The Southern Legislature and Legislation

Abstract

The state legislative picture in the South is on many counts like the legislative picture in the East or Middle West or Far West. The southern state lawmaking body is much like that of other sections in composition, process, product, and esteem or disesteem. Of the forty-seven bicameral state legislatures, the South has neither the one with the largest nor the one with the smallest membership in upper or lower house. As in most other states, the biennial regular session prevails in this region, with the exception of South Carolina's annual session. Similarly prevalent in the South and the nation is the conglomerate committee system with its diffusion of responsibilities, prestige, and favors. State constitutional restrictions on legislative power are not peculiarly excessive in the South. The region, like others, can point to a few moderate steps toward modernizing the state legislative establishment, including the registration of lobbyists and better pay for members. A Virginia legislator, for instance, has for some years received $720 for a regular session and half that amount for a special session. Mississippi has been paying $1,000 for a regular session, with a per diem for a special session. Arkansas pays $1,000 biennially for regular session service, with a per diem for a special session. In North Carolina and South Carolina the compensation per member amounts to a few hundred dollars per annum. These payments are above the average for the nation, though well below the rewards to legislators in such states as New York, Illinois, and California. Half the southern states limit pay to a per diem, which is only four dollars in Tennessee because of unamended constitutional restrictions. Regardless of compensation, the South compares favorably with other sections in the substantial proportion of college men in the legislature and in the proportion of members serving more than one term.