What Are Some of the Duties of the State's Executive Branch?
The executive branch of a state's government is composed of high-ranking officials such as the governor, lieutenant governor and the attorney general. These elected and appointed officials work together to perform the essential functions of the executive branch that are necessary to keep the state running and its laws enforced.
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Enforcement of Laws
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The chief duty of a state's executive branch is to enforce the laws already in existence within the state and those passed by the Legislature. Enforcement can involve the training of the state's many departments affected by new laws and communicating to the public how new laws or changes to existing laws will affect them. This is not the only means by which the executive branch enforces laws of the state. The executive branch has elected officials such as the Auditor of Public Accounts, the Attorney General and the State Controller who work in an oversight capacity to conduct investigations into government abuse or waste, interpret laws for the rest of the executive branch and ensure that regulations are being adhered to.
Administration of State Programs
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Administration of the state's many programs is a duty of the executive branch of government. To that end, the governor of the state appoints heads of departments like agriculture, education and civil service. It is the duty of these appointed directors to oversee the distribution of department funds and ensure that the department runs smoothly and comes in under budget. This is especially important for certain departments like the department of education and state police, whose funding pays for their employees.
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Creation of Operating Budgets
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The governor of the state works with the executive branch to create a yearly budget that includes the state's operating costs. This budget must be balanced to be considered constitutional which means the state may not commit deficit spending. As a result, the executive has to make the hard decisions on what programs the state will cut in an effort to keep essential programs like education, police forces and government agencies operating.
Pass/Veto Laws
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It is the duty of the governor and the executive branch as a whole to review bills and laws passed by the state's legislative branch. The governor may then sign those bills into law, refuse to sign the bill until changes are made or veto the bill outright.
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References
- Photo Credit city hall nameplate image by Aaron Kohr from Fotolia.com
