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American Government Reflections

Chapter 20: State Government


The States
States in the U.S. also have their own constitutions that reflect the concerns of those in the
state. However, state constitutions must not conflict with the U.S. Constitution. These
constitutions can be brief and rarely revised while others long and revised often. State
constitutions are also influenced by the places and times in which they were written and many
traditions and regional history will affect the legislature in the state's constitution. Also, state
constitutions and governments allow the public a relatively high degree of control. I think this
allows the government to work more for the public good and helps lower the amount of abuse of
power in the government. Several ways in which a citizen can check the government are through
initiatives, referenda, and recalls. Initiatives allow the people to propose laws. Referendums
allow the people to vote on proposals that have been considered by the legislature. Finally, a
recall allows the people to remove an elected official out of office though it is rarely used. These
three processes allow the people more control in the government and I think that they help
address some of the most pressing issues of today such as education, crime, and more.
Organization
State governments are set up similarly to the national government. Most have a bicameral
legislature, however the number of terms, length of the terms, and qualifications vary between
the states. Also, a legislator is only a full-time job in nine states. Why are most legislative
positions not a full-time job? Would the state governments work more efficiently if they were
full-time jobs? Would the legislators be more committed to their work? I think that legislative
jobs should be full-time as this will allow the legislators to focus solely on the concerns of the
people and the state's concerns. Then, this also leads to great differences in the salaries of
legislators. Additionally, state governments and the national government both a have a committee
process and the ethnic diversity has similar proportions to Congress.
The executive and judiciary state branches also operate in similar ways to the national
government. Each state has a governor who initiates legislation, prepares budgets, and sets an
agenda for the state. One power that they possess that the president does not is line-item veto. I
think that line-item veto should be a power that the president can use as it then helps pass laws
without having to go through the long process of writing laws again and allows Congress to
focus on the specific part of the law that others disagree with. Then, the courts have a trial and
appeals courts and judges terms vary between each state. States also call upon their citizens for
jury duty. Thankfully, I have not experienced jury duty yet, however I have heard several times
that it is usually considered the bane of citizen's existence.
State Budgets and Revenues
State governments get their revenue in a different way than the national government does.
Many states have enacted sales taxes on goods and services and some have additional taxes on
special goods. On type of special tax is a sin tax which tries to discourage the purchase of some
items such as alcohol and cigarettes. I think that this helps limit the number of people who buy
these products and how often they buy them. This is because people are less likely to buy an item
if it costs more money. An additional way that states create revenue is through income tax. Most
states also tax nonrenewable resources such as oil, coal, and natural gas. Theses taxe are called
severance taxes. I think that states should tax natural resources as it makes people use less of the

natural resource because they do not want to spend the money. Because of the drought that
California and other states are experiencing, I think that the people should pay more for water
because increasing the value of water will make more people aware of its value and how it must
be used carefully. Water is an important resource and taxing water more would help people
understand how important it is to conserve water. States also create revenue through federal
grants and lotteries.

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