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 16 Top
House Committee on County Affairs
Topic: Texas Healthcare Transformation and Quality Improvement Program 1115 Waiver
- Medicaid Transformation Waiver, Texas Health and Human Services Commission
Topic: Counties involvement in Child Protective Services (CPS) cases
- Progress Report to the Sunset Advisory Commission: Child Protective Services Transformation (Improving Quality - Harris & Travis Counties), Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, April 2016
- Progress Report to the Sunset Advisory Commission: Child Protective Services Transformation (Harris County Transformation), Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, October 2015
- Texas Child Protective Services (CPS), Texas Department of Family and Protective Services
House Committees on County Affairs and Urban Affairs (Joint Hearing)
Joint charge: Risk and mitigation of wildfires, floods, and other natural hazards in the wildland-urban interface; natural disasters
- Texas Emergency Management Executive Guide: Fiscal Year 2015 Edition, Texas Department of Public Safety and Texas Division of Emergency Management, Revised January 4, 2016
- "Judge's Corner: Texas Should Invest More Funding for Natural Disasters," Austin American-Statesman, December 30, 2015
- Lessons From Texas: 10 Years of Disaster Recovery Examined, Texas Appleseed, September 15, 2015
- Sustaining Statewide Disaster Response Capabilities From a Fire Service Perspective (Thesis, focuses on fire service in Texas and Texas Task Force 1), Naval Postgraduate School (Monterey, CA), March 2013
- State of Texas Hazard Mitigation Plan: 2013 Update, Texas Department of Public Safety, 2013
- Examining Local Jurisdictions' Capacity and Commitment for Hazard Mitigation Policies and Strategies Along the Texas Coast (Dissertation), Texas A&M University, May 2012
- Flood Risk Management Approaches: As Being Practiced in Japan, Netherlands, United Kingdom, and United States, Institute for Water Resources, United States Army Corps of Engineers, September 2011
- Resilient Regions: Integrating Economic Development Strategies, Sustainability Principles and Hazard Mitigation Planning, National Association of Development Organizations Research Foundation, July 2011
- Hazard Mitigation: Integrating Best Practices into Planning, American Planning Association, May 2010
- "Lessons We Don't Learn: A Study of the Lessons of Disasters, Why We Repeat Them, and How We Can Learn Them," 2 Homeland Security Affairs, Article 4, July 2006
House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence
Charge: Asset forfeiture
- SCOTUS Ruling Requires Relook at State Asset Forfeiture Laws, National Conference of State Legislatures, April 1, 2016
- Policing for Profit: The Abuse of Civil Asset Forfeiture, 2nd Edition, Institute for Justice, November 2015
- Civil Asset Forfeiture: Good Intentions Gone Awry and the Need for Reform, Heritage Foundation, April 20, 2015
- New Bill Would End Policing for Profit in New Mexico (HB560), American Civil Liberties Union, February 19, 2015
- Audit of the Assets Forfeiture Fund and Seized Asset Deposit Fund Annual Financial Statements Fiscal Year 2014, Office of the Inspector General, U.S. Department of Justice, January 2015
- FY2015 Asset Forfeiture Fund Reports to Congress, U.S. Department of Justice, 2015
- Asset Forfeiture in Texas: DPS and County Interactions, Office of Court Administration, December 2014
- "Reverse Robin Hood: The Tale of How Texas Law Enforcement Has Used Civil Asset Forfeiture to Take From Property Owners and Pad the Pockets of Local Government – the Righteous Hunt for Reform is On," 46 Texas Tech Law Review 1169 (Summer 2014)
- Taking Contraband Without Taking Our Liberties: Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform in Texas, Texas Public Policy Foundation, March 2014
Senate Committee on Higher Education
Charge: Current funding methods for both general academic institutions and community colleges, performance-based funding for community colleges
- Formula Funding Recommendations for the 2018-19 Biennium, Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, April 2016
- Texas Public Higher Education: Overview of Tuition and State Support Since Tuition Deregulation, Legislative Budget Board, Presented to Senate Higher Education Committee, April 2016
- Texas Public Higher Education: Public Community/Junior Colleges Funding Overview, Legislative Budget Board, Presented to House Appropriations Committee, Subcommittee on Article III, March 24, 2016
- Federal and State Funding of Higher Education: A Changing Landscape, Pew Charitable Trusts, June 11, 2015
- Texas Public Higher Education: State Funding Overview, Legislative Budget Board, Presented to House Appropriations Committee, Subcommittee on Article III, February 16, 2015
- Financing Higher Education in Texas: Legislative Primer, 5th Edition, Legislative Budget Board, February 2013
- Interim Report to the 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), Senate Committee on Finance, January 2011
- Formula Funding (overview of formula funding, basis for legislative appropriations, Formula Advisory Committee meetings and agenda materials), Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board
Charge: Funding for GAIs (General Academic Institutions) and HRIs (Health Related Institutions), tuition-revenue generating special items and formula and research funding for new medical schools
- "Sharp Calls for Funding Equity for UTRGV School of Medicine," Rio Grande Guardian, October 7, 2015; including Texas A&M System Chancellor John Sharp's letter to Raymund Paredes, Commissioner of Higher Education, Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, October 5, 2015
- Integration of General Academic Institutions and Health Related Institutions, Legislative Budget Board, Presented to House Appropriations Committee, Subcommittee on Article III, February 24, 2015
- Texas Public Higher Education: State Funding Overview (General Academic Institution and Health Related Institution formulas), Legislative Budget Board, Presented to House Appropriations Committee, Subcommittee on Article III, February 16, 2015
May 17 Top
House Committees on Corrections and Criminal Jurisprudence (Joint Hearing)
Charge: Probation & parole - fees and revocations
- Resource Guide: Reforming the Assessment and Enforcement of Fines and Fees, United States Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, March 2016
- Probation Revocation and Its Causes: Profiles of State and Local Jurisdictions: Wharton and Matagorda Counties, Texas and Bell County, Texas, University of Minnesota Law School, Robina Institute of Criminal Law and Criminal Justice, 2016
- Statewide Criminal and Juvenile Justice Recidivism and Revocation Rates, Legislative Budget Board, February 2015
- Examining Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Probation Revocation: Summary Findings and Implications from a Multisite Study (Includes Dallas County, Texas), Urban Institute, April 2014
- Cutting Edge Corrections: Using Technology to Improve Community Supervision in Texas, Texas Public Policy Foundation, April 2014
- Profiting From Probation: America's "Offender-Funded" Probation Industry, Human Rights Watch, February 2014
- Profiles in Probation Revocation: Examining the Legal Framework in 21 States, University of Minnesota Law School, Robina Institute of Criminal Law and Criminal Justice, 2014
- Safer, Smarter, and More Cost-Efficient Approaches to Reducing Crime in Texas, Texas Criminal Justice Coalition, February 2013
- A Framework to Improve How Fines, Fees, Restitution, and Child Support Are Assessed and Collected from People Convicted of Crimes, Council of State Governments Justice Center, Texas Office of Court Administration, March 2, 2009
House Committees on Human Services and Urban Affairs
Charge: Boarding homes
- Boarding Home Facilities: Report to the Texas Legislature, Health and Human Services Commission/Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services, December 2014
- Boarding Home Facilities: Report to the Texas Legislature, Health and Human Services Commission/Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services, December 2012
- Report on Texas Boarding Houses (Presented to Health & Human Services Commission), Health Management Associates, December 16, 2008
- Boarding House Model Standards, Health & Human Services Commission
- What are Texas Boarding Home Model Standards?, Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services
Senate Committee on Criminal Justice
Charge 3: Reentry programs provided by TDCJ and the Windham School, including inmates in administrative segregation; Certified Peer Support Services; Darrington Seminary Program
- Attorney General Lynch Releases Roadmap to Reentry: The Justice Department's Vision to Reduce Recidivism through Federal Reentry Reforms, U.S. Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch, April 25, 2016
- "States Examine Policies, Conditions for Solitary Confinement in Prisons," Interim News, House Research Organization, February 17, 2016
- "Darrington Seminary Graduates First Class of Ministers," Criminal Justice Connections, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, May/June 2015
- Statewide Criminal and Juvenile Justice Recidivism and Revocation Rates, Legislative Budget Board, February 2015
- Offender Reentry: Correctional Statistics, Reintegration into the Community, and Recidivism, Congressional Research Service, January 12, 2015
- "Solitary Confinement, Public Safety, and Recidivism," 47 University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform 495 (Winter 2014)
- Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Correctional Managed Health Care Committee, Windham School District, Board of Pardons and Paroles: Final Report with Legislative Action (Issue 2 - Reentry strategies), Sunset Advisory Commission, July 2013
- Interim Report to the 84th Legislature (Charge 1 - Review correctional facilities and procedures, reentry & parole), House Committee on Corrections, January 2015
- Reentry and Integration Division (Reentry resource guide, reentry articles and reports), Rehabilitation Programs Division, Peer Recovery Support Services, Texas Department of Criminal Justice
Charge 4: Pretrial diversion and treatment programs
- Overincarceration of People with Mental Illness: Pretrial Diversion Across the Country and the Next Steps for Texas to Improve its Efforts and Increase Utilization, Texas Public Policy Foundation, June 2015
- Pretrial Diversion, National Conference of State Legislatures, May 13, 2015
- Smart Justice, Initiative Resources, Jail Diversion, National Association of Counties
Charge 5: Dissemination of bulk criminal records
- Fourteenth Report Examining Reporting Compliance to the Texas Computerized Criminal History System, Texas Department of Public Safety, January 2016
- 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
- Report of the National Task Force on the Commercial Sale of Criminal Justice Record Information, SEARCH, The National Consortium for Justice Information and Statistics, 2005
- Interim Report, 77th Legislature: Charge Three (Criminal records), Senate Committee on Criminal Justice, September 2000
Charge 6: Costs for family members to maintain contact with incarcerated family members
- Screening Out Family Time: The For-Profit Video Visitation Industry in Prisons and Jails, Prison Policy Initiative, January 2015
- Video Visiting in Corrections: Benefits, Limitations, and Implementation Considerations, United States Department of Justice, National Institute of Corrections, December 2014
- Video Visitation: How Private Companies Push For Visits By Video and Families Pay the Price, Grassroots Leadership and Texas Criminal Justice Coalition, October 2014
- Study of the TDCJ Offender Visitation Policies, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, August 2014
- Please Deposit All of Your Money: Kickbacks, Rates, and Hidden Fees in the Jail Phone Industry, Prison Policy Initiative, May 2013
- "Prison Visitation Policies: A Fifty-State Survey," 32 Yale Law & Policy Review 149 (2013)
- Children of Incarcerated Parents, National Conference of State Legislatures, March 2009
Senate Committee on Finance
Charge: Strengthening restriction on appropriations established in Article VIII, Section 22 of the state constitution (spending cap)
- Constitutional Limitations on Texas State Spending (Presentation), Legislative Budget Board, January 7, 2016
- TEL It Like It Is: Why Texas Needs Spending Limit Reform (Policy Brief), Texas Public Policy Foundation, December 2015
- "Effort to Tighten Spending Cap Dies," Texas Tribune, May 31, 2015
- Summary of Conference Committee Report for House Bill 1: Appropriations for the 2016–17 Biennium, (ARTICLE VIII, §22, Limitation on the Growth of Certain Appropriations), Legislative Budget Board, May 2015
- Tax Relief and the Spending Limit (Issue Brief), Legislative Budget Board, February 2015
- State Tax and Expenditure Limits - 2010, National Conference of State Legislatures, 2010
- Interim Charge Recommendations to the 82nd Legislature (Limits on Public Spending), Senate Committee on Finance, January 2011
Senate Committee on Health & Human Services
Topic: Zika virus
- Zika in Texas (Guidance for protecting outdoor workers and health care professionals, confirmed cases, outreach materials), Texas Department of State Health Services.
- "Congressional Inaction Hinders Public Health Fight Against Zika," Governing, April 26, 2016
- Public Health Advisory: The Emerging Mosquito-Borne Zika Virus Outbreak (Overview, FAQ, federal preparations, CDC resource pages and response guidance for states), National Conference of State Legislatures, April 12, 2016
- Top Questions on Zika: Simple Answers (detailed discussion on issues of pregnancy, preparedness and protection, transmission, outbreak, response, and mosquito control), Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, April 7, 2016
- Zika Virus: Quick Facts for State Leaders, Council of State Governments, March 9, 2016
May 18 Top
House Committee on Appropriations
Charge 1 (partial): Dedicated accounts, budget transparency
- Beyond the Basics: Best Practices in State Budget Transparency (Working Paper), The Volcker Alliance, December 2015
- The 2016-2017 Certification Revenue Estimate, Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, October 13, 2015
- Report on Use of General Revenue Dedicated Accounts, 84th Legislature, 2015, Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts
- "Texas House Delivers Budget Transparency," Speaker Joe Straus, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, June 30, 2015
- Following the Money 2015: How the 50 States Rate in Providing Online Access to Government Spending Data, U.S. Public Interest Research Group, March 18, 2015
- Further Reduce Reliance on General Revenue - Dedicated Accounts for Certification of the State Budget (Legislative Policy Report), Legislative Budget Board, February 2015
Charge 3: Texas constitutional spending limits, comparison to other states
- Constitutional Limitations on Texas State Spending (Presentation), Legislative Budget Board, January 7, 2016
- TEL It Like It Is: Why Texas Needs Spending Limit Reform (Policy Brief), Texas Public Policy Foundation, December 2015
- "Effort to Tighten Spending Cap Dies," Texas Tribune, May 31, 2015
- Budget Processes in the States (Chapter 2, Table 11: Tax and expenditure limitations), National Association of State Budget Officers, Spring 2015
- Tax Relief and the Spending Limit (Issue Brief), Legislative Budget Board, February 2015
Joint Legislative Committee on Health & Human Services Transition, Oversight
Invited testimony
May 19 Top
House Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Article II
Topic: Cost reporting process for long term programs
- Rate Analysis for Long-Term Services and Supports, Texas Health and Human Services Commission
House Committee on Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence
Charge 1: Trafficking
- "Texas Attorney General Unveils Unit to Fight Human Trafficking," Texas Tribune, January 14, 2016
- The Sex Trafficking Marketplace: Addressing Demand through Legislation and Tactics, Children at Risk, 2015
- The Texas Human Trafficking Prevention Task Force Report to the Texas Legislature, Office of Attorney General, December 2014
- Report to the Texas Legislature: Sexually Oriented Businesses and Human Trafficking : Associations, Challenges, and Approaches, Office of Attorney General, May 2013
- Report to the 83rd Legislature, Joint Interim Committee to Study Human Trafficking, January 2013
- Human Trafficking, Office of Attorney General
- Texas Statistics & Resources, National Human Trafficking Resource Center
- Understanding Human Trafficking, Texas Department of Family and Protective Services
Charge 4: Jury service
- "The Big Data Jury," 91 Notre Dame Law Review 935 (2016)
- Texas Jury Participation, Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse, June 2014
- Interim Report to the 76th Legislature (Charge 6 - Jury Service), October 1998
- Jury Service Resources, State Bar of Texas
Charge 6: Lemon law
- Texas Lemon Law and Texas Lemon Law Annual Reports, Texas Department of Motor Vehicles
House Committee on Public Health
Charge: Improving birth outcomes
- "States Urged to Reduce Pregnancy-Related Deaths," Stateline (Pew Charitable Trusts), May 3, 2016
- "Panel Calls for Depression Screenings During and After Pregnancy," New York Times, January 26, 2016
- Resources on Strategies to Improve Postpartum Care Among Medicaid and CHIP Populations, Maternal & Infant Health Initiative, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, February 2015
- "Unjust Barriers: Prenatal Care and Undocumented Immigrants," 31 Journal of Contemporary Health Law & Policy 96 (2015)
- Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Task Force Report, Texas Department of State Health Services, September 2014
- Birth Outcomes Exploratory Study, First 5 LA, April 18, 2014
- Improving Birth Outcomes in Medicaid, National Governors Association, July 2013
- "Pregnancy Medical Homes Gain Momentum in North Carolina," Stateline (Pew Charitable Trusts), February 24, 2012
- Deadly Delivery: the Maternal Health Care Crisis in the USA (Spring 2011 Update), Amnesty International, March 2010
Senate Committee on Intergovernmental Relations
Charge 1: Extraterritorial jurisdiction expansion and municipal annexation process
- Texas Land Grab: Annexations Trample Property Rights, Texas Watchdog, August 27, 2015
- Ending Forced Annexation in Texas, Texas Public Policy Foundation, July 2015
- "'Liberty Cities' Spring Up in Texas: Local Accountability, Individual Rights Come First in Municipal Annexation," PanAm Post, March 9, 2015
- Interim Report to the 84th Texas Legislature (Charge 3 - Extraterritorial jurisdiction), House Committee on Land and Resource Management, December 2014
- Interim Report to the 82nd Texas Legislature (Charge 6 - Extraterritorial jurisdiction and property rights), Senate Committee on Intergovernmental Relations, December 2010
- Municipal Annexation in Texas: "Is it Really That Complicated?," Texas Municipal League, Updated March 2012
- Texas Local Government Code, Ch. 42, Extraterritorial Jurisdiction of Municipalities
- Texas Local Government Code, Ch. 43, Municipal Annexation
- The Impact of Overly Restrictive Annexation Policy on Economic Activity in Texas and Its Metropolitan Regions, The Perryman Group, April 2003
