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Interim Hearings – Week of August 13, 2018

Aug 8

posted by TexasLRL in 85th Session, Interim hearings

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.
 

August 13

House Committee on Urban Affairs

Charge: Process of cleaning firefighters' equipment, and associated health risks

 

Senate Committee on Intergovernmental Relations

Charge: ETJ [extraterritorial jurisdiction] limitations and notice

Charge: Municipal Management District uniformity

 

August 14

Charge 2: Non-traditional methods of resolving legal disputes and interacting with the legal system; self-help resources, access to justice for unrepresented litigants, online dispute resolution 

Charge 4: Specialty courts 

Charge 5: Jurisdictional threshold 

Charge 6: Office of Court Administration's guardianship compliance program  

This entry was posted on August 8, 2018 at 3:00 PM and has received 1403 views. Print this entry.

Dates of Interest for the 86th Regular Session

Aug 7

posted by TexasLRL in Legislative process, 86th Session

What are the key deadlines for the 86th Regular Session? Official deadlines will be set when the House and Senate adopt their rules, but until then, the Texas Legislative Council Drafting Manual provides a perpetual calendar (shown below) that can be useful. According to the Manual:

 

1st day of session: January 8, 2019

 

60-day bill filing deadline: March 8, 2019

 

Adjournment sine die: May 27, 2019

 

Post-session 20-day deadline for governor to sign or veto: June 16, 2019

 

Effective date (91st day after adjournment): August 26, 2019

 

  Table can be viewed in the Texas Legislative Council Drafting Manual. 

 

Other upcoming dates of interest include:

 

July–August 2018: State agencies develop strategic plans and associated Legislative Appropriations Requests (LARs). These are submitted to the Legislative Budget Board (LBB) and the Governor's Office of Budget, Planning, and Policy (GOBPP). View LAR submissions.

 

September–December 2018: Legislative Budget Board and the GOBPP hold hearings on each state agency’s strategic plan and LAR and prepare separate budget recommendations to be presented to the 86th Legislature (Texas Government Code §§ 322.007, 401.043–401.0445). See more budget deadlines in our timeline.

 

November 6, 2018: General election for federal, state, and county officers (Section 1, Article XVII, Texas Constitution; Texas Election Code § 41.001).

 

November 12, 2018: Bill prefiling begins (House Rule 8, Sec. 7 and Senate Rule 7.04(a)).

This entry was posted on August 7, 2018 at 3:00 PM and has received 7661 views. Print this entry.

Current Articles & Research Resources, August 2

Aug 2

posted by TexasLRL in Current Articles, Research Resources

In this weekly post, we feature helpful research tools and recent articles of interest to the legislative community. 

  • Read about precautions to take if wildfire smoke is in your area. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, July 31, 2018)
  • Review how much it costs to run a state's prison system, state by state. (24/7 Wall St., July 26, 2018)
  • Consider what states are doing to combat robocalls. (Stateline (Pew Charitable Trusts), July 25, 2018)
  • Examine the facts related to 3D printing of guns. (The Weekly Standard, July 31, 2018)

Members of the Texas legislative community may request the articles below here or by calling 512-463-1252. 

  • "Income-share agreements: Higher returns." Economist, July 21st-27th, 2018, p. 57.
    Reports some universities are working with investors to offer students a different approach to paying tuition and fees — "income-share agreements" [ISAs]. Explains ISAs spare students the higher payments associated with private loans and lower their debt burden.
  • "U.S. Supreme Court and schools: 2017-18." Education Week, July 18, 2018, p. 20.
    Summarizes recent United States Supreme Court rulings on K-12 education, including school funding, immigration, teachers' unions, and an assortment of First Amendment issues.
  • "Regional transportation council looking at possible projects." By Paul K. Harral. Fort Worth Business Press, July 16-22, 2018, pp. 8, 10.
    Details the North Texas Regional Transportation Council's consideration of transportation initiatives based on hyperloop technology.
  • "New approaches in Medicaid: Work requirements, health savings accounts, and health care access." By Benjamin D. Sommers, et al. Health Affairs, July 2018, pp. 1099-1108.
    Assesses views from low-income adults in Indiana, Ohio, and Kansas (representing three different Medicaid policies) on health savings accounts, work requirements, and Medicaid expansion. Finds that current Medicaid innovations may lead to unintended consequences for coverage and access to health care.
  • "The prospective role of charity care programs in a changing health care landscape." By Matthew Ralls, Lauren Moran, and Stephen A. Somers. Internet Resource, July 2018, pp. 1-5.
    Explores the current and future role of charity care programs [CCPs] in offering and organizing free- and reduced-cost health care to individuals. Notes that CCPs predict an increased demand for services but have concerns about funding.
  • "The natural gas grid needs better monitoring." By Gerad Freeman, Jay Apt, and Michael Dworkin. Issues in Science and Technology, Summer 2018, pp. 79-84.
    Explains that outages affecting the natural gas pipeline system are not well-documented, nor are they tracked by the federal government. Discusses the reliability of the natural gas pipeline system and how it affects electric power plants.
  • "Potential policy approaches to address diet-related diseases." By Michael F. Jacobson, James Krieger, and Kelly D. Brownell. JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association), July 24/31, 2018, pp. 341-342.
    Suggests local, state, and federal jurisdictions, as well as private companies, take policy actions to address recent reports indicating higher obesity and sodium consumption rates.
  • "Lessons from the opioid epidemic: How public schools have become the safety net of last resort for traumatized children." By Zoe Carpenter. Nation, July 30/August 6, 2018, pp. 12-19.
    Examines the opioid crisis in West Virginia, the state with the highest rate of death by overdose: 43.4 overdose deaths per 100,000 compared with the national average of 13.3. Discusses the "atrophy of public services across small-town America," including the lack of counselors and family support in public schools and rural health clinics ill-equipped to handle addiction.
  • "McPolitics." By Yascha Mounk. New Yorker, July 2, 2018, pp. 59-63.
    Considers the transformation and homogenization of the two political parties into "nationalized" parties and away from an older system that saw interest and power at the local level. Argues nationalization has led to the "rise of two political mega-identities" and intense partisanship. Suggests common ground and moderation can still be found.
  • "Not just for lawyers: Environmental impacts of natural gas pipelines." By Ed Comer. Public Utilities Fortnightly, July 2018, pp. 42-45, 78.
    Discusses major legal disputes currently affecting the utility industry. Focuses on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's consideration of the environmental issues related to natural gas pipelines. Related information at:https://ceq.doe.gov/
  • "Underwater." By Jen Schwartz. Scientific American, August 2018, pp. 44-55.
    Explores the chronic and extreme flooding experienced in coastal communities along the Atlantic coast. Discusses buyout programs operated by local and federal governments to move people away from such areas.
  • "Power in the bank." By Daniel Shea. State Legislatures, July/August 2018, pp. 38-41.
    Points out the benefits of energy storage and the technology's limitations under current regulatory and market structures.
  • "Technology tests transparency." By Pam Greenberg. State Legislatures, July/August 2018, pp. 46-47, 49.
    Discusses how states are using technology to manage an increasing number of public records requests and to address the challenges new digital formats create.
  • "Home delivery: Where is all the new housing?" By Luis B. Torres and Wesley Miller. Tierra Grande, July 2018, pp. 2-5.
    Examines why new home inventories in Texas are below what is considered a balanced market. Attributes this imbalance, which is affecting housing affordability, to a variety of factors, including rising land prices, sluggish labor productivity, and regulations.

The Legislative Reference Library compiles this weekly annotated list of Current Articles of interest to the legislative community. Professional librarians review and select articles from more than 300 periodicals, including public policy journals, specialized industry periodicals, news magazines, and state agency publications. Members of the Texas legislative community may request articles using our online form.

This entry was posted on August 2, 2018 at 3:15 PM and has received 1118 views. Print this entry.

Interim Hearings – Week of August 6, 2018

Aug 1

posted by TexasLRL in 85th Session, Interim hearings

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.

 

August 7

House Select Committee on Opioids & Substance Abuse

Charge:  Impact of substance abuse and substance use disorders on Texans who are involved in the adult or juvenile criminal justice system and/or the Child Protective Services system 

Charge: Specialty courts in Texas that specialize in substance use disorders 

 

August 8

House Select Committee on Opioids & Substance Abuse

Topic: Public testimony on all previously considered committee charges

 

House Committee on Public Education

Charge:  State mechanisms for identifying and rewarding educators

Charge: Charter school system in Texas

 

August 9

House Committee on Public Health and House Committee on Human Services (Joint hearing)

Charge: Children involved with Child Protective Services (CPS) due to substance abuse or mental illness

Invited testimony on residential child care facilities, particularly the number of licensed facilities, recent complaints received regarding treatment of children at these facilities, and the status of  pending licenses

 

This entry was posted on August 1, 2018 at 3:00 PM and has received 1134 views. Print this entry.

Resource Highlight: 12th–15th Legislature Enrolled Bills Now Available

Aug 1

posted by TexasLRL in Legislation, Resource highlights, Search tips

Basic bill information for enrolled bills from the 12th–15th Legislatures (1870–1876) is now available in the Legislative Archive System (LAS). This includes bill numbers, captions, chapters numbers, and session law scans. We've also added the joint and concurrent resolutions that were published in the General and Special Session Laws to LAS from these sessions.

Enrolled bills from the 12th–15th Legislatures are accessible through both the direct search and the advanced search. When using the advanced search, select "View All" for the bill status.
 

Please note that enrolled bills from the following two sessions are only accessible through the direct search in LAS:

  • 12th Adjourned Session (Sept. 22, 1871–Dec. 2, 1871)
  • 14th 2nd Regular Session (Jan. 22, 1875–March 15, 1875)

For related information about these and other sessions, don't forget to check the session snapshot and the scanned House and Senate Journals.

Since LAS is a work in progress, complete information is not available for all bills and all sessions. Visit LAS' status page for more details about this ongoing project. For assistance using LAS, please contact the library.

 

 

This entry was posted on August 1, 2018 at 11:10 AM and has received 1501 views. Print this entry.

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