The United States should not adopt the Texas part-time legislature model where the members-only serve for a few terms and only meet once every two years for 140 days. The U.S should stick to the full-time legislature where the members are considered s full-time representatives. Ideally, for the full-time legislature, the committee is well staffed and the members are well paid. Legislators meet most of the year and receive payments for full-time employees. Full-time representatives are effective as compared to part-time legislature due to their extended and devoted time in office that allows them to perform their duties more effectively.
Considerably, full-time legislators have adequate time for hearing and debating with the public and among legislators (Lamport, 2019). Through this, the decision-making process is easy and well-informed. It is difficult for the public to engage and contact part-time legislators. This is because the part-time legislators cannot consider bills or debate effectively since they have split their time between the legislature and other full-time duties. Relatively, the part-time legislators may be absent or committed to other occupations when they are needed for a session. The part-time legislature has weakened the legislative process since time constraints have curtailed effective scrutiny. For instance, the 140 days’ sessions at the Texas legislature a short period to conduct all the state business. The governor is forced to call many special sessions to complete the tasks.
The New York legislature is considered a professional since the legislators are committed to being full-time representatives who serve year around. Challengers contend that the Texas ideal will reduce corruption practices in the legislative process. However, in both models, the lobbyists can impact the legislators and the fact that they have private-sector occupations in the part-time legislature will not minimize the corruption incidences. The part-time legislature is unprofessional since meeting once every year will lower the possibility of making sensible policies (Zale, 2019). Legislators that work year-round are familiar with the ins and outs of the policy-making practices.
The Need for Citizens to Care About the Issue
A legislature is a place where deliberations are conducted to perform the function of law-making. The legislature passes the laws of the government and implements the will of the state. The citizens should be concerned with the issue of the part-time and full-time legislature since the legislature ensures that the state is accountable and responsible for its citizens. The legislature performs three major duties; passing effective and suitable legislation, representation of the people as well as government oversight (Volden and Wiseman, 2014). The citizens have to ensure that the legislature is strong to offer an effective bridge between the people and the executive.
The Policy Outcomes and Political Processes
The policy outcomes and political processes will be influenced by the frequency of sessions of the legislature. More regular sessions will able the legislators to effectively assess the immediate issues while assessing appropriations and bills (Volden and Wiseman, 2014). However, limited time means that they have less time to explore the entire policy issue as well as to conduct investigation and research in-depth. Frequent sessions mean that law-making happens regularly and thus can maintain the fundamental importance and boost their professionalism.
