Current Articles for December 04, 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.

• Countdown to the midterms: The changing AI threat landscape for elections. By Isabel Linzer and Tim Harper. Center for Democracy and Technology, November 18, 2025, p. 1.
  Discusses the potential environment for artificial intelligence (AI) deployment in the 2026 midterm elections. Examines key trends shaping that shift: the changing political incentives around the use of AI, the weakening of normative guardrails, the growing regulatory efforts across states, and changes to company policies and collaboration.
  See: https://cdt.org/insights/countdown-to-the-midterms-the-changing-ai-threat-landscape-for-elections/
  
• Weeks after the raid: The immediate and sustained changes in student attendance rates following immigration arrests. By J. Jacob Kirksey. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, December 2025, pp. 1219-1244.
  Studies the impact immigration enforcement has on the educational outcomes for all students through absenteeism. Analyzes a dataset of immigration arrests and attendance rates in the same community. Argues funding should not be based on attendance.
  See: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.3102/01623737241288838
  
• Growing pains: Day care's affordability crisis (Letter from Texas). By Lauren Hilgers. Harper's Magazine, December 2025, pp. 56-62.
  Discusses the challenges facing child care providers in Texas, from building permits and inspections to struggles with revenue and frustration with state grant programs. Highlights the growing demand for child care during the pandemic and the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) child care scholarship program for essential workers. Includes a brief history of child care policy in the U.S. and recent efforts in the Texas Legislature to address the child care workforce.
  See: https://harpers.org/archive/2025/12/growing-pains-childcare-affordability-lauren-hilgers/
  
• A coordinated approach to cannabis policy and product safety. By Symone T. Griffith, Marisa L. Kreider, and Maxwell C. K. Leung. Issues in Science and Technology, Fall 2025, pp. 19-24.
  Argues there is a need for coordinated regulation of the cannabis industry that includes input from all stakeholders, including the federal and state governments. Points out various issues with the patchwork of state-level cannabis policy and regulation. Includes maps of the U.S. comparing state-level cannabis legalization status and selected qualifying conditions for approved medical use.
  See: https://issues.org/coordinated-approach-cannabis-policy-safety-griffith-kreider-leung/
  
• State laws aim to bring internationally trained physicians to underserved areas, but barriers abound. By Rita Rubin. JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association), November 18, 2025, pp. 1693-1695.
  Discusses state laws that aim to drop certain requirements for licensure of international medical school graduates in an effort to fill gaps in medically underserved areas. Considers issues related to no longer requiring some training in the U.S. for international medical graduates before licensure.
• Far from home. By Bryce Covert. Nation, December 2025, pp. 38, 40-45.
  Discusses inadequate and unsafe housing as a persistent driver of child neglect cases and child welfare removals, focusing on Missouri. Notes the nebulous category of "neglect" can result in removal in a wide range of child welfare cases. Highlights the importance of supportive housing for family reunification.
  See: https://www.thenation.com/article/society/child-welfare-housing-missouri/
  
• Employee contributions to public pension plans (2025). National Association of State Retirement Administrators, November 2025, pp. 1-12.
  Examines employee contribution plan designs, policies, and recent trends across states. Provides a table of employee contribution rates by plan that includes the Employees Retirement System of Texas and the Teacher Retirement System of Texas.
  See: https://www.nasra.org/files/Issue%20Briefs/NASRAContribBrief.pdf
  
• Butchering democracy. By David Daley. New Republic, December 2025, pp. 10-21.
  Highlights recent redistricting efforts by a number of U.S. states, including Texas' unusual mid-decade redistricting attempt which has been challenged in federal court. Posits that these efforts to manipulate the political landscape result from years of careful planning and ultimately amount to an unconstitutional assault on representative democracy by the Republican Party.
  See: https://research.ebsco.com/linkprocessor/plink?id=8371a2eb-d66f-3ce1-b60d-82388d84dd68
  
• Texas dementia researchers cheer $3 billion initiative. By Jennie Erin Smith. Science, November 13, 2025, p. 661.
  Discusses Texas voters' approval of the Dementia Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (DPRIT) and the $3 billion in state surplus funds authorized to be awarded over ten years to Texas-based researchers.
  See: https://www.science.org/content/article/dementia-researchers-cheer-texas-voters-approval-3-billion-f ...
  
• Fast-growing Texas metros offer blueprint to handle U.S. housing shortage. Southwest Economy (Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas), November 17, 2025, p. 1.
  Interviews Cullum Clark, director of the Bush Institute-SMU Economic Growth Initiative and adjunct professor of economics at Southern Methodist University, about his recent report on the American homebuilding industry, Build Homes, Expand Opportunity: Lessons from America's Fastest-Growing Cities. Discusses reasons for the current housing deficit and characterizes the housing policies of Texas metropolitan areas such as Austin, Houston, and Dallas-Fort Worth as a "growth paradise."
  Report at: https://gwbushcenter.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/Build-Housing-Expand-Opportunity_FINAL_4.4.2025.pd ...
  See: https://www.dallasfed.org/research/swe/2025/swe2517
  
• Has the opioid crisis peaked in Texas and the U.S.? By Ethan Dixon and Pia Orrenius. Southwest Economy (Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas), November 10, 2025, p. 1.
  Discusses the long history of the U.S. opioid crisis, the supply and demand trends for opioids, and mitigation strategies such as harm reduction. Compares state drug-related mortality rates from 1999 to 2024 for Louisiana; New Mexico; South Dakota; Texas; and West Virginia, and finds Texas had a lower fentanyl overdose rate and a recent decline in opioid deaths. Estimates Texas' yearly opioid costs exceeded $100 billion, including medical costs, public safety spending, and lost earnings and productivity.
  See: https://www.dallasfed.org/research/swe/2025/swe2516
  
• State transit plan encourages more intercity rail, bus routes. By Kim Roberts. Texan, November 25, 2025, p. 1.
  Highlights the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT)'s Statewide Multimodal Transit Plan 2050, a framework for developing transit improvements in the state that includes intercity bus systems; intercity passenger rail service; and ferry lines. Discusses the challenge facing Texas from traffic congestion on highways and the potential benefits of expanding transit options in rural areas.
  Report at: https://ftp.txdot.gov/pub/txdot/get-involved/ptn/SMTP/102025-executive-summary.pdf
  See: https://thetexan.news/issues/transportation/state-transit-plan-encourages-more-intercity-rail-bus-ro ...
  
• Texas state senators ask Cruz, Cornyn to reject federal moratorium on state AI regulations. By Mary Elise Cosgray. Texan, November 25, 2025, p. 1.
  Reports on a letter from a bipartisan coalition of sixteen Texas state senators, led by Senator Angela Paxton, urging U.S. Senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz to oppose federal preemption of state regulations on artificial intelligence (AI). Mentions the Texas Responsible Artificial Intelligence Governance Act (TRAIGA) (HB 149, 89th Legislature, R.S.) by Representative Giovanni Capriglione as an example of a state law that would be blocked by a federal freeze on state AI regulation.
  See: https://thetexan.news/federal/texas-state-senators-ask-cruz-cornyn-to-reject-federal-moratorium-on-s ...
  Related information at: https://x.com/AngelaPaxtonTX/status/1993136192901075390?s=20
  
• Three Texas school districts to open virtual campuses in fall 2026. By Meridith Dyer. Texan, December 1, 2025, p. 1.
  Discusses the virtual high school campuses planned in Cypress-Fairbanks; Katy; and Frisco Independent School Districts, authorized by SB 569, 89th Legislature, R.S.
  See: https://thetexan.news/issues/education/three-texas-school-districts-to-open-virtual-campuses-in-fall ...
  
• Inside Texas’s $100m child care investment: What happened, and what comes next? By David Feigen. Texans Care for Children, November 4, 2025, pp. 1-4.
  Highlights the Texas Legislature's $100 million investment in child care scholarships in the 89th Legislature and the leadership of Representative Armando Walle, Speaker Dustin Burrows, House Appropriations Chair Greg Bonnen, and Senate Finance Chair Joan Huffman. Discusses working families' need for high-quality child care and argues that Texas should continue to utilize unexpended Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) funds to meet child care demand.
  See: https://txchildren.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/100M-Child-Care-Investment-Nov.-2025.pdf
  
• USDA releases New World screwworm response playbook. By Julie Tomascik. Texas Agriculture, November 7, 2025, p. 20.
  Discusses the New World Screwworm Response Playbook recently released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Notes that the playbook outlines key approaches, resources, and tools to implement animal health response activities in the event the pest reaches the U.S. Urges residents on the U.S.-Mexico border to check their pets and livestock for signs of the invasive parasite.
  See: https://texasfarmbureau.org/usda-releases-new-world-screwworm-response-playbook/
  Related information at: https://www.aphis.usda.gov/sites/default/files/nws-response-playbook.pdf
  
• USDA unveils plan to rebuilt U.S. beef herd, lower retail prices. By Julie Tomascik. Texas Agriculture, November 7, 2025, p. 21.
  Reports on the U.S. Department of Agriculture's recent announcement of a plan aimed at strengthening the beef industry. Notes that the American cattle numbers are at their lowest point in nearly 75 years, which is driving high retail prices for beef. Describes the plan, which includes efforts to open more grazing land; reduce regulatory hurdles; and expand meat processing capacity.
  See: https://texasfarmbureau.org/usda-announces-plan-to-rebuild-u-s-beef-herd-lower-retail-prices/
  Related information at: https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/USDA Beef Industry Plan White Paper.pdf