Current Articles for March 13, 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.

• Checks on the president: Federalist capers. Economist, February 15th-21st, 2025, pp. 19-20.
  Considers the current fight over state sovereignty. Uses the Trump Administration’s attempt to stymie jurisdictions with sanctuary laws and policies as a case study.
  See: https://www.economist.com/united-states/2025/02/13/donald-trump-wants-states-and-cities-to-do-as-the ...
  
• Medicaid: Under the knife. Economist, March 1st-7th, 2025, pp. 19-20.
  Describes current attempts to cut funding for Medicaid. Considers the potential impacts of those cuts.
  See: https://www.economist.com/united-states/2025/02/27/to-make-their-numbers-work-republicans-must-slash ...
  
• Catholic charity lays off 120 local workers. By Jishnu Nair. Houston Business Journal, February 28-March 6, 2025, p. 12.
  Highlights the recent layoff of 120 employees at Catholic Charities Archdiocese of Houston-Galveston, a nonprofit organization that provides humanitarian services. Notes that the layoffs were a result of the Trump Administration's cutoff of federal funding to help resettle refugees, and adds that Catholic Charities also shuttered its Refugee Resettlement program entirely.
  See: https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2025/02/13/catholic-charities-archdiocese-layoffs-refugees. ...
  
• Self-regulation in emerging and innovative industries. By Daniel E. Walters and Hannah J. Wiseman. Houston Law Review, Winter 2025, pp. 543-610.
  Studies self-regulation in various emerging industries such as hydrogen fuel, the internet, and artificial intelligence. Discusses how public governance can work with industries to create a comprehensive regulatory environment.
  See: https://houstonlawreview.org/article/129432-self-regulation-in-emerging-and-innovative-industries
  
• Texas lawmakers scold juvenile justice department over scathing DOJ report. By Pooja Salhotra. The Imprint: Youth & Family News, March 6, 2025, pp. 1-3.
  Discusses the Texas House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee meeting on March 4, at which Vice Chair Gene Wu expressed frustration about juvenile prisons after the August 2024 U.S. Department of Justice report on the Texas Juvenile Justice Department.
  See: https://imprintnews.org/justice/juvenile-justice-2/texas-lawmakers-scold-juvenile-justice-department ...
  Report at: https://www.justice.gov/d9/2024-07/2024_tjjd_findings_report.pdf
  
• Pensionomics 2025: Measuring the economic impact of defined benefit pension expenditures. By Ilana Boivie and Dan Doonan. National Institute on Retirement Security, January 2025, pp. 1-30.
  Examines pension spending by the U.S. private and public sector on defined benefit pensions, including the impact on employment and economic activity.
  See: https://www.nirsonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/NIRS-Pensionomics-2025-Report-FINAL-1-1.pdf
  
• Government contract loss forces layoffs. By James McCandless. San Antonio Business Journal, March 7-13, 2025, p. 9.
  Discusses the upcoming layoff of nearly 400 Texas workers at MVM, Inc., a private security contractor, who recently lost their contract with the Office of Refugee Resettlement to Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) cuts. Notes that the lost contract was funds for the transportation and escort of unaccompanied minors near the border. Quotes an MVM executive as saying the circumstances are "unprecedented."
  See: https://www.bizjournals.com/sanantonio/news/2025/02/27/contractor-layoffs-border.html
  
• Crypto strategic reserve: What does it mean for the U.S. dollar? By Carlos Espinosa. Texas Banking, March/April 2025, pp. 12-13.
  Discusses how cryptocurrency gets its value and the potential economic impact of a crypto strategic reserve, particularly a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.
  See: https://member.texasbankers.com/Magazine/Magazine/Features/2025-03/25-06-Crypto-Strategic-Reserve.as ...
  
• After the raid. By Jack Herrera. Texas Monthly, March 2025, pp. 45-46, 48, 50, 52.
  Describes the aftermath of one of the largest workplace immigration-enforcement raids in history and how it negatively affected the small Panhandle town of Cactus, Texas in 2006. Raises concerns about President Trump's promises of mass deportations.
  See: https://research.ebsco.com/linkprocessor/plink?id=891ab809-7670-3693-8560-ec278503f680
  
• Ground rules: Understanding land-use restrictions. By Reid Wilson. Tierra Grande, Winter 2025, pp. 22-26.
  Reviews the basics of public and private land-use regulations in Texas. Addresses zoning, platting, building and fire codes, signage, restrictive covenants, and property owners' associations.
  See: https://trerc.tamu.edu/article/what-you-need-to-know-about-land-use-restrictions/
  
• Federal Aviation Administration layoff spark air-travel concerns. By Nik Popli. Time, March 10, 2025, p. 16.
  Discusses the potential impact of the recent mass firing of Federal Aviation Administration employees by the Trump Administration's new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Notes that the firings have raised concerns about the agency's ability to maintain essential functions at a time when it is already facing staff shortages and increasing pressure from a recent string of aviation accidents.
  See: https://research.ebsco.com/linkprocessor/plink?id=85ad6f8a-8d77-326e-9f71-9f3ac0c6f387