HBA-TYH H.J.R. 7 76(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.J.R. 7
By: Shields
State Affairs
4/15/1999
Introduced



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

With few exceptions, no Governor has served more than two terms, no
Lieutenant Governor has served more than two terms, and no Speaker of the
House of Representatives has served more than four terms.  Currently, there
are no statutory limits on the terms of the offices of the Governor, the
Lieutenant Governor, or the Speaker of the House of Representatives.  As
proposed, H.J.R. 7 requires the submission to the voters of a
constitutional amendment limiting the Governor and Lieutenant Governor to
two four-year terms in office, and the Speaker of the House of
Representatives to four two-year terms. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does
not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state
officer, department, agency, or institution. 

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1.  Amends Section 9(b), Article III, Texas Constitution, to
prohibit any Speaker of the House of Representatives from serving more than
four consecutive two-year terms. 

SECTION 2.  Amends Section 4, Article IV, Texas Constitution, to prohibit
any Governor from serving more than two consecutive four-year terms.
Deletes text restricting applicability of this section to a Governor
elected at the general election in 1974, and thereafter.  Makes
nonsubstantive changes. 

SECTION 3.  Amends Section 16, Article IV, Texas Constitution, to prohibit
any Lieutenant Governor from serving more than two consecutive four-year
terms. 

SECTION 4.  Requires this proposed constitutional amendment to be submitted
to the voters at an election to be held November 2, 1999.  Sets forth the
required language for the ballot.