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.
May 14, 2024
Senate Committee on Health & Human Services
Charge: Cancer Prevention: Identify and recommend ways to address the growing impact of cancer on Texans by evaluating state investments in cancer prevention and screenings including, but not limited to, “CT,” “MRI, and “PET” scans. Study and make recommendations on funding adequacy for prevention efforts at the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT).
- 2023 Annual Report, Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, February 1, 2024
- An Economic Assessment of the Cost of Cancer in Texas and the Benefits of the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) and Its Programs: 2023 Update, The Perryman Group, November 30, 2023
- 2023 Texas Cancer Registry Annual Report, As Required by Texas Health and Safety Code, Section 82.007, Texas Department of State Health Services, September 2023
- An Audit Report on Grants Management at the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, State Auditor’s Office, September 2021
- 2018 Texas Cancer Plan, Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, September 18, 2018
- An Audit Report on Performance Measures at the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, State Auditor’s Office, December 2017
Charge: Health Insurance: Examine the Texas health insurance market and alternatives to employer-based insurance. Identify barriers Texans face when navigating a complex health insurance market. Make recommendations that help individuals obtain health care coverage.
- Proposed Changes to State Medicaid Plans Could Shake Up Health Coverage for 1.8 Million Low-Income Texans, Texas Tribune, April 18, 2024
- The High Cost of Millions of Texans Losing Health Insurance Coverage, The Perryman Group, April 2024
- Basic Health Programs: An Alternative to Public Options?, The Commonwealth Fund, March 27, 2024
- Alternative Health Plans, Texas Department of Insurance, last updated January 22, 2024
- 2022 Census Data: The Uninsured Population of Texas and Uninsured Texans: Challenges & Policy Solutions, Every Texan, November 20, 2023
- State Public Option Plans Are Making Progress on Reducing Consumer Costs, The Commonwealth Fund, November 7, 2023
- Texas Mandated Health Benefits, Texas Department of Insurance, updated to reflect laws in effect as of September 1, 2023
- Interim Report to the 88th Texas Legislature, Select House Committee on Health Care Reform, January 2023
- The Uninsured in Texas, Texas Medical Association
- Who are the Uninsured?, Texas2036
Charge: Monitoring: Monitor the implementation of legislation addressed by the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services passed by the 88th Legislature, as well as relevant agencies and programs under the committee's jurisdiction. Specifically, make recommendations for any legislation needed to improve, enhance, or complete implementation of the following:
- Senate Bill 25, relating to support for nursing-related postsecondary education, including scholarships to nursing students, loan repayment assistance to nurses and nursing faculty, and grants to nursing education programs.
Senate Subcommittee on Higher Education
Charge: Monitor the Ban on Discriminatory DEI Policies: Examine the implementation of Senate Bill 17, 88th Legislature, which bans discriminatory “DEI” initiatives at institutions of public higher education. Review and report on the progress each institution has made in aligning university policies and procedures with the provisions of Senate Bill 17, ensuring Texas college campuses foster equal opportunity and reward individual merit and achievement.
- UT-Austin Announces Round of Firings in Latest Step to Comply with Texas' DEI Ban, Texas Tribune, April 2, 2024
- Senator Brandon Creighton Announces Oversight on Senate Bill 17 Implementation (News Release) and Letters to University System Chancellors and Boards of Regents, Senator Brandon Creighton, Chairman, Texas Senate Committee on Education, March 26, 2024
- How State Anti-DEI Laws Are Impacting LGBTQ+ Students, Georgetown University, February 23, 2024
- Texas’ Ban on College Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Offices Takes Effect, Intercultural Development Research Association, January 2024
- DEI Versus the Declaration of Independence, Texas Public Policy Foundation, September 2023
Charge: Combating Antisemitism on Texas College Campuses: Review campus policies to prevent antisemitism. Study the oversight Texas institutions of higher education have over the formation and operations of student organizations, including access to campus facilities and use of campus property. Make recommendations to prevent antisemitism on college campuses, while protecting First Amendment rights.
- Fact Sheet: Biden-?Harris Administration Ramps Up Actions to Counter Antisemitism on College Campuses and Protect Jewish Communities, The White House, May 7, 2024
- Executive Order GA-44, Relating to Addressing Acts of Antisemitism in Institutions of Higher Education, Governor Greg Abbott, March 27, 2024
- Fact Sheet: Biden-Harris Administration Takes Action to Address Alarming Rise of Reported Antisemitic and Islamophobic Events at Schools and on College Campuses, The White House, November 14, 2023
- Hate in the Lone Star State: Extremism and Antisemitism in Texas, Anti-Defamation League Center on Extremism, September 2023
- The Nexus White Paper: Understanding Antisemitism at its Nexus with Israel and Zionism, Nexus, May 27, 2023
- The U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism, The White House, May 2023
- Study on Antisemitism in Texas, Prepared for the 2023 Legislature, Texas Holocaust, Genocide, and Antisemitism Advisory Commission, November 1, 2022
- Confronting Campus Antisemitism: An Action Plan for University Administrators, American Jewish Committee
- Best Practices Guide for Combating Campus Anti-Semitism and Anti-Israelism, Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law
Charge: Campus Free Speech: Examine the procedures of Texas public institutions of higher education designed to protect the First Amendment free speech rights of faculty, staff, and students. Monitor and report on compliance Senate Bill 18, 86th Legislature, and make recommendations for any needed reforms.
- Spotlight on Speech Codes 2024, Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), 2024
- Speech on Campus, American Civil Liberties Union, December 18, 2023
- 2022 Free Speech in the Crosshairs: Bias Reporting on College Campuses, Speech First, September 19, 2022
- Interim Report to the 87th Texas Legislature (Charge 1 – Monitoring, SB 18), House Committee on Higher Education, January 2021
- Interim Report to the 86th Legislature (Charge 9 – Campus Free Speech), Senate Committee on State Affairs, December 2018
May 15, 2024
House Committee on House Administration
Topic: The committee will consider the budget for the following: Select Committee on Securing Texas from Hostile Foreign Organizations
Senate Committee on Local Government
Charge: Secure Texas Against “Squatters”: Review current laws relating to “squatters” or those claiming adverse possession of property. Make recommendations to streamline the process forthe immediate removal of “squatters” and to strengthen the rights ofproperty owners’.
- Abandoned Property (Adverse Possession), Texas State Law Library, last updated May 3, 2024
- Anxiety Over Squatters, Fueled by TikTok, Inspires a Wave of Legislation, Stateline, April 26, 2024
- Owning Your Piece of Texas: Key Laws Texas Landowners Need to Know (Chapter 7, Section III, Adverse Possession), Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, September 2023
- Interim Report to the 83rd Texas Legislature (Charge 2 – Adverse possession), House Committee on Business and Industry, December 2012
- Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Section 16.021 et seq., Limitations of Real Property Actions/Adverse Possession
- Texas Property Code Chapter 22, Trespass to Try Title
Senate Committee on Veteran Affairs
Charge: Veteran Mental Health: Review current programs that provide direct and indirect mental health services to veterans in Texas. Identify barriers to accessing mental health resources for rural veterans. Make recommendations to improve access to mental health support for all veterans.
- Service Members, Veterans, and their Families Technical Assistance (SMVF TA) Center, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, last updated March 14, 2024
- VA Mental Health: Additional Action Needed to Assess Rural Veterans’ Access to Intensive Care, U.S. Government Accountability Office, February 9, 2023
- Veterans Health Care: Staffing Challenges and Recommendations for Improvement, U.S. Government Accountability Office, May 17, 2023
- Improving Access to High-Quality Mental Health Care for Veterans (Proceeding of a workshop), National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2023
- Annual Warrior Survey 2022 (Survey of mental and physical health, financial wellness, social connections, and spiritual well-being of wounded post-9/11 veterans), Wounded Warrior Project, 2022
- VA Research on Rural Health (Rural Mental Health), and VA Research on Mental Health, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, last updated January 15, 2021
- Texas Veterans Commission, Hogg Foundation for Mental Health, The University of Texas at Austin
- Texas Veterans and Family Alliance Grant Program, Texas Health and Human Services
- Veterans Mental Health Department, Texas Veterans Commission
Charge: Support Service Database for Texas Veterans: Review and report on the progress toward the creation of a single database to facilitate the seamless provision of veteran benefits by state agencies. Make recommendations to improve coordination among state, federal, and local agencies and others that provide benefits to veterans.
- Texas Veterans Portal, Texas Veterans Commission
Charge: Strengthen Support for Veteran Housing: Study the accessibility and affordability of veteran housing. Identify factors that contribute to veteran homelessness. Determine whether the Veterans Land Board has the tools necessary to maximize their assistance to eligible borrowers in home lending. Make recommendations to update state standards related to veteran home loans and housing.
- The 2023 Annual Homelessness Assessment Report (AHAR) to Congress: Part 1: Point-in-Time Estimates of Homelessness (State Estimates, Veterans Experiencing Homelessness), U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, December 2023
- Interim Report to the 88th Texas Legislature (Topic II – Housing), House Committee on Defense and Veterans’ Affairs, November 2022
- Recommendations to Address Veteran Homelessness in Texas (scroll to Advisory Committee Reports at end), Veterans Services Advisory Committee, Texas Veterans Commission, July 3, 2021
- Veteran Homelessness (Includes local seasonal relief centers, related resources, and Texas state agency links on veteran housing and loans), Texas Veterans Commission
- Loan Programs, Veterans Land Board
- Housing & Loans, Texas Veterans Portal, Texas Veterans Commission
Senate Committee on Water, Agriculture, & Rural Affairs
Charge: Water System Reliability: Evaluate water systems in Texas and identify opportunities to better equip those systems to serve the public. Review the coordination of relevant state agencies dealing with Texas water issues and identify opportunities for improved coordination and effectiveness.
- Free Financial, Managerial, and Technical Assistance for Public Water and Wastewater Systems, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, last modified May 2, 2024
- What is a Public Water System?, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, last modified February 21, 2024
- Proposition 6 and Texas Water Fund: Frequently Asked Questions, Texas Water Development Board, January 2024
- 2022 Texas Water Capital Needs Survey, Texas Water Infrastructure Network and Water Opinions, December 6, 2022
- Interim Report (Charge 1 – discussion of the state of water infrastructure in Texas in small systems), Senate Committee on Water, Agriculture & Rural Affairs, December 2022
- 2022 State Water Plan, Texas Water Development Board, adopted July 7, 2021
- 2021 Texas Infrastructure Report Card, Texas Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers, 2021
- Water & Wastewater Technical Assistance Hub and Water Line Infrastructure Survey, Texas Rural Water Association
