A Difference: Women in the Texas Legislature Terry L
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A DIFFERENCE: WOMEN IN THE TEXAS LEGISLATURE by TERRY L. GILMOUR, B.S., M.A. A DISSERTATION IN POLITICAL SCIENCE Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Texas Tech University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Approved Accepted May, 1999 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would first like to acknowledge the support of my family, not only in the writing of this dissertation, but also in my decision to attend graduate school and earn a Ph.D. I have been blessed by constant words of encouragement and numerous acts of support from my husband, Bruce, and children, Katie and Jess at home, and Lacey and Andrew from a distance. Much gratitude is due my chair, Professor Jyl Josephson, for constantly providing me with the guidance and encouragement to finish this degree. She has served as a mentor from the time when she first arrived at Texas Tech and I was a graduate student, but also more recently in her supervision in the research and writing of this dissertation. She also agreed to serve as chair after my original chair ieft Texas Tech, and for that, I am also truly gratefiil. I am also thankful to the other members of my committee: Professor Craig Emmert, Professor John Hindera, Professor David Lanoue, and Professor Maijean Purinton. This dissertation is a better project due in large part to their helpfiíl insights, comments, and encouragement along the way. I am extremely grateflil to Drs. Hindera and Lanoue, both of whom agreed to serve on my committee rather Íate in the project. Dr. Purinton, as the graduate school representative, ofifered some especially important suggestions from a different perspective which was appreciated. Finally, special thanks to Dr. Emmert, who was my first professor in graduate schooi, and who has alwavs been available for advice and counseling. ii I would also like to thank Dr. Sue ToUeson-Rinehart for serving as the fírst chair of my committee. She was a true mentor and taught me much about the role of gender politics, but she also taught me the professional aspect of academic endeavors. A note of thanks is aiso due three colleagues, each of which helped me through the graduate school process with friendship and laughter: Dr. Trey Hood, Rus Moore, and Kurt Shirkey. ni TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT v LIST OF TABLES vii CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION 1 n. POLITICS IN TEXAS 18 m. LEGISLATFVE ACTrVTTY OF ELECTED WOMEN IN TEXAS 61 IV. WOMENINSIDE THE TEXAS LEGISLATURE . 103 V. CONCLUSION 129 BIBLIOGRAPHY 136 APPENDIX 149 IV ABSTRACT Women have made advances in terms of numbers elected to the United States Congress, state legislatures, and local govemment. This holds true for the State of Texas, particularly since the 1970s. Although women may not initially come to elected office believing that they should make a difference for the concems of women, many realize the necessity. The central question remains, what - if any, difference do they make once they assume elected office? This dissertation relies upon a variety of methods to explain the increase of women in the Texas legislature had led to a signifícant shift in policy direction, particularly in the area of legislation that directly benefits children and the family. This theory is supported by historical descriptive evidence, a unique data set examining the legislative activities of men and women in the Texas legislature during a twenty-year period, and a survey of the men and women who served during the 75^ Texas Legislative session. I cannot argue that this change in policy direction was solely a direct result of the increase of women. Certainly, there are factors that have occurred during the past twenty years that have brought an awareness of traditional domestic concems to the forefront. However, I can argue that the mere presence of women in the legislature created an environment more open to the discussion of these issue areas and that it was these women who spurred the awareness. With the increase of women in the Texas legislature over, time, legislation initiated by these women and subsequently passed into law became increasingly more prevalent. While the increase of women in the Texas legislature may not have been the difference, they certainly have made a difference, most specifícally in the policymaking of legislation that enhances the status of children and the family. VI LIST OF TABLES 3.1 Nationwide Survey of Differences Between Male and Female State Legislators in 1988 79 3.2 Percentage of Enacted Legislation of Men and Women in the Texas Legislature - Cumulative of 64^, 69*, and 74* Sessions 80 3.3 Percentage of Enacted Legislation of Men and Women in the Texas Legislature - By Legislative Session 81 3.4 Percentage of Enacted Legislation by Women by Subject Category By Legislative Session 82 3.5 Percentage of Enacted Legislation by Women By Legislative Session 83 3.6 Percentage of Sponsored Bills by Sex of Legislator by Category ... 84 3.7 Number of Sponsored Bills by Sex of Legislator (Children/Family Versus All Others) 85 3.8 Number of Sponsored Bills by Sex of Legislator (Women Versus All Others) 86 3.9 Number of Sponsored Bills by Sex of Legislator (All Others Versus Women and Children/Family 87 3.10 Number of Sponsored Bills by Sex of Legislator - 64* Session .... 88 3.11 Number of Sponsored Bills by Sex of Legislator - 69* Session ... 89 3.12 Number of Sponsored Bills by Sex of Legislator - 74* Session . 90 3.13 Number of Sponsored Bills by Sex of Legislator - Democrats .... 91 3.14 Number of Sponsored Bills by Sex of Legislator - Republicans 92 3 15 Number of Sponsored Biils by Sex of Legislature - House of Representatives 93 3.16 Number of Sponsored Bills by Sex of Legislators - Senate 94 vii 3.17 Disposition of Sponsored Bills by Sex of Legislator - Cumulative of 64*, 69* and 74* Sessions 95 3.18 Disposition of Sponsored BiUs by Sex of Legislator - 64* Session . 96 3.19 Disposition of Sponsored Bills by Sex of Legislator- 69* Session . 97 3.20 Disposition of Sponsored Bills by Sex of Legislator - 74* Session . 98 3.21 Disposition of Sponsored Bills by Sex of Legislator - Democrats ... 99 3.22 Disposition of Sponsored Bills by Sex of Legislator- Republicans . 100 3.23 Disposition of Sponsored Bills by Sex of Legislator - House of Representatives 101 3.24 Disposition of Sponsored Bills by Sex of Legislator - Senate 102 4.1 Demographic Characteristics of the Male and Female Members Members of the 75* Legislative Session 121 4.2 Electoral Experience of the Male and Female Members of the 75* Legislative Session 122 4.3 Average Weekly Activities of the Male and Female Members of the 75* Legislative Session 123 4.4 Self-Ranking Scores of the Male and Female Members of the 75* Legislative Session 124 4.5 Main Job as a Legislator as Identified by the Male and Female Members of the 75* Legislative Session 125 4.6 Main Policy Area as Identified by Male and Female Members of the75th Legislative Session 126 4.7 Effectiveness of Women Legislators as Identifíed by Male and Female Members of the 75* Legislative Session 127 4.8 Characteristics for Political Success as Identified by the Male and Female Members of the 75* Legislative Session 128 vin A.I. Total Number and Percentages of Bills by Sex of Legislator ... 150 A.2. Disposition of Total Bills 151 A.3. Coding of Bills by Subject Category 152 A.4. Partisanship of Legislator Sponsoring Bill 153 A.5. BiUs Sponsored by Session of Legislature 154 A.6. Total Bills Sponsored by House of Origination 155 A.7. Bills Promoting Status of Children and Families Versus Those Promoting Status of Women and All Others 156 A.8. Bills Promoting the Status of Women Versus Bills Promoting The Status of Children and Family and All Others 157 A.9. All Other Bills Versus Bills Promoting the Status of Chiidren And Family and Women 158 IX CHAPTERI INTRODUCTION "/ didn 't really want to be stereotyped as the woman legislator. / wanted to deal with things Uke banking andfinance. But I learned very quickly that ifthe women Uke me in Congress were not going to attend to some of these family concerns, whether it wasjobs or children, pension equity or whatever, then they weren 't going to be attended to. So I quickly shed those biases that I had and said, "WeU, nobody else is going to do it; I 'm going to do ií. " Congresswoman Marge Roukema As women have made advances in terms of numbers to the United States Congress, state legislatures, and local governments, the sentiments echoed by Congresswoman Roukema seem to be prevalent (Center for the American Woman and Politics 1995). Although women may not initially come to elected office believing that they should make a difference for other women, they soon realize the necessity. Researchers have been fascinated by the increasing number of women that have been elected to public office, and as to whether this increase has altered the agenda of policymaking. This paper will look closely at the women who have served in the Texas legislature and determine their contributions to policymaking from their entry into the legislature through the present time. The most comprehensive research on women in elected office has been undertaken by the Center for the American Woman and Politics (CAWP) at Rutgers. In the 1970s CAWP focused on the numbers of women in elected office, the backgrounds of these women, and the way they perceived themselves in politics. In the 1980s, CAWP attempted to explain why so few women held office, offering explanations as to the causes.