Current Articles for November 13, 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.

• Is there a healthy middle ground on AI in schools? Try skeptical optimism. By Kevin Bushweller. Education Week, November 2025, pp. 7-11.
  Discusses the complexities of teaching with and using artificial intelligence (AI) in educational settings. Provides broad scenarios and specific examples of how schools and teachers can utilize this technology with students.
  See: https://research.ebsco.com/linkprocessor/plink?id=ebaaaed8-5a31-3b5d-8eeb-dca83b23a5e7
  
• Interventions to automate Medicaid renewals reduce procedural denials and increase coverage. By Pamela Herd, et al. Health Affairs, November 2025, pp. 1336-1343.
  Examines automated ex parte Medicaid renewals in four states—California, New York, South Carolina, and Wisconsin—which were part of an effort by the federal government to reduce Medicaid coverage denials and coverage loss. Finds that these four states had increased Medicaid renewals and coverage and decreased denials for eligible beneficiaries when compared to other states without automated renewals.
  See: https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/full/10.1377/hlthaff.2025.00316
  
• Acetaminophen use in pregnancy—Study author explains the data. By Kate Schweitzer. JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association), November 4, 2025, pp. 1499-1501.
  Presents an interview of the lead author of a study published in JAMA in April 2024 that delves into the risks of acetaminophen use in pregnancy. Considers additional factors outside of acetaminophen use in pregnancy that may be connected to neurodevelopmental disorders in children.
• International medical graduates, visa disruptions, and the future of the US physician workforce. By Natalia Solenkova. JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association), November 4, 2025, pp. 1513-1514.
  Considers the impact of recent visa restrictions on non-U.S. international medical graduates. Relates the importance of filling gaps in the domestic physician pipeline with non-U.S. international medical graduates.
• At Texas universities, censorship isn't a bug. It's a feature. By Morgan Polk. New America, October 7, 2025, p. 1.
  Posits that policymakers and university regents are chilling free speech on Texas college campuses. Gives examples, including the ouster of Texas A&M President Mark Welch and A&M professor Melissa McCoul; an order from Texas Tech University that faculty must limit classroom discussion of transgender and nonbinary identities; and the invitation from President Trump to the University of Texas to sign a conservative compact in exchange for preferential federal funding decisions.
  See: https://www.newamerica.org/the-thread/texas-am-professor-fired-gender-identity/
  
• AI: The globalists' tool for world government. By Paul Dragu. New American, November 2025, pp. 6-14.
  Considers the role of AI (artificial intelligence) in mass data harvesting, social control, and policing; its use in military technology; and how China employs the technology for mass surveillance. Cautions the ubiquity of AI is eroding privacy and individual freedoms. Compares widespread AI data collection and surveillance with government surveillance tactics of communist and Soviet regimes.
  See: https://research.ebsco.com/linkprocessor/plink?id=72b4a130-c96c-34a0-ac8c-645f18cf083e
  
• Information overload. By Stephen Witt. New Yorker, November 3, 2025, pp. 20-25.
  Reports on the rise of data centers that train artificial intelligence (AI) models. Traces the history of modern data centers and describes how AI training works. Discusses the immense pressure these centers are beginning to put on the U.S. electrical grid.
  See: https://research.ebsco.com/linkprocessor/plink?id=5ab7c235-3cd6-3864-9971-2364544e4e13
  
• AI health revolution is here. By David A. Patten. Newsmax, November 2025, pp. 46-53.
  Examines current and future use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the health care sector. Considers physicians' perspectives of how useful AI may be when diagnosing and treating patients.
• Culture war police state. By C.J. Ciaramella. Reason, November 2025, pp. 20-27.
  Argues culture wars are feeding the police state. Examines actions taken by states such as Florida and Texas on various issues including book banning, abortion, bathroom bans, etc.
  See: https://reason.com/2025/10/06/culture-war-police-state/
  
• Abbott unveils priority property tax reform slate including local spending limits, 3 percent appraisal cap. By Brad Johnson. Texan, November 9, 2025, p. 1.
  Explains Governor Greg Abbott's property tax reform plan, unveiled when kicking off his 2026 re-election campaign. Discusses the Governor's proposals relating to local government tax restrictions and appraisal reform.
  See: https://thetexan.news/elections/2026/abbott-unveils-priority-property-tax-reform-slate-including-loc ...
  
• Five takeaways from Texas' November off-year election. By Brad Johnson. Texan, November 6, 2025, p. 1.
  Analyzes the implications of the November 4 election results for Democrats and Republicans, including the special election for Texas Senate District 9 and the role of casino gambling contributions.
  See: https://thetexan.news/elections/2025/five-takeaways-from-texas-november-off-year-election/article_54 ...
  
• Why does Ken Paxton hate this Yankee county clerk? By Sasha von Oldershausen. Texas Monthly, November 2025, pp. 43-44, 46, 48, 50.
  Profiles Taylor Bruck, county clerk in Ulster County, New York, and the lawsuit filed against him by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Describes the case, in which Bruck refused to enforce a Texas judgment against a doctor who prescribed abortion pills to a Dallas patient, testing whether Texas can enforce its abortion bans in other states.
  See: https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/ken-paxton-new-york-abortion-lawsuit/
  
• In the pipeline: Engineering a sustainable water future for Texas. By Harold D. Hunt. Tierra Grande, Fall 2025, p. 1.
  Reviews unconventional sources to meet water demand in Texas, including water conservation; water recycling and potable water reuse, including oilfield produced water; aquifer storage and recovery; and water desalination.
  See: https://trerc.tamu.edu/article/in-the-pipeline-engineering-a-sustainable-water-future-for-texas/