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Week in Review

Jan 27

posted by TexasLRL in Week in review

  • Consider the State of the States 2011. (Stateline, 2011)
  • Review state immigration legislation enacted in 2010. (National Conference of State Legislatures, January 5, 2011)
  • Learn about E-Verify and which states require employers to use it. (National Conference of State Legislatures, January 18, 2011)
  • Read about upcoming challenges and the future of diabetes in America. (UnitedHealth Center for Health Reform & Modernization, November 2010)
  • Find the full text of President Obama's State of the Union address. (Government Printing Office, January 25, 2011)
  • Get a brief history of the fear of vaccinations. (HealthDay, January 26, 2011)

This entry was posted on January 27, 2011 at 3:24 PM and has received 1260 views. Print this entry.

New Interim Reports

Jan 26

posted by TexasLRL in Interim reports

In the past week, we have received reports from the following committees:

House Committee on County Affairs
Senate Committee on Economic Development
House Select Committee on Federal Economic Stabilization Funding
House Select Committee on Federal Legislation
House Committee on Human Services
House Committee on Public Safety
House Select Committee on Special Purpose Districts
Senate Committee on State Affairs
House Committee on Transportation
House Committee on Urban Affairs
Senate Select Committee on Veterans Health
House Committee on Ways and Means

Looking for another report?  The LRL's Legislative Reports database contains interim committee charges, reports, and other substantive legislative studies published in the House and Senate Journals back to 1846. You may search by committee list, committee name, charge text, or subject.

This entry was posted on January 26, 2011 at 12:17 PM and has received 1936 views. Print this entry.

Bills in the News: Cyberbullying

Jan 25

posted by TexasLRL in Bills in the News

Bills in the News
In this occasional post, we will feature topics receiving widespread media coverage and bills filed during the 82nd legislative session on these topics.
 
Bills in the News: Cyberbullying
 
Bullying in schools is nothing new, but cyberbullying is gaining attention. Parents and teachers may find it as alarming and frightening as the children who are victims of it. Recent news stories have indicated that the consequences can turn deadly.
 
"Lawmakers trying to take on bullying again" from the Houston Chronicle, explains that bullying and cyberbullying can lead to tragic results, but children may be unwilling to speak up.
 
"From lockers to lock-up" from Newsweek, explores the difficulties of defining bullying, and when to consider bullying a crime.
 
"Bills on bullying filed by Texas legislators" from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, addresses bullying and cyberbullying, and how the Texas Legislature plans to tackle the issue.
 
A number of bills have been filed in the 82nd Regular Session relating to bullying and cyberbullying in schools, and you can find them under the subject "Bullying" at the Texas Legislature Online.
 
Below, you can find a list of links to resources related to cyberbullying:   
 

This entry was posted on January 25, 2011 at 2:52 PM and has received 2799 views. Print this entry.

Week in Review

Jan 20

posted by TexasLRL in Week in review

  • Find the state of the state speeches from state governors all over the U.S. (Stateline, 2011) 
  • Check out this report on the modernization of the electronic grid. (U.S. Government Accountability Office, January 2011) 
  • See how lenders must provide various types of credit notices related to consumers' credit reports and credit scores. (Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, January 18, 2011) 
  • Learn about community water fluoridation in a thorough information guide. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, January 7, 2011) 
  • Get a 50-state survey for fiscal year 2011 of how diabetes is addressed in state budgets. (National Conference of State Legislatures, December 2010)
 

This entry was posted on January 20, 2011 at 3:19 PM and has received 1328 views. Print this entry.

Week in Review, January 13, 2011

Jan 14

posted by TexasLRL in Week in review

  • Check out the 2011 Statistical Abstract of the United States online, which covers a range of statistics, from agriculture, to law enforcement, to transportation. (U.S. Census Bureau, 2011)
  • Learn which regions might benefit the most from high-speed rail corridors. (America 2050, January 2011)
  • See estimates of the lifetime value of Social Security and Medicare benefits and taxes, depending on age and job status. (The Urban Institute, January 2011)
  • Get consumer-oriented information about the Food Safety Modernization Act. (U.S. Food and Drug Administration, December 23, 2010)
  • Find census data on how Latino populations will influence reapportionment. (Pew Hispanic Center, January 5, 2011)
  • Note that the Internet is overtaking television as a major source for people gathering news. (Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, January 4, 2011)

This entry was posted on January 14, 2011 at 8:09 AM and has received 1235 views. Print this entry.

Use Twitter to Stay Current on the Texas Legislature

Jan 13

posted by TexasLRL in Twitter

Twitter can serve as an excellent tool to stay current on topics that interest you. 
 
This list provides information on various organizations that use Twitter to share information on Texas legislative developments.  The list is not comprehensive, but will serve as a starting point to help you discover other Twitter sites on this topic.   
 
Texas Legislative Reference Library
We tweet about the legislative process and share reports and news on issues of legislative interest.
 
The Texas Legislature
Up-to-the-moment information about Texas bills and committee meetings.
 
Texas Legislators list
We've collected the feeds of Texas legislators who use Twitter into one list, making it easy to follow multiple individuals in one location. 
 
State agencies with a social media presence - Texas.gov
State agencies may post about legislative developments during session.  Use this link to see which state agencies have Twitter feeds.  
 
News and journals:
Many regional newspapers use Twitter to share information about Texas political developments.  Here are feeds by some of the larger Texas newspapers:
 
Fort Worth Star Telegram: http://twitter.com/#!/txpolitics
 
You will also find feeds specializing in regional politics:
 
mySA Politics (San Antonio) http://twitter.com/#!/mySA_Politics
Texas Watchdog (Houston politics): http://twitter.com/#!/texaswatchdog
 
Several journals specializing in Texas politics and government use Twitter to post updates about news and articles:
 
LegeLand (Austin Chronicle): http://twitter.com/legeland
Texas Public Policy Foundation: http://twitter.com/tppf
 
And finally….
 
Multi-state trends
If you are interested in tracking developments in state legislatures across the U.S., the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) is a good resource.  NCSL is a bipartisan organization that reports on legislative news and developments in all 50 states. 
 
National Conference of State Legislatures
 

This entry was posted on January 13, 2011 at 2:52 PM and has received 4209 views. Print this entry.

Membership Statistics for the 82nd Legislature

Jan 12

posted by TexasLRL in Members of the Legislature

Membership Statistics for the first day of the 82nd Legislature:

Description House
Members***		 Senate
Members		 Total
Gender *
Male 118 25 143
Female 32 6 38
Party affiliation *
Democrat 49 12 61
Republican 101 19 120
Incumbency **
Incumbents 113 29 142
Freshmen 35 2 37
Age *
Under 30 2   0 2 
30 - 39 21   0 21 
40 - 49 35   4   39 
50 - 59 54   13   67 
60 - 69 32   13   45 
70 and over 6   1   7 

* Gender, party affiliation, and age calculations are based on the membership as of the first day of session: 01/11/2011.

** Incumbent totals include members who served the previous session. Freshman totals include members whose first terms began the first day of session: 01/11/2011.

    Not included as incumbent or freshman:
  • Rep. William 'Bill' Zedler (first served in 78th session)
  • Rep. Borris Miles (first served in 80th session)
  • Rep. Jim Murphy (first served in 80th session)

 

*** Rep. Edmund Kuempel died on 11/4/2010. He was elected to the 82nd House of Representatives on 11/2/2010. He is not included in the statistics above.

You can find statistics for earlier sessions at http://www.lrl.state.tx.us/sessions/memberStatistics.cfm

 

This entry was posted on January 12, 2011 at 5:05 PM and has received 1652 views. Print this entry.

Week in review

Jan 6

posted by TexasLRL in Week in review

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

  • Discover how prepared public health departments are in a report about emergency health preparedness. (Trust for America's Health, December 2010)
  • Map the economy based on foreclosure rates, unemployment rates, and median household income.  (NPR, 2010)
  • Explore how the effectiveness of juvenile justice programs might be improved with evidence-based practices. (Center for Juvenile Justice Reform, December 2010)
  • Get recent data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics on school crime and safety. (Bureau of Justice Statistics, November 2010)
  • Note that Texas leads the nation in executions (Stateline, December 2010 )

This entry was posted on January 6, 2011 at 2:49 PM and has received 1321 views. Print this entry.

More Interim Reports Arriving

Jan 6

posted by TexasLRL in Interim reports

House, Senate, and Joint committee reports continue to arrive.

In the past week, we have received reports from the following committees:

House Committee on Business & Industry
House Committee on Corrections
Joint Interim Select Committee on Criminal Commitments of Individuals with Mental Retardation
House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence
Senate Committee on Criminal Justice
House Committee on Defense & Veterans' Affairs
House Select Committee on Emergency Preparedness
House Committee on Environmental Regulation
House Select Committee on Fiscal Stability
House Committee on General Investigating and Ethics
House Committee on Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence
Senate Committee on Jurisprudence
House Committee on Natural Resources
House Committee on Public Education
House Committee on Public Health
House Committee on State Affairs

 Looking for another report?  The LRL's Legislative Reports database contains interim committee charges, reports, and other substantive legislative studies published in the House and Senate Journals back to 1846. You may search by committee list, committee name, charge text, or subject.

This entry was posted on January 6, 2011 at 7:59 AM and has received 1562 views. Print this entry.

Bill Status Hotline Opens January 11

Jan 4

posted by TexasLRL in LRL news

The Legislative Reference Library will open the bill status hotline on Tuesday, January 11, at 12:00 noon for the 82nd legislative session.
 
The toll-free telephone service is a resource for the citizens of Texas to obtain information about the status of pending bills and resolutions, committee schedules and hearings, elected officials and their contact information, the legislative process, and online legislative resources.  The service will be available through the end of session, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, with extended hours when either chamber is in session. Texans may reach the hotline by calling:
 
   877-824-7038    (toll-free in Texas)      or       512-463-2182    (in Austin or outside of Texas)

This entry was posted on January 4, 2011 at 3:17 PM and has received 960 views. Print this entry.