1. Governor's Budget, 2020-2021
By Office of the Governor
Presents Governor Greg Abbott's budget priorities for the Fiscal 2020-2021 biennium, which are meant to elevate education, expand economic opportunity, ensure public safety, and provide a resilient infrastructure for the future.
Office of the Governor, 2019. 18 pages.
Online at: https://gov.texas.gov/uploads/files/press/Governors-Budget-FY-2020-2021.pdf
L1800 B859 2020-21G


 

2. The Handy Texas Answer Book
By James L. Haley
Provides a fun introduction to Texas by covering a "kaleidoscope of facts, figures, people, history, economy, quirks, and foibles." Presents information in an easy to browse Q&A format and covers well-known topics as well as the lesser known, making this an interesting title for all readers. Includes a timeline, extensive index, and bibliography for further reading.
Visible Ink, 2019. 360 pages.
976.4 H137H 2019


 

3. Medicare Explained
By Kelly J. Rooney, ed.
Explains the Medicare program, highlighting services that health care providers and physicians provide. Details the statutory and regulatory changes made to Medicare in 2018, as well as the process for submitting and appealing Medicare claims.
Commerce Clearing House, 2019. 393 pages.
368.382 C736 2019


 

4. Separate: The Story of Plessy v. Ferguson, and America's Journey from Slavery to Segregation
By Steve Luxenberg
Provides context and insight into the history of discrimination beyond slavery that lay the groundwork for the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson Supreme Court decision, which cemented the "separate but equal" concept into legal doctrine. Recounts the story of Homer Plessy, a light-skinned black man whose entrance into a "whites only" railroad coach precipitated the case, as well as the lawyers and judges who worked for and against Plessy's case.
W. W. Norton & Company, 2019. 505 pages.
342.7308 L979S 2019


 

5. Final Report: December 2018 (Penal Laws)
By Commission to Study and Review Certain Penal Laws
Addresses penal laws outside of the Penal Code that may prevent people from easily understanding whether they are in compliance with Texas state laws. Details the findings and recommendations, including recommendations from the 2016 report that were not addressed in the 85th Legislature.
Commission to Study and Review Certain Penal Laws, 2018. 84 pages.
Online at: https://lrl.texas.gov/scanned/SIRSI/Report_HB351_85R.pdf
C995.8 F49 2018


 

6. Making the Bible Belt: Texas Prohibitionists and the Politicization of Southern Religion
By Joseph L. Locke
Traces how clerics and Christian activists brought together southern religion and electoral politics and constructed what we now call the Bible Belt. Begins with the end of Reconstruction in the 1870s to the start of Prohibition in 1919, arguing that Texas religious leaders played key roles in the adaptation of the clericalism that has become a central facet of today's political scene.
Oxford University Press, 2017. 207 pages.
277.64082 L793M 2017


 

7. Water for Texas, 2017 State Water Plan
By Texas Water Development Board
Provides a roadmap for how to address the water needs that accompany Texas' rapid population growth by identifying water management strategies and their associated costs for communities across the state. Note: the electronic copy includes the 2017 State Water Plan Amendments.
Texas Water Development Board, 2017. 150 pages.
Online at: https://www.twdb.texas.gov/waterplanning/swp/2017/
W605.8 W291P 2017