Current Articles for March 20, 2025

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.

• Transforming juvenile justice through strategic financing. By Kristine Chan, et al. Annie E. Casey Foundation, February 2025 (released March 10, 2025), pp. 1-10.
  Addresses the complexity of the financial structures that support juvenile justice systems and youthful offenders under age eighteen. Provides an overview of five potential funding sources for juvenile justice systems—local funding; state funding; federal funding; foundation funding; and fines and fees. Includes Texas.
  See: https://assets.aecf.org/m/resourcedoc/Report_JJFSStrategicFinancing_2025.pdf
  
• Lights, camera, legislative action. By Justin Sayers. Austin Business Journal, March 7-13, 2025, pp. 12-14.
  Discusses potential improvements to the Texas Moving Image Industry Incentive Program (TMIIIP) which could bolster the incentives available to TV- and film-makers throughout the state and create a bustling production industry.
  See: https://www.bizjournals.com/austin/news/2025/02/25/texas-film-incentives-dan-patrick-movies-tv-shows ...
  
• Imposing SNAP food benefit costs on states would worsen hunger, hurt states' ability to meet residents' needs. By Dottie Rosenbaum, Katie Bergh, and Wesley Tharpe. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, March 11, 2025, pp. 1-9.
  Warns that potential federal budget cuts to the nation's primary food assistance program, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), would require states to increase their share of funding. Includes 50-state table showing the cost-sharing impact to states, including Texas, for fiscal years 2026 to 2034.
  See: https://www.cbpp.org/sites/default/files/3-11-25fa.pdf
  
• Litigation unfolds after President orders BOP to move transgender women incarcerated in federal prisons. By Lindsay A. Lewis and Sonya Pfeiffer. Champion, March/April 2025, pp. 10-11.
  Discusses the impact of President Donald Trump's Executive Order (EO) 14168, which directed the Bureau of Prisons to move transgender women housed in female facilities to men's prisons and cease funding gender-affirming care for inmates. Traces the litigation surrounding the order, noting that a federal judge granted a temporary restraining order halting the EO. Posits that while the order is premised on protecting women in prison facilities, this rationale is at odds with data and statistics from both inside and outside Bureau of Prisons facilities.
  Related information at: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/01/30/2025-02090/defending-women-from-gender-ideology ...
  
• 'Nuclear bomb': A precedent expands. By Eric Hoover. Chronicle of Higher Education, February 28, 2025, pp. 6-7.
  Discusses the recent Dear Colleague Letter sent by the United States Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR) "to clarify and reaffirm the nondiscrimination obligations of schools and other entities that receive federal financial assistance." Focuses on the OCR’s expanded interpretation of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College.
  Related information at: https://www.ed.gov/media/document/dear-colleague-letter-sffa-v-harvard-109506.pdf
  Related information at: https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/22pdf/20-1199_hgdj.pdf
  
• Governing: DOGE days. Economist, March 1st-7th, 2025, p. 21.
  Provides an update on the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) efforts to cut waste and fraud from the federal government’s budget. Questions whether DOGE’s actions are actually saving money.
  See: https://www.economist.com/united-states/2025/02/24/elon-musks-outfit-is-running-into-opposition-from ...
  
• The Treasury: Bureau of worry. Economist, February 15th-21st, 2025, p. 23.
  Reports on information revealed in New York et al. v. Donald J. Trump, et al. (No. 1:25-cv-01144) filings regarding the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) access to sensitive information maintained by the U.S. Treasury Department.
  Related information at: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69623558/state-of-new-york-v-donald-j-trump/
  See: https://www.economist.com/united-states/2025/02/13/elon-musk-has-been-pushed-out-of-the-treasury
  
• Continuous eligibility policies and CHIP structure affected children’s coverage loss during Medicaid unwinding. By Erica Eliason, Daniel Nelson, and Aditi Vasan. Health Affairs, March 2025, pp, 288-295.
  Considers the effects of the Medicaid unwinding that began in April 2023. Finds that Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and Medicaid coverage dropped during the unwinding, but states with continuous eligibility policies already in place maintained higher levels of enrollment.
  See: https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/full/10.1377/hlthaff.2024.01099
  
• Demographic variation in US outpatient hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin use during the COVID-19 pandemic. By Michelle S. Rockwell, et al. Health Affairs, March 2025, pp. 246-255.
  Evaluates the prevalence of use of ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine during the COVID-19 pandemic. Finds demographic trends in use, such as by location and age.
  See: https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/full/10.1377/hlthaff.2024.00452
  
• Reproductive autonomy under siege: Analyzing the due process implications of criminalizing self-managed abortion. By Rhonda Hassan. Houston Law Review, Winter 2025, pp. 635-672.
  Analyzes a sample of abortion-related laws across states, including Texas, which are making self-induced, self-managed, or "DIY" abortions more common. Discusses definitions, history, lawsuits, the Fourteenth Amendment, and recommends reform to amend statute.
  See: https://houstonlawreview.org/article/129434-reproductive-autonomy-under-siege-analyzing-the-due-proc ...
  
• Amid Texas measles outbreak, clinicians struggle to offset increasing vaccine hesitancy. By Kate Schweitzer. JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association), March 14, 2025, pp. E1-E4.
  Discusses the ongoing measles outbreak in West Texas and New Mexico. Considers current attitudes toward vaccinations. Suggests ways to mitigate vaccine hesitancy.
  See: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2831829
  
• Trump's tariffs: Constitutional, or executive overreach? By Joe Wolverton II. New American, March 24, 2025, pp. 20-24.
  Considers the history of executive imposition of tariffs in the U.S. Compares globalism and protectionism. Explains how executive power relating to tariffs has expanded through codification, regardless of the constitutional powers of Congress to impose tariffs.
• Health hazard. By Dhruv Khullar. New Yorker, March 17, 2025, pp. 7-8.
  Discusses the Trump Administration's federal funding freeze for scientific research, which continues despite court orders that the funds be restored. Describes how the freeze will disrupt academia, contract medical innovation, and cut off access to lifesaving treatments.
  See: https://research.ebsco.com/linkprocessor/plink?id=71e3d242-476a-37a3-bfd4-71bfaf1ce5d2
  
• Texas roundup. By Jonathan Blitzer. New Yorker, March 17, 2025, pp. 24-35.
  Profiles Governor Greg Abbott and his rise in state politics. Outlines how he has made Texas the staging ground for President Donald Trump's mass-deportation campaign.
  See: https://research.ebsco.com/linkprocessor/plink?id=582aec12-933e-3fe6-a748-fda081cab8b6
  
• Patrick adds 'Life of the Mother' Act, taxpayer-funded abortion travel ban to Senate priorities. By Mary Elise Cosgray. Texan, March 14, 2025, pp. 1-2.
  Discusses abortion-related legislation in Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick's second round of Senate legislative priorities (SB 31 and SB 33, 89th Legislature).
  See: https://thetexan.news/issues/social-issues-life-family/patrick-adds-life-of-the-mother-act-taxpayer- ...
  
• Texas House mulls wildfire response package after 2024 Panhandle disaster. By Brad Johnson. Texan, March 14, 2025, pp. 1-2.
  Reviews legislation introduced in response to the Smokehouse Creek wildfire in the Texas Panhandle in 2024 (HB 13, HB 143, HB 144, and HB 145, 89th Legislature.), relating to interoperability, frayed power lines, and utility companies. Quotes Representative Ken King.
  See: https://thetexan.news/state/legislature/texas-state-house-news/texas-house-mulls-wildfire-response-p ...
  
• Cracks in the foundation: Could immigration crackdowns shake the housing market again? By Carlos Espinosa. Texas Banking, March/April 2025, pp. 8-9.
  Looks at the possible effects of recent federal immigration enforcement actions on the housing market and the banking industry, going back to the last aggressive immigration crackdown in 2005-2006.
  See: https://member.texasbankers.com/Magazine/Magazine/Features/2025-03/25-03-Cracks-in-the-foundation.as ...
  
• 2025 Texas real estate forecast. Tierra Grande, Winter 2025, pp. 14-19.
  Presents the Texas Real Estate Research Center at Texas A&M University's forecast of real estate market trends in 2025, including single-family housing; multifamily housing; office space; retail space; industrial space; rural land; and legal outlook.
  See: https://trerc.tamu.edu/article/2025-texas-real-estate-forecast/
  
• New Texas assignment law: What buyers and sellers need to know. By Kerri Lewis. Tierra Grande, Winter 2025, pp. 6-9.
  Presents a primer on assignment in Texas real estate law, in which a real property contract is transferring the buyer's interest to another party. Discusses changes to the Texas Property Code, Section 5.086, enacted by SB 1577, 88th Legislature, R.S., and effective January 1, 2024, including new notification requirements.
  See: https://trerc.tamu.edu/article/new-texas-assignment-law-what-buyers-and-sellers-need-to-know/