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.
May 23 Top
House Committee on Agriculture & Livestock
Charge 1: Policy challenges to the state's agriculture and livestock industry
- "What Declining Oil Prices Mean for Cattle and Beef," Western Livestock Journal, January 22, 2016
- Impact of Low Oil Prices on Food and Other Commodities, CEIC Data, June 11, 2015
- U.S. Drought 2012: Farm and Food Impacts, Economic Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture, July 26, 2013
- "Agricultural Impacts of Texas' Driest Year on Record," Choices Magazine (Agricultural & Applied Economics Association), Third Quarter 2012
- Impacts of Higher Energy Prices on Agriculture and Rural Economics, Economic Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture, August 2011
- An HSI Report: The Impact of Animal Agriculture on Global Warming and Climate Change, Humane Society International, June 2011
- Managing Risk in Agriculture: A Holistic Approach, Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development, 2009
Charge 4: Windblown trash
Invited Testimony
Charge 5: Appraisal of agricultural land
- "Status Update and Trends of Texas Rural Working Lands," Texas Land Trends, October 2014
- "Tax Relief for Property Used in Ag Production," Rockdale Reporter, March 21, 2013
- Agriculture Taxes in Texas, Texas AgriLife Extension Service, Texas A&M System, January 2012
- "The Roundup on Agricultural Property Tax Appraisals," The Cattleman Magazine, October 2010
- Agricultural and Timberland Appraisal, Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts
- Texas Tax Code §§23.51-23.60, Appraisal of Agricultural Land
House Committee on Environmental Regulation
Charge 1: Household hazardous waste disposal
- Household Hazardous Waste: A Guide for Texans and Household Hazardous Waste: Program Assistance, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
- Household Hazardous Waste, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Charge 4: Scrap tire management and disposal
- Presentations at 2013 Scrap Tire Workshop in San Antonio, Texas, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, April 2013
- Tracking the Fate of Scrap Tires in Texas: An Audit Report, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, December 2010
- Tracking the Fate of Scrap Tires in Texas: An Audit Report, TCEQ, December 2008
- Using Scrap Tire and Crumb Rubber in Texas Highway Construction Projects (Progress Report) Texas Department of Transportation, January 2007
- Health interim report: Texas Border Health (Tire Recycling Program), Senate Committee on Border Affairs, December 2000
- Interim Report to the 76th Texas Legislature (Waste Tire Program), House Committee on Environmental Regulation, November 1998
- Interim Report to the 75th Legislature: Implementation of the Waste Tire Recycling Bill, Senate Natural Resources Interim Subcommittee, September 1996
- Scrap Tire Management and Scrap-Tire Recycling, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
- Scrap Tires and Rubber, Texas Department of Transportation
Charge 5: Legislative oversight and monitoring
House Committee on Urban Affairs
Charge 3: Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs low-income tax credit, compliance with U.S. Supreme Court decision in Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs et al. v. Inclusive Communities Project, Inc., et al. on fair housing in Texas
- Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) Program, Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs
- 2016 State of Texas Low Income Housing Plan and Annual Report (Current litigation, pp. 215-216), Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs, 2016
- Inclusive Communities Project (Briefs, court opinions and orders), Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs
Charge 4: Housing programs and policies in Texas, compliance with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's new Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Rules
Charge 5: Low-income housing availability
- "Report: Housing Getting Less Affordable Across Texas," Austin American-Statesman, March 14, 2016
- Texas Homebuyers and Sellers Report, Texas Realtors, March 1, 2016
- 2016 State of Texas Low Income Housing Plan and Annual Report, Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs, 2016
- Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs: Sunset Final Report with Legislative Action, Sunset Advisory Commission, July 2013
- Interim Report to the 81st Texas Legislature (Charge 1 - TDHCA Housing Tax Credit Program; Charge 3 - Affordable housing; Charge 4 - Housing Trust Fund), Senate Committee on Intergovernmental Relations, December 2008
- Affordable Housing Resources, Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services
- Fair Housing Policy & Guidance, The Fair Housing Act and Related Laws, Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs
- TDHCA Programs Overview, Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs
- Texas Low Income Housing Information Service
- HUD in Texas, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
Charge 7: Legislative oversight and monitoring, including Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs
Senate Committee on Agriculture, Water & Rural Affairs
Charge: Surface water and groundwater
- "High Court Hears From Ranch, Lubbock in Water Case "and "High Court Might Clarify Water and Surface Rights," Texas Tribune, October 14, 2015
- Interim Report to the 84th Legislature (Charge 2 - Groundwater), House Committee on Natural Resources, January 2015
- "Whose Water Is It Anyway?," Tierra Grande, Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University, July 2014 (Revised 2015)
- "Texas Groundwater Rights and Immunities: From East to Day and Beyond," Texas Water Journal, Texas Water Resources Institute, Texas A&M University, 2014
- "Edwards Aquifer Authority V. Day And Bragg—Predictions on Their Effects For Regulatory Takings Claims For Groundwater Used In Oil & Gas Operations," 66 Baylor Law Review 471 (2014)
- "Liquid Assets: Groundwater in Texas," 122 Yale Law Journal 143, (December 4, 2012)
- Applications for Surface Water Rights and Ownership Changes and Surface Water Rights and Availability, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
May 24 Top
House Committee on Government Transparency & Operation and House Select Committee on Emerging Issues in Texas Law Enforcement (Joint Hearing)
Joint charge: Emerging technologies used by law enforcement and issues related to appropriate dissemination of the data
- "Local Police Use of Vast License Plate Database Raises Privacy Concern," Austin American-Statesman, February 18, 2016
- "Concerns Raised about Accessibility of Police Body Camera Footage," Houston Chronicle, February 7, 2016
- Police Body Camera Policies (includes policies on data retention, release, and security), Brennan Center for Justice, New York University School of Law, February 5, 2016
- Policy Body Cam Footage: Just Another Public Record (White Paper), Floyd Abrams Institute for Freedom of Expression, Media Freedom and Information Access Clinic, Yale Law School, December 2015
- Local Police Departments, 2013: Equipment and Technology, U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, July 2015
- Final Report of the President's Task Force on 21st Century Policing (Pillar 3: Technology & social media), U.S. Department of Justice, Community Oriented Policing Service, May 2015
- Force Multiplier: Police Seek Effective Uses of Technology (6-part Digital Communities report on wearable cameras, predictive policing, cloud computing, social media, crime-fighting civic apps, the future of policing & technology), Government Technology, September 22, 2014
- Interim Report to the 78th Texas Legislature (Charge 4 - Evaluate the use of advanced technologies by local law enforcement agencies), House Committee on Public Safety, November 2002
May 25 Top
House Committees on Government Transparency & Operation and Homeland Security & Public Safety (Joint Hearing)
Joint charge: Criminal records
- Survey of State Criminal History Information Systems, 2014, U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, December 2015
- Interim Report to the 84th Legislature (Charge 3 - Sale of criminal histories), House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence, January 2015
- Criminal Records in the Digital Age: A Review of Current Practices and Recommendations for Reform in Texas, William Wayne Justice Center for Public Interest Law, The University of Texas School of Law, March 2013
- Broken Records: How Errors by Criminal Background Checking Companies Harm Workers and Businesses (Part IV/C, Bulk dissemination of records and state regulation of bulk dissemination), National Consumer Law Center, April 2012
- An Audit Report on The Criminal Justice Information System at the Department of Public Safety and the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, State Auditor's Office, September 2011
House Committee on Government Transparency & Operation
Charge: Public information
- "Court: Austin Must ID Private Emails Used for Public Business," Austin American-Statesman, April 9, 2016
- The Austin Bulldog v. Mayor Lee Leffingwell et al.; Opinion (No. 03-13-00604-CV; open meetings, e-mail records), Texas Court of Appeals for the Third District, Austin, April 8, 2016
- State Integrity Investigation 2015, Texas (Public access to information), Center for Public Integrity, November 9, 2015
- Public Information Handbook 2016 (Government Code Sec. 552.232, Responding to Repetitious or Redundant Requests), Office of Attorney General, Revised October 2015
- "Few Cities Have Policies on Use of Private Email by Public Officials," Dallas Morning News, May 29, 2015
- "On the Record: Public Information in North Texas," Dallas Morning News, January 23, 2015
House Committee on Homeland Security & Public Safety
Charge: Commercial motor vehicles
- Texas Commercial Motor Vehicle Drivers Handbook, Texas Department of Public Safety, June 2014
- Federal Motor Carrier Safety: Modifying the Compliance, Safety, Accountability Program Would Improve the Ability to Identify High Risk Carriers, U.S. Government Accountability Office, February 2014
- A Texas Motor Carrier's Guide to Highway Safety, Texas Department of Public Safety, Commercial Vehicle Enforcement, August 2013
- Commercial Vehicle Enforcement (overview, history, CMV laws and rules by topic), Texas Department of Public Safety
- Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (49 CFR Parts 350-399), U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
- Texas Commercial Vehicle Regulations and Enforcement Procedures, 37 Texas Administrative Code, Part 1, Chapter 4
- Texas Transportation Code, Ch. 644, Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Standards
House Committee on Transportation
Topic: Utility relocation issues on state right-of-way construction and maintenance projects
- ROW (Right of Way) Utility Manual, Texas Department of Transportation, May 2016
- Local Government Projects Policy Manual (Chapter 6 - Right of Way and Utilities), Texas Department of Transportation, June 2015
Topic: Toll revenues and total debt service
- FY 2015-2018 Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (Estimated revenues and expenditures), Texas Department of Transportation, May 2016 Quarterly Revision
- Texas Toll Road Primer: Final Report, Texas A&M Transportation Institute, November 2014
Topic: TxDOT Rail Division
- 2015 Texas Rail Plan: Executive Summary (Draft), Texas Department of Transportation, December 2015
- 2015 Texas Rail Plan Update (Chapters 1-5, Draft), Texas Department of Transportation, December
- Rail-Highway Operations Manual, Texas Department of Transportation, August 2015
Topic: TxDOT Rural Transit Division
- TxDOT Awarded $20 Million in Federal Funds to Improve Rural Transit, Texas Department of Transportation, October 29, 2015
- Texas Rural Transportation Plan 2035 – Final Report (Appendixes and maps), Texas Department of Transportation, June 2012
Topic: Texas ports
· Interim Hearings – Week of May 2, 2016, Senate Select Committee on Texas Ports, Legislative Reference Library, May 4, 2016
Topic: DMV processing and handling fee
- Registration and Title Fees By State, National Conference of State Legislatures, March 7, 2016
- Estimating the Cost to Process Vehicle Registration and Title Transactions in Texas Counties: Technical Report, Texas A&M Transportation Institute, May 2015
House Committee on Transportation, Subcommittee on Long-term Infrastructure Planning
Topic: Financial forecast relating to transportation funding (testimony from Comptroller Hegar)
Topic: Finance options used in other states to fund transportation infrastructure
- Paying for Local Infrastructure in a New Era of Federalism: A State-By-State Analysis, National League of Cities, 2016
- "Shifting Gears: the Federal FAST Act Might Help States Find More Sustainable Transportation Revenue," State Legislatures, May 2016
- "How States Make Infrastructure Budgets," (Survey), Governing, May 29, 2014
- "States Get Creative to Fund Transportation Infrastructure," FutureStructure, April 8, 2014
- The Road Ahead: County Transportation Funding and Financing, National Association of Counties, February 2014
- The Future of Transportation Infrastructure Investments: Determining Best Practices for States' Funding and Financing Mechanisms, Thomas Jefferson Program in Public Policy, College of William & Mary, January 2014
- On the Move: State Strategies for 21st Century Transportation Solutions, National Conference of State Legislatures, July 2012
Topic: Design-build contracts
- "Contracting Experiment Drawing Mixed Reviews," Texas Tribune, May 22, 2015
- "Texas Could Save $1 Billion Per Year: The Biggest Reform You've Never Heard Of," Breitbart, March 28, 2015
- Interim Report to the 84th Texas Legislature (Charge 3 – Design/Build project delivery), Senate Transportation Committee, January 2015
- 2015 State Statute Report: A Guide to State Design-Build Laws, Design-Build Institute of America, 2015
- 84th Legislature 2015 - Mapping for the Future: Summary of Enacted Legislation (HB20, Rider 47), Texas Department of Transportation, 2015
- Survey on the Use of Design-Build and Other Alternative Project Delivery Methods in Texas, Texas Legislative Council, December 2012
- Texas Transportation Code, §§223.241-223.250, Design-Build Contracts
