Texas in the News Weekly Quiz April 5, 2021

Texas Senate Supermajority

For decades the Texas Senate had a two-thirds supermajority—defined as more than half of the total vote—rule which required 2/3 of the members (21 out of the 31) to agree to initiate debate on legislation. In recent sessions, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick has asked the Senators to keep the supermajority threshold but reduced the number needed to debate legislation. In the 2021 session, the Senate, with the backing of the Lieutenant Governor, reduced the supermajority requirement to 18.

Observers claim that this would allow more contentious bills on the agenda and will make bipartisan agreement less likely. Conservatives argue that Texas is a Republican state with Republican legislative majorities so making it easier for Republican to pass conservative legislation is what most Texans want.

Read the following articles to decide for yourself how these rules might impact the legislative process in the Texas Senate:

• Republicans Change Supermajority Rule To Maintain Advantage In Texas Senate
• Texas Republicans make legislative power play, limit Democrats’ clout in state Senate
• Texas Senate Redefines Supermajority to Maintain Republican Legislative Power