Current Articles for June 26, 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.

• The clones are here. By Bianca Bosker. Atlantic Monthly, July 2025, pp. 40-47.
  Discusses the field of animal cloning through the company ViaGen Pets & Equine in Whitesboro, Texas and a veterinarian named Gregg Veneklasen outside of Amarillo. Explores the researchers, clients, ethics, and process of genetic cloning.
  See: https://research.ebsco.com/linkprocessor/plink?id=957fe6c1-285f-3bc0-9c66-d80170bd47e7
  See: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2025/07/animal-cloning-industry/682892/
  
• Bullet train economic impact becomes clearer. By Plamedie Ifasso. Dallas Business Journal, June 6-12, 2025, p. 4.
  Discusses a recent economic impact report which asserts that a high-speed bullet train connecting Dallas to Houston could generate 28,300 new jobs and increase gross domestic product in Dallas County by an average $5 billion annually between 2029 and 2050.
  See: https://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/news/2025/06/03/dallas-houston-bullet-train-report-uncertainty-bc ...
  
• American manufacturing: Leave those fantasies behind. Economist, June 14th-20th, 2025, pp. 60-62.
  Explains why factory jobs are not returning to the U.S. Attempts to find the modern day equivalent of what was considered to be a traditional factory job.
  See: https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2025/06/10/factory-work-is-overrated-here-are-the-jo ...
  
• Trump cracks down against explicit AI images. What it means for schools. By Olina Banerji. Education Week, June 4, 2025, pp. 12-13.
  Discusses the federal legislation related to non-consensual artificial intelligence-generated imagery, co-sponsored by U.S. Senator Ted Cruz and Senator Amy Klobuchar and known as the Take It Down Act. Analyzes the support and impact banning deepfakes will have on educators and victims.
  See: https://research.ebsco.com/linkprocessor/plink?id=ab755d63-c8fb-3b72-9e63-ce4a8d92b13e
  Related information at: https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/146
  
• What's behind a legislative push for prayer and bible study in public schools. By Evie Blad. Education Week, June 11, 2025, p. 6.
  Analyzes Texas legislative actions incorporating religious activities in public schools. Discusses the application of SB 11, 89th Legislature, R.S., which allows districts to provide time for prayer and religious study during the school day. Quotes Senator Mayes Middleton and Representative Brent Money.
  See: https://research.ebsco.com/linkprocessor/plink?id=d52a0d8e-326a-3b01-b5ee-021ec02b9fa6
  
• Ten years of achievements at the Comptroller's office. By Glenn Hegar. Fiscal Notes, June 2025, pp. 1-5.
  Reflects on ten years of service as Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Highlights the response of the agency to crises such as Hurricane Harvey, a global pandemic and recession, and Winter Storm Uri; emerging concerns such as housing affordability; and the implications of online shopping for state tax collections. Discusses the legacy of the Fiscal Notes publication in bringing legislative and public attention to the economy, industry, and government, including special editions on the long-term financial obligations of the state and infrastructure maintenance.
  See: https://comptroller.texas.gov/economy/fiscal-notes/government/2025/legacy-ftd/
  
• Tribute to Dr. Joe Bernal: How bilingual education came to Texas–Behind the scenes. By Christie L. Goodman. IDRA Newsletter (Intercultural Development Research Association), May 2025, pp. 3-5.
  Provides behind-the-scenes commentary on Senator Joe Bernal’s involvement in the passage of SB 477, 67th Legislature, Regular Session.
  See: https://www.idra.org/resource-center/tribute-to-dr-joe-bernal-how-bilingual-education-came-to-texas- ...
  
• The changing landscape of sugar-sweetened beverage taxes—Small cities have a big impact. By John Maa, et al. JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association), June 10, 2025, pp. 1953-1954.
  Examines ties between sugar-sweetened beverage taxes and rates of adult obesity, gestational diabetes, and childhood body mass index (BMI). Explores the role of small cities adopting sugar-sweetened beverage taxes early in the 21st century and the spread of these types of taxes nationally and internationally. Considers how preemption laws may curb cities' adoption of sugar-sweetened beverage taxes.
• The short-term outlook for the U.S. economy. By M. Ray Perryman. Perryman Report and Texas Letter, June 13, 2025, 1-3, 6, 7.
  Notes that recent economic performance in many indicators has been relatively stable, noting that employment growth increased to 1.08 percent and the education, health care, and social assistance industries grew and gained workers. Adds, however, that the longer uncertainty about tariff policy continues, the more likely the economy is to slow.
• Anti-vax and protein-maxx. By Elizabeth Nolan Brown. Reason, July 2025, pp. 24-29, 32-33.
  Explains the origins of the current Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement. Points out certain aspects of MAHA that are contradictory. Questions the ultimate goals of this movement.
  See: https://reason.com/2025/06/14/anti-vax-and-protein-maxx/
  
• Economic turmoil a threat to SA visitor industry. By W. Scott Bailey. San Antonio Business Journal, June 6-12, 2025, p. 9.
  Discusses the financial woes of San Antonio's tourism sector, which continues to struggle five years out from the COVID-19 pandemic. Notes that San Antonio experienced the largest percentage drop of hotel room demand of any city in Texas. Adds that the uncertainty surrounding the Trump administration's tariff policy has led to a drop in international travel, as well as to the cancellation of some conferences and industry meetings.
• Gov. Abbott issues last-minute veto of Texas' THC ban. By Cameron Abrams. Texan, June 23, 2025, pp. 1-2.
  Discusses Governor Greg Abbott's last-minute veto of SB 3, which would have banned the manufacture, sale, and possession of hemp-derived THC products.
  See: https://thetexan.news/issues/social-issues-life-family/gov-abbott-issues-last-minute-veto-of-texas-t ...
  
• Interview: Kelly Hancock on his bid for Texas Comptroller. By Brad Johnson. Texan, June 19, 2025, pp. 1-4.
  Interviews former Senator Kelly Hancock about the campaign for Comptroller of Public Accounts, his time in the Legislature, and the transition to a new position as Chief Clerk in the Comptroller's office. Discusses a related Attorney General Opinion No. GA-0006 from 2002.
  See: https://thetexan.news/elections/2026/interview-kelly-hancock-on-his-bid-for-texas-comptroller/articl ...
  Related information at: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/2002/ga0006.pdf
  
• Reviving exclusion. By Leo Yu. Texas A&M Law Review, 2025, pp. 1-57.
  Discusses recent state laws targeting Chinese landowners and compares them to 19th-century law designed to deprive Japanese immigrants of property rights. Explores the power dynamics behind alien land law revivals. Posits that the Chinese are racialized as a community that is much more foreign than many other Asian communities due to their presumed connections with a geopolitical rivalry, and they are also considered culturally inferior due to the association with communism. Adds that communism itself often operates as a negative racial identity that reinvents and justifies orientalism during a geopolitical crisis.
  See: https://scholarship.law.tamu.edu/lawreview/vol12/iss4/8/
  
• How Trump is changing higher education: The view from UT-San Antonio. By Alexandra Villareal. Texas Observer, June 16, 2025, pp. 1-3.
  Uses the University of Texas at San Antonio as a case study illustrating the effects of the Trump administration on higher education, including changes to campus clubs and activities; diminished research opportunities; and fears for international students' safety.
  See: https://www.texasobserver.org/trump-higher-education-ut-san-antonio/
  
• 'The House got rolled': Gene Wu on the trials of the 89th Texas Legislature. By Justin Miller. Texas Observer, June 12, 2025, pp. 1-7.
  Presents a Q&A with House Democratic caucus chair Representative Gene Wu about the 89th Legislative Session, including its political dynamics and legislative outcomes.
  See: https://www.texasobserver.org/house-got-rolled-gene-wu-89th-lege/
  
• Made in Texas: Making room for manufacturers. By Daniel Oney. Tierra Grande, Spring 2025, pp. 20-23.
  Describes the state of manufacturing in Texas and the U.S., including growth trends; manufacturing size and demand; and manufacturing space demand. Notes public and private leaders should consider the workforce and infrastructure needs of a booming manufacturing sector in order to capitalize on favorable manufacturing trends.
  See: https://trerc.tamu.edu/article/made-in-texas-how-manufacturing-growth-is-impacting-industrial-space- ...
  
• The disappeared: Inside the Trump administration's deportation program. By Eric Cortellessa and Brian Bennett. Time, June 23, 2025, pp. 22-30.
  Describes the Trump administration's crackdown on immigration, including conditions inside CECOT, the Salvadoran prison to which migrants are being committed without due process. Notes that although deportations have not reached the administration's aggressive targets, the number of people in immigration detention has spiked by 30 percent. Describes how immigrants are being summoned by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to what seem like routine appointments, then detained unexpectedly.
  See: https://research.ebsco.com/linkprocessor/plink?id=5d841e87-cd28-3dea-aa16-07ba516eda3c
  See: https://time.com/7291757/trump-deportation-ice-el-salvador/