Current Articles for November 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.

• FIRE is wrong. Raucous protest is free speech. By Charles F. Walker. Chronicle of Higher Education, October 31, 2025, pp. 44-45.
  Challenges the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression’s (FIRE) College Free Speech Rankings.
  Related information at: https://www.thefire.org/college-free-speech-rankings
  
• Merit morass: Easy A's? By Beckie Supiano. Chronicle of Higher Education, October 31, 2025, pp. 7-8.
  Discusses section five of the Trump administration’s Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education, which focuses on the use of grades at colleges and universities.
  Related information at: https://lrl.texas.gov/scanned/archive/2025/58003.pdf
  
• The state of rural primary care in the United States. By Celli Horstman and Arnav Shah. Commonwealth Fund, November 17, 2025, p. 1.
  Considers how rural areas address health care access problems and physician shortages. Explains that some state and federal programs are working to address health care access for rural communities.
  See: https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/issue-briefs/2025/nov/state-rural-primary-care-united- ...
  
• Texas eases path for relatives to obtain foster care licenses. By Sara Tiano. The Imprint: Youth & Family News, November 11, 2025, p. 1.
  Highlights a new streamlined foster parent licensing process announced by Texas Governor Greg Abbott. Notes the new process intends to simplify housing inspections, eliminate unnecessary training, and focus on 55 "essential kinship foster home rules." Mentions SB 593, 88th Legislature, R.S., which required an independent evaluation of rules and standards in the foster care system.
  Related information at: https://gov.texas.gov/news/post/texas-increases-opportunities-for-kinship-foster-families
  See: https://imprintnews.org/child-welfare-2/texas-eases-path-for-relatives-to-obtain-foster-care-license ...
  
• With new executive order, Trump thrusts foster care into national spotlight. By Michael Fitzgerald. The Imprint: Youth & Family News, November 14, 2025, p. 1.
  Discusses the expansive set of foster care initiatives announced in President Donald Trump's recent executive order, Fostering the Future for American Children and Families. Notes the order requires the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to expedite child welfare data releases, publish annual state child welfare scorecards, and expand states' use of artificial intelligence (AI) and predictive analytics to increase caregiver recruitment and retention.
  See: https://imprintnews.org/top-stories/with-new-executive-order-trump-thrusts-foster-care-into-national ...
  Related information at: https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/11/fostering-the-future-for-american-children-a ...
  
• The complexity of research on moderate alcohol consumption and health: The consensus report from NSAEM. By Ned Calonge, Ian J. Saldanha, and Katrina B. Stone. JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association), November 11, 2025, pp. 1619-1621.
  Paints a complex picture of the nature of studying the effects of moderate alcohol consumption on health. Reviews a report that presents evidence related to these effects.
  Report at: https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/28582/review-of-evidence-on-alcohol-and-health
  
• AI hallucinates because it's trained to fake it till it makes it. By Celina Zhao. Science, November 6, 2025, pp. 558-559.
  Examines how large language model (LLM) training leads artificial intelligence (AI) platforms to provide false information, known as hallucinations. Suggests that modifying LLM training to penalize incorrect answers may help to curb the generation of AI hallucinations.
• Paxton focuses on education, child safety in series of legal actions. By Meridith Dyer. Texan, November 12, 2025, p. 1.
  Reviews four recent legal actions by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, relating to the online gaming platform Roblox; school electioneering in Garland, Judson, Liberty Hill, and Northwest Independent School Districts; the federal lawsuit relating to drag shows and SB 12, 88th Legislature, R.S., in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit; and display of the Ten Commandments in the Galveston Independent School District.
  See: https://thetexan.news/judicial/paxton-focuses-on-education-child-safety-in-series-of-legal-actions/a ...
  
• 'Values-based' nonprofits proxy vote advisors sue Attorney General over Texas investing law. By Kim Roberts. Texan, November 12, 2025, p. 1.
  Discusses the recent federal lawsuit by the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), United Church Funds (UCF), and Ceres challenging SB 2337, 89th Legislature, R.S.
  Related information at: https://democracyforward.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Interfaith-Center-on-Corporate-Responsibilit ...
  See: https://thetexan.news/judicial/values-based-nonprofits-proxy-vote-advisors-sue-attorney-general-over ...
  
• Crypto's cryptic Texas takeover. By Candice Bernd. Texas Observer, November/December 2025, pp. 10-17.
  Discusses the growing cryptocurrency mining industry in Texas, with a focus on the industry's effect on water and energy conservation. Claims that the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC) is shielding some of this information from the public.
  See: https://www.texasobserver.org/crypto-energy-grid-texas-bitcoin-water/
  
• Party discipline. By Justin Miller. Texas Observer, November/December 2025, pp. 2-3.
  Discusses the Texas GOP's history on free speech issues, positing that the party's position changes according to political expediency. Notes the contradiction between SB 2972, 89th Legislature, R.S., which limits expressive activities on campus, with the 2019 passage of SB 18, 86th Legislature, which did the opposite.
  See: https://www.texasobserver.org/greg-abbott-free-speech-charlie-kirk-universities/
  
• Rural revival. By Suzanne Mettler and Trevor E. Brown. Washington Monthly, November/December 2025, pp. 19-24.
  Discusses the history and political trends of rural voters in America. Argues the rural–urban divide began in the 1990s and early 2000s and is based on messaging more than differences in issues.
  See: https://washingtonmonthly.com/2025/11/02/rural-divide-democrats-fdr-trump/