The Wednesday editorial "Legislators play too much" suggested the frantic pace of the final few weeks of the legislative session is because of legislators taking unnecessary long weekends.
The fact is that, regardless of the number of "long weekends" the Legislature takes, this time of the session is always a race against the clock.
To give some perspective, the Texas Constitution grants us only five months every two years to conduct all the legislative business of a state with the world's eighth-largest economy and the third-highest population in the United States.
The Legislature's volume of work has increased steadily each session during the past several decades. This 79th Session, more than 5,000 bills were filed in the House of Representatives and Senate. The fast-growing, complex and diverse nature of Texas puts our Legislature to the test each biennium. This session is no exception.
The "long weekends" serve important purposes for legislators, many of whom travel considerable distances each week between their home districts and Austin. Long weekends allow me to return to my home district to deal with the concerns of constituents while the Legislature is in session and laws are being made.
Most legislators use an extra Friday to keep up with the needs of their district in person. From personal experience, I can truthfully say long weekends during the session are rarely spent on anything other than meeting constituents, maintaining my law practice or attending meetings in the district.
It also bears mentioning that the Texas Legislature is fairly unique among the 50 states. Our legislators serve in a part-time body that pays members less than the equivalent of minimum wage. For example, a legislator who puts in an 80-hour workweek, as we did recently, receives less than $2 per hour. That means legislators do not serve their fellow Texans as a career, but rather as a calling.
That also means legislators must continue their own careers even while the Legislature is in session. Occasional long weekends during the session allow us to keep our careers, businesses and practices in operation while we take care of the business of the people of Texas.
Finally, like most Texans, legislators have families and responsibilities that do not cease when we head to Austin every two years. One state representative recently had her first child while serving her first term as a legislator, and many others have infants and young children whose demands for attention do not cease when session begins.
Lawmakers make many sacrifices to serve their districts and state, but I am convinced most Texans would not ask them to sacrifice a few days during the session to return home to celebrate Easter weekend, their wife's birthday or attend a movie with their children.
Criticizing the Legislature is the right of every Texan, and some criticisms are well-founded. However, the public is not well-served when the media inaccurately represent a common-sense provision of longer weekends during the earlier part of the legislative session.
As the session moves toward its end, long weekends are uncommon and extremely long hours are the norm. Recently, for example, many legislators clocked more than 80 hours against strict deadlines on behalf of their constituents. Legislators serving on committees routinely spend even longer hours at the Capitol, often leaving their offices not long before the sun rises on another day.
The long weekends criticized by the editorial provide an important opportunity for representatives of the people to stay in touch with their communities, maintain their businesses and play active roles in their families while conducting the business of the public — in Austin and back home in the districts that elect them.
State Rep. Carlos I. Uresti, D-San Antonio, represents District 118 in the Texas House.
Tuesday, May 24, 2005
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
47 comments:
I like your blog. I also run a site about online colleges and universities. We have programs for all kinds of career paths including
forensic chemistry
display your RSS feeds on their web sites for content.
student book store MyOpp is the first portal to activate a complete portfolio of income streams with one click!student book store
Check out peace dollar
good info
good information
It's time to take matters into your own hands to secure your future income.
It's time to take charge of your future and independence by having your own business!
U hebt werkelijk een goed werk op dit gedaan. Houd omhoog het!Good Wishes, Son magnum cash advance
Sometimes its hard to know what to say or do.Respectfully, Tatum advance cash loan payday
Kein Zweifel wissen Sie, was los ist.Earnestly, Catalina payday cash advance washington
Shop online today. Forget driving to the mall when you can just click the mouse and order from your favorite store. No traffic to deal with
Was ist das neueste Summen?With Compliments, Mozella home loan mortgage
Hello ##NAME##, with all the information on work at home jobs I became very overwhelmed. Anyway, I was online doing a specific search for the most current information on work at home jobs and somehow I ended up on your site. ##NAME## to be frank, ##TITLE## wasn't not the exact match to what I was looking for, but boy am I glad I'm here. You've certainly managed to grab me attention and peak my interest. I must say this is a great blog and I'm most certainly happy that I stopped by eventhough it wasn't the work at home jobs related information I was looking for. Thanks. Keep up the good work.
I'm here trying to figure out ##NAME## how I ended up on your site. You see, I was not looking for ##TITLE##, but ended up here. By the way I have no regrets because this is a great blog. What I was actually looking for was some up to date information on and ended up here. I've read to my heart's content and I must say thanks for the read.
Hello ##NAME##, with all the information on work at home jobs I became very overwhelmed. Anyway, I was online doing a specific search for the most current information on work at home jobs and somehow I ended up on your site. ##NAME## to be frank, ##TITLE## wasn't not the exact match to what I was looking for, but boy am I glad I'm here. You've certainly managed to grab me attention and peak my interest. I must say this is a great blog and I'm most certainly happy that I stopped by eventhough it wasn't the work at home jobs related information I was looking for. Thanks. Keep up the good work.
Guess I don't know as much about advance cash loan online payday as I thought I did.Respectfully, Will advance cash loan online payday
Hi there,
Think your site is top notch. Found it by accident. You are providing a great resource. Thanks.
Best Regards,
home base business opportunity
Hello ##NAME##, with all the information on telecommute I became very overwhelmed. Anyway, I was online doing a specific search for the most current information on telecommute and somehow I ended up on your site. ##NAME## to be frank, ##TITLE## wasn't not the exact match to what I was looking for, but boy am I glad I'm here. You've certainly managed to grab me attention and peak my interest. I must say this is a great blog and I'm most certainly happy that I stopped by eventhough it wasn't the telecommute related information I was looking for. Thanks. Keep up the good work.
Hello ##NAME##, with all the information on legit work at home jobs I became very overwhelmed. Anyway, I was online doing a specific search for the most current information on legit work at home jobs and somehow I ended up on your site. ##NAME## to be frank, ##TITLE## wasn't not the exact match to what I was looking for, but boy am I glad I'm here. You've certainly managed to grab me attention and peak my interest. I must say this is a great blog and I'm most certainly happy that I stopped by eventhough it wasn't the legit work at home jobs related information I was looking for. Thanks. Keep up the good work.
Hello ##NAME##, with all the information on legit work at home jobs I became very overwhelmed. Anyway, I was online doing a specific search for the most current information on legit work at home jobs and somehow I ended up on your site. ##NAME## to be frank, ##TITLE## wasn't not the exact match to what I was looking for, but boy am I glad I'm here. You've certainly managed to grab me attention and peak my interest. I must say this is a great blog and I'm most certainly happy that I stopped by eventhough it wasn't the legit work at home jobs related information I was looking for. Thanks. Keep up the good work.
With our business canada internet opportunity you can get paid huge amounts of money with from the Internet sale of OVER ONE MILLION of the best products that are making other people millions of dollars! And you'll never stock or ship a single item... Ever!
Hello ##NAME##, with all the information on work from home jobs I became very overwhelmed. Anyway, I was online doing a specific search for the most current information on work from home jobs and somehow I ended up on your site. ##NAME## to be frank, ##TITLE## wasn't not the exact match to what I was looking for, but boy am I glad I'm here. You've certainly managed to grab me attention and peak my interest. I must say this is a great blog and I'm most certainly happy that I stopped by eventhough it wasn't the work from home jobs related information I was looking for. Thanks. Keep up the good work.
This is a great opportunity. Just push a button 4 times per day and make $1,000's per month within one year.
Sometimes, it's difficult to take a step backwards. Ther are some decisions that simply can't be undone or even corrected. But distance learning and elearning have impacted the way many adults are getting furthering their educations.
Link to this site: interactive kid learning
http://learningadvice.info
Things you should know when selecting a Child Day Care Provider. Most parents think Child Care is a baby-sitting service. This is a misconception, as Child Care is a profession as any other. There are so many important things to note about the challenging and rewarding career of being a Child Care Provider.
Link to my site: child care in dallas
Thanks for creating this blog, I like to cruise the blogs to see what other people think about.
Regards,
work at home program
a great opportunity, no selling, no phoning, no recruiting PERIOD!
Hi blogger:)
It really caught my eyes, and I kept on reading and absorbing you information. I still cannot understand where you get all this stuff! Did you copy from an encyclopedia? :)
Regards,
online business start
Work from home with your personal
home computer !Earn an outstanding Income! At $100 per sale! You keep 100% Just Advertise this site you will do qiute well !
I was searching blogspots on Google and found yours. Nice read keep up the good work.
From http://www.surveyearn.biz/MysteryShopper/Mystery_Shopper.html which is about paid to shop
Some thought provoking and interesting comments I would say.
Anyways, if you like I have an interesting site to visit at http://www.surveyearn.biz/PaidSurveys/Work_at_home.html. All about work at home online
Good Blog Site with a lot of intersting and not so interesting comments I would say!
If you have a moment please feel free to visit my site http://www.small-business-web-design.ssr.be
web site design companies
I am a fan - brill stuff!!
online web design
top ranking web site design - I had a nice exploration on this site. I will return again with more comments.
I was searching blogspots on Google and found yours. Nice read keep up the good work.
From http://www.small-business-web-design.ssr.be which is about florida web site design
Hey there, you've got a great blog here!
Did it take you long to set up?
It's taken me quite a few weeks,
The first two templates I didn't like
And now if someone has a long heading
It pushes the main articles way down the page.
It's kind of anoying when that happens.
I have a home business site.
It pretty much covers home business related stuff.
Come and check it out if you get time :-)
Post a Comment