
