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Week in Review, April 28th

Apr 28

posted by TexasLRL in Week in review

  • Find out which states have smoke-free laws for worksites, restaurants, and bars. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, April 22, 2011)
  • Look over motorcycle safety & helmet laws by state. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, April 19, 2011)
  • Read an overview of immigration issues. (Congressional Research Service, March 21, 2011)
  • See whether homeowner's insurance rates and availability are affected by dog ownership. (Fox Business, March 24, 2011)
  • Review information about the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing. (FracFocus, Chemical Disclosure Registry, 2011)

This entry was posted on April 28, 2011 at 4:11 PM and has received 1312 views. Print this entry.

Water Auxiliary Laws

Apr 26

posted by Admin in Water auxiliary laws, Legislative process

We frequently receive research questions about legislation on water districts in Texas.  This information can be a bit difficult to find since many of the statutes that created water districts were never incorporated into, nor repealed by, the current Texas Water Code.  Without a section to look at in the current statutes, where does one look to find a legislative history?

To find the legislative history of water districts, we usually turn to the Water Auxiliary Laws pamphlet, published by West as part of the Vernon's Texas Code Annotated.  The pamphlet contains general and special laws pertaining to water, deemed to be general and permanent in nature, that were neither repealed by, nor incorporated into, the Water Code.  If you know the name of a district, you can use the tables provided in the pamphlet to find the year and session law chapter of the enacting and amending legislation, as well as the Vernon's Civil Statutes article number where the enacting legislation was originally codified.

Here's an example from the Water Laws Auxiliary pamphlet, Table III: Districts Created and/or Validated Pursuant to Const. Art. 16 § 59:

Name of District
Vernon's Civ.St.Art.
Laws Citations
 
Bevil Oaks Municipal Utility District
1973, ch. 621
 
2007, ch. 920
 Bexar County Metropolitan Water District
8280-126
1945, ch. 306
 
 
1953, ch. 66
 
 
1957, ch. 40
 
 
1997, ch. 91
 
 
2003, ch. 375
 
 
2007, ch. 1024
Bexar County Water Control and Improvement District
 
 
 
Lackland
8280-224
1959, ch. 199
 
Northwest
8280-225
1959, ch. 200
 
Oak Hills
8280-223
1959, ch. 198
Bilma Public Utility District
8280-512
1971, ch. 559
 

In the left column of the table are the names of the districts.  The middle column contains the Vernon's Civil Statute Article number of the original, codified form of the enacting legislation.  Next to the article number, in the right-hand column, is the year and chapter number of the enacting legislation, with all legislation that subsequently amended the enacting legislation in the rows underneath it.

Suppose we would like to find the bill that created the Bexar County Metropolitan Water District.  We would simply find the bill number that corresponds to 1945, ch. 306, the first law listed for this district.  This can be done using the Direct Search function in the library's Legislative Archive System.  Under "Search by Session Law Chapter," select the correct session (based on year), then enter the chapter number in the field next to it.  Press search, and you will be taken to a page containing the bill number, caption and other details.  The bill that created the Bexar County Metropolitan Water District was HB 834, 49th R. S. (1945). 

The Water Auxiliary Laws pamphlet is available at the Legislative Reference Library, as well as any other library that makes a full set of the Vernon's Annotated Statutes available for public use.  The pamphlet is not online for free, however if you have a subscription to Westlaw, you can view it as part of the statutes.

This entry was posted on April 26, 2011 at 10:18 AM and has received 3592 views. Print this entry.

Week in Review, April 21st

Apr 21

posted by TexasLRL in Week in review

  • See what health care reform's cost of implementation will be for individual states, including Texas as one of five states studied. (Council of State Governments, April 7, 2011)
  • Find one page summaries of Texas school finance topics. (Texas Education Agency, April 2011)
  • Discover what top U.S. companies pay in taxes. (Forbes, April 13, 2011)
  • Examine the composition of hydraulic fracturing fluids. (U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Energy and Commerce, April 2011)
  • Review a plan to combat the prescription drug abuse epidemic in the U.S. (Executive Office of the President of the United States, 2011)

This entry was posted on April 21, 2011 at 5:27 PM and has received 1223 views. Print this entry.

The Battle of San Jacinto, 175 Years Ago Today

Apr 21

posted by TexasLRL in Texas history

The Battle of San Jacinto occurred on April 21, 1836, concluding the Texas Revolution and setting the United States on a path to expansion in the Southwest. Focused on chasing the fledgling Texas government,  General Santa Anna had led his troops to an area by the San Jacinto River. The Texan army, under the command of Sam Houston, attacked, shouting "Remember the Alamo! Remember Goliad!"  The 18-minute battle ended with a victory for the Texans and the capture of Santa Anna.

The victory has been celebrated by Texans ever since. A ball marked the first anniversary and the 14th Legislature passed Joint Resolution 7 on March 2, 1874, proclaiming April 21 a legal Texas holiday, along with March 2, Texas Independence Day.

The San Jacinto Battle Flag, pictured at right courtesy of the State Preservation Board, has hung in the Texas House chamber since 1933.  The flag is believed to have been the only Texas battle flag at San Jacinto, and it is thought to have been painted by artist James Henry Beard in late 1835 as a gift for the Newport Rifles, a 52-man company of Kentucky volunteers led by Captain Sidney Sherman. In the center is a female figure representing the Goddess of Liberty and the words, "Liberty or Death."

Photo courtesy of the State Preservation Board

This entry was posted on April 21, 2011 at 8:36 AM and has received 4047 views. Print this entry.

Week in Review, April 14th

Apr 14

posted by TexasLRL in Week in review

  • Map state by state funding for community colleges and see how enrollments are on the rise even as funding drops. (Stateline, April 11, 2011)
  • Review a report that scrutinizes Texas laws related to execution by lethal injection. (American Civil Liberties Union, March 2011)
  • Read about the persistent but gradually narrowing gender wage gap. (Institute for Women's Policy Research, April 2011)
  • Find how Texas compares to other states with an interactive gender wage gap map. (National Partnership for Women & Families, 2011)
  • See how the federal government plays a role in Americans' financial literacy. (U.S. Government Accountability Office, April 12, 2011)

This entry was posted on April 14, 2011 at 3:03 PM and has received 1533 views. Print this entry.

Senate Former Members' Day

Apr 13

posted by TexasLRL in Members of the Legislature

Thursday, April 14, 2011 the Senate will celebrate Former Members' day, which is a chance for former members of the Texas Senate to gather and be honored for their service to the State of Texas.
 
More than 900 people have served in the Texas Senate since the first Texas Legislature convened 165 years ago in 1846; others served in the Congress of the Republic of Texas between 1836 and 1846. 
 
In the foreword to The Texas Senate, edited by Secretary of the Senate Patsy Spaw, Lieutenant Governor Bill Hobby observed that the "history of the Senate is the history of Texas."
 
Learn more about the men and women who have served in the Senate from Texas Legislators: Past and Present

This entry was posted on April 13, 2011 at 2:39 PM and has received 1885 views. Print this entry.

Speaker's Reunion Day

Apr 12

posted by TexasLRL in Speaker of the House, Members of the Legislature

Friday, April 15, 2011 is Speaker's Reunion Day, a day for former members of the Texas House of Representatives to gather and be honored for their service to the State of Texas.
 
Speaker's Reunion Day is the modern descendant of Speaker's Day, a long-standing tradition of honoring the Speaker of the House for his service.
 
During the nineteenth century it was the custom at the end of the session for the employees and members of the House to present the Speaker with testimonials and mementos of his service.  Canes, silver tableware  and watches were common gifts.    
 
During the twentieth century, elaborate ceremonies become common.  The term "Speaker's Day" is first used in the House Journal in the 48th Legislature in 1943.  In his 1943 remarks, Speaker Price Daniel observed that it was a complete surprise to find that a Speaker's Day had been arranged for him, recalling "I will admit that I doubted the word of my secretaries this morning when they kept saying it was a few minutes to ten…I felt like they were wrong, and so I walked out here on the floor of the House, just in time to see that the session was opening without me.  I walked to the platform in time to hear our Chaplin, Brother Coltrin, pray for the Speaker, and then I knew what was up."
 
By the middle of the twentieth century, former members and former Speakers regularly attended the Speaker's Day celebrations.   In 1951, former Speakers R.E. Morse, Homer Leonard, Price Daniel, Claud Gilmore, W.O. Reed and Durwood Manford were present to honor Reuben Senterfitt.   The following session, Speaker Senterfitt requested that Speakers Day not be held again on his behalf; instead, Speaker Senterfitt hosted an open house for the members. 
 
Speaker's Day resumed with the following session, and the observance became an all-day affair featuring speeches, mementos, barbeques, balls, and other entertainments.  In 1971, members of the reform-minded group known as the Dirty Thirty challenged the traditional observance of Speaker's Day, arguing that the presentation of gifts had gotten out of hand and become a burden on legislators, house employees and lobbyists.
 
In the following years, Speaker's Day continued, but often on a smaller scale, with brief ceremonies and few or no gifts presented.  In 1981, Speaker Bill Clayton celebrated Speaker's Day with a members' reunion.  More than 750 former members were invited to attend, and festivities included a barbeque on the Capitol Grounds and a party at the Erwin Center.
 
In years since, the reunion has come to be the defining feature of the day, which was renamed Speaker's Reunion Day in 1993.

This entry was posted on April 12, 2011 at 8:20 AM and has received 3783 views. Print this entry.

Week in Review, April 7th

Apr 7

posted by TexasLRL in Week in review

This entry was posted on April 7, 2011 at 4:34 PM and has received 1264 views. Print this entry.

Texas Legislators: Past & Present

Apr 7

posted by TexasLRL in Members of the Legislature


Texas Legislators: Past & Present  

a database providing information about legislators
in Texas from 1876 through present. 

If you have biographical information or photographs
you would like to share with the library,
please send us an email at
lrl.service@lrl.state.tx.us
or call us at
512-463-1252. 

We welcome your assistance!

This entry was posted on April 7, 2011 at 9:13 AM and has received 1580 views. Print this entry.

School Finance in Texas

Apr 5

posted by Admin in School finance

School finance is a topic of heavy discussion this session as state lawmakers debate how to fund public education in the face of a budget shortfall.  In this blog post, we've compiled a list of online resources that provide basic overviews of the school finance system in Texas.

School Finance 101: Funding of Texas Public Schools (Texas Education Agency, January 2011)
http://www.tea.state.tx.us/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=id&ItemID=2147495107&libID=2147495104

An Introduction to School Finance in Texas (Texas Taxpayers and Research Association, January 2012)
http://www.ttara.org/files/document/file-4f1732f763446.pdf

Texas Tribune's School Finance Primer (March 31, 2011)
http://www.texastribune.org/texas-education/public-education/how-to-navigate-texas-school-finance-system/

School Daze (Texas Observer, March 30, 2011)
http://www.texasobserver.org/cover-story/school-daze

Texas Education Agency's page on School Finance
http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index2.aspx?id=6957&menu_id=645&menu_id2=789

Resources for the current Texas School Finance system (Texas Association of School Boards)
http://www.tasb.org/legislative/resources/current.aspx

Tracking the Education Dollar (Texas Association of School Boards, February 2011) http://www.tasb.org/legislative/resources/documents/trackingtheeducationdollar2011.pdf

Education Finance (National Conference of State Legislatures)
http://www.ncsl.org/default.aspx?TabID=756&tabs=951,64,221#221

Funding
Funding for public education comes from a combination of state, local and federal revenue.  In the General Appropriations Act, state funding for public education is found in Article III, where it is nearly all appropriated to the Texas Education Agency (TEA).  Article III public education funding also is appropriated to the State Board for Educator Certification, the Texas School for the Deaf, the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired, and the Teacher Retirement System.

See a discussion of proposed Article III public education funding (in CSHB 1):
CSHB 1: The House Appropriation Committee's proposed budget for Fiscal 2012-2013 (see Art. III: Public Education) : http://www.hro.house.state.tx.us/pdf/focus/CSHB1_82.pdf

For TEA operating budgets, legislative appropriations requests, and other funding information, see:
http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index.aspx?id=2147495409&menu_id=645&menu_id2=789&cid=2147483657

This entry was posted on April 5, 2011 at 9:01 AM and has received 5927 views. Print this entry.