Glossary

Glossary: Texas' Governor and Executive Branch

appointment: the power of the chief executive, whether the president of the United States or the governor of the state, to appoint persons to office.

attorney general: an elected state official that serves as the state's chief civil lawyer

bureaucracy: the complex structure of offices, tasks, rules, and principles of organization that is employed by all large-scale institutions to coordinate the work of their personnel.

comptroller: an elected state official who directs the collection of taxes and other revenues, and estimates revenues for the budgeting process.

executive budget: the state budget prepared and submitted by the governor of the legislature, which indicates the governor's spending priorities.

land commissioner: an elected state official that acts as the manager of the most publicly-owned lands.

lieutenant governor: the second-highest elected official in the state and president of the state senate

line-item veto power: enables the governor to veto individual components (or lines) of an appropriations bill.

plural executive: a group of officers or major officials that functions in making current decisions or in giving routine orders typically the responsibility of an individual executive officer or official. In Texas, the power of the Governor is limited and distributed amongst other government officials.

secretary of state: the state official, appointed by the governor, whose primary responsibility is administering elections

veto: the governor's power to turn down legislation; can be overridden by a two-thirds vote of both the House and Senate