Current Articles for March 27, 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.

• Clinging to control. By Christa Dutton and Jasper Smith. Chronicle of Higher Education, February 28, 2025, pp. 20-22, 25.
  Discusses the recent movement to end diversity programs at universities.
• Mexico at SCOTUS: Up in arms. Economist, March 8th-14th, 2025, p. 32.
  Summarizes Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. v. Estados Unidos Mexicanos, Mexico’s legal challenge to hold American gun manufacturers liable for harms inflicted by Mexican drug cartels.
  See: https://www.economist.com/the-americas/2025/03/06/mexico-claims-us-gunmakers-sold-weapons-to-cartels
  Related information at: https://www.supremecourt.gov/docket/docketfiles/html/public/23-1141.html
  
• Public health: Vax populi. Economist, February 22nd-28th, 2025, p. 22.
  Reports on vaccine-related bills the Texas Legislature is considering while the state faces the largest measles outbreak in decades. Mentions vaccine freedom supporters at the Texas Capitol.
  See: https://www.economist.com/united-states/2025/02/20/in-texas-vaccine-choice-activists-are-ascendant
  
• A stronger safety net for the nation’s workforce. By Kumara Raja Sundar. Health Affairs, March 2025, pp. 370-372.
  Presents a physician's perspective on a lack of labor protections for workers requiring family and medical leave. Discusses the limitations of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993.
  Related information at: https://www.congress.gov/bill/103rd-congress/house-bill/1
  See: https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/full/10.1377/hlthaff.2024.00796
  
• All students, regardless of immigration status, belong in school. By Paige Duggins-Clay. IDRA Newsletter (Intercultural Development Research Association), January 2025, pp. 3, 8.
  Presents highlights and implications of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1982 decision in Plyler v. Doe, which held a Texas statute was unconstitutional and affirmed all children have a right to free public education. Acknowledges current threats to the precedent set by this case.
  Related information at: https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/ll/usrep/usrep457/usrep457202/usrep457202.pdf
  See: https://www.idra.org/resource-center/a-vision-for-education-in-2025-and-beyond-excerpt-educational-o ...
  
• Texas lawmakers take on little-known pathway into foster care: Parents seeking mental health treatment for their children. By Sara Tiano. The Imprint: Youth & Family News, March 20, 2025, p. 1.
  Highlights legislation calling for expanded mental health services in Texas that could help children with behavioral needs. Reports that "parental relinquishments" account for six percent of foster entries in the state.
  See: https://imprintnews.org/top-stories/texas-lawmakers-take-on-little-known-pathway-into-foster-care-pa ...
  
• The intersection of climate justice and criminal justice: Extreme heat and health inequities in carceral facilities. By Lawrence A. Haber, et al. JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association), March 11, 2025, pp. 843-844.
  Explores the danger of extreme heat to incarcerated people. Discusses health problems and outcomes of populations confined in jails and prisons. Mentions prisons in Texas.
  See: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2829526
  
• Race and ethnicity in biomedical research: Changing course and improving accountability. By Neil R. Powe, Ruqaiijah Yearby, and M. Roy Wilson. JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association), March 18, 2025, pp. 935-936.
  Discusses how race and ethnicity have historically been used to categorize populations in medical research. Examines ways to modify research going forward by improving transparency about how race and ethnicity is used in research and whether these categories are necessary to the research goals.
  See: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2830126
  
• Government contractor lays off 600 plus. By James McCandless. San Antonio Business Journal, March 14-20, 2025, p. 9.
  Describes how staff cuts at South Texas border facilities are beginning to affect the private sector. Notes that the health care staffing firm LUKE Holdings recently laid off numerous workers at U.S. Customs and Border Patrol stations in Del Rio, Laredo, Donna, Eagle Pass, and El Paso, due to the sudden "modification" of their contract with the federal government. Adds that a private security contractor in the area also recently lost its federal funding, forcing the layoff of nearly 400 employees and bringing the total of lost jobs in the region to 1,045.
• Tariffs could dampen South Texas CRE market. By James McCandless. San Antonio Business Journal, March 14-20, 2025, p. 9.
  Discusses the potential effect of the Trump administration's planned tariffs on Canada and Mexico on the South Texas commercial real estate market. Notes that Mexican companies and individuals regularly invest in South Texas properties, and cites some examples of those companies making alternative plans due to the threat of tariffs.
• Still processing: Ultra-processed foods give grocery consumers little choice. By Lori Youmshajekian. Scientific American, April 2025, pp. 18-19.
  Considers highly-processed foods that dominate major grocery chain store shelves. Notes that studies have found that consuming highly-processed foods regularly leads to a greater risk of chronic conditions such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Provides a chart illustrating the degree of processing various types of food products undergo.
  See: https://research.ebsco.com/linkprocessor/plink?id=1f27f00e-a192-3a77-a9d7-32e95f0fc953
  See: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/which-foods-are-the-most-ultraprocessed-new-system-ranks- ...
  
• Classroom discipline, student violence testimony heard in Texas House committee hearing. By Cameron Abrams. Texan, March 20, 2025, p. 1.
  Discusses the House Committee on Public Education hearing on HB 6, 89th Legislature, relating to school discipline; school suspensions; a "teacher's bill of rights" on classroom safety for teachers; virtual disciplinary alternative education programs; and proposed changes to the student code of conduct. Quotes Representative Jeff Leach.
  See: https://thetexan.news/issues/education/classroom-discipline-student-violence-testimony-heard-in-texa ...
  
• Priority water infrastructure, nuclear power bills considered in Texas House. By Brad Johnson. Texan, March 20, 2025, p. 1.
  Explains priority bills in the House and Senate to enhance water infrastructure, water supplies, and the Texas Water Fund (HB 16, HJR 7, SB 7, and SJR 66, 89th Legislature). Discusses SB 388, 89th Legislature, relating to the electric generation capacity and a dispatchable energy credit, and Representative Cody Harris' nuclear energy legislation.
  See: https://thetexan.news/issues/energy/priority-water-infrastructure-nuclear-power-bills-considered-in- ...
  
• Texas lawmakers weigh new slate of gun-related bills. By Matt Stringer. Texan, March 19, 2025, p. 1.
  Reviews current gun-related legislation on both gun control and gun rights, including SB 1596, 89th Legislature, which proposes to remove short-barrel rifles and shotguns from the list of prohibited weapons under the Texas Penal Code; and SB 1362, 89th Legislature, which seeks to prohibit "red flag" protection orders. Quotes Senator Brent Hagenbuch.
  See: https://thetexan.news/issues/second-amendment/texas-lawmakers-weigh-new-slate-of-gun-related-bills/a ...
  
• Legislative updates. By J.D. Hale. Texas Builder, Spring 2025, pp. 10-13.
  Presents the 2025 legislative priorities of the Texas Association of Builders relating to housing affordability, housing shortages, Municipal Utility Districts, residential construction, workforce training, and other issues. Includes the state revenue collection forecast.
  See: https://www.mydigitalpublication.com/publication/?i=842864&p=10&view=issueViewer
  
• Speaking out: Paul Bettencourt, Texas State Senator, Senate District 7. Texas Builder, Spring 2025, pp. 28-29.
  Interviews Senator Paul Bettencourt about his biggest legislative accomplishment, his role as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Local Government, and his priorities for the 89th Legislature. Discusses the Property Tax Reform and Relief Act (SB 2, 86th Legislature, R.S.) and extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) reform (SB 2038, 88th Legislature, R.S.).
  See: https://www.mydigitalpublication.com/publication/?i=842864&p=28&view=issueViewer
  
• Amid Texas measles outbreak, conservatives double down on anti-vax crusade. By Joelle DiPaolo. Texas Observer, March 7, 2025, p. 1.
  Traces the rise of vaccine-related legislation being filed in the Texas Legislature, including HB 3304 and HJR 91. Notes that the anti-vaccine push comes in the middle of Texas's largest measles outbreak in 30 years, which has resulted in 22 hospitalizations and one death.
  See: https://www.texasobserver.org/measles-outbreak-anti-vax-legislation/
  
• Homeowners insurance: The challenges facing buyers seeking insurance—and how you can help. By Joe Olivieri. Texas Realtor, March/April 2025, pp. 12-15.
  Discusses the reasons homeowners' insurance rates are rising in Texas and the role of median home prices. Highlights specific challenges for Texas coastal homeowners, where the insurer of last resort is the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association.
  See: https://www.texasrealestate.com/wp-content/uploads/TexasRealtor0225.pdf#page=8
  
• How Trump's cuts are hurting his voters. By Alana Semuels. Time, March 24, 2025, pp. 11-12.
  Uses the town of Clarksburg, WV, as a case study to illustrate the effects of the Trump administration's massive layoffs, funding freezes, and other cuts on a town where he won a huge majority of the vote. Notes that the cuts have imperiled several local programs, including monitoring lead levels in children; retraining unemployed coal workers to become solar installers; and providing access to clean drinking water.
  See: https://research.ebsco.com/linkprocessor/plink?id=f37f11ef-00e3-3238-a5dd-e1eaf5b3de89
  See: https://time.com/7261440/trump-dei-environmental-justice/