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.
September 22nd Top
Senate Committee on Economic Development
Charge: Legislative and regulatory barriers to capital investment, growth, and expansion of Texas businesses; reducing regulatory barriers to professions regulated by Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation
- TDLR Helping Military Service Members, Veterans, and Spouses Get Licensed to Work in Texas (Press Release) Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, March 25, 2014
- Prepared Statement of the Federal Trade Commission on Competition and the Potential Costs and Benefits of Professional Licensure, Committee on Small Business, U.S. House of Representatives, July 16, 2014
- "The Artificial Barriers of Occupational Licensing" (blog), American Legislative Exchange Council, October 25, 2013
- "GI Jobs," State Legislatures, July/August 2013
- License to Work: a National Study of Burden from Occupational Licensing, Institute for Justice, May 2012
Charge: Biennial state review process for economic development programs
- Strategies for Evaluating Tax Incentives (fact sheet) and Evaluating State Tax Incentives: How to Measure Economic Impact (fact sheet), The Pew Charitable Trusts, June 13, 2014 and February 7, 2014
- Florida Economic Development Program Evaluations – Year 1, Offices of the Florida Legislature, January 1, 2014
- Comprehensive Evaluation of Maine’s Economic Development Incentive Programs, Department of Economic & Community Development, January 2014
- Economic Development Programs and Investments Review of Evaluation Practices in Washington State, Washington Economic Development Commission, January 2013
Charge: Implementation of SB 21, 83rd Legislature R.S., which requires drug testing for unemployment insurance claimants
- "Jobless-benefits Drug Testing on Hold in Texas," Houston Chronicle, April 18, 2014
- "Drug Testing for Unemployed Texans Months Away," Texas Tribune, April 1, 2014
September 23rd Top
House Committee on Agriculture & Livestock
Charge: Transparency, accountability, and efficiency in state agencies under the committee's jurisdiction; cost-saving technologies such as the route optimization system used by the Texas Department of Agriculture to save funds in inspection activities
- Report on Fleet Planning & Optimization, Texas Department of Agriculture, March 2012 and Texas Government Backs Fleet Management Software by Mobi (YouTube video with Neil Cooke, Management Analyst, Texas Department of Agriculture), mobi Corp., June 20, 2014
Charge: Texas Right to Farm Act
- "Texas Right to Farm Law" (blog), Texas Agrilife Extension Service, July 24, 2013 and Texas Agriculture Code Sections 251.001-251.006, Protection and Preservation of Agricultural Operations
Charge: Legislative oversight and monitoring of the agencies and programs under the committee’s jurisdiction
House Committee on Special Purpose Districts
Charge: Comprehensive review of existing special purpose districts in the state
- "Among Conservatives, Taxing Districts Create a Rift," Texas Tribune, March 20, 2014
- Your Money and the Taxing Facts, Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, August 2012
- Invisible Government: Special Purpose Districts in Texas, Texas Senate Research Center, October 2008
- Special District Local Laws Code, Texas Legislative Council
- SPD Sales and Use Tax, Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts
- Special Purpose Districts, Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts
September 24th Top
House Committee on Agriculture & Livestock CANCELLED
Continuation of any unfinished business from the previous day
House Select Committee on Economic Development Incentives
Topics: Energy and private space incentives, freeports, and the Cancer Prevention Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT)
- "Can the Private Space Industry Stabilize a Boom-and-Bust Economy?" StateImpact Texas, National Public Radio, August 27, 2014
- "States Keep Renewable Energy Incentives Despite Push to Repeal, " Governing/Stateline, June 24, 2013
- Report of the Texas Economic Development Act, Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, January 2013
- Interim Report to the 83rd Texas Legislature, Charge: The Emerging Technology Fund (ETF) and Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT), House Committee on Economic and Small Business Development, December 2012
- An Analysis of Texas Economic Development Incentives, Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, December 2010, Updated April 2011
- Tax Incentives (including renewable energy and freeports), Office of the Governor, Economic Development and Tourism Division
Senate Committee on Finance
Topic: Legislative Budget Board (LBB) presentations about major cost drivers for the state budget in:
- Public Education
- Report on School District Mandates: Cost Drivers in Public Education, Texas Association of School Administrators, January 2013
- Report to the 82nd Legislature (Charge 4 - Cost Drivers) Senate Committee on Education, December 2010
- Higher Education
- "College Cost and College Value: Two Economists Offer a Historical Perspective on Rising College Costs," Bucknell Magazine, May 2014
- Financing Higher Education in Texas: Legislative Primer, Legislative Budget Board, February 2013
- Interim Report (Charge 5 - Cost Drivers), Senate Committee on Higher Education, December 2010
- Medicaid
- "Florida Shifts Medicaid Mental Health Strategy," Kaiser Health News, July 8, 2014
- State Health Care Spending on Medicaid: A 50-state Study of Trends and Drivers of Cost, The Pew Charitable Trusts, July 1, 2014
- Mental Health
- "Wrestling With A Texas County’s Mental Health System," Kaiser Health News, August 20, 2014
- "New Year Brings Cautious Hope for Mental Health Care," Texas Tribune, January 2, 2014
- Community Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services at the Department of State Health Services, Legislative Budget Board, April, 2013
- Transportation
- "Drivers in Dallas, Across State Pay Price for Aging Highways," Dallas Morning News, July 23, 2014 and Texas Transportation by the Numbers: Meeting the State’s Need for Safe and Efficient Mobility, National Transportation Research Group, July 2014
- Texas Highway Funding: Legislative Primer, Legislative Budget Board, March 2013,
- Water
- State Agency Unveils Draft Rules on $2B in Funds for Water Projects," Corpus Christi Caller-Times, June 18, 2014, and Proposed Rulemaking, Texas Water Development Board June 17, 2014
- State Funding for Water Programs: Legislative Primer, Legislative Budget Board, January 2011
- Employee Retirement Systems
- Overview of the Employees Retirement System of Texas Group Benefit Program, Presented to House Appropriations Subcommittee on Articles I, IV, and V and House Pensions Committee, Legislative Budget Board, July 10, 2014
- Teacher Retirement System
- Overview of Teacher Retirement System (Pensions) and Overview of TRS-Care Retiree Health Benefits, Joint Meeting of the House Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Education and the House Pensions Committee, Legislative Budget Board, July 10, 2014
House Committee on Culture, Recreation & Tourism
Charge: Commercial oyster industry in the Commercial Fishing License Buyback Program at the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department
- Texas Commercial Fishing Guide, Effective Sept. 1, 2014 Through Aug. 31, 2015, Texas Parks & Wildlife Department, 2014
- "High Prices, Low Production; Gulf Oysters at Zero Population," Gulf Seafood Institute, April 21, 2014
- The Oyster Fishery of the Gulf of Mexico, United States: A Fisheries Management Plan, Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission, 2012 Revision, March 2012
Charge: Implementation of HB 3279, 83rd Legislature, R.S., regarding the protection of seagrass plants
- "New Law to Add Penalties for Props That Destroy Sea Grasses," Brownsville Herald/McAllen Monitor, July 27, 2013
Charge: Economic impact of cultural, recreation, or tourism grants provided by the state, including any economic development grants related to cultural, recreational, or tourism industries, heritage tourism, courthouse restoration, and historic district revitalization
- The Economic Impact of Travel on Texas, 1990-2013, Office of the Governor, Texas Economic Development & Tourism, June 2014
- "Preservation Makes Sense: THC Programs Fuel Economic Growth in Texas' Rural Areas," The Medallion, Texas Historical Commission, Winter 2013
- Update 2012: The Impact of Arts and Culture Industries on the Texas Economy, Texas Cultural Trust, Winter 2012
- The Art of Economic Development, Texas Cultural Trust, Texas Commission on the Arts, Fall 2010
- Statistics and Studies: Quantifying the Impact of the Arts, Texas Commission on the Arts
Topic: Update on Battleship Texas
- "Race Against Time: Corrosion Slowly Destroying USS Texas," Austin American-Statesman, November 29, 2013
- Battleship Texas State Historic Site, Texas Parks & Wildlife Department
- Battleship Texas Foundation
House Committee on Public Health
Charge: Efficient exchange of electronic health information with Texas Health and Human Services enterprise agencies
- Health Information Technology (HIT), including Medicaid electronic health record (EHR) incentive program and Statewide Health Information Exchange, Texas Health and Human Services Commission
- HealthIT.gov Reports and Data, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Charge: Legislative oversight and monitoring of agencies and programs, including implementation of HB 15, 83rd Legislature, R.S.
September 25th Top
Joint Interim Committee to Study Human Trafficking
Topics: Services and resources available to victims of human trafficking; current efforts in North Texas region to combat human trafficking
- Human Trafficking Overview ("safe harbor" laws, preventing trafficked youth from entering criminal justice system, and funding sources), National Conference of State Legislatures, Updated May 9, 2014
- Assessing the Threat of Human Trafficking in Texas, Texas Department of Public Safety, April 2014
- Texas (state report of human trafficking referral resources, call statistics, and Texas State Report 1/1/2013-12/31/2013), National Human Trafficking Resource Center
- Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force Strategy and Operations e-Guide, U.S. Department of Justice, Office for Victims of Crime and Bureau of Justice Assistance
September 26th Top
House Committees on Energy Resources and International Trade & Intergovernmental Affairs (Joint Hearing)
Charge: Impact on Texas' economy and businesses of the recent expansion of oil and gas production in Northern Mexico, Mexico's efforts to recover shale gas from Eagle Ford Shale
- "Texas A&M International Lending Educational Expertise to Mexico’s Evolving Energy Market," San Antonio Business Journal, August 29, 2014
- "Mexican Energy Reform Means These New Jobs in Houston," Houston Business Journal, August 18, 2014
- "Why the U.S. Could be the Big Winner of Mexico’s Energy Reforms," Washington Examiner, August 8, 2014
- Mexico's Energy Reform to Bring Significant Benefits, Challenges, Rigzone, May 1, 2014
- "Houston Companies Predicted to be the Big Winners under Mexico's Energy Reform," Houston Business Journal, January 28, 2014
- Mexico’s Oil and Gas Sector: Background, Reform Efforts, and Implications for the United States, Congressional Research, January 6, 2014
