Bill Text: TX HJR69 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Proposing a constitutional amendment to set the salaries of members of the legislature and the lieutenant governor based on the average public school teacher salary in this state.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-02-28 - Referred to State Affairs [HJR69 Detail]

Download: Texas-2023-HJR69-Introduced.html

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88R1253 BEF-D
By: Hinojosa H.J.R. No. 69

A JOINT RESOLUTION
proposing a constitutional amendment to set the salaries of members
of the legislature and the lieutenant governor based on the average
public school teacher salary in this state.
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 24(a) and (c), Article III, Texas
Constitution, are amended to read as follows:
(a) Members of the Legislature shall receive from the Public
Treasury a salary in an amount determined [of Six Hundred Dollars
($600) per month, unless a greater amount is recommended] by the
Texas Ethics Commission under Section 24a(g) of this article [and
approved by the voters of this State in which case the salary is
that amount. Each member shall also receive a per diem set by the
Texas Ethics Commission for each day during each Regular and
Special Session of the Legislature].
(c) In addition to a salary [the per diem] the Members of
each House shall be entitled to mileage at the same rate as
prescribed by law for employees of the State of Texas.
SECTION 2. Section 24a, Article III, Texas Constitution, is
amended by adding Subsection (g) to read as follows:
(g) The commission shall set the annual salary of the
members of the legislature, including the speaker of the house of
representatives, in an amount equal to the average salary paid to a
full-time certified classroom teacher in the public free schools of
this state for the preceding school year as determined by the
commission from available information and shall establish the date
on which the annual change in salary takes effect each year.
SECTION 3. Section 28, Article III, Texas Constitution, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 28. The Legislature shall, at its first regular
session after the publication of each United States decennial
census, apportion the state into senatorial and representative
districts, agreeable to the provisions of Sections 25 and 26 of this
Article. In the event the Legislature shall at any such first
regular session following the publication of a United States
decennial census, fail to make such apportionment, same shall be
done by the Legislative Redistricting Board of Texas, which is
hereby created, and shall be composed of five (5) members, as
follows: The Lieutenant Governor, the Speaker of the House of
Representatives, the Attorney General, the Comptroller of Public
Accounts and the Commissioner of the General Land Office, a
majority of whom shall constitute a quorum. Said Board shall
assemble in the City of Austin within ninety (90) days after the
final adjournment of such regular session. The Board shall, within
sixty (60) days after assembling, apportion the state into
senatorial and representative districts, or into senatorial or
representative districts, as the failure of action of such
Legislature may make necessary. Such apportionment shall be in
writing and signed by three (3) or more of the members of the Board
duly acknowledged as the act and deed of such Board, and, when so
executed and filed with the Secretary of State, shall have force and
effect of law. Such apportionment shall become effective at the
next succeeding statewide general election. The Supreme Court of
Texas shall have jurisdiction to compel such Board to perform its
duties in accordance with the provisions of this section by writ of
mandamus or other extraordinary writs conformable to the usages of
law. The Legislature shall provide necessary funds for clerical
and technical aid and for other expenses incidental to the work of
the Board, and the Lieutenant Governor and the Speaker of the House
of Representatives shall be entitled to receive [per diem and]
travel expense during the Board's session in the same manner and
amount as they would receive while attending a special session of
the Legislature.
SECTION 4. Section 17(b), Article IV, Texas Constitution,
is amended to read as follows:
(b) The Lieutenant Governor shall, while acting as
President of the Senate, receive for his or her services the same
compensation and mileage which shall be allowed to the members of
the Senate[, and no more unless the Texas Ethics Commission
recommends and the voters approve a higher salary, in which case the
salary is that amount]; and during the time the Lieutenant Governor
exercises the powers and authority appertaining to the office of
Governor, the Lieutenant Governor shall receive in like manner the
same compensation which the Governor would have received had the
Governor been employed in the duties of that office, and no more.
An increase in the emoluments of the office of Lieutenant Governor
does not make a member of the Legislature ineligible to serve in the
office of Lieutenant Governor.
SECTION 5. Sections 24a(e) and (f), Article III, Texas
Constitution, are repealed.
SECTION 6. The following temporary provision is added to
the Texas Constitution:
TEMPORARY PROVISION. (a) This temporary provision applies to
the constitutional amendment proposed by the 88th Legislature,
Regular Session, 2023, setting the salaries of members of the
legislature and the lieutenant governor based on the average public
school teacher salary in this state.
(b) Except as otherwise provided by Subsections (c) and (d)
of this temporary provision, the amendments to Sections 24, 24a,
and 28, Article III, and Section 17, Article IV, of this
constitution take effect September 1, 2024, and apply to salaries
on and after that date.
(c) Except as otherwise provided by Subsection (d) of this
temporary provision, Section 24a(g), Article III, of this
constitution takes effect January 1, 2024, and applies to salaries
on and after September 1, 2024.
(d) The constitutional amendment described by Subsection
(a) of this temporary provision does not apply to an individual who
was a member of the legislature, including the speaker of the house
of representatives, or the lieutenant governor during all or part
of the 88th Legislature, Regular Session, 2023. The salary and per
diem for any future service as a member of the legislature, as the
speaker of the house of representatives, or as the lieutenant
governor, including service on the Legislative Redistricting Board
of Texas, by an individual to whom this subsection applies shall be
determined in accordance with Sections 24, 24a, and 28, Article
III, and Section 17, Article IV, of this constitution, as those
provisions existed on November 6, 2023.
SECTION 7. This proposed constitutional amendment shall be
submitted to the voters at an election to be held November 7, 2023.
The ballot shall be printed to permit voting for or against the
proposition: "The constitutional amendment setting the salaries of
members of the legislature and the lieutenant governor based on the
average public school teacher salary in this state."