Should The Texas State Legislators Work Full Time With A Living Wage?

Creating a more diverse and representative Legislature in Texas.

During my local Democratic County Convention this year, a resolution was presented on whether to make the Texas Legislature a full-time position with a living wage. Several people spoke against it, but more people favored it. So, let’s explore why we only have a part-time legislature, why we would want a full-time legislature, and why our legislators need a raise.

Why does the Texas government only meet once every two years?

The Texas Constitutional Convention of 1875 met in Austin to replace the 1869 Constitution. The new constitution, adopted in 1876, established biennial legislative sessions. This means that the Texas Legislature meets every two years unless convened by the governor.

Texas’s population in 1876 was roughly 1,000,000.

In 2024, Texas has 30,029,572 inhabitants.

Over the last 148 years, our population has grown 30 times the size when that stipulation was written. So, wouldn’t the people’s needs be thirty times higher?

Why did our state constitutional framers want a biannual session?

Amarillo to Austin is 500 miles, El Paso to Austin is almost 600, Texarkana to Austin is almost 400, and Brownsville to Austin is nearly 400.

In 1876, for the Legislature to get to Austin from districts all over Texas, they’d probably travel on horseback. A one-way trip would take weeks. The men who wrote the Texas Constitution decided it was too difficult and dangerous for significant travel. Back then, we didn’t have extensive road and railway systems.

The legislators would have to navigate rough, unpaved trails and paths, which could be hard to follow and poorly maintained. The absence of bridges over rivers and streams would also complicate it.

While we see much worse weather conditions in 2024 due to climate change, Texas was still Texas in 1876. Extreme heat and cold have always been a part of our state, not to mention sudden storms and tornados in April and May, right around when they must travel back home. Then, there was the risk of bandits and Native American raids.

In 1876, it was just too dangerous for the legislators to travel to Austin.

In 2024, it’s a 10-minute ride to the airport in an air-conditioned car, then a 45-minute flight with modern conveniences and safety measures that make travel to Austin from any part of Texas feasible and routine.

Our legislators no longer have the arduous journey of the past. This challenges the original logistical justifications for a biennial legislative session.

But don’t those assholes do enough damage once every two years?

This was by far the biggest objection during the Convention. It’s a valid objection; we’re all traumatized by the Republican’s death grip over Texas these last 30 years.

Look at the anti-porn bill, which recently shut down access to PornHub in the State of Texas. This bill was almost unanimously adopted by all members on both sides of the aisle because, on its face, it seemed like a good bill. Who wouldn’t want to keep children safe from pornography? But I’m willing to bet that the vast majority of the legislators who voted on it had no idea it would require collecting databases of the government IDs of everyone in Texas who looked at pornography on the internet.

Unraveling legislators’ decisions in the last weeks and days of the session can be challenging. I’ve watched them hold 18-hour days, rushing dozens, even hundreds, of bills through the process over a few days. On several occasions, hastily passed bills have required amendments post-enactment to address unforeseen issues.

Meeting more often would take some of the scramble out of lawmaking in Texas and result in more transparency in the legislative process.

Another thing that happens often is critical bills fail to pass, usually because of some dope Conservative, and the Legislature has to wait another two years to pick them back up again. Sometimes, we’re talking about infrastructure issues, and sometimes, it’s related to Emergency Management, things that shouldn’t be kept on hold for another 24 months.

Full-time legislatures can devote more time to understanding complex issues, leading to more informed decision-making. This can reduce damage by allowing for more thoughtful and less rushed policy development.

Why are Republicans against a full-time legislature?

Texas Conservatives say that a part-time legislature “limits the growth of government.” However, they fail to address how having a part-time legislature has led to the unfettered corruption of the ruling party and offer no solution that would address this.

Due to time constraints and possibly less expertise on various issues, part-time legislators rely heavily on lobbyists for information and legislative staff for drafting and understanding legislation, which influences the legislative process. Yes, Texas lobbyists write legislation.

Lobbyists like the ones owned by the oil industry, which keep Texas polluted and one of the world’s most significant contributors to climate change. Lobbyists like the anti-women activists seen on the video leak from Granbury this week—lobbyists from the health insurance agencies that stop Texas from expanding Medicaid.

This is a big reason why we’ve seen Republican legislation focus on special interest rather than the common good. Decisions in Austin are too often influenced by those not elected to office. It is challenging for voters to understand who is responsible for specific legislative outcomes. This dilutes the democratic principle that elected officials are directly accountable to their constituents.

Then, the most critical aspect of why Republicans don’t want change:

Full-time legislators get full-time pay. Part-time legislators get part-time pay.

While some of you may have an immediate knee-jerk reaction to providing our government officials a raise, you have to remember this isn’t Washinton DC, where lawmakers earn $174,000 a year (plus several million in stock tips).

Texas state legislators earn $600 per month, or $7,200 per year, plus a per diem of $221 for every day the Legislature is in session. This 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.

Most people, especially those with families and mortgages, can’t afford to live on that salary alone. And most people in the workforce can’t take off work for five months every two years to go to the Legislature. Because of that situation, the Texas Legislature is riddled with millionaires who only go to Austin to make laws for themselves and their millionaire buddies.

The millionaire Republicans in the Texas Legislature refuse to address the hungry children in Texas, they refuse to acknowledge our crumbling infrastructure, and they pretend that the six million people aren’t without health insurance in Texas. What do they care?

Giving our legislators a living wage would allow people who couldn’t otherwise afford to serve in the Legislature to run for office. In turn, it would reduce the number of millionaires in Austin who write laws only to serve the wealthy.

This change expands the pool of people who would realistically consider running for office: working-class, young professionals, or those without substantial personal wealth who could participate in our Texas government. It would put more control back in the hands of the people and out of the hands of special interests and the millionaire class.

Republicans would never get on board with it.

You’re right. They have too much to lose by taking power away from lobbyists and the wealthy and giving it back to the people.

The resolution at my County Convention passed, which means it’s headed to the State Convention. If the State Convention votes favorably, it’ll go to the Texas Democratic Party Platform, which will be up to state delegates.

The Party Platform suggests legislation the Democratic Party’s voters want to see. Legislators in Austin who work on State Party issues tend to be much more popular with Democratic voters than those who go against the grain.

Of course, for them to do something like this would take a constitutional amendment in Texas. So, they would need to take it to the voters, who would decide whether to allow it.

Hypothetically, Democrats flip the House in 2024 and the Senate in 2026. They get the votes they need to write a constitutional amendment (two-thirds majority vote) during the 2027 Legislative Session. The amendment would then go to the voters in November 2027, possibly to be enacted in 2028.

That’s a highly optimistic timeframe, but perhaps sometime in the 2030s, we could realistically see a full-time legislature full of economic diversity and addressing all of Texas’s issues appropriately and promptly.

By 2040, Texas’s population will be 40 million, and the state will have been long blue. A full-time legislature would be able to address all the needs of a population that size. The seed is worth planting now.

Important 2024 primary RUNOFF election days:

• April 29, 2024: Last day to register to vote.

• May 17, 2024: Last day to apply by mail

• May 20, 2024: First day of early voting.

• May 24, 2024: Last day of early voting.

• May 28, 2024: Last day to receive a ballot by mail.

• May 28, 2024: Election day.

LoneStarLeft’s Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Follow me on Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, Threads, YouTube, and Instagram.