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 8, 2022
House Committee on Homeland Security & Public Safety and House Select Committee on Youth Health & Safety (Joint)
Charge: Examine the role of online communications in mass violence scenarios and identify technological resources and solutions for detecting, mitigating, and reporting threats.
- Directory of Police Department Social Media Policies, Brennan Center for Justice, last updated May 25, 2022
- Internet Trolls Should Not Dictate the Terms of Public Exposure to Hate, Tech Policy Press, May 18, 2022
- Regulatory Goldilocks: Finding the Just and Right Fit for Content Moderation on Social Platforms, 8 Texas A&M Law Review 451, April 30, 2021
- Essentials of Alerts, Warnings, & Notifications, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, April 2020
- Interim Hearings – Week of December 2, 2019, December 4 – Senate Select Committee on Mass Violence Prevention & Community Safety, Legislative Reference Library, November 26, 2019
Charge: Study the needs of the state related to mental health professionals, educators, school administrators, and related professionals overseeing youth mental health programs and the delivery of those mental health services.
- Texas Leaders Must Help Parents Seeking Mental Health Support for Their Children (Policy Brief), Texans Care for Children, June 22, 2022
- Presentation to the House Select Committee on Youth Health and Safety, Texas Health and Human Services Commission, October 4, 2021
- Interim Report to the 87th Texas Legislature (Charge 1 – Implementation of HB 18, HB 19, HB 906, and SB 11, 86th Legislature), House Committee on Public Education, December 2020
- Statewide Plan for Student Mental Health: Senate Bill 11, Texas Education Agency, December 2020
- Texas House of Representatives, Committee on Public Education, Interim Charge One, Request for Information, Texas Child Mental Health Care Consortium, September 30, 2020
- Summary Report: 2020-2021 Biennium, Texas Child Mental Health Care Consortium
- Texas Child Mental Health Care Consortium, The University of Texas System
August 9, 2022
House Committee on Juvenile Justice & Family Issues
Charge: Monitor the agencies and programs under the Committee’s jurisdiction and oversee the implementation of relevant legislation passed by the 87th Legislature. Conduct active oversight of all associated rulemaking and other governmental actions taken to ensure the intended legislative outcome of all legislation, including the following:
- HB 4544, relating to providing children committed to the Texas Juvenile Justice Department with certain documents on discharge or release, authorizing a fee.
Charge: Explore ways to modernize the juvenile justice system for youth on probation and incarcerated youth. Review statewide resource allocation, including available staffing, and identify potential geographic limitations. Investigate the best practices of smaller specialized facilities for youth committed to the Texas Juvenile Justice Department while leveraging the Department's current facilities and staff. Analyze the current gaps in county-level services and funding and make recommendations to address those gaps.
- Juvenile Justice Update Newsletter, National Conference of State Legislatures, March 2022
- State Juvenile Justice Reforms Can Boost Opportunity, Particularly for Communities of Color, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, July 27, 2021
- Texas Model Plan for Reform, Texas Juvenile Justice Department, October 2020
- Strategic Plan for 2021-2025, Texas Juvenile Justice Department, June 1, 2020
Charge: Examine workforce issues at state and local juvenile correctional facilities and consider the state's incentives to recruit quality staff. Consider the geographic areas where specialty providers are concentrated and the viability of opening specialized facilities for the state's youth with the highest therapeutic need to relieve the state's current rural facilities struggling with staffing. Consider consistent investments the state can make in local probation to encourage their facilities to divert youth from the juvenile justice system.
- Texas Juvenile Justice Department and Office of the Independent Ombudsman: Sunset Staff Report (Issue 1: TJJD's Critical Staffing Issues), Sunset Advisory Commission, May 2022
- Fallout: The Stress of 'Working Short' in Corrections, Corrections1, April 21, 2022
- Smart, Safe, and Fair II: Creating Effective Systems to Work with Youth Involved in Violent Behavior, Justice Policy Institute, November 2021
- Central Office, District Offices, Institutions, and Halfway Houses (Interactive map), Texas Juvenile Justice Department
- Texas Juvenile Justice Department, Hogg Foundation for Mental Health
House Committee on Public Education
Charge: HB 3906 (86R), relating to the assessment of public school students, including the development and administration of assessment instruments, and technology permitted for use by students.
Charge: Study the unfulfilled recommendations from the 2016 Commission on Next Generation Assessments and Accountability. Evaluate the state’s progress on assessments and accountability and consider possible legislation to support the recommendations from the report. Study and recommend measures needed at the state level to prevent unintended consequences to students, campuses, and districts, including changes that could improve the system for students or help public schools serving a disproportionate number of educationally disadvantaged students impacted by the pandemic.
- 50-State Comparison: States' School Accountability Systems, Education Commission of the States, December 8, 2021
- Educational Assessments in the COVID-19 Era and Beyond, National Academy of Education, February 2021
- The Big Test: The Future of Statewide Standardized Assessments, FutureEd, Georgetown University, April 2020
- Report to the Governor of Texas and Texas Legislature (Summary of Commission Recommendations), Texas Commission on Next Generation Assessments and Accountability, August 31, 2016
- Texas Commission on Next Generation Assessments and Accountability, Texas Education Agency
August 10, 2022
House Committee on Corrections
Charge: Monitor the agencies and programs under the Committee’s jurisdiction and oversee the implementation of relevant legislation passed by the 87th Legislature. Conduct active oversight of all associated rulemaking and other governmental actions taken to ensure the intended legislative outcome of all legislation, including the following:
- HB 30, relating to educational programs provided by the Windham School District for certain inmates;
- HB 385, relating to conditions of community supervision and procedures applicable to the reduction or termination of a defendant’s period of community supervision; and
- HB 3227 (86R), relating to the availability of and access to certain programs and services for persons in the custody of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
Charge: Examine the implementation of HB 3130 (85R), which established an educational and vocational training program for certain state jail felony defendants to reduce recidivism and improve outcomes upon reentry.
Charge: Evaluate the benefits and potential savings associated with modernizing technology throughout the state’s correctional system. Consider updating regulations related to cell phone monitoring, body cameras, and video surveillance systems.
- Community Corrections Technology: Experts Identify Top Needs for Tech Solutions to Probation and Parole System Challenges, National Institute of Justice, March 17, 2021
- Optimizing Surveillance Systems in Correctional Settings: A Guide for Enhancing Safety and Security, Urban Institute, January 2021
- Technology in Corrections (Research on cell phones, computers & Internet, drones, electronic monitoring/GPS, social media, tablets, video visiting & calling, apps, biometrics & facial recognition, and body cameras), National Institute of Corrections
Charge: Evaluate current family visitation rooms and visitation-related practices, programs, and services in TDCJ facilities. Make recommendations regarding any additional measures that TDCJ could take to make visitation more family friendly.
- Texas Prisons Stopped In-Person Visits and Limited Mail. Drugs Got in Anyway, The Marshall Project, March 29, 2021
- Locked Out, Texas Observer, May 18, 2020
- General Information Guide for Families of Offenders, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, April 2016
- Study of the TDCJ Offender Visitation Policies, 83rd Legislature General Appropriations Act, Article V, Rider 61, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, August 2014
- Inmate Visitation, Texas Department of Criminal Justice
House Committee on Higher Education
Charge: Monitor the agencies and programs under the Committee’s jurisdiction and oversee the implementation of relevant legislation passed by the 87th Legislature. Conduct active oversight of all associated rulemaking and other governmental actions taken to ensure the intended legislative outcome of all legislation, including the following:
- SB 1102, relating to the establishment of the Texas Reskilling and Upskilling through Education (TRUE) Program to support workforce education; and
- SB 1295, relating to financial support and incentives for comprehensive regional universities.
Charge: Examine factors that have contributed to the rising costs of higher education, including the effect of statutory tuition and fee waivers and exemptions, the cost of compliance with state and federal mandates, and the increase in the number of non-faculty staff. Make recommendations for controlling these costs and ensuring a sound fiscal approach to managing college affordability for the future.
- Access and Affordability: An Update on Higher Education in Texas, Every Texan, April 21, 2022
- Today's College Student and the Rising Costs of Higher Education, LegisBrief, National Conference of State Legislatures, February 2, 2022
- The Annual Report on the Economic Status of the Profession, 2020–21, Bulletin of the American Association of University Professors, July 2021
- Overview: Tuition Deregulation and Tuition Set Asides, Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, March 2021
- State Higher Education Funding Cuts Have Pushed Costs to Students, Worsened Inequality, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, October 24, 2019
- Interim Report (Charge 5 – Mandate Reduction), Senate Higher Education Committee, November 29, 2018
- Compliance Matrix, Higher Education Compliance Matrix, National Association of College and University Attorneys
- Exemptions and Waivers and Tuition and Fees Data, Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board
Charge: Review the impact of investments of endowment and other trust funds, including the Permanent University Fund, by university systems and institutions of higher education in businesses and funds owned or controlled by the Russian government or Russian nationals, and determine the need for investment restrictions. Consider the impact of any proposed investment restrictions on fund performance.
- The Importance of Russian Trade and Investment Activity to the Texas Economy, The Perryman Group, April 27, 2022
- Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar's Statement on Potential Russia Divestments, Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, March 2, 2022
- Available University Fund Report, University of Texas System, December 2021
- Financial Statements and Independent Auditors' Report: Permanent University Fund, Deloitte & Touche LLP, October 28, 2021
Senate Committee on Border Security (Eagle Pass)
Charge: Community Impact: Study and report on the impact of Operation Lone Star on border, rural, and urban communities throughout Texas.
- Border Security: Appropriations and Reporting Requirements (Presented to Senate Finance Committee), Legislative Budget Board, July 2022
- The Economic Costs of the Recent Border Delays, The Perryman Group, April 2022
- Operation Lone Star, Texas Tribune
