Interim Hearings – Weeks of May 5th-May 12th
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.
House Committee on County Affairs
Charge 2: Oversight of the Texas Commission on Jail Standards, jail issues including mental health
- County Officials Testify at County Affairs Committee Hearing, Texas Association of Counties, and Committee Meeting Handouts (Charge #2), House Committee on County Affairs, March 10, 2014
- TJP Director Speaks at County Affairs Hearing, Texas Jail Project, March 17, 2014
- Texas Commission on Jail Standards, including County Population Reports updated February 26, 2014
- Mortality in Local Jails and State Prisons, 2000-2011 Statistical Tables, Bureau of Justice Statistics, August 2013
- Texas County Resources, Texas Criminal Justice Coalition
Charge 3: Health advisory panel from HB 3793, 83rd Legislature, R.S.
- County Officials Testify at County Affairs Committee Hearing, Texas Association of Counties, and Committee Meeting Handouts (Charge #3), House Committee on County Affairs, March 10, 2014
- "Mental Health Advisory Panel to Create a Statewide Plan," Texas Association of Counties
- House Bill 3793 - 83(R), (advisory panel meetings and agendas), Texas Department of State Health Services
Charge 4: Cite-and-summons policy and effect on overcrowding in county jails
- "Crowded Jails Becoming Health Hazards," Texas Tribune, October 25, 2010
- Costly Confinement & Sensible Solutions: Jail Overcrowding in Texas, Texas Criminal Justice Coalition, 2010
Charge 6: Legislative oversight and monitoring of agencies
- County Officials Testify at County Affairs Committee Hearing, Texas Association of Counties, and Committee Meeting Handouts (Charge #6), House Committee on County Affairs, March 10, 2014
House Committee on Energy Resources
Charge: Increased seismic activity in the Barnett Shale and other areas of the State
- "Geophysicists Link Fracking Boom to Increase in Earthquake," Star-Telegram, May 1, 2014
- "The Seismic Link Between Fracking and Earthquakes," Time, May 1, 2014
- "Even in Wake of New Ohio Limits, Texas Regulators say Fracking Not Linked to Earthquakes," San Antonio Business Journal, April 17, 2014
- "Ohio Acknowledges Connection Between Hydraulic Fracturing and Youngstown Quakes, Will Require Seismic Testing Near Known Fault Lines," Cleveland.com, April 11, 2014, and Ohio Announces Tougher Permit Conditions for Drilling Activities Near Faults and Areas of Seismic Activity, Ohio Department of Natural Resources
- "Texas, Other States Sharing Information About Earthquakes,"Star Telegram, March 27, 2014
- USGS FAQs: Earthquakes Induced by Fluid Injection, United States Geological Survey
House Select Committee on Transparency in State Agency Operations
House Committee on Appropriations - S/C on Article III
Charge: Higher education funding formulas
- Financing Higher Education in Texas: Legislative Primer, Legislative Budget Board, February 2013
- Formula Funding, including Formula Funding Recommendations: 2012 (2014-2015 Biennium), Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, April 2012
- Interim Report 2010: A Report to the House of Representatives, 82nd Texas Legislature (Charge 6, Higher Education Funding), House Committee on Higher Education, January 2011
- Interim Charge Recommendations to the 82nd Legislature (Higher Education Funding Charge), Senate Committee on Finance, January 2011
Charge: Research funds
- Interim Report 2012: A Report to the House of Representatives, 83rd Texas Legislature (Charge 1, Research Funding Programs), House Committee on Higher Education, January 2013
- Diminishing Funding and Rising Expectations: Trends and Challenges for Public Research Universities, National Science Foundation, July 18, 2012
- Research Development Fund and Research University Development Fund (RUDF), Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board
House Committee on Environmental Regulation
Charge: Environmental permitting processes at the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), specifically the contested-case hearing process at the State Office of Administrative Hearings (SOAH), timelines, and economic impact
- Interim Report to the 82nd Texas Legislature (Permitting Charge), House Committee on Environmental Regulation, December 2010
- Overview: Public Participation in Environmental Permitting and Industry-Specific Permits by Rule, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
- 30 Texas Administrative Code §§ 80.1-80.279, Contested Case Hearings, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality / Texas Secretary of State
House Select Committee on Transparency in State Agency Operations CANCELLED
House Committee on Public Education
Charge: Student achievement
- Can New Tests Lead to Better Teaching and Deeper Learning?, RAND Corporation, February 2014
- "Collaborative for Teacher Professional Learning seeks to improve Texas STEM education and student achievement," TAMU Times, July 23, 2013
- Mega-states: an Analysis of Student Performance in the Five Most Heavily Populated States in the Nation, National Center for Education Statistics, February 2013
Charge: Teacher evaluation
- Teacher Evaluation and Support System: waiver submission, Texas Education Agency, May 2, 2014
- "Houston teachers sue over student test-based evaluations," Texas Tribune, May 1, 2014, and related court complaint
- Ensuring Fair and Reliable Measures of Effective Teaching: Culminating Findings from the MET Project’s Three-year Study, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, January 2013
Charge: Teacher preparation and recruitment
- Training Teachers for Profit or Prestige: Analysis of a Diverse Market for Teacher Training, University of Texas at Austin, February 28, 2014
- Maintaining the Boundaries: Teacher Preparation Program Admission Criteria for Screening Quality Candidates, Tarleton State University, January 2014
- Who is in Charge of Teacher Preparation?, Center for American Progress, June 2013
- Evaluation of Teach for America in Texas Schools, Edvance Research Inc., January 2013
House Committees on County Affairs and Defense & Veterans' Affairs (Joint Hearing, 10:00 a.m.)
Charge: Veterans courts and implementation of SB 462, 83rd Legislature, R.S.
- Presentation to House Committee on County Affairs, Texas Veterans Commission, March 10, 2014
- "Veterans Courts in Texas," Texas Bar Journal, September 2012
- Veterans Treatment Court Studies and Statistics, Justice for Vets
- Veterans Courts, Resource Guide, National Center for State Courts
- Veterans Courts in Texas (County Directory), Texas A& M University System
House Committee on Defense & Veterans' Affairs
Charge: Peer-to-Peer Mental Health Program, veterans' mental health and PTSD, and implementation of HB 2392, 83rd Legislature, R.S.
- Mental Health Program for Veterans, Fiscal Year 2013 Annual Report, As Required by HB 2392 and Rider 86, 83rd Legislature 2013, Department of State Health Services, December 2013
- Veterans Health Administration: Review of Veterans’ Access to Mental Health Care, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Inspector General, April 23, 2012
House Committee on County Affairs
Charge: Legislative oversight and monitoring of agencies, Texas Healthcare Transformation and Quality Improvement Program 1115 Waiver
- "County indigent health care program; lawmakers address inmate care, 1115 waiver projects," Texas County Progress, County Judges and Commissioners Association of Texas, April 2014
- Presentation to the House County Affairs Committee on the Healthcare Transformation Waiver, Texas Health and Human Services Commission, March 10, 2014
- Medicaid Transformation Waiver, Texas Health and Human Services Commission
- Medicaid 1115 Waiver - Texas Health Care Transformation and Quality Improvement Program, Texas Hospital Association
Joint Legislative Committee on Human Trafficking
Topics: Implementation of anti-human trafficking legislation passed by the 83rd Legislature; agency updates on anti-human trafficking efforts; and updates from the Texas Human Trafficking Prevention Task Force
- Guidance to States and Services on Addressing Human Trafficking of Children and Youth in the United States, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, September 13, 2013
- Introduction to Human Trafficking: A Guide for Criminal Justice Professionals, Texas Human Trafficking Prevention Task Force, Office of the Attorney General, September 2013
- Trafficking in Persons Report 2013, U.S. Department of State, June 2013
- Texas Human Trafficking Prevention Task Force Report to the Legislature, 2012, Office of the Attorney General, December 2012
House Committee on Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence
Testimony from State Office of Administrative Hearings
Charge: Litigation related to environmental contamination brought by local governments
- "Bills would limit local governments' ability to pursue environmental claims," Houston Chronicle, April 15, 2013 (HB 3117 and HB 3119, 83rd Legislature, R.S.)
- Addressing Contaminated Industrial Property: Remediation, Not Litigation, Texas Conservative Coalition Research Institute, April 2012
House Committee on Culture, Recreation & Tourism
Charge: Alligator gar and largemouth bass populations in Falcon Lake
- "USIBWC monitors water quality after dead fish reported," International Boundary and Water Commission, May 2, 2014
- "Texas seeks protection for world-famous trophy alligator gar," Brownsville Herald, April 11, 2014
- "Hook, line and sinker," Texas Observer, June 3, 2013
- Falcon Reservoir 2009 Survey Report, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, July 31, 2010
Joint Legislative Committee on Aging
Topic: Initiatives to address various needs among Texas' aging population
- "Silver tsunami: States have a fairly long to-do list to get ready for the health care needs of an aging America" and "For the record: There are enormous opportunities in the aging of our population" (interview with James H. Johnson, demographer and professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, on the growing elderly population), State Legislatures, National Conference of State Legislatures, December 2013
- Labor Force Statistics on Older Americans, Third Quarter 2013, Urban Institute, December 2013
- Livable Community Indicators for Sustainable Aging in Place (Full Report), Highlights, Stanford Center on Longevity, MetLife Mature Market Institute, March 2013
- A Profile of Housing and Health Among Older Americans, Research Institute for Housing America, Mortgage Bankers Association, November 19, 2013
