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Week in Review, September 26th

Sep 26

posted by TexasLRL in Week in review

In this weekly post, we feature online articles and policy reports published recently, and other helpful research tools.
  • Compare Health Insurance Marketplace premiums state by state. (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, September 25, 2013)
  • Explore capital punishment in Texas. (American Bar Association, September 2013)
  • Be wary of look-alike online health insurance exchanges. (Kaiser Health News, September 12, 2013)
  • Read about the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling on the Red River Compact case. (Council of State Governments, August 26, 2013)

This entry was posted on September 26, 2013 at 3:15 PM and has received 569 views. Print this entry.

Legal Citations to Legislation

Sep 25

posted by TexasLRL in Legislation

The Greenbook: Texas Rules of Form After a legislative session, the library is often asked about legal citations to legislation. The following style formats are from The Greenbook: Texas Rules of Form, 12th edition, by the Texas Law Review. Please note that a different citation method is available in the Texas Legislative Council Drafting Manual.

 

Session Laws (rule 10.3):
Citations to session laws may be used if the statute has not yet appeared in the Vernon’s Texas Civil Statutes Annotated or Vernon’s Texas Codes Annotated, or when citing for the historical fact of enactment. There are five elements of a session law citation:
  1. Name of the statute: use the official short title or popular name, if available. Otherwise use “Act of [date of enactment].” The Greenbook specifies that “The date of enactment is the date of the final relevant legislative action on the bill, not the date of executive approval.”
  2. Legislature and session of enactment: use 83d for 83rd Legislature, use R.S. for Regular Session, use C.S. for Called Sessions and number as: 1st C.S., 2d C.S., 3d C.S.
  3. Chapter and section number of the session law: use lower case, i.e., "ch.” A session law may have many section numbers, which may be cited individually with a "§" symbol, or "§§" for more than one section.
  4. General and Special Laws of the State of Texas year and page number (or the Vernon’s Texas Session Law Service pamphlets prior to the publication of bound volumes).
  5. Future location in the code.
Examples:
 
Higher Education Outcomes-Based Funding Act, 82d Leg., R.S., ch. 1120, 2011 Tex. Gen. Laws 2882.
 
Act of May 26, 2013, 83d Leg., R.S., ch. 211, § 9, 2013 Tex. Sess. Law Serv. 903 (West) (to be codified at Tex. Educ. Code § 28.00222).
 
Act of May 27, 2011, 82d Leg., R.S., ch. 1087, §§ 1, 5, 2011 Tex. Gen. Laws 2822, 2823-24.
 
Unenacted Bills (rule 14.1.1):
 
Tex. S.B. 315, 83d Leg., R.S. (2013).
 
Tex. H.B. 8, 83d Leg., 2d C.S. (2013).
 
Concurrent and Joint Resolutions (rule 14.1.2):
 
Tex. S. Con. Res. 12, 83d Leg., R.S. (2013).
 
Tex. H.R. Con. Res. 33, 83d Leg., R.S. (2013).
 
Tex. H.R.J. Res. 133, 83d Leg., R.S. (2013).
 
Tex. S.J. Res. 1, 83d Leg., R.S. (2013).
 
When documenting legislative history, include citation to the General and Special Laws of the State of Texas:
 
         Tex. S.J. Res. 14, 68th R.S., 1983 Tex. Gen. Laws 6683 (Veterans' Land Program and Veterans' Housing Assistance Program).
 
 
 
 

This entry was posted on September 25, 2013 at 11:49 AM and has received 33958 views. Print this entry.

Week in Review, September 19th

Sep 19

posted by TexasLRL in Week in review

In this weekly post, we feature online articles and policy reports published recently, and other helpful research tools.
  • Consider the wind power industry and wind power capacity in the U.S. (U.S. Department of Energy, August 2013)
  • Track how many Americans remain without health insurance. (Kaiser Health News, September 17, 2013)
  • See cost of living statistics in different areas of the country. (Council of State Governments, September/October 2013)
  • Explore antibiotic resistance. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, September 16, 2013)

This entry was posted on September 19, 2013 at 3:15 PM and has received 495 views. Print this entry.

Week in Review, September 12th

Sep 12

posted by TexasLRL in Week in review

In this weekly post, we feature online articles and policy reports published recently, and other helpful research tools.
  • Explore a state-by-state interactive chart about the effect of the recession on teen driving. (Stateline, September 2, 2013)
  • Examine the need for better skills and wages in the workforce of each state. (Center for Law and Social Policy, August 28, 2013)
  • Consider employer-sponsored retirement plan participation rates for workers. (Employee Benefit Research Institute, August 2013)
  • Read about recent outbreaks of measles and whooping cough in Texas. (Kaiser Health News / Texas Tribune, September 10, 2013)
 

This entry was posted on September 12, 2013 at 3:15 PM and has received 621 views. Print this entry.

Legislators Running for Statewide Office

Sep 10

posted by TexasLRL in Members of the Legislature

The 2014 election will feature contests for at least six statewide offices, including governor. Texas has not seen such possible turnover in statewide office in 16 years, and the last open governor’s race was more than 20 years ago. (Read our blog post about past open races for Texas governor).

Several state legislators have announced they are running for statewide seats. Below is a list of declared candidates as of Sept. 10, 2013 who are current or former members. Click on the links to view information about each legislator, including terms of service.

Attorney General

Commissioner of Agriculture

Comptroller of Public Accounts

Lieutenant Governor

Railroad Commissioner

 

Did You Know?

2014 Election Dates of Note

  • November 9, 2013: first day candidates for statewide office may file to be on the primary ballot
  • December 9, 2013: filing deadline to be on the primary ballot
  • March 4, 2014: primary election
  • November 4, 2014: general election

This entry was posted on September 10, 2013 at 8:50 AM and has received 1243 views. Print this entry.

Week in Review, September 5th

Sep 5

posted by TexasLRL in Week in review

In this weekly post, we feature online articles and policy reports published recently, and other helpful research tools.
  • Review a survey of school districts' health and nutrition policies. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, August 26, 2013)
  • Map the Hispanic population throughout the country. (Pew Hispanic, August 29, 2013)
  • Explore the United States Congress' previous declarations of war and authorizations of the use of force. (The Atlantic, August 31, 2013)
  • See which states have had the strongest recoveries after the recession. (Stateline, September 4, 2013)
 

This entry was posted on September 5, 2013 at 3:15 PM and has received 530 views. Print this entry.

Young Texans Collection

Sep 5

posted by TexasLRL in LRL news

Photo of Young Texans exhibitYoung readers visiting the library can learn about Texas through our Young Texans Collection. The collection includes a variety of children’s books for every age level, from picture books to chapter books. Visitors can learn all about Texas, (“L is for Lone Star”), discover events in Texas history (“Voices of the Alamo”), and read about Texas politicians and historical figures (Martín de León, Barbara Jordan, and Sam Houston, among many others).

The collection is accessible any time the library is open, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. You can also view the collection on Pinterest, where we’ve included notes about reading levels and brief summaries of the books.

This entry was posted on September 5, 2013 at 8:01 AM and has received 1460 views. Print this entry.