Though the position of governor is usually regarded as the most powerful executive position a state can have, a debate has risen between the gubernatorial authority of Texas’s governor and lieutenant governor. This can be attributed to the strict nature of the Texas Constitution of 1876 as a reaction to Reconstruction and the overpowering era of Edmund J. Davis as a governor. Consequently, the governor’s formal powers have been restricted, and relative to most other states, the lieutenant governor of Texas has considerably greater power, especially with the legislative branch (Erikson and Wallace, 2010). Currently, the governor has sufficient powers to execute their job, as previous governors have achieved many of their planned goals. However,
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Nevertheless, when their duties are thoroughly examined, the Texas governor has enough liberty given in his or her position where significant policy changes can still be made. The governor is executively responsible for appointing qualified candidates to state office positions, submitting an executive budget to the legislature, and being the commander in chief of the state’s military forces when not under the order of the President. Legislatively, the governor can veto and sign legislation, both post-adjournment veto and line-item veto, can call special sessions of the legislature, and has the message power. The governor doesn’t have much judicial power, only able to appoint vacant seats and limited powers to grant reprieves with the approval of the Board of Pardons for convicted individuals (Abbott, …show more content…
Two of the most powerful responsibilities of the lieutenant governor is that they can appoint all the chairs of the Senate committees and they can also decide when and where bills are sent to. With this power, the lieutenant governor can surely have more of a preference towards bills that align more towards their own political agenda, and the equally well written ones which may not interest them as much will not even have a chance at being discussed by the Senate, let alone be delivered to the governor to sign (Davis, 2010). Some may argue that the lieutenant governor is more powerful than the governor since it has overwhelming powers in the legislature, but they do not have any formal executive powers designated by the Constitution or judicial powers either.
Overall, our governor has enough power to be able to effectively do their job acting as the so-called “President” of the state with their “Vice-President” by the side. There are a few areas that the Texas governor is lacking in such as the plural executive system where other officeholders hold some power separate from the governor while other states only have the governor as the main executive
Nevertheless, when their duties are thoroughly examined, the Texas governor has enough liberty given in his or her position where significant policy changes can still be made. The governor is executively responsible for appointing qualified candidates to state office positions, submitting an executive budget to the legislature, and being the commander in chief of the state’s military forces when not under the order of the President. Legislatively, the governor can veto and sign legislation, both post-adjournment veto and line-item veto, can call special sessions of the legislature, and has the message power. The governor doesn’t have much judicial power, only able to appoint vacant seats and limited powers to grant reprieves with the approval of the Board of Pardons for convicted individuals (Abbott, …show more content…
Two of the most powerful responsibilities of the lieutenant governor is that they can appoint all the chairs of the Senate committees and they can also decide when and where bills are sent to. With this power, the lieutenant governor can surely have more of a preference towards bills that align more towards their own political agenda, and the equally well written ones which may not interest them as much will not even have a chance at being discussed by the Senate, let alone be delivered to the governor to sign (Davis, 2010). Some may argue that the lieutenant governor is more powerful than the governor since it has overwhelming powers in the legislature, but they do not have any formal executive powers designated by the Constitution or judicial powers either.
Overall, our governor has enough power to be able to effectively do their job acting as the so-called “President” of the state with their “Vice-President” by the side. There are a few areas that the Texas governor is lacking in such as the plural executive system where other officeholders hold some power separate from the governor while other states only have the governor as the main executive