I. Explain the reasons why the Texas Legislature is considered by many to be unprofessional. Examples include low salaries, temporary nature of legislative sessions, high turnover of legislative staff, a high cost of winning elections, lack of financial support from political parties, etc. (40 points)
II. Describe various options for change, which may include higher salaries, full-time legislative sessions, state-subsidized campaigns, etc. (20 points)
III. Considering the various options for change, choose one or two and make a recommendation. In this section of the paper, you need to consider the costs and possible opposition by the public for your recommendation. Of course, policy recommendations don’t happen in a vacuum and these things must be taken into consideration. (20 points)
IV. Draw a final conclusion about the need (or lack thereof) of a more professional legislature and the feasibility (or lack thereof) of your recommendation based on the political reality in the state. In this section, I will also take into consideration the format, spelling and grammatical aspects of the paper. (20 points)