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Interim Hearings - Week of May 16, 2016

Interim Hearings - Week of May 16

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 16 Top

House Committee on County Affairs

Topic: Texas Healthcare Transformation and Quality Improvement Program 1115 Waiver

Topic: Counties involvement in Child Protective Services (CPS) cases

House Committees on County Affairs and Urban Affairs (Joint Hearing) 

Joint charge: Risk and mitigation of wildfires, floods, and other natural hazards in the wildland-urban interface; natural disasters

House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence

Charge: Asset forfeiture

Senate Committee on Higher Education

Charge: Current funding methods for both general academic institutions and community colleges, performance-based funding for community colleges

Charge: Funding for GAIs (General Academic Institutions) and HRIs (Health Related Institutions), tuition-revenue generating special items and formula and research funding for new medical schools

May 17 Top

House Committees on Corrections and Criminal Jurisprudence (Joint Hearing) 

Charge: Probation & parole - fees and revocations

House Committees on Human Services and Urban Affairs

Charge: Boarding homes

Senate Committee on Criminal Justice

Charge 3: Reentry programs provided by TDCJ and the Windham School, including inmates in administrative segregation; Certified Peer Support Services; Darrington Seminary Program   

Charge 4: Pretrial diversion and treatment programs   

Charge 5: Dissemination of bulk criminal records   

Charge 6: Costs for family members to maintain contact with incarcerated family members    

 

Senate Committee on Finance

Charge: Strengthening restriction on appropriations established in Article VIII, Section 22 of the state constitution (spending cap)

Senate Committee on Health & Human Services  

Topic: Zika virus

May 18 Top

House Committee on Appropriations

Charge 1 (partial): Dedicated accounts, budget transparency

Charge 3: Texas constitutional spending limits, comparison to other states

Joint Legislative Committee on Health & Human Services Transition, Oversight  

Invited testimony

 

May 19 Top

Topic: Cost reporting process for long term programs

House Committee on Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence  

Charge 1: Trafficking

Charge 4: Jury service

Charge 6: Lemon law

House Committee on Public Health

Charge: Improving birth outcomes

Senate Committee on Intergovernmental Relations

Charge 1: Extraterritorial jurisdiction expansion and municipal annexation process

 

Week in Review, May 5

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

Answer Your Committee-Related Questions with the LRL Committee Search

In a recent blog post, we discussed committee minute availability. This week, we're continuing our focus on Texas legislative committees by taking a look at the library's Committee Search page
 
The library's Committee Search page allows users to find information like committee membership, committee charges, published interim reports, and in some cases, committee minutes. You can use our committee search page to answer questions like:
  • What were the standing and joint committees of the 69th Legislature?
  • Has there ever been a committee to look at auto theft? (Answer: yes)
  • What issues has the Senate Natural Resources Committee examined over the last 5 sessions?
  • How long did the House Cultural and Historical Resources Committee exist and who served on it?
You can also search by committee member last name or by committee member role, which allows you to answer questions such as:
  • What committees has my state senator or representative served on during their time in the legislature? 
  • Did he or she ever chair a committee?
  • Who has chaired the Senate Finance Committee during its history?
There are many more committee-related questions that can be answered using our committee search page. For assistance or questions, please contact the library at (512) 463-1252.
 
Image: Committee search page on the LRL website.
 
 

Interim Hearings - Week of May 9, 2016

Interim Hearings - Week of May 9

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 10 Top

House Committee on Higher Education

Charge 3: College affordability and accessibility with a focus on middle-class students; tuition, financial aid, student debt

Senate Select Committee on Property Tax Reform & Relief

Charge: Property tax process

Charge: Tax burden

May 11  Top

Charge 2: Contracting practices at major state agencies

House Committee on Public Education

Charge: Teacher-student relationships 

Charge: Broadband services  for schools, libraries, and institutions of higher education

 

House Committee on Public Education

Charge: Legislative oversight and monitoring (invited testimony only)

 

Cover image by pixabay user skeeze

 

Week in Review, April 28

In this weekly post, we feature online articles and policy reports published recently, and other helpful research tools.
  • View a report and policy brief providing recommendations to reduce future census undercounts of young Latinos. (Child Trends, April 2016)
  • Read about the expectations related to retirement of the Baby Boomer generation. (Insured Retirement Institute, 2016)
  • Consider how the content of social media posts reveals clues about health. (Knowledge@Wharton, University of Pennsylvania, April 25, 2016)
  • Review frequently asked questions about veterans' health care. (Congressional Research Service, April 21, 2016)
 

Where to Find Committee Minutes

Committee minutes record the proceedings of legislative committees. They are the permanent record of what occurred at a committee hearing, and can be a helpful guide when viewing video or listening to audio of past hearings.

 

Minutes contain procedural information like roll call, record votes, bills considered, and witness information, and at times they include other research valuable items, such as transcripts of testimony, research reports, and correspondence.

 

The Legislative Reference Library makes committee minutes from the 63rd Legislature (1973) through the 74th Legislature (1995) available online through its committee minutes page, and also linked to bills in its Legislative Archive System. For committee minutes from the 75th Legislature (1997) - present, check the Texas Legislature Online's Committees webpage.

 

Table: Committee minute availability

 

(LRL = Legislative Reference Library; TLO = Texas Legislature Online)

Legislature House Senate Joint
63rd - 71st Online via LRL Online via LRL Online via LRL
72nd - 74th Online via LRL In hard copy at the LRL (scanning in progress) In hard copy at the LRL (scanning in progress)
75th - present Online via TLO Online via TLO Online via TLO

 

Interim Hearings - Week of May 2, 2016

Interim Hearings - Week of May 2

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 2

Charge 17: State parks system funding, recent legislation including the General Appropriations Act, HB 158, and SB 1366, 84th R.S.

House Committee on Environmental Regulation  

Charge 2: Surface water management compliance

 

Charge 3: Local environmental regulation initiatives; resolve ambiguous regulations regarding priority of state or local authority

 

May 3

House Committees on Economic & Small Business Development and Public Education (Joint Hearing)   

Joint charge: Partnerships between higher education institutions, public school districts, and workforce that promote postsecondary readiness 

 

Rules and laws limiting employers from providing internships or apprenticeships 

Workforce training, incentivizing business to invest in training 

 

May 4

Senate Committee on Business & Commerce

Topic: Penalty calculations under the current prompt payment of health care claim laws and regulations

 

Topic: Implementation of legislation, specifically legislation intended to further protect consumers from the balance billing process

Eightieth Legislature, Regular Session, 2007, Texas Department of Insurance, January 2009

 

Senate Select Committee on Texas Ports

Topic: Committee rules and organizational business

Topic: Economic impact of inland waterways, coastal ports, and inland ports on the state economy

 

Topic: Future impact of Panama Canal expansion on Texas ports

 

Charge: Interstate Compact: cost-benefit analysis of a potential interstate compact on border security, and the constitutional and legal questions

 

Topic: TDCJ invited testimony answering questions from previous hearing on PEP

 

May 5

Charge 15: Higher education funding formulas

 

Joint Interim Committee to Study Border Security

Topic: Implementation of HB 11, 84th Legislature, R.S., and additional border security efforts

 

Week in Review, April 21

In this weekly post, we feature online articles and policy reports published recently, and other helpful research tools.
  • Examine child well-being in Texas. (Center for Public Policy Priorities / Texas Kids Count Project, April 2016)
  • Read a report on white supremacist prison gangs. (Anti-Defamation League, April 18, 2016)
  • Get a state by state list of funds from the Land and Water Conservation Fund. (National Park Service, April 18, 2016)
  • See how much it costs to produce a barrel of oil and gas. (The Wall Street Journal, April 15, 2016)
 
 

New & Noteworthy List for April 2016

The Library is continually adding new books to its collection. Below are the six titles from our April 2016 New & Noteworthy list.

 

Check out and delivery of New & Noteworthy titles is available to legislative staff in Capitol and District offices. To arrange check out of any of these items, you can submit an online request through the New & Noteworthy page on our website, or contact the library at 512-463-1252.

 

 


The War on Alcohol: Prohibition and the Rise of the American State By Lisa McGirr
Examines the United States' "noble experiment" of alcohol prohibition and how it impacted American society, both between 1920-1933 and beyond. Details the growth of the temperance movement in the early 20th century, which led to the implementation of the Eighteenth Amendment and the Volstead Act. Explores ways in which the prohibition of alcohol changed America's social culture, leading to women more regularly joining in social drinking and the integration of illicit drinking establishments in higher numbers than had been previously seen. Profiles the expansion of policing, surveillance, and punishment under the Volstead Act, which greatly increased the number of people incarcerated in America, and served as a precursor to modern anti-narcotics campaigns.
W.W. Norton & Company, 2016. 330 pages.
363.41 M178W 2016


 

Texas and the Mexican Revolution: A Study in State and National Border Policy 1910-1920 By Don M. Coerver and Linda B. Hall
Explores responses and interactions of Texas Governors and Washington politicians as each dealt with the border upheaval caused by the Mexican revolution in the decade, 1910-1920. Suggests jurisdictional friction and misunderstandings were partially due to the differing goals of the state's border policy versus federal foreign policy. Concludes while the border is a legal concept, the Rio Grande represented a region in which social, cultural, religious, and economic relationships transcended an international boundary and integrated the area, intensifying the effect of the revolution in the United States.
Trinity University Press, 1984. 167 pages.
976.4 C651T 1984


 

Diploma Mills: How For-Profit Colleges Stiffed Students, Taxpayers, and the American Dream By A.J. Angulo
Explores the history of colleges and universities in America from the earliest colonial period. Explains that while the earliest non-profit colleges mainly offered a classical curriculum, profit seekers realized that apprenticeships with more practical applications were badly needed in the colonies. Discusses the idea that these apprenticeships were the basis of what is now a multi-billion dollar industry mainly referred to as "for-profit colleges and universities," and how, in many cases, these institutions have become disreputable diploma mills. Argues a large number of for-profit colleges engage in predatory practices and poverty profiteering. Explains that these for-profit institutions are responsible for a large portion of the 1.2 trillion dollar student debt that threatens to destabilize the entire federal student aid program and could potentially bring about the next major economic downturn in this country.
Johns Hopkins University Press, 2016. 203 pages.
378.04 AN48D 2016
 


 

Toward a More Perfect University By Jonathan R. Cole
Examines challenges facing modern American research universities, including admission policies, rising costs, innovation, governance, and academic freedom. Addresses the economic value and affordability of higher education and the role of state governments. Proposes structural university finance reforms at the state and federal levels.
PublicAffairs, 2016. 409 pages.
378.73 C675T 2016

 



 

The Gun Debate: What Everyone Needs to Know By Phillip Cook and Kristin A. Ross
Presents the topic of guns and gun control in a Q&A format. Challenges both the gun rights and gun control movements with a variety of insightful, well-researched, and objective inquiries. Explores the history, culture, and politics of the gun debate that leads to such divisive and ardent stances on the issue of guns.
Oxford University Press, 2014. 280 pages.
363.33 C772G 2014
 

 


 

Obamacare Wars: Federalism, State Politics and the Affordable Care Act By Daniel Beland, Philip Rocco, and Alex Waddan
Provides an account of the varied political battles over the implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) in the fifty states. Attributes the diversity of state level opposition to and acceptance of Obamacare implementation to the politics of health care reform. Focuses on three major policy reform streams of the ACA - health insurance exchanges, Medicaid expansion, and regulatory reforms - to explain the law's complex and uneven implementation. Highlights the implementation of the ACA in Texas.
University Press of Kansas, 2016. 215 pages.
368.382 B41O 2016

 

Interim Hearings - Week of April 25, 2016

Interim Hearings - Week of April 25

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.

April 25 Top

House Committee on Business & Industry    

Charge: Texas businesses' utilization of the Federal Work Opportunity Tax Credit

 

April 26 Top

Joint Charge: Manufacturing and trade

House Committee on Natural Resources

Charge 4: Seawater desalination

Charge 5: Funds available to Texas in relation to 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill

Charge 9: Legislative oversight and monitoring

 

Senate Committee on Higher Education    

Charge: Tuition and student debt, specifically: Texas comparison to peer states, variance between institutions, accountability measures, and increases in tuition since 2003

 

April 27 Top

Senate Select Committee on Property Tax Reform & Relief

Charge: Property tax process

Charge: Tax burden

House Select Committee on Mental Health 

Mental/behavioral health care services in Texas, including early identification, crisis intervention, access to care, continuity of care, coordination of services related to an integrated system of care, delivery of care in rural, urban, and underserved areas; workforce challenges

 

April 28 Top

Charge: Small business expansion and growth

House Committees on Economic & Small Business Development and Energy Resources (Joint Hearing) 

Joint Charge: Impacts of declining price of oil and continuously depressed price of natural gas on the Texas economy and the fiscal implications for the Texas budget 

Charge 3: Law enforcement training and professional needs

 

House Committee on State Affairs

Charge: Human fetal tissue for medical and scientific purposes

Charge: State contracting procedures (a revised notice dated 4/18/2016 removed this charge from the agenda)

Charge: Disaster preparedness

Charge: Continued operation of the state government and economy

House Select Committee on Mental Health  

Mental/behavioral health care services in Texas (see April 27)

 

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