Bill prefiling begins November 14, 2016. Starting that day, returning members and members-elect may file bills to be considered during the regular session of the 85th Legislature, which begins at noon on January 10, 2017.    

 

For a general overview of bill prefiling, see our previous blog post, Bill Prefiling FAQs.

 

• "Major Transparency Bill Headed Back to Legislature for ‘Cleanup’," San Antonio Express-News, May 28, 2016
• "Analysis: Ethics Reform — if Texas Voters Really Want It," Texas Tribune, March 25, 2016
• A Guide to Ethics Laws for State Officers and Employees, Texas Ethics Commission, Revised September 15, 2015
• State Officers and Employees, Texas Ethics Commission
• State Officer & Employee Publications & Guides, Texas Ethics Commission

• Overview: Law Enforcement & Custodial Officer Supplemental Retirement Fund, Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, August 31, 2015
• Benefits for State Employees and Public and Higher Education Employees: Legislative Primer, Texas Legislative Budget Board, October 2014
• The Feasibility of Adding Select Populations to the Law Enforcement and Custodial Officers Supplemental Retirement Fund (LECOSRF), Employees Retirement System of Texas, September 1, 2014
• Law Enforcement and Custodial Officer Supplemental Retirement Fund of the Employees Retirement System of Texas, Annual Actuarial Valuation - Funding as of August 31, 2013, Gabriel Roeder Smith & Company, November 21, 2013

• Keeping a Sharp Eye On Public Pension Obligations, Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, December 2012
• Interim Report to the 81st Texas Legislature (Charge 6 -Law Enforcement & Custodial Officers Supplemental Retirement Fund), House Committee on Pensions and Investments, January 2009

• Letter to Senator Jane Nelson, Senate Finance Chair, from Commissioner H.L. Whitman, Jr., Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (revising plan to address Child Protective Services issues, $12,000 pay raise, additional caseworkers and investigators), October 27, 2016
• Governor Abbott, Lieutenant Governor Patrick and Speaker Straus Direct DFPS to Take Immediate Action to Protect Texas Children; Letter to Commissioner Hank Whitman, Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (Child Protective Services), October 12, 2016    
• Child Welfare Financing SFY 2014: A Survey of Federal, State, and Local Expenditures, Texas Fact Sheet, The Annie E. Casey Foundation, Casey Family Programs, and Child Trends, October 2016
• Commissioner Whitman Submits Letter Outlining Proposals for CPS Overhaul to Governor Abbott; Letter to Governor Greg Abbott from Commissioner H.L. Whitman, Jr., Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (Child Protective Services 10-point plan), July 5, 2016
• Child Protective Services: Dallas County Management Review, Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, May 2016
• Progress Report to the Sunset Advisory Commission: Child Protective Services Transformation, Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, April 2016 
• An Introduction to Child Welfare Funding, and How States Use It, Child Trends, January 2016
• Child Maltreatment 2014, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, January 2016
• Child Protective Services Business Plan, Fiscal Year 2016, Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, October 2015
• Child Protective Services (CPS) Reports and Presentations, Texas Department of Family and Protective Services

• From Incarceration to Reentry: A Look at Trends, Gaps, and Opportunities in Correctional Education and Training, Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP), October 2016
• Committee Meeting Handouts - DPS Racial Disparities, House Committee on County Affairs, September 20, 2016
• Interim Hearings - Week of September 19, 2016, House Committee on County Affairs, Legislative Reference Library, September 9, 2016
• Prioritizing Treatment Over Punishment: An Overview of Mental Health Diversion from Jail in Texas, Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, The University of Texas at Austin, June 2016
• Risk, Not Resources: Improving the Pretrial Release Process in Texas, Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, The University of Texas at Austin, June 2016
• President's Task Force on 21st Century Policing: One-Year Progress Report, U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, May 2016
• 2015 Traffic Stop Data Report, Texas Department of Public Safety, 2016
• Racial Disparities in Texas Department of Public Safety Traffic Stops, 2002-2014, Frank R. Baumgartner, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, et al., November 18, 2015
• Overincarceration of People with Mental Illness: Pretrial Diversion Across the Country and the Next Steps for Texas to Improve its Efforts and Increase Utilization, Texas Public Policy Foundation, June 2015
• Final Report of the President's Task Force on 21st Century Policing, U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, May 2015
• Pretrial Diversion (State Laws), National Conference of State Legislatures, May 13, 2015

 

• Examine court security and ways to improve it. (Texas Judicial Council, October 2016)
• Review the 2016 Texas Transportation Poll. (Texas A&M Transportation Institute, November 1, 2016)
• Track health insurance premium increases by state. (Freedom Partners, October 26, 2015)
• Read about the legal processes for contesting a presidential election. (Congressional Research Service, October 24, 2016)
• Explore demographic characteristics of the voting population by state. (U.S. Census Bureau, October 28, 2016)
• Evaluate the well-being of the country's Latino children. (National Council of La Raza, September 29, 2016)
• Consider factors other than smoking that may cause lung cancer. (American Cancer Society, November 1, 2016)

• Railroad Commission of Texas
• Employees Retirement System of Texas, Board of Trustees of

• Texas State Board of Podiatric Medical Examiners
• Texas Board of Nursing
• State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners
• Texas Board of Chiropractic Examiners

 

• Read about telemedicine in Texas. (Texas Associations of Businesses, September 2016)
• Consider early voting and absentee voting in all 50 states. (National Conference of State Legislatures, October 25, 2016)
• Examine health insurance Marketplace plan choices and affordability for 2017. (Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, October 24, 2016)
• Track high school dropout and completion rates for 2013. (National Center for Education Statistics, October 25, 2016)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Leading up to Halloween each year, we gather spookie stories and tales of ghostly hauntings that add to the aura of the Texas Capitol and the Lone Star State. Below you'll read about mysterious lights, a quack medicine doctor, and a man whose corpse was buried standing up. 

From the Legislative Reference Library, we hope you have a fun and safe Halloween!!

Radam's Microbe Killer

In the 19th century, death from tuberculosis, a.k.a. "consumption," was widespread and William Radam of Austin claimed to have a remedy. Perhaps Austin's original "weird" character, Radam, operated a seed store at 907 Congress Avenue, and developed, bottled, and sold "Radam's Microbe Killer." Although deemed a quack, sales of his "miracle cure" made him a wealthy man. The building at 907 Congress Avenue has been vacant for over 20 years; does his spirit linger, handing out samples of his microbe killer?

 

Ghosts in the Legislative Reference Library

This photo of the Capitol's Legislative Reference Library space shows the room as it appeared circa 1902-1907, when used for the Supreme Court Library.  A ghost-like figure can been seen sitting at a table, near the door to a hidden staircase.  It is reported that a "lady in red" frequents this staircase and the office above it, perhaps hoping to meet up with her lover who once worked in that office.

 

The Old Rock Store in Oak Hill

The Old Rock Store in Oak Hill has watched over travelers since 1898 when James Andrew Patton, Texas Ranger, and unofficial "mayor of Oak Hill" built the stone building to house his mercantile business.  His daughter, Rosa Patton White, worked in the store after the untimely death of her Texas Ranger husband, John Dudley White, Sr., in 1918 at the hands of army deserters.  Is Ranger White the mischievous ghost who inhabits the building (now home to Austin Pizza Garden) looking for his wife?

 

Foreboding in the UT Tower

Completed in the 1937, the University of Texas Tower has long been a landmark on the Austin skyline, but it is also notorious for other reasons -- the construction worker who fell to his death, a number of suicides, and the most infamous event of all, the 1966 tower shootings by Charles Whitman. Some visitors report general feelings of foreboding and claustrophobia, as well as encountering cold spots in the stairwell.  Many believe Whitman, himself, is the spirit who turns lights on and off.

 

Mysterious Lights Near Bailey's Prairie

James Briton "Brit" Bailey was a larger than life character who settled in Stephen F. Austin's colony.  He let it be known that when he died, he wanted to be buried standing up, facing west, with his gun, powder horn, rifle balls, and a jug of whiskey.  Legend says all but one of those requests was carried out.  An unexplained light is seen from time to time near Bailey's Prairie on Highway 35 between Angleton and West Columbia.  Perhaps it's just old Brit and his lantern searching for that whiskey jug.

 

The Lights of Marfa

Strange lights have been reported between Alpine and Marfa, across Mitchell Flat with the Chinati Mountains as a backdrop since the 1880s.  They appear in various colors as they move about, disappear and reappear.  Some believe the logical explanation is car headlights from U.S. 67, while others point to a natural, scientific explanation.  A legend persists that Alsate, the last Apache chief who lived in the area, is lighting watchfires. The lights are definitely there but for what reason? 

 

Legends of Enchanted Rock

Various Indian tribes have held Enchanted Rock in both religious awe and supernatural fear.  Their legends speak to attempts to explain the natural phenomena they saw. Noises and lights were attributed to a great devil trapped in the rock or various other spirits who linger, such as the last of a tribe's warriors who fought to their end here.  Indentions on the rock's summit are the footsteps of a doomed chief forced to walk the rock forever as a punishment for the sacrifice of his daughter.

 

More Enchanted Rock Tales

In an 1834 letter, W.B. Dewees said of Enchanted Rock, "The Indians have held it sacred for centuries, and go there once a year to worship it.  They will not permit any white person to approach it." In the fall of 1841, Captain John Coffee "Jack" Hays, singlehandedly held off a party of Comanches because the band would not pursue Hays when he climbed to the rock's summit.  

• Read about student debt at graduation for the class of 2015. (Institute for College Access & Success, October 2016)
• Consider how voter ID laws and litigation may affect the election. (Stateline, October 19, 2016)
• Examine police face recognition policies throughout the country. (Georgetown Law Center on Privacy & Technology, October 18, 2016)
• Find out which states retirees may want to avoid because of an unfavorable tax climate. (Kiplinger, October 2016)

• Ending balance each fiscal year
• Bills that have spent (appropriated) money from the fund
• Oil and natural gas production tax revenue transferred to the fund
• Constitutional cap

Cover image by Adrianna Calvo

• Governor Abbott, Lieutenant Governor Patrick and Speaker Straus Direct DFPS to Take Immediate Action to Protect Texas Children; Letter to Commissioner Hank Whitman, Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (Child Protective Services), October 12, 2016    
• Child Welfare Financing SFY 2014: A Survey of Federal, State, and Local Expenditures, Texas Fact Sheet, The Annie E. Casey Foundation, Casey Family Programs, and Child Trends, October 2016
• Commissioner Whitman Submits Letter Outlining Proposals for CPS Overhaul to Governor Abbott; Letter to Governor Greg Abbott from Commissioner H.L. Whitman, Jr., Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (Child Protective Services 10-point plan), July 5, 2016
• Child Protective Services: Dallas County Management Review, Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, May 2016
• Progress Report to the Sunset Advisory Commission: Child Protective Services Transformation, Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, April 2016 
• An Introduction to Child Welfare Funding, and How States Use It, Child Trends, January 2016
• Child Maltreatment 2014, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, January 2016
• Child Protective Services Business Plan, Fiscal Year 2016, Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, October 2015
• Child Protective Services (CPS) Reports and Presentations, Texas Department of Family and Protective Services

Topic: LBB update on fiscal years 2016-17 supplemental costs for the General Appropriations Act