Current Articles for April 17, 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.

• Skin in the game: Human tissue as property. By Lori Andrews. American Journal of Law & Medicine, Volume 50, Nos. 3-4, 2024, pp. 191-203.
  Considers legal concerns related to the use of human tissue in research and commercialization of such research. Presents Henrietta Lacks as an example of a patient whose human tissue was used without consent or knowledge for commercialization and enrichment. Notes that Henrietta Lacks' family sued the company that sold products developed from Henrietta's cells, and the parties settled the case for an undisclosed sum.
  See: https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/24D622382F4B6791FDB0C22CB1BF ...
  
• Dealerships fight their disruption. By Keith Naughton. Bloomberg Businessweek, April 2025, pp. 19-20.
  Discusses ongoing efforts by automotive dealers to prevent automobile manufacturers from selling their products directly to consumers, including strengthening and enforcing existing franchise laws.
  See: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-03-06/as-buying-electric-cars-online-gets-easier-dealer ...
  
• Trump wants to make tipped wages tax-exempt. By Ben Steverman. Bloomberg Businessweek, April 2025, pp. 33-35.
  Discusses some of the potential drawbacks to the Trump administration’s proposal to make tips tax exempt.
  See: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-03-13/how-trump-s-no-tax-on-tips-could-backfire-for-the ...
  
• Lessons from unwinding offer opportunities to streamline Medicaid, improve efficiency. By Farah Erzouki. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, April 3, 2025, pp. 1-9.
  Reviews the lessons learned in the Medicaid "unwinding" process in which states have reviewed Medicaid eligibility of their entire Medicaid caseloads following the end of continuous coverage. Discusses best practices to streamline Medicaid eligibility and enrollment processes, including data transparency.
  See: https://www.cbpp.org/sites/default/files/4-3-25health.pdf
  
• Decimated department: Effects on financial aid. By Beckie Supiano. Chronicle of Higher Education, March 28, 2025, pp. 7-8.
  Questions how cuts to the U.S. Department of Education will affect federal student financial aid.
• The online overhaul. By Taylor Swaak. Chronicle of Higher Education, March 14, 2025, pp. 20-22, 24, 26, 28, 30.
  Discusses the effects of increasing online options offered by colleges and universities. Includes examples of what specific institutions are doing, including San Jacinto College.
• Education: Struggle season. Economist, March 29th-April 4th, 2025, pp. 23-24.
  Summarizes education policies the Trump administration has pursued thus far. Refers to President Trump’s recent executive order addressing the U.S. Department of Education. Highlights efforts to freeze federal funds for colleges and universities.
  See: https://www.economist.com/united-states/2025/03/23/maga-is-already-rewiring-american-education
  Related information at: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2025-03-25/pdf/2025-05213.pdf
  
• Numbers game: Losing count. Economist, April 5th-11th, 2025, pp. 21-22.
  Considers the fate of federal government agencies that conduct surveys, manage datasets, and publish statistics given the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE’s) recent actions. Highlights the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) as one specific example.
  See: https://www.economist.com/united-states/2025/03/30/doge-comes-for-the-data-wonks
  
• Understanding and comparing economic assistance models to improve food security and diet quality: A rapid review. By Mary Kathryn Poole, et al. Health Affairs, April 2025, pp. 449-457.
  Reviews three different policy approaches to addressing food insecurity and poor nutrition in low-income individuals and families. Finds differing outcomes in improvement of food security and nutrition depending on the policy approach implemented.
  See: https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/full/10.1377/hlthaff.2024.01352
  
• States use billions in welfare funds to pay for child welfare systems, report finds. By John Kelly. The Imprint: Youth & Family News, April 12, 2025, pp. 1-2.
  Highlights a new report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) on the role of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funding in state child welfare systems. Notes the states spent $23.5 billion in TANF funds on child welfare between 2015 and 2022.
  See: https://imprintnews.org/youth-services-insider/states-use-billions-in-welfare-funds-to-pay-for-child ...
  Report at: https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-25-107467
  
• Reconsidering research security. By John C. Gannon, Richard A. Meserve, and Maria T. Zuber. Issues in Science and Technology, Winter 2025, pp. 90-93.
  Argues security measures for research and development need to protect against illicit activities and provide investment in people and infrastructure. Refers to National Security Presidential Memorandum 33 (NSPM 33) and subsequent guidance for implementation.
  See: https://issues.org/reconsidering-research-security-gannon-meserve-zuber/
  Related information at: https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/presidential-actions/presidential-memorandum-united-states-gove ...
  Related information at: https://web.archive.org/web/20250117183456/https:/www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/0104 ...
  
• Case interrupted. By Ramzi Abou Ghalioum. San Antonio Business Journal, April 4-10, 2025, pp. 12-14.
  Discusses the issue of governmental immunity in court cases, including the use of interlocutory appeals. Notes that these appeals are often used by public entities as a defense tactic when a trial court rules against them, and often have the effect of stopping cases before they can be decided on their merits. Notes that several bills introduced in the 89th Legislature are targeted at ending or limiting interlocutory appeals.
• THC ban threatens entire industry. By Jalen Lopez. San Antonio Business Journal, April 4-10, 2025, p. 5.
  Discusses the potential impact of SB 3, which would ban all THC products in Texas. Uses Cann, the California-based maker of THC-infused drinks, as a case study, noting that it has a presence in hundreds of stores across the state and will exit the Texas market if the bill becomes law. Notes that while regulation of THC products would be beneficial, banning them entirely would remove Texas's share of a $4.3 billion dollar industry.
• In the ashes. By Warren Cornwall. Science, March 28, 2025, pp. 1343-1346.
  Explores health and safety threats left in the wake of wildfires that migrate into and consume suburban and urban neighborhoods.
  See: https://www.science.org/content/article/scientists-scramble-to-track-la-wildfires-long-term-health-i ...
  
• Texas House committee considers changes to Harris County Flood Control District. By Holly Hansen. Texan, April 10, 2025, pp. 1-3.
  Discusses HB 2068, 89th Legislature, by Representative Dennis Paul, that would make changes to the Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) by taking a more regional approach to flood planning in the San Jacinto River Basin and placing management of the district with the state instead of county government. Notes recent scrutiny of the HCFCD after 2019.
  See: https://thetexan.news/state/legislature/texas-state-house-news/texas-house-committee-considers-chang ...
  
• Texas wants to become Hollywood (without all that liberal Hollywood crap). By Christopher Hooks. Texas Monthly, April 10, 2025, pp. 1-4.
  Discusses SB 22, a priority bill for Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick which would substantially expand the state’s financial-incentives program for movie, television, and video game production. Explains how film incentives programs work and traces the history of filmmaking in Texas under the Texas Film Commission. Notes that some production companies may take issue with the level of creative control the Legislature may want to exert.
  See: https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/dan-patrick-texas-film-incentives-crusade/
  
• Some states consider bills that would punish abortion patients. By Chantelle Lee. Time, April 14, 2025, p. 11.
  Reports on a growing trend of state legislatures introducing bills that would allow authorities to bring homicide charges against people who obtain abortions. Notes that Texas is one of ten states to have done so this year, according to the Center for Reproductive Rights. Notes that typically, antiabortion laws target medical providers rather than patients, but that conservative lawmakers are emboldened by the 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade.
  See: https://research.ebsco.com/linkprocessor/plink?id=5b36667b-24a6-313d-98a8-2678f249c81e
  See: https://time.com/7269263/bills-punishing-people-seeking-abortions/