Legislative library home page
Legislative Reference Library of Texas
your partner in legislative research
Legislative Reference Library of Texas
your partner in legislative research

Week in Review, Nov. 10th

Nov 10

posted by Admin in Week in review

In this weekly post, we feature online articles and policy reports published recently, and other helpful research tools.

  • Review the costs of long term care. (MetLife, October 2011)
  • Consider funding options for emergency communications. (Congressional Research Service, October 4, 2011)
  • Read key findings related to the level of stress in America. (American Psychological Association, 2011)
  • Check out a 50-State Medicaid budget survey. (Kaiser Family Foundation, October 27, 2011)
  • Compare tanning restrictions for minors by state. (National Conference of State Legislatures, October 2011)

This entry was posted on November 10, 2011 at 3:15 PM and has received 1168 views. Print this entry.

Interim Hearings – Week of November 14, 2011

Nov 9

posted by TexasLRL in Interim hearings, 82nd Session

Today's Committee Meetings on the LRL website is a calendar of interim committee hearings with links to agendas. The following may be helpful resources for upcoming hearings. 
 

Friday, November 18, 2011
 
House Committee on Economic & Small Business Development
Topic: Cancer-related research grants: Emerging Technology Fund (ETF) or Cancer Prevention Research Institute of Texas

Topic: Economic impact of the automobile industry in Texas and the state's ability to compete with other states for future automotive manufacturing facilities

This entry was posted on November 9, 2011 at 12:58 PM and has received 793 views. Print this entry.

New! Find county and party affiliations in the library's Texas Legislators database

Nov 8

posted by Admin in Members of the Legislature

Who represented Travis County in the House and Senate in 1905?  What were their party affiliations?  Which Senate and House districts did Travis County belong to that year?

If you're researching questions like these, you may want to check the library's Texas Legislators: Past & Present database. We've recently added information about the counties represented by each member of the Legislature, allowing you to find things like all members who have represented all or part of a county since the county's creation, or which counties were in a particular member's district at any given time. While you're researching, keep in mind that county boundaries have shifted over the years. Bexar County used to include all of west Texas, along with parts of New Mexico, Kansas, and Colorado.  In the database, members are linked to the counties as they were at the time the member was elected, not as they are today. If you need information on historical county boundaries, a great source to look at is the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

In addition to county information, we've also added party affiliation for members back to the 12th Legislature (1870), making it possible to see the party breakdown in any one session back to that cutoff date, or to view the party affiliation of any member in particular. As with the county information, party information reflects the member's affiliation at the time he/she was elected.  We are currently researching and verifying party affiliations, so if a member's record does not yet include that information, it will be added as it becomes available.

This entry was posted on November 8, 2011 at 4:22 PM and has received 1500 views. Print this entry.

Week in Review, November 3rd

Nov 3

posted by TexasLRL in Week in review

In this weekly post, we feature online articles and policy reports published recently, and other helpful research tools.

  • Read about Texas's permanent school fund and Proposition 6 on the November 8 ballot. (Stateline, November 2, 2011)
  • Check out the nation's report cards in math and reading. (National Center for Education Statistics, November 1, 2011)
  • See trends in college pricing and student aid, and consider the rising cost of college. (reports from the College Board Advocacy & Policy Center, October 2011; Freakonomics®, October 27, 2011)
  • Explore the development of energy policy in America. (eHistory / Origins, November 2011)
  • Consider the relationship between gas prices and oil prices. (Wall Street Journal, October 25, 2011)
  • Note that the EPA plans to develop standards for fracking wastewater discharge. (Jurist, October 21, 2011)
  • Review facts and figures relted to prescription painkiller overdoses. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, November 2011)

This entry was posted on November 3, 2011 at 3:15 PM and has received 1099 views. Print this entry.

Upcoming Constitutional Amendments Election - Nov. 8

Nov 1

posted by Admin in Legislation

Note: This blog entry was originally published in August 2011.

On November 8, 2011, voters will have a chance to consider ten constitutional amendments proposed by the 82nd Legislature.  The proposed amendments cover a wide range of topics, including taxes, bonds, the Permanent School Fund, pardons, and terms of office. For questions on when, where and how to vote, see the Texas Secretary of State's Votexas.org website.
 
For background and analysis of the ballot propositions, see the House Research Organization's Constitutional Amendments Proposed for Nov. 2011 Ballot, and the Texas Legislative Council's Condensed Analyses of Proposed Constitutional Amendments.
 
The Texas Constitution is one of the longest in the nation and it's still growing.  The Constitution is changed through amendments, which are proposed by the Texas Legislature and accepted or rejected by the voters.
 
Since the current Constitution was adopted in 1876, 467 amendments have been accepted and 176 have been defeated.  
 
Constitutional Amendments Proposed for the November 8, 2011 ballot
 
82nd R.S.
1
The constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to provide for an exemption from ad valorem taxation of all or part of the market value of the residence homestead of the surviving spouse of a 100 percent or totally disabled veteran.  
   
82nd R.S.
2
The constitutional amendment providing for the issuance of additional general obligation bonds by the Texas Water Development Board in an amount not to exceed $6 billion at any time outstanding.  
   
82nd R.S.
3
The constitutional amendment providing for the issuance of general obligation bonds of the State of Texas to finance educational loans to students.  
   
82nd R.S.
4
The constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to permit a county to issue bonds or notes to finance the development or redevelopment of an unproductive, underdeveloped, or blighted area and to pledge for repayment of the bonds or notes increases in ad valorem taxes imposed by the county on property in the area. The amendment does not provide authority for increasing ad valorem tax rates.  
   
82nd R.S.
5
The constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to allow cities or counties to enter into interlocal contracts with other cities or counties without the imposition of a tax or the provision of a sinking fund.  
   
82nd R.S.
6
The constitutional amendment clarifying references to the permanent school fund, allowing the General Land Office to distribute revenue from permanent school fund land or other properties to the available school fund to provide additional funding for public education, and providing for an increase in the market value of the permanent school fund for the purpose of allowing increased distributions from the available school fund.  
   
82nd R.S.
7
The constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to permit conservation and reclamation districts in El Paso County to issue bonds supported by ad valorem taxes to fund the development and maintenance of parks and recreational facilities.  
   
82nd R.S.
8
The constitutional amendment providing for the appraisal for ad valorem tax purposes of open-space land devoted to water-stewardship purposes on the basis of its productive capacity.  
   
82nd R.S.
9
The constitutional amendment authorizing the governor to grant a pardon to a person who successfully completes a term of deferred adjudication community supervision.  
   
82nd R.S.
10
The constitutional amendment to change the length of the unexpired term that causes the automatic resignation of certain elected county or district officeholders if they become candidates for another office.  
 

This entry was posted on November 1, 2011 at 11:41 AM and has received 1948 views. Print this entry.

Week in Review, October 27th

Oct 27

posted by TexasLRL in Week in review

In this weekly post, we feature online articles and policy reports published recently, and other helpful research tools.

  • Review almost four decades of high school completion and drop-out rates. (National Center for Education Statistics, October 2011)
  • Map the state-by-state impact of diabetes. (American Podiatric Medical Association, 2011)
  • Compare cereals labeled "natural" against organic cereals. (Cornucopia Institute, October 2011)
  • See how social media use has grown to significantly influence consumer behavior (Nielsen, Third Quarter 2011)
  • Determine how much transportation money the federal government paid states versus the amount states paid in federal gas taxes. (Stateline, October 18, 2011)

This entry was posted on October 27, 2011 at 3:15 PM and has received 1122 views. Print this entry.

Interim Hearings – Week of October 31, 2011

Oct 26

posted by TexasLRL in Interim hearings, 82nd Session

Today's Committee Meetings on the LRL website is a calendar of interim committee hearings with links to agendas. The following may be helpful resources for upcoming hearings.

 

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

 

Senate Committees on Agriculture & Rural Affairs and Natural Resources (Joint Hearing)

Topic: Impact of extreme Texas drought conditions and continuous wildfires

 

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

 

Senate Committee on Intergovernmental Relations

Topic: Affordable housing after disasters, best practices for emergency short-term and long-term housing

 

House Committee on Natural Resources

Topic: Drought, impact on the state water plan, and effectiveness of current drought planning and drought management policies

 

Thursday, November 3, 2011

 

Joint Committee on Oversight of Windstorm Insurance

Topic: Windstorm insurance in this state, including the Texas Department of Insurance and the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association

 

This entry was posted on October 26, 2011 at 3:46 PM and has received 1252 views. Print this entry.

Interim Committee Charges Released

Oct 24

posted by TexasLRL in Interim reports, Speaker of the House, Lt. Governor, Legislative process, 82nd Session

Speaker of the House Joe Straus has released his interim charges to House standing committees, and Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst has released select interim charges relating to drought and wildfire preparedness to Senate standing committees. The complete text of these charges, as well as information about legislative committees, can be found in the Legislative Reference Library's legislative reports database. In the "Search committee charges" section, choose "82nd" as the legislature and click "search" to a see a complete list of charges that have been issued for the 82nd Legislature. This list will be updated as additional charges are released. If you'd prefer to see only charges relating to a specific topic or committee, try filling in the "subject" or "charge text" boxes to get a list tailored to your needs.

You can also use the legislative reports database to search for committees and full-text interim committee reports all the way back to the 1st Legislature, or you can view a complete list of committees by session. If you're not sure which committee you need, check out the committee search page. Finally, our new committee minutes database contains the full text of minutes from House and joint committees from the 63rd through 74th Legislatures (1973-1995). Senate minutes for those years are currently being scanned and will be added as completed.

This entry was posted on October 24, 2011 at 2:05 PM and has received 2533 views. Print this entry.

Rep. Alma Allen appointed to Legislative Library Board

Oct 21

posted by TexasLRL in LRL news

Alma Allen

 
Speaker of the House Joe Straus has appointed Representative Alma Allen to the Legislative Library Board. 
 
The six-member Legislative Library Board controls and administers the functions of the Legislative Reference Library, which is charged with maintaining a collection of materials for legislative use and providing any assistance requested by members of the legislature in researching and preparing bills and resolutions. 
 
The Library's legal authority is Government Code, Section 324.004.

This entry was posted on October 21, 2011 at 10:32 AM and has received 1163 views. Print this entry.

Week in Review, October 20th

Oct 20

posted by TexasLRL in Week in review

In this weekly post, we feature online articles and policy reports published recently, and other helpful research tools.

  • See how the historic drought in Texas may affect the oil and gas industries. (Stateline, October 7, 2011)
  • Explore how medical malpractice liability caps have affected health care in Texas since their imposition in 2003. (Public Citizen, October 2011)
  • Read about the incidence of traumatic brain injury in children. (Centers for Disease control and Prevention, October 7, 2011)
  • Consider public access to official state statutory material online. (Council of State Governments, September 21, 2011)

This entry was posted on October 20, 2011 at 3:15 PM and has received 1047 views. Print this entry.

Previous Entries / More Entries