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.
Charge 2: Consumer rights and protections
I. Overview of Deceptive Trade Practices Act
- Consumer Law Handbook 2016-2017, Houston Bar Association, January 2015
- Texas Business & Commerce Code Chapter 17, Deceptive Trade Practices
- Texas Business & Commerce Code §§ 17.41 - 17.63, Deceptive Trade Practices-Consumer Protection Act
II. Landlord/Tenant agreements
- Landlords and Tenants Guide, Real Estate Center, Texas A&M University, Revised September 2016
- Tenants' Rights Handbook, Texas Young Lawyers Association and State Bar of Texas, 2014
- Texas Property Code Chapter 54, Landlord's Liens
- Texas Property Code Chapter 91, Provisions Generally Applicable to Landlords and Tenants
- Texas Property Code Chapter 92, Residential Tenancies
III. Texas Fair Housing Act
- Jurisdictions Must Uphold Fair Housing Obligations, Despite Delay of Key 2015 HUD Rule, Texas Housers (Texas Low Income Housing Information Service), January 9, 2018
- An Internal Audit of the Fair Housing Division, Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs, October 13, 2016
- State of Texas Plan for Fair Housing Choice: Analysis of Impediments (Action Steps), Texas Department of Housing & Community Affairs, October 18, 2013
- Housing Discrimination, Texas Workforce Commission
- Fair Housing Policy & Guidance, Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs
- Texas Property Code Chapter 301, Texas Fair Housing Act
- 40 Texas Administrative Code Chapter 819, Texas Workforce Commission Civil Rights Division (Texas Fair Housing Act, Discriminatory Housing Practices)
Charge 11: Congressional action on federal healthcare reform and CHIP reauthorization; conversion of Texas Medicaid funding to block grant or per capita cap; preparation for federal changes; state flexibility in administering Medicaid, including use of 1115 and 1332 waivers
- Medicaid: What to Watch in 2018 from the Administration, Congress, and the States (Issue Brief), Kaiser Family Foundation, January 2018
- Summary of the 2018 CHIP Funding Extension (Fact Sheet), Kaiser Family Foundation, January 2018
- Federal Health Reform, Health Insurance Market Policy Activity in the 115th Congress, Medicaid/CHIP/SSI, National Conference of State Legislatures
Charge 18 (specific issue): Monitoring agencies and programs and implementation of legislation:
g. Medicaid cost-containment efforts
- General Appropriations Act 2018-19, SB 1, 85th R.S., Article II, Rider 33, Medicaid Funding Reduction and Cost Containment, May 25, 2017
- Texas Health Care Spending Report Fiscal 2015, Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, January 31, 2017
- Presentation to the Senate Finance Committee: Medicaid Cost Containment Initiatives (Recent history of cost containment initiatives; update on Rider 50, HB 1, 84th R.S.), Texas Health and Human Services Commission, September 15, 2016
- Presentation to the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Article II: Medicaid Cost Containment Initiatives (Historical overview of cost containment and durable medical equipment; update on Rider 51, SB 1, 83rd R.S.; medication adherence), Texas Health and Human Services Commission, June 17, 2014
Charge 12: Reimbursement methodologies for nursing homes and assisted living facilities
- Nursing Facility (NF) and Residential Care (RC) (Overview, cost reports, rate enhancement reports, methodology/rules and links to Texas Administrative Code, payment rate information), Rate Analysis Department, Texas Health and Human Services Commission
- Proposed Rate Packets Year 2010 - Year 2018, Rate Analysis Department, Texas Health and Human Services Commission
Charge 2: Consumer rights and protections
I. Rent-to-Own agreements/disputes
- "How Renting Furniture in Texas Can Land You in Jail," Texas Tribune, October 27, 2017
- "Legislators Mull Changing Texas Law Allowing Criminal Charges Against Rent-To-Own Customers," Texas Tribune, October 27, 2017
- Texas Penal Code § 31.04, Theft of Service
Charge 3: Third party data gathering by Texas employers and businesses
- Criminal Background Checks: Impact on Employment and Recidivism, Urban Institute, Updated November 2017
- The “Wild West” of Employment Background Checks, National Employment Law Project, August 2014
- A Report on The Use of Criminal History Information by Texas State Agencies and Institutions of Higher Education, State Auditor's Office, January 2007
- Background Checks: What Employers Need to Know, U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
- Consumer Resources, National Association of Professional Background Screeners
Charge 4: Impact of data breaches on Texas consumers and businesses
- 2018 Data Breach Reports and Data Breach Reports (2005-2018), Identity Theft Resource Center, March 7, 2018
- "How Unreliable Data Leads to the Undercounting of Cybercrime," Pacific Standard, February 20, 2018
- Security Breach Notification Laws, National Conference of State Legislatures, February 6, 2018
- Interim Report to the 85th Texas Legislature (Cybersecurity), House Committee on Investments & Financial Services, January 2017
- Interim Report to the 85th Texas Legislature (Texas Businesses' Cybersecurity), House Committee on Business & Industry, December 2016
- Internet Crime Annual Reports, Internet Crime Complaint Center, Federal Bureau of Investigation
Charge: Expand high quality education opportunities
- Expanding High-Quality Educational Options For All Students: How States Can Create a System of Schools Worth Choosing, Learning Policy Institute, December 2017
- The Importance of High Quality General Education For Students in Special Education, Brookings Institution, April 20, 2017
- Improving Outcomes For Students With Disabilities: Negotiating Common Ground For District And Charter School Collaboration, Center for American Progress, January 31, 2017
- Strategies to Improve Low-Performing Schools Under the Every Student Succeeds Act (Discusses Houston Independent School District's Apollo 20 Program), Center for American Progress, March 2, 2016
- Open Education: Individualized Learning From Kindergarten to College, The Heritage Foundation, November 9, 2015
- Supporting School Turnaround: Lessons For Texas Policymakers, Raise Your Hand Texas, September 2015
- Lessons Learned From School Improvement Grants That Worked, The Century Foundation, July 23, 2015
Charge: Virtual education in the 21st century classroom
- Virtual Schools in the U.S. 2017, National Education Policy Center, April 2017
- Texas Virtual School Network: A Brief Overview, Texas Education Agency, 2015
- Educational Technology Initiatives at the Texas Education Agency (Issue Brief), Legislative Budget Board, September 2014
- Evaluation of the High School Virtual Program in a North Texas School District, Educational Resource Information Center (ERIC), February 2014
- TxVSN Reports (Data Collection - Catalog Success and Enrollment Data), Texas Virtual School Network
- Texas Education Code Chapter 30A, State Virtual School Network
- 19 Texas Administrative Code Chapter 70, Commissioner's Rules Concerning The Texas Virtual School Network (TxVSN)
Charge: Implementation of legislation, including state matching of the federal E-rate program (SB 1)
- "Are Fewer Schools and Libraries Applying to the E-Rate Program?," School Library Journal, May 23, 2017
- 2017: E-Rate's Make Or Break Year, Brookings Institution, March 9, 2017
- "TEA Seeks Funds to Boost School Internet Connectivity," Interim News Briefs, House Research Organization, December 15, 2016
- Public School Network Capabilities Study: A Report to the Texas Legislature, Texas Education Agency, December 1, 2015
- Texas State Match Fund FAQ (E-rate Program), Texas Education Agency
- Universal Service Program for Schools and Libraries (E-Rate), Federal Communications Commission
- E-Rate Hurricane Relief Orders and FAQS, Universal Service Administrative Company
Charge: Public pension systems in Texas, specifically: (1) the different types of retirement plans; (2) the actuarial assumptions used by retirement systems to value their liabilities and the consequences of amending those assumptions; (3) retirement systems' investment practices and performance; and (4) the adequacy of financial disclosures including asset returns and fees
- Public Pension Plan Investment Return Assumptions, National Association of State Retirement Administrators, Updated February 2018
- "A First Look at Alternative Investments and Public Pensions," State and Local Pension Plans, Number 55, Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, July 2017
- State and Local Government Spending on Public Employee Retirement Systems, National Association of State Retirement Administrators, Updated April 2017
- Report on the Asset Allocation and Investment Performance of Texas Public Employee Retirement Systems, Maples Fund Services, Texas Association of Public Employee Retirement Systems (TEXPERS), March 2017, for periods ending September 30, 2016
- Guide to Public Retirement Systems in Texas, Texas Pension Review Board, February 2017
- How Public Pension Plan Investment Risk Affects Funding and Contribution Risk (Policy Brief), Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government, January 2017
- Interim Report to the 85th Texas Legislature, House Committee on Pensions, December 2016
- Significant Reforms to State Retirement Systems, National Association of State Retirement Administrators, June 2016
- Public Plans Data, 2011-2016, State Data: Texas (Major pension plans in the state, public cost; includes pension system basics, assets, membership, and cash flows for: City of Austin ERS, Houston Firefighters, Texas County & District, Texas ERS, Texas LECOS, Texas Municipal, Texas Teachers, Dallas Police and Fire), Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, Center for State and Local Government Excellence, and National Association of State Retirement Administrators
Charge: Monitor implementation of legislation:
- SB 2190, relating to the public retirement systems of certain municipalities
- HB 3158, relating to the retirement systems for and the provision of other benefits to police and firefighters in certain municipalities
- HB 3976, relating to the administration of and benefits payable under the Texas Public School Retired Employees Group Benefits Act
Invited testimony on the ongoing developments with NAFTA renegotiation, recently proposed steel and aluminum tariffs
- "Tariffs and Trade Agreements Impact U.S. Energy Dominance," Rio Grande Guardian, March 16, 2018
- Presidential Proclamation on Adjusting Imports of Aluminum into the United States, Office of the President of the United States, March 8, 2018
- Presidential Proclamation on Adjusting Imports of Steel into the United States, Office of the President of the United States, March 8, 2018
- Does Import Protection Save Jobs? The Estimated Impacts of Proposed Tariffs on Imports of U.S. Steel and Aluminum, The Trade Partnership, March 5, 2018
- "Economist Ned Hill Looks at Potential Impacts of Tariffs on Steel Producing States," National Public Radio, March 2, 2018
- Summary of Objectives for the NAFTA Renegotiation, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, July 17, 2017
- North American Free Trade Agreement: An Overview, Bipartisan Policy Center, June 2017
- The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) (Overview of issues, trends, and economic effects), Congressional Research Service, May 24, 2017
- Texas NAFTA Study Update: Final Report, Texas Department of Transportation, February 2007
- North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act, Pub. L. 103-182, 107 Stat. 2057, U.S. Congress, December 8, 1993
