Interim Hearings – Week of June 23rd
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.
June 23rd Top
Senate Committee on Open Government
Charge: Transparency of information available on state websites regarding state expenditures, reports, and contracts
- "Report: Texas Among Leaders in Spending Transparency," Texas Tribune, April 8, 2014
- Following the Money 2014: How the 50 States Rate in Providing Online Access to Government Spending Data, U.S. Public Interest Research Group Education Fund, April 2014
- Statewide Transparency and Spending Websites and Legislation, National Conference of State Legislatures, April 2, 2014
- Texas Transparency, Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts and related Data Center: Contracts
Senate Committee on Transportation
Invited testimony updates from the Texas Department of Transportation, the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles and the Texas Department of Public Safety
Charge: Texas Department of Transportation and Metropolitan Planning Organization's progress on reducing congestion on the 100 Most Congested Roadway segments
- 100 Congested Roadways, Texas Department of Transportation
- "Texas Traffic Congestion," Perryman Group, May 30, 2014
- State Information & Reports for Texas, The Road Information Project (TRIP)
- 2012 Annual Urban Mobility Report, Texas A&M Transportation Institute, December 2012 and related Congestion Measurement in the Urban Mobility Report Response to Critique by Mr. Todd Litman, Texas A&M Transportation Institute, May 2013
- Interim Committee to the 82nd Legislature (Charge 9), Senate Committee on Transportation and Homeland Security, February 2011
Charge: Comprehensive Development Agreements (CDA) and Design/Build project delivery methods
- Current Comprehensive Development Agreement, Texas Department of Transportation
- Comprehensive Development Agreements (CDA), Mobility Investment Priorities
- Mobility Investment Priorities Project 3P Texas Style: Emerging Innovations for Mobility and Traffic Operations (Design-build), Texas A&M Transportation Institute, August 2013
- Survey on the Use of Design-Build and Other Alternative Project Delivery Methods in Texas, Texas Legislative Council, December 2012
Joint Committee on Water Desalination
Topic: Water desalination, with special focus on ocean and saltwater desalination
- "How Oceans Can Solve Our Freshwater Crisis," CNN, June 9, 2014
- "Nation's Largest Ocean Desalination Plant Goes Up Near San Diego; Future of the California Coast?" Government Technology, GovTech.com, May 30, 2014
- "Is This Chip the Key to Desalination?" StateImpact Texas, National Public Radio, July 31, 2013
- Desalination: Seawater (Overview) and Seawater Groundwater Desalination Projects, 2012 State Water Plan, Texas Water Development Board
- The Future of Desalination in Texas: 2012 Biennial Report on Seawater Desalination, Texas Water Development Board, 2012
- Regional M Water Plan, including development of 1.0 MGD Seawater Desalination Treatment Facility, Laguna Madre Water District
- Texas Desalination Association
- Texas Seawater Desalination Demonstration Project (Brownsville), Brownsville Public Utilities Board, Port of Brownsville, Texas Water Development Board, and NRS Engineering Water Solutions
June 24th Top
Senate Select Committee on Transportation Funding, Expenditures & Finance
Topics: Future reliability of all current state transportation funding sources; alternatives that may increase available state funding for transportation; use of debt financing in state transportation funding, including the uses of the Texas Mobility Fund; alternative transportation funding options used nationally and internationally
- NCSL Transportation Funding and Finance Legislation Database, National Conference of State Legislatures, Updated May 6, 2014
- Sustainable State Transportation Funding and Spending (Webinar), National Conference of State Legislatures, April 24, 2014
- Improving the Efficiency and Equity of Highway Funding and Management: The Role of VMT Charges, Research Summary and Full Report, Mercatus Center, George Mason University, February 2014
- Tracking State Transportation Funding Plans, Transportation For America, 2013-2014
- Interim Report to the 83rd Texas Legislature (Joint charge with House Appropriations: transportation funding, including Federal Highway Trust Fund, State Highway Fund, and Mobility Fund), House Committee on Transportation, December 2012
- Interim Report to the 82nd Legislature (Joint charge with Senate Finance: transportation funding concepts), Senate Committee on Transportation and Homeland Security, February 2011
- Interim Report to the 82nd Texas Legislature, House Select Committee on Transportation Funding, January 2011
Staff presentation and public testimony: University Interscholastic League
Staff presentation and agency response:
June 25th Top
House Committee on Natural Resources
Charge: Groundwater availability, management, and development, brackish groundwater, and groundwater district permitting
- "Brackish Water Abounds, but Using It Isn't Simple," Texas Tribune, January 8, 2014
- "Water for Texas: Brackish Resources Aquifer Characterization System," Texas Water Development Board, December 2013
- Summary of Groundwater Conditions in Texas: Recent (2010-2011) and Historical Water Level Changes in the TWDB Online Recorder Network, Texas Water Development Board, February 2013
- Priority Groundwater Management Areas and Groundwater Conservation Districts: Report to the 83rd Texas Legislature, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, January 2013
- Groundwater Availability Models, Texas Water Development Board
Charge: Protection of privately owned lands in state's water supply and environmental flows
- "Texas Water: Basics of Surface Water Law," Texas Agriculture Law Blog, September 30, 2013
- Land and Water: Resources Conservation and Recreation Plan, Texas Parks and Wildlife, May 2013.
- "What Are ‘Environmental Flows’ And How Does Texas Protect Them?" StateImpact Texas, National Public Radio, January 16, 2013
- Water Catchment Scale Planning and Conservation, Hill Country Alliance
- Texas Watershed Steward program, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension and Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board
- Texas Water Bank & Trust, Texas Water Development Board
Charge: Aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) projects
- "Water Experts Optimistic about Ogallala's Ability to Recharge," Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, June 7, 2014
- "Is it Time for Texas to Welcome ASR?" Texas Water Resources Institute, Summer 2014
- Aquifers of Texas, Texas Water Development Board, July 2011
- An Assessment of Aquifer Storage and Recovery in Texas, Texas Water Development Board, February 2011
Public testimony - Public input form for agencies under review:
June 26th Top
House Committee on Natural Resources
Charge: Implementation of HB 4 and SJR 1, 83rd Legislature, R.S., and progress of Texas Water Development Board to provide a stable, long-term funding source for the State Water Plan
- Investment Policy Statement Phase II State Water Implementation Fund for Texas, Texas Treasury Safekeeping Trust Company, March 2014
- SWIFT Implementation Timeline, Texas Water Development Board, 2014
- "Worth It: Weighing the Costs of Implementing the State Water Plan and the Consequences of Doing Nothing," Texas Water Resources Institute, Winter 2013
- "Texas Water Development Board and the State Water Implementation Fund of Texas (SWIFT)" (Presentation), Texas Water Development Board
Charge: Legislative oversight and monitoring of agencies and programs
