Current Articles for December 19, 2024

The Legislative Reference Library produces a weekly list of current journal articles for members of the legislative community. Each week, librarians select and abstract articles of interest to the legislature from the latest issues of over 300 journals, newsletters, state documents, and trade publications. Electronic copies of the Current Articles list are distributed to legislative offices each Thursday.

The Legislative Reference Library is located on the second floor of the State Capitol building in Room 2N.3. For more information, please call the Library at 512-463-1252.

• AARP reports: Holiday shopping fraud continues to target consumers during a season of joy. AARP, November 19, 2024, pp. 1-2.
  Discusses a report on fraud incidents during the holiday season. Highlights some of the types of fraud that are more prevalent this year.
  See: https://press.aarp.org/2024-11-19-AARP-Reports-Holiday-Shopping-Fraud-Continues-to-Target-Consumers- ...
  Report at: https://www.aarp.org/content/dam/aarp/research/topics/work-finances-retirement/fraud-consumer-protec ...
  
• A guide to statistics on historical trends in income inequality (2024). By Arloc Sherman, Danilo Trisi, and Josephine Cureton. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Updated December 11, 2024, pp. 1-29.
  Details the history of income inequality in the U.S. and examines the widening of the gap since the 1970s. Describes commonly used statistical sources on income (including Census and IRS income data) and long-term trends in income inequality, wealth, and poverty, including child poverty.
  See: https://www.cbpp.org/sites/default/files/atoms/files/11-28-11pov_0.pdf
  
• Promoting access to hospital care in rural areas: Current approaches and ongoing challenges. By Caitlin Carroll, Victoria Berquist, and Michael E. Chernew. Health Affairs, December 2024, pp. 1664-1671.
  Discusses the threats to rural hospitals due to financial distress. Presents policy options to better financially support hospitals in rural areas.
  See: https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/10.1377/hlthaff.2024.00600
  
• Books for me but not for thee: How modern book banning in public libraries will broadly disenfranchise First Amendment liberties. By Caroline Puryear. Houston Law Review, Fall 2024, pp. 211-242.
  Analyzes Little v. Llano County, a case currently before the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals relating to removal of books from the Llano County Library System. Argues that book banning infringes on First Amendment liberties and there is potential for a challenge to this case under the Fourteenth Amendment. Mentions Representative Matt Krause.
  See: https://houstonlawreview.org/article/126277-books-for-me-but-not-for-thee-how-modern-book-banning-in ...
  Related information at: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/67132921/little-v-llano-county/?filed_after=&filed_before=&entr ...
  
• Some states are turning miscarriages and stillbirths into criminal cases against women. By Cary Aspinwall. Marshall Project, October 31, 2024, pp. 1-6.
  Examines new laws and court rulings across the U.S. that cast suspicion on women who have experienced pregnancy loss. Posits that how a person handles a pregnancy loss—and where it occurs—can mean the difference between a private medical issue and a criminal charge for abuse of a corpse, child neglect, or even murder. Mentions Texas as one state where women have faced criminal charges after a miscarriage or stillbirth for failing to seek immediate medical treatment, not pursuing prenatal care, or disposing of the fetal remains in a way that law enforcement or prosecutors considered improper.
  See: https://www.themarshallproject.org/2024/10/31/stillbirth-oklahoma-arkansas-women-investigated
  
• It's time to bail on cash bail. By Bryce Covert. Nation, December 2024, pp. 28, 30-35.
  Reports that Illinois has become the first state to abolish cash bail, through the Pretrial Fairness Act effective in September 2023. Describes abolishing bail as one of the key goals of the criminal justice reform movement. Discusses the effects of the Illinois law, including a decline in both the rural and urban jail populations.
  See: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=180998915&site=ehost-live
  
• The Texas exodus: Amid stringent abortion laws, ob-gyns are fleeing the state. By Stephania Taladrid. New Yorker, December 2, 2024, pp. 12-17.
  Discusses the state of women's health care in Texas, particularly in the Rio Grande Valley, after the fall of Roe v. Wade and the passage of stricter anti-abortion laws. Profiles Tony Ogburn, the founding chair of the ob-gyn department at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, and his decade-long quest to improve health outcomes for women in the region. Describes how the new laws created challenges for women and their doctors and drove many medical students, residents, and ob-gyns out of the state.
  See: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=181041879&site=ehost-live
  See: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/12/02/the-texas-ob-gyn-exodus
  
• Most Americans back cellphone bans during class, but fewer support all-day restrictions. By Monica Anderson, Jeffery Gottfried, and Eugenie Park. Pew Research Center, October 14, 2024, pp. 1-5.
  Presents the results of a survey on how Americans feel about schools banning cell phones. Finds that 68 percent of U.S. adults say they support a ban on middle and high school students using cellphones during class, while 36 percent support banning middle and high school students from using cellphones during the entire school day, including at lunch and between classes. Breaks results down by age, political party, and other factors. Presents reasons why those surveyed support or oppose the bans.
  See: https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/10/14/most-americans-back-cellphone-bans-during-class-b ...
  
• Virtually an education. By Robert Kim. Phi Delta Kappan, November 2024, pp. 52-53.
  Discusses legal considerations regarding virtual education.
  See: https://kappanonline.org/virtually-an-education/
  
• The afterlives of oil rigs. By Asher Radziner. Scientific American, December 2024, pp. 54-63.
  Considers how offshore oil rigs along the California coast that are no longer producing oil may still provide habitat for aquatic life. Explains how some argue against the complete removal of decommissioned platforms as they provide an ecosystem for marine life and may act as a refuge from fisheries. Points out the success of the practice of repurposing offshore oil rigs as aquatic habitats or "artificial reefs" in the Gulf of Mexico. Mentions state legislation in Texas (SB 5, 71st Legislature, R.S.), Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida, and Alabama that established State Artificial Reef Programs.
  See: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=180571986&site=ehost-live
  See: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/should-offshore-oil-rigs-be-turned-into-artificial-reefs/
  
• The gavel and its gravity: Texas House members push for speakership reform. By Brad Johnson. Texan, December 12, 2024, pp. 1-5.
  Discusses potential reforms to the speakership and the operations of the Texas House of Representatives, including the evolution of the House Rules after the Sharpstown scandal of the 1970s. Discusses former Speaker Price Daniel, Jr., and the book Who Rules the Texas House? by former Representative Kent Grusendorf. Mentions Speaker Dade Phelan and Representatives Gary Gates and Tony Tinderholt.
  See: https://thetexan.news/state/legislature/texas-state-house-news/the-gavel-and-its-gravity-texas-house ...
  
• Interview: Chairman Dustin Burrows on the Texas House Speaker race and next session. By Brad Johnson. Texan, December 13, 2024, pp. 1-4.
  Interviews Chairman Dustin Burrows about the Speaker's race, Democratic committee chairs, and issues facing the 89th Legislature.
  See: https://thetexan.news/state/legislature/texas-state-house-news/interview-chairman-dustin-burrows-on- ...
  
• Shrimpin' ain't easy. By Christopher Collins. Texas Monthly, December 2024, pp. 23-24, 26, 28, 30.
  Discusses the challenges facing Texas' shrimping industry along the Gulf Coast, including imported seafood, rising fuel costs, and intense hurricanes. Notes that in 2000, Texas had more than 2,500 licensed commercial shrimpers; today, that number is down to fewer than 1,000, which has taken a toll on the local economy. Adds that federal and state legislation to help shrimpers is being considered; quotes Representative Josey Garcia.
  See: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=180813351&site=ehost-live
  Related information at: https://www.capitol.state.tx.us/Reports/Report.aspx?ID=subject&LegSess=89R&code=S0599
  Related information at: https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/7932/text
  See: https://www.texasmonthly.com/being-texan/gulf-coast-shrimpers-in-trouble/
  
• The app always wins. By Zachary Marcus. Washington Monthly, November/December 2024, pp. 27-33.
  Explores the impact legalization of sports betting, online gambling, and casinos have on Americans. Recommends regulation strategies for gambling reform like surveillance, transparency, and deposit limits to make betting safer.
  See: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=180513628&site=ehost-live
  See: https://washingtonmonthly.com/2024/10/29/the-app-always-wins/