Texas 2019 - 86th Regular

Texas House Bill HJR57 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	86R5255 BEF-D
2	2	By: Hinojosa H.J.R. No. 57
3	3
4	4
5	5	A JOINT RESOLUTION
6	6	proposing a constitutional amendment to set the salaries of members
7	7	of the legislature and the lieutenant governor based on the average
8	8	public school teacher salary in this state.
9	9	BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Sections 24(a) and (c), Article III, Texas
11	11	Constitution, are amended to read as follows:
12	12	(a) Members of the Legislature shall receive from the Public
13	13	Treasury a salary in an amount determined [of Six Hundred Dollars
14	14	($600) per month, unless a greater amount is recommended] by the
15	15	Texas Ethics Commission under Section 24a(g) of this article [and
16	16	approved by the voters of this State in which case the salary is
17	17	that amount. Each member shall also receive a per diem set by the
18	18	Texas Ethics Commission for each day during each Regular and
19	19	Special Session of the Legislature].
20	20	(c) In addition to a salary [the per diem] the Members of
21	21	each House shall be entitled to mileage at the same rate as
22	22	prescribed by law for employees of the State of Texas.
23	23	SECTION 2. Section 24a, Article III, Texas Constitution, is
24	24	amended by adding Subsection (g) to read as follows:
25	25	(g) The commission shall set the annual salary of the
26	26	members of the legislature, including the speaker of the house of
27	27	representatives, in an amount equal to the average salary paid to a
28	28	full-time certified classroom teacher in the public free schools of
29	29	this state for the preceding school year as determined by the
30	30	commission from available information and shall establish the date
31	31	on which the annual change in salary takes effect each year.
32	32	SECTION 3. Section 28, Article III, Texas Constitution, is
33	33	amended to read as follows:
34	34	Sec. 28. The Legislature shall, at its first regular
35	35	session after the publication of each United States decennial
36	36	census, apportion the state into senatorial and representative
37	37	districts, agreeable to the provisions of Sections 25 and 26 of this
38	38	Article. In the event the Legislature shall at any such first
39	39	regular session following the publication of a United States
40	40	decennial census, fail to make such apportionment, same shall be
41	41	done by the Legislative Redistricting Board of Texas, which is
42	42	hereby created, and shall be composed of five (5) members, as
43	43	follows: The Lieutenant Governor, the Speaker of the House of
44	44	Representatives, the Attorney General, the Comptroller of Public
45	45	Accounts and the Commissioner of the General Land Office, a
46	46	majority of whom shall constitute a quorum. Said Board shall
47	47	assemble in the City of Austin within ninety (90) days after the
48	48	final adjournment of such regular session. The Board shall, within
49	49	sixty (60) days after assembling, apportion the state into
50	50	senatorial and representative districts, or into senatorial or
51	51	representative districts, as the failure of action of such
52	52	Legislature may make necessary. Such apportionment shall be in
53	53	writing and signed by three (3) or more of the members of the Board
54	54	duly acknowledged as the act and deed of such Board, and, when so
55	55	executed and filed with the Secretary of State, shall have force and
56	56	effect of law. Such apportionment shall become effective at the
57	57	next succeeding statewide general election. The Supreme Court of
58	58	Texas shall have jurisdiction to compel such Board to perform its
59	59	duties in accordance with the provisions of this section by writ of
60	60	mandamus or other extraordinary writs conformable to the usages of
61	61	law. The Legislature shall provide necessary funds for clerical
62	62	and technical aid and for other expenses incidental to the work of
63	63	the Board, and the Lieutenant Governor and the Speaker of the House
64	64	of Representatives shall be entitled to receive [per diem and]
65	65	travel expense during the Board's session in the same manner and
66	66	amount as they would receive while attending a special session of
67	67	the Legislature.
68	68	SECTION 4. Section 17(b), Article IV, Texas Constitution,
69	69	is amended to read as follows:
70	70	(b) The Lieutenant Governor shall, while acting as
71	71	President of the Senate, receive for his or her services the same
72	72	compensation and mileage which shall be allowed to the members of
73	73	the Senate[, and no more unless the Texas Ethics Commission
74	74	recommends and the voters approve a higher salary, in which case the
75	75	salary is that amount]; and during the time the Lieutenant Governor
76	76	exercises the powers and authority appertaining to the office of
77	77	Governor, the Lieutenant Governor shall receive in like manner the
78	78	same compensation which the Governor would have received had the
79	79	Governor been employed in the duties of that office, and no more.
80	80	An increase in the emoluments of the office of Lieutenant Governor
81	81	does not make a member of the Legislature ineligible to serve in the
82	82	office of Lieutenant Governor.
83	83	SECTION 5. Sections 24a(e) and (f), Article III, Texas
84	84	Constitution, are repealed.
85	85	SECTION 6. The following temporary provision is added to
86	86	the Texas Constitution:
87	87	TEMPORARY PROVISION. (a) This temporary provision applies to
88	88	the constitutional amendment proposed by the 86th Legislature,
89	89	Regular Session, 2019, setting the salaries of members of the
90	90	legislature and the lieutenant governor based on the average public
91	91	school teacher salary in this state.
92	92	(b) Except as otherwise provided by Subsections (c) and (d)
93	93	of this temporary provision, the amendments to Sections 24, 24a,
94	94	and 28, Article III, and Section 17, Article IV, of this
95	95	constitution take effect September 1, 2020, and apply to salaries
96	96	on and after that date.
97	97	(c) Except as otherwise provided by Subsection (d) of this
98	98	temporary provision, Section 24a(g), Article III, of this
99	99	constitution takes effect January 1, 2020, and applies to salaries
100	100	on and after September 1, 2020.
101	101	(d) The constitutional amendment described by Subsection
102	102	(a) of this temporary provision does not apply to an individual who
103	103	was a member of the legislature, including the speaker of the house
104	104	of representatives, or the lieutenant governor during all or part
105	105	of the 86th Legislature, Regular Session, 2019. The salary and per
106	106	diem for any future service as a member of the legislature, as the
107	107	speaker of the house of representatives, or as the lieutenant
108	108	governor, including service on the Legislative Redistricting Board
109	109	of Texas, by an individual to whom this subsection applies shall be
110	110	determined in accordance with Sections 24, 24a, and 28, Article
111	111	III, and Section 17, Article IV, of this constitution, as those
112	112	provisions existed on November 4, 2019.
113	113	SECTION 7. This proposed constitutional amendment shall be
114	114	submitted to the voters at an election to be held November 5, 2019.
115	115	The ballot shall be printed to permit voting for or against the
116	116	proposition: "The constitutional amendment setting the salaries of
117	117	members of the legislature and the lieutenant governor based on the
118	118	average public school teacher salary in this state."