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I'm fond of my State Government and suspect it is very different than most State Governments.
1) We only allow the Legislature to meet every other year (odd years) and then ONLY for 140 days It's bicameral with 150 House members and 31 Senate Members. They have to get to work because they don't have much time to do the State's business. They also have to spend most of their time with their Constituents and be accountable to them.
2) Laws take effect (if signed by the Governor) 90 days after passage unless 2/3 of the Legislature vote for quicker force.
3) Elections are partisan, but Leadership in the Legislature is not. It's not unusual to have a Republican Lt Governor (runs the Senate) and a Democrat Speaker of the House - committees also have bi-partisan leadership.
4) State legislators make $600 per month, or $7,200 per year, plus a per diem of $150 for every day the Legislature is in session (also including any special sessions). That adds up to $33,800 a year for a regular session (140 days), with the total pay for a two-year term being $41,000.
5) Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Comptroller of Public Accounts, Land Commissioner, Attorney General, Agriculture Commissioner, the three-member Texas Railroad Commission, the State Board of Education are ALL elected independently, making them responsible to the Voters and not to the Governor.
6) We have Sunset Law for Agencies (about 130 of them) - that means that every 10 years they have to go through a 2 year review to see if the Agency will continue or be abolished. The first year, the Agency justifies their existence with an Evaluation - then a Sunset Committee Evaluates them in the second year.
Those are my favorite things, but there is always room for improvement. It's been a big improvement for most information to be available online, but I still want cameras in the Legislature and in meetings. We are a right to work State and don't have to deal with Teacher or Public Servant strikes.
Local government in most towns and cities in non-partisan in that the candidates do not declare a party. I've lived in the same City for over 40 years and have no idea whether my Mayor is a Democrat or a Republican - actually I think the new one is a Republican, but I voted against him. We had a good Mayor and didn't need this new guy who sent out flyers about Abortion. I must have been one of the few that understood abortion has nothing to do with City Government.
Wyoming. the government here tends to leave people to their own devices.
Wyoming looks pretty good. I like how Wyoming has the law which limits government spending to a certain percentage of what is it, either taxes or GDP? I'd have to look at it again, for the life of me I can't remember but I know it's in the state constitution. That's a law I wish was required for the federal government, lol.
Pennsylvania. We're a swing state and constantly exchanging Governors, US Senators, AG's and even congressmen between both parties. We avoid the extremes of neighboring states and the corruption. The voters seem to have a better grasp of the issues and don't let the parties dictate to them who they'll vote for. At least outside of Philly. I think Philly was absorbed by NJ by the way it runs itself.
We are ridiculously over burdened with state legislators and senators, though.
Alabama -- on the basis that I've never heard anything bad about it, my favorite U.S. Senator comes from there (Jeff Sessions), and it produced the winner of a competition for amateur pianists who stormed through Lizst's "Mephisto Waltz" flawlessly.
Pennsylvania. We're a swing state and constantly exchanging Governors, US Senators, AG's and even congressmen between both parties. We avoid the extremes of neighboring states and the corruption. The voters seem to have a better grasp of the issues and don't let the parties dictate to them who they'll vote for. At least outside of Philly. I think Philly was absorbed by NJ by the way it runs itself.
We are ridiculously over burdened with state legislators and senators, though.
Arlen Specter.
He killed PA for me.
On the other hand, "Trading Places" made up for it a bit....
I've lived most of my life in 4 states and have property in another so I'll rank these:
1. Arizona - kind of Conservative Libertarian mixture that most suits my thinking
2. Texas - A bit too much Conservative principles but it's very effectively run
3. Washington - Kind of Liberal Libertarian mix that is appealing but tax policy very favorable for the wealthy and high income.
4. Louisiana - A bit too conservative and some legendary corruption but still okay
5. Oregon - Staunchly Liberal and not a good place for building wealth and living life in my experience
I was so young when I was there that I don't remember much about Montana.
California?
Beautiful state until the Democrats took over and the Third World flowed in.
It's still a great state -- but I only say that because it's like "Rocky" -- no other place could survive so many punches.
Okay, I never saw "Rocky" -- but I think I get the picture.
I keep thinking I'll have to move. But here in San Diego, I can still smoke cigarettes and when people complain tell them to f off, and get away with it.
I live in Arizona and I sort of have a bitter taste in my mouth from how things are run here. I haven't researched a lot about other state governments. Arizona isn't too bad though and there are definitely worse, though there are a few things I'd change. Like education funding most importantly. I wouldn't touch the gun laws here, Arizona's most important law, but I'd probably touch some of the other social laws we have.
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