Legislative power

The Constitution of the U.S grants Congress the power to ratify legislation and the freedom to accept or reject individuals proposed by the president to carry out specific duties in the country.    The parliamentary systems in the state of Ohio and Massachusetts have various similarities and differences.

There are substantial similarities between the legislative power of both Ohio and Massachusetts. To begin with, in both states, governors have significant influence over the legislative bodies because of the nature of their jobs. The governors have considerable control over the media bodies due to their positions also. The governors propose budgets for their states, policy agendas, and vetoes (PUBLIC EMPLOYEE RETIREMENT ADMINISTRATION COMMISSION 5). For instance, in both countries, the governors are required to present a budget containing a plan of expenses, an approximation of incomes for the upcoming financial year, bills containing all future annexations, and other legislation needed to implement the executive budget. Besides, once legislation has undergone the right channels, it is presented to the governors for signing.  If the governors sign the bill, it becomes law, and if the governors do not support the contents of legislation, the proposal can be rejected.

In both states also, if three-fifths of the members elected to each house cast votes to either support or rejected a proposition presented in the houses. If the law requires the people to be involved, the people can take part in the democratic process through which they can either vote the recommendations in or out. The national assembly does not have unlimited freedom to propose changes to the country’s constitution. However, a meeting by individuals voted into office by the public can be convened and recommend possible changes to the law (Ohio Legislative Service Commission 8).  If two-thirds of the members elected to each house vote to adopt a joint resolution proposing a constitutional convention, the propositions are taken to the people through an election where people get a chance to exercise their democratic rights by either rejecting or voting in the plans. If the voters vote in the propositions the law is presented to the president who signs it into law.

In both states also, the legislative process is similar. The first step in the legal process is the presentation of the bill to Congress. Any individual has the right to draft the law, but only the members of the Congress have the legal right for legislation. During the legislative process, however, the proposed bill can undergo specific alterations (PUBLIC EMPLOYEE RETIREMENT ADMINISTRATION COMMISSION 13) . The committee, with the duty of reviewing the proposal, performs its functions after the presentation of the law. After review, the bill is then debated by the congress members, and the final document is enrolled depending on where it came from. It is then presented to the speaker of the House and sent to the governor for approval.

However, there exist substantial differences between parliamentary systems in the two states. In the state of Massachusetts, the people are actively involved in the law-making process. In a nutshell, people practice their decision making power independently without political interference. For instance, if there are contentious issues that require a referendum, the state can prepare one. However, the proposed document is presented to the people as designed initially or after significant changes have been made on it. However, in the state of Ohio, the law-making power is conferred in the general assembly and the people. The people have reserved for themselves the right to approve and disapprove laws enacted by the general assembly.

The Massachusetts House of Representatives is contained of one hundred and sixty individuals who represent different regions in the state. These individuals are actively involved in the law-making process, and conduct their meetings throughout the year in either formal or informal sessions to consider law-making. The House of the representative is led by the speaker who is legally voted into office by other members of the House at the end of every two years. The state of Ohio, on the other hand, is comprised of ninety-nine House of Representatives who are elected from single-member districts. The members are also full time and meet throughout the year. However, the amount of time spent in the House is determined not only on the period spent on the law-making body but also on the activities that the members are involved in  (Ohio Legislative Service Commission 8).  Such activities include committee hearings, listening sessions, constituent service, and even time spent during a campaign. Therefore such members tend to receive better pay.

The state of Massachusetts also spends a lot of money during the legislative process compared to the state of Ohio. Due to the high number of house representatives in Massachusetts, the state tends to spend a lot of resources in terms of paying the representatives during official duties. This is in comparison to the state of Ohio, which has a few number of representatives.

In conclusion, different states in the United States have different legislative processes. For instance, each state has various members of representatives. Besides, each state varies in the number of resources that it spends during the legal process.

Works Cited

Ohio Legislative Service Commission. “The Legislative Branch.” Ohio Legislative Service Commission (2010): 1-18.

PUBLIC EMPLOYEE RETIREMENT ADMINISTRATION COMMISSION. “The Legislative Process.” PUBLIC EMPLOYEE RETIREMENT ADMINISTRATION COMMISSION (2002): 1-20.

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Legislative power

Based on the assigned readings for this module, compare and contrast the legislative
systems in two of the states covered by the readings. A thorough analysis should
include three (3) points of similarity and three (3) areas of difference.

Your answer should take the form not less than three (3) typewritten pages. Cite
appropriately and include a Works Cited page. Please upload your paper as a word doc
or pdf file.