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Announcing the Mark L. Kincaid Legislative Papers

The Texas Legislative Reference Library has recently received a collection of documents from the late Austin attorney Mark L. Kincaid. Mr. Kincaid was known as "The Policyholder's Lawyer." He had established a reputation for crafting public policy for the protection of insurance policy holders who had little or no ability to prevent abuses in the claims process. Kincaid's papers enhance the Joe K. Longley-Philip K. Maxwell Deceptive Trade Practices Act Legislative Archive housed at the library.
 
Spanning two decades, from 1995 through 2015, the collection showcases Kincaid's efforts to curb tort reform, to document the 74th Legislature's intent behind H.B. 668, and to monitor and influence changes to the Deceptive Trade Practices Act. The collection includes legislation, analyses on a variety of bills, testimony transcripts, PowerPoint presentations, and correspondence with many interested parties.
 
Mark L. Kincaid passed away on January 19, 2016, but he leaves a legacy of research and experience that will benefit the legislative and legal communities for years to come. The collection is not yet entirely processed by the Library, but we couldn't wait to give you a preview.
 

        Mark L. Kincaid, 1959-2016

 

 

Week in Review, May 12

In this weekly post, we feature online articles and policy reports published recently, and other helpful research tools.
  • Read about new federal rules banning the sale of e-cigarettes to anyone under the age of 18. (The Washington Post, May 5, 2016)
  • See the complaint filed by the DOJ against North Carolina regarding the rights of transgender individuals. (U.S. Department of Justice, May 9, 2016)
  • Consider the effects of hydraulic fracturing on U.S. natural gas production. (U.S. Energy Information Administration, May 5, 2016)
  • Find which vehicle makes and models are part of the Takata airbag recall. (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, accessed May 11, 2016)
  • Learn about bison, the national mammal. (U.S. Department of the Interior, May 9, 2015)
 

LRL's Texas Governor Pages: Your Portal to Governor Information

Former Texas Governor Rick Perry's portrait was unveiled last week (whoop!), giving us the perfect opportunity to highlight our Texas governor pages. The LRL's Texas governor pages serve as a portal to a variety of information about Texas governors, including biographical information, term dates, previous offices held, and more. You can even see images of the governor portraits that hang in the Capitol Rotunda.
 
A favorite feature of the Texas governor pages is a searchable database that contains a wide range of gubernatorial documents for each Texas governor, including vetoes, executive orders, legislative messages, proclamations, speeches, and even inaugural invitation materials. In addition to our online governor materials, the library also has a large collection of hard copy materials that includes bound press memo volumes. For questions or assistance using the governor pages or governor materials in our collection, please contact the library at (512) 463-1252.
 
If you're interested in learning more about our Texas governor pages, see our previous blog posts on this topic.
 

Interim Hearings - Week of May 16, 2016

Interim Hearings - Week of May 16

Today's Committee Meetings on the LRL website is a calendar of interim committee hearings with links to agendas. Below are resources related to upcoming Interim Hearings.

May 16 Top

House Committee on County Affairs

Topic: Texas Healthcare Transformation and Quality Improvement Program 1115 Waiver

Topic: Counties involvement in Child Protective Services (CPS) cases

House Committees on County Affairs and Urban Affairs (Joint Hearing) 

Joint charge: Risk and mitigation of wildfires, floods, and other natural hazards in the wildland-urban interface; natural disasters

House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence

Charge: Asset forfeiture

Senate Committee on Higher Education

Charge: Current funding methods for both general academic institutions and community colleges, performance-based funding for community colleges

Charge: Funding for GAIs (General Academic Institutions) and HRIs (Health Related Institutions), tuition-revenue generating special items and formula and research funding for new medical schools

May 17 Top

House Committees on Corrections and Criminal Jurisprudence (Joint Hearing) 

Charge: Probation & parole - fees and revocations

House Committees on Human Services and Urban Affairs

Charge: Boarding homes

Senate Committee on Criminal Justice

Charge 3: Reentry programs provided by TDCJ and the Windham School, including inmates in administrative segregation; Certified Peer Support Services; Darrington Seminary Program   

Charge 4: Pretrial diversion and treatment programs   

Charge 5: Dissemination of bulk criminal records   

Charge 6: Costs for family members to maintain contact with incarcerated family members    

 

Senate Committee on Finance

Charge: Strengthening restriction on appropriations established in Article VIII, Section 22 of the state constitution (spending cap)

Senate Committee on Health & Human Services  

Topic: Zika virus

May 18 Top

House Committee on Appropriations

Charge 1 (partial): Dedicated accounts, budget transparency

Charge 3: Texas constitutional spending limits, comparison to other states

Joint Legislative Committee on Health & Human Services Transition, Oversight  

Invited testimony

 

May 19 Top

Topic: Cost reporting process for long term programs

House Committee on Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence  

Charge 1: Trafficking

Charge 4: Jury service

Charge 6: Lemon law

House Committee on Public Health

Charge: Improving birth outcomes

Senate Committee on Intergovernmental Relations

Charge 1: Extraterritorial jurisdiction expansion and municipal annexation process

 

Week in Review, May 5

In this weekly post, we feature online articles and policy reports published recently, and other helpful research tools.
 

Answer Your Committee-Related Questions with the LRL Committee Search

In a recent blog post, we discussed committee minute availability. This week, we're continuing our focus on Texas legislative committees by taking a look at the library's Committee Search page
 
The library's Committee Search page allows users to find information like committee membership, committee charges, published interim reports, and in some cases, committee minutes. You can use our committee search page to answer questions like:
  • What were the standing and joint committees of the 69th Legislature?
  • Has there ever been a committee to look at auto theft? (Answer: yes)
  • What issues has the Senate Natural Resources Committee examined over the last 5 sessions?
  • How long did the House Cultural and Historical Resources Committee exist and who served on it?
You can also search by committee member last name or by committee member role, which allows you to answer questions such as:
  • What committees has my state senator or representative served on during their time in the legislature? 
  • Did he or she ever chair a committee?
  • Who has chaired the Senate Finance Committee during its history?
There are many more committee-related questions that can be answered using our committee search page. For assistance or questions, please contact the library at (512) 463-1252.
 
Image: Committee search page on the LRL website.
 
 

Interim Hearings - Week of May 9, 2016

Interim Hearings - Week of May 9

Today's Committee Meetings on the LRL website is a calendar of interim committee hearings with links to agendas. Below are resources related to upcoming Interim Hearings.

May 10 Top

House Committee on Higher Education

Charge 3: College affordability and accessibility with a focus on middle-class students; tuition, financial aid, student debt

Senate Select Committee on Property Tax Reform & Relief

Charge: Property tax process

Charge: Tax burden

May 11  Top

Charge 2: Contracting practices at major state agencies

House Committee on Public Education

Charge: Teacher-student relationships 

Charge: Broadband services  for schools, libraries, and institutions of higher education

 

House Committee on Public Education

Charge: Legislative oversight and monitoring (invited testimony only)

 

Cover image by pixabay user skeeze

 

Week in Review, April 28

In this weekly post, we feature online articles and policy reports published recently, and other helpful research tools.
  • View a report and policy brief providing recommendations to reduce future census undercounts of young Latinos. (Child Trends, April 2016)
  • Read about the expectations related to retirement of the Baby Boomer generation. (Insured Retirement Institute, 2016)
  • Consider how the content of social media posts reveals clues about health. (Knowledge@Wharton, University of Pennsylvania, April 25, 2016)
  • Review frequently asked questions about veterans' health care. (Congressional Research Service, April 21, 2016)
 

Where to Find Committee Minutes

Committee minutes record the proceedings of legislative committees. They are the permanent record of what occurred at a committee hearing, and can be a helpful guide when viewing video or listening to audio of past hearings.

 

Minutes contain procedural information like roll call, record votes, bills considered, and witness information, and at times they include other research valuable items, such as transcripts of testimony, research reports, and correspondence.

 

The Legislative Reference Library makes committee minutes from the 63rd Legislature (1973) through the 74th Legislature (1995) available online through its committee minutes page, and also linked to bills in its Legislative Archive System. For committee minutes from the 75th Legislature (1997) - present, check the Texas Legislature Online's Committees webpage.

 

Table: Committee minute availability

 

(LRL = Legislative Reference Library; TLO = Texas Legislature Online)

Legislature House Senate Joint
63rd - 71st Online via LRL Online via LRL Online via LRL
72nd - 74th Online via LRL In hard copy at the LRL (scanning in progress) In hard copy at the LRL (scanning in progress)
75th - present Online via TLO Online via TLO Online via TLO

 

Interim Hearings - Week of May 2, 2016

Interim Hearings - Week of May 2

Today's Committee Meetings on the LRL website is a calendar of interim committee hearings with links to agendas. Below are resources related to upcoming Interim Hearings.

 

 

May 2

Charge 17: State parks system funding, recent legislation including the General Appropriations Act, HB 158, and SB 1366, 84th R.S.

House Committee on Environmental Regulation  

Charge 2: Surface water management compliance

 

Charge 3: Local environmental regulation initiatives; resolve ambiguous regulations regarding priority of state or local authority

 

May 3

House Committees on Economic & Small Business Development and Public Education (Joint Hearing)   

Joint charge: Partnerships between higher education institutions, public school districts, and workforce that promote postsecondary readiness 

 

Rules and laws limiting employers from providing internships or apprenticeships 

Workforce training, incentivizing business to invest in training 

 

May 4

Senate Committee on Business & Commerce

Topic: Penalty calculations under the current prompt payment of health care claim laws and regulations

 

Topic: Implementation of legislation, specifically legislation intended to further protect consumers from the balance billing process

Eightieth Legislature, Regular Session, 2007, Texas Department of Insurance, January 2009

 

Senate Select Committee on Texas Ports

Topic: Committee rules and organizational business

Topic: Economic impact of inland waterways, coastal ports, and inland ports on the state economy

 

Topic: Future impact of Panama Canal expansion on Texas ports

 

Charge: Interstate Compact: cost-benefit analysis of a potential interstate compact on border security, and the constitutional and legal questions

 

Topic: TDCJ invited testimony answering questions from previous hearing on PEP

 

May 5

Charge 15: Higher education funding formulas

 

Joint Interim Committee to Study Border Security

Topic: Implementation of HB 11, 84th Legislature, R.S., and additional border security efforts

 

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