Do the powers of the Speaker of the House vary from state to state in the United States?

In My Humble Opinion
1

Do the powers of the Speaker of the House vary from state to state in the United States? If you were to compare each of the individual state constitutions, would the powers of the Speaker vary in any way?

2

Not all states have a House.

3

The brief factual answer is, yes. 49 states and one territory have bicameral legislatures, and on historical circumstance the office would evolve differently in each legislature. And it may not even be a constitutional provision – as in the national constitution all it may say is the office will exist and the House will select it. Then you have to look into the Legislative Power law for each state, and then the Rules of the House. Generally speaking, the respective state constitutions and laws leave up to the Rules of the House virtually all details of day-to-day internal parliamentary and administrative governance.

Usually the Speaker will have the duties to preside over the sessions, rule on parliamentary questions (with aid of the Parliamentarian if there is one), preserve order (through the Sergeant at Arms if necessary), refer bills to committee, determine the legislative priorities agenda; name special, joint or conference committees; sign passed legislation and official statements by the body, represent the body in official functions, state parliamentary motions when raised, sign contracts on behalf of the House. Organizational or administrative roles may vary widely and may be exercised unipersonally or in-committee or through an “independent” office — as in e.g. giving and withdrawing standing committee assignments, House and office budgets, deciding to enter a contract, personnel and purchasing actions, etc. And of course the political powers to keep people in line and things happening will often depend upon what kind of (usually) men held the office in the past and how well the incumbent fills those shoes.

4

In Missouri, the President Pro Tempore of the Senate is second in the line of succession for governor, while the Speaker of the House is third.

In Illinois The Speaker of the House is seventh in the line of succession, after the executive branch and the Senate president.

5

In general, if you ask whether anything varies from state to state in the US, the answer is almost always going to be yes.

6

And in others, they are not in it at all and the succession is down the Executive-only.

7

Thanks Chronos, I suspected as much.

8

Thanks JRDelirious. Very helpful.

9

Thanks Kent_Clark.