Current Articles for October 16, 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.

• The rise of alternative designs for public plans. By Jean-Pierre Aubry and Laura D. Quinby. Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, October 2025, pp. 1-14.
  Explains that funding traditional defined benefit (DB) pensions has become more burdensome for state and local governments. Identifies alternative plan models to shift some investment risk onto workers, including stand-alone defined contribution (DC) plans; stand-alone cash balance (CB) plans; hybrid plans; variable employee contribution rate; and variable cost-of-living adjustment (COLA). Finds 42 percent of state and local retirement plans now have risk-sharing features, although most workers still retain significant protections.
  See: https://crr.bc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/IB_25-21.pdf
  
• Presidential post-mortem: A failed juggling act. By Jack Stripling and Nell Gluckman. Chronicle of Higher Education, October 3, 2025, pp. 7-8.
  Discusses the circumstances that led to former Texas A&M University President Mark A. Welsh III’s resignation. Notes Representative Brian Harrison’s role in Welsh’s departure.
• Tenured . . . then terminated: A near-instant firing. By Gavin Escott. Chronicle of Higher Education, October 3, 2025, pp. 6-7.
  Reports on the firing of a Texas State University professor after a complaint was filed for remarks he made at an online conference.
• Texas trade ranks no. 1 again (and again). By Brandon Vasquez. Fiscal Notes, October 2025, pp. 1-3.
  Highlights the role of Texas' 32 official ports of entry in international trade. Finds Texas' trade value has increased to $1.1 trillion, an increase of 67.6 percent since 2020.
  See: https://comptroller.texas.gov/economy/fiscal-notes/industry/2025/ports-list/
  
• Impact of risk evaluation and mitigation strategies on generic approvals of US pharmaceutical products. By Jennifer Kao, et al. Health Affairs, October 2025, pp. 1285-1290.
  Considers how risk evaluation and mitigation strategy (REMS) programs affect the speed at which generic pharmaceuticals are approved. Discusses strategies involving REMS programs that brand-name pharmaceutical manufacturers use to delay generic substitute approval. Points out the importance of affordable generic alternatives to brand-name pharmaceuticals.
  See: https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/full/10.1377/hlthaff.2024.01476
  
• New report on school active shooter drills weighs psychological effects. By Lauren Schneider. JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association), October 7, 2025, pp. 1133-1134.
  Discusses active shooter drills in schools and the psychological effects on students and staff. Cites an August 2025 report from the National Academies about active shooter drills in schools.
  Report at: https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/29105/school-active-shooter-drills-mitigating-risks-to-men ...
  
• REAL ID, real idiocracy. By Rebecca Terrell. New American, October 2025, pp. 32-33.
  Reveals discrepancies between claims of REAL ID's security benefits and the actual security situation on the ground at airports. Questions whether a federal ID is necessary to improve security in air travel or even beneficial at all.
  See: https://research.ebsco.com/linkprocessor/plink?id=621dd642-fcbb-3fa6-87cb-892a39edeff6
  
• Time to stop changing clocks. By Anna Spiewak. Newsmax, October 2025, pp. 18-19.
  Considers whether the practice of changing clocks twice a year between Standard Time and Daylight Saving Time should continue. Points out that politicians are divided on which time to adopt year-round. Notes a recent Gallup poll indicates 48 percent of Americans prefer adopting Standard Time permanently.
  Related information at: https://news.gallup.com/poll/657584/half-daylight-saving-time-sunsetted.aspx
  
• Texas property owner rights and the future of Senate Bill 2038–Land development shift in Texas. By Erica Martinez. St. Mary's Law Journal, Vol. 57, No. 1, 2025, pp. 155-184.
  Provides the historical background of SB 2038, 88th Legislature, R.S., which instituted a less complicated process to release property within a city's extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) for property owners. Discusses historical tensions between urban expansion and rural rights; legal uncertainty and potential ramifications for ongoing legal disputes; municipal control over urban planning and land development in ETJs; and involuntary annexation. Outlines potential future ETJ reforms to clarify the petition process; the Texas legislative response to historical issues and the trend toward property owner empowerment; and Texas constitutional challenges to SB 2038.
  See: https://commons.stmarytx.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2814&context=thestmaryslawjournal
  
• Competing evidence and unlikely allies: The Robert Roberson saga reviewed. By Cameron Abrams. Texan, October 13, 2025, pp. 1-6 .
  Details the criminal appeals process of Texas death row inmate Robert Roberson relating to "shaken baby syndrome" and the potential reevaluation of forensic evidence under Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, Article 11.073, known as the Junk Science Writ, enacted in 2013. Discusses the advocacy and involvement of Texas state legislators and legal organizations urging clemency in the case. Quotes Representatives Joe Moody and Lacey Hull.
  Related information at: https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/CR/htm/CR.11.htm#11.073
  See: https://thetexan.news/issues/criminal-justice/competing-evidence-and-unlikely-allies-the-robert-robe ...
  
• Corporate proxy voting becomes red-state lightning rod in ESG fight. By Cameron Abrams. Texan, October 8, 2025, pp. 1-3.
  Describes the influence of proxy voting firms such as Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) and Glass Lewis on corporate governance and recent criticism of the firms' role in the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) movement. Discusses the recent lawsuit over SB 2337, 89th Legislature, R.S., which requires proxy advisor firms to disclose when recommendations are based on "non-financial factors," or "conflict with other proxy advisory services."
  See: https://thetexan.news/issues/texas-taxes-spending/corporate-proxy-voting-becomes-red-state-lightning ...
  
• Texas Comptroller's office undergoes policy, operational changes in Kelly Hancock's first 100 days. By Meridith Dyer. Texan, October 9, 2025, pp. 1-3.
  Reviews Acting Comptroller Kelly Hancock's first 100 days at the agency, including implementation of Texas' education savings account (ESA) program; flood relief for victims of the July 4 Texas Hill Country flooding; distribution of $21 million in Opioid Abatement Fund Council grants; and modernization of the state's largest financial programs.
  See: https://thetexan.news/issues/texas-taxes-spending/texas-comptrollers-office-undergoes-policy-operati ...
  
• November ballot to include 17 state constitutional amendments. Texas Agriculture, October 3, 2025, pp. 6-7.
  Provides an overview of the seventeen Texas constitutional amendments on the ballot on November 4 and the Texas Farm Bureau position on each.
  See: https://texasagriculture.texasfarmbureau.org/october-3-2025/page-6?p=6
  
• Technologies may help U.S. tackle growing New World screwworm threat. By Jessica Domel. Texas Agriculture, October 3, 2025, p. 8.
  Discusses the testimony of Dr. Phillip Kaufman, head of the entomology department at Texas A&M University, before the House Committee on Agriculture and Livestock, on the potential for new technologies to protect livestock and wildlife from the New World screwworm. Includes the sterile fly technique, remote sensing technology, and genetic sequencing.
  See: https://texasagriculture.texasfarmbureau.org/publication/?i=853418&p=8