General Discussion

The Governor has relatively little power, and the Representatives receive very low salaries. If you don't have some other source of income you can't afford to serve in the Lege. Originally, this meant only rich Anglo ranchers, or those who were *very* open to bribery (Beef, Broads and Bourbon were the typical "currencies" of political negotiation) could afford to enter gov't; later, the rich oilmen joined in. Both kept the government on a tight leash, and that hasn't changed even as the composition of the Lege has changed to include other wealthy businessmen. The TX gov't is there to serve the wishes of wealthy Texans, and that includes keeping all those poor brown people as powerless as possible -- in other words, a Republican version of Paradise. It would require fundamental, radical changes in the TX Constitution to bring real change.


https://www.texastribune.org/2012/04/13/lousy-pay-great-benefits/