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, and a list of upcoming Budget Hearings.
September 4th
Senate Committee on Criminal Justice
Charge: Administrative segregation
- Reassessing Solitary Confinement: The Human Rights, Fiscal, and Public Safety Consequences [hearing transcript, testimony and submitted materials], U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary, June 19, 2012
- "Psychiatrists Decry Punishment That Isolates Prisoners," Psychiatric News, September 3, 2010
- "Beyond Supermax Administrative Segregation: Mississippi's Experience Rethinking Prison Classification and Creating Alternative Mental Health Programs," Criminal Justice and Behavior, July 2009
Charge: Female inmates
- Improvements to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Community Justice Assistance Division & Board of Pardons and Paroles: Response to Sunset Advisory Commission Staff Report [see Part 8], Texas Criminal Justice Coalition, June 2012
- "Statistics on Women Offenders," Corrections.com, February 6, 2012
- "Feeling the Squeeze," Amarillo Globe-News, January 3, 2012
- Mothers Behind Bars: a State-by-State Report Card and Analysis of Federal Policies on Conditions of Confinement for Pregnant and Parenting Women and the Effect on Their Children, National Women's Law Center, October 2010
September 5th
- Commission Decisions on the Texas Criminal Justice Agencies
- Texas Department of Criminal Justice
- Correctional Managed Health Care Committee
- Windham School District
- Board of Pardons and Paroles
- Staff Presentation and Public Testimony
- State Pension Review Board
- Office of Fire Fighters’ Pension Commissioner
- Port of Houston Authority
- State Employee Charitable Campaign Policy Committee
- Texas Commission on the Arts
- Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs
September 6th
Senate Committee on Natural Resources, Subcommittee on Interim Charge #9
Charge: Efficiency of Texas Renewable Portfolio Standard
- Texas Renewable Portfolio Standard (history and overview), Texas Energy Conservation Office
- Texas Utilities Code §39.904, Goal for Renewable Energy, added by SB 7, 76th Leg. and amended by SB 20, 79th Leg., 1st C.S. and HB 1090, 80th Leg.
- PUC Rule, 16 Texas Administrative Code §25.173, Goal for Renewable Energy, amended January 2, 2009
- Renewable Energy Standards Deliver Affordable, Clean Power (electricity rate changes before and after renewable energy standards in Texas and other states), Center for American Progress, April 11, 2012
- The High Cost of Renewable-Electricity Mandates (includes Texas), Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, February 2012
September 10th
Senate Committee on Higher Education
Charge: Cost-effective funding of financial aid, incentives, student debt
- "Completion-Focused Financial Aid," Inside Higher Ed, August 7, 2012
- Balancing Passion and Practicality: The Role of Debt and Major on Students' Financial Outcomes: A Report to the 83rd Regular Session of the Texas Legislature, TG Research and Analytical Services, August 2012
- The Cost of College: How Texas Students and Families Are Financing College Education, Center for Public Policy Priorities, May 2012
- Trends in Student Aid 2011, College Board, October 2011
Charge: Returned value funding model for Texas State Technical College
- "TSTC First College in Nation to Fund by Results," Marshall News Messenger, June 6, 2012
- "Tech College System to Link State Funds to Student Jobs," Texas Tribune, March 15, 2012
Charge: Monitor the implementation and make recommendations for any legislation needed to improve, enhance and/or complete implementation of the following bills (82nd Regular):
- SB 5, Relating to the administration and business affairs of public institutions of higher education
- SB 28, Relating to eligibility for a TEXAS grant and to administration of the TEXAS grant program
- HB 9, Relating to student success-based funding
- HB 33, Relating to measures to increase the affordability of textbooks used for courses at public or private institutions of higher education
- SB 1107, Relating to the vaccination against bacterial meningitis of entering students at public and private or independent institutions of higher education
- HB 1000, Relating to the distribution of money appropriated from the National Research University Fund
September 11th
Senate Committee on Agriculture & Rural Affairs
Charge: Seafood consumption
- Seafood and Aquatic Life Group Homepage, Texas Department of State Health Services, last updated July 27, 2012
- Texas Health and Safety Code, Chapter 436, Texas Aquatic Life Act (Food and Drug Health Regulations)
- Rules and Regulations: Crabmeat (25 TAC Sections 241.1-241.9) and Molluscan Shellfish (25 TAC Sections 241.50-241.71), Texas Department of State Health Services
Charge: Use of Texas agricultural products in healthy foods
- "Mapping Food Deserts in the U.S.," Amber Waves, U.S. Department of Agriculture, December 2011
- Opportunities for Increasing Access to Healthy Foods in Washington, Access to Healthy Foods Coalition, Washington State Department of Health, June 2010
- "Limited Access to Healthy Foods" (Texas county map showing percent of population who are low-income and do not live close to a grocery store), County Health Rankings & Roadmaps, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2006 data
Topic: Texas drought conditions and wildfires
- Drought Information, Texas Water Development Board
- Texas Drought Maps, Office of the State Climatologist, Texas A&M University
September 12th
House Committee on Pensions, Investments & Financial Services
Charge: Local retirement systems
- The Funding of State and Local Pensions: 2011-2015, Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, May 2012
- "Fort Worth Tells Employees About Plans to Trim Pension Benefits," Fort Worth Star-Telegram, April 26, 2012
- Public-Employee Retirement Systems State- and Locally-administered Pensions Summary Report: 2010, U.S. Census Bureau, April 2012
- State and Local Pension Plans: Funding Status, Asset Management, and a Look Ahead, Cato Institute, February 2012
- Strengthening State and Local Government Finances: Lessons for Negotiating Public Pension Plan Reforms and Updated Houston Fact Sheet, Center for State and Local Government Excellence, September 2011, updated June 2012
- Guide to Public Retirement Systems in Texas: a Comparison of Statutory Public Retirement Systems in Texas, Texas Pension Review Board, January 2011
- Payday Lending in America: Who Borrows, Where They Borrow, and Why, Pew Charitable Trusts, July 2012
- Quarterly Update to the Senate Business and Commerce Committee, Texas Office of Consumer Credit Commissioner, July 2, 2012
- "Cities Move to Regulate Payday Lenders," San Antonio Express-News, May 4, 2012
- "Big Print is a Big Step Towards Reining In Predatory Loan Fees," Fort Worth Star-Telegram, January 11, 2012
Charge: Federal consumer protection laws
- "The Dodd-Frank Act: Unhappy Birthday to You," The Economist, July 28, 2012
- Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act: Provisions Relating to Public Retirement Systems, Texas Pension Review Board, updated October 2011
- Industry Outlook on Dodd-Frank Act Preemption Provisions, Conference of State Bank Supervisors, August 24, 2011
Charge: Viability of defined benefit pension plans; feasibility of alternative plans
- "State Pension Assets Grew in 2011, But Large Gaps Remain," Governing, August 9, 2012
- Legal Constraints on Changes in State and Local Pensions, Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, August 2012
- A Review of Defined Benefit, Defined Contribution, and Alternative Retirement Plans, Texas Pension Review Board, May 2012
- Pensionomics 2012: Measuring the Impact of DB [Defined Benefit] Pension Expenditures, National Institute on Retirement Security, March 2012
- A State Budgeting Perspective on Public Pensions, National Association of State Budget Officers, January 20, 2012
- Analysis of Defined Benefit Plan Efficiency, Texas Association of Public Employee Retirement Systems, July 25, 2011
Joint Committee on Seacoast Territory Insurance
Charge: Windstorm and Hail Insurance pursuant to HB 3 (82nd 1st C.S.)
- Residual Market Property Plans: From Markets of Last Resort to Markets of First Choice - 2012 (focuses on Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New York, North and South Carolina, and Texas), Insurance Information Institute, July 2, 2012
- Hurricane and Windstorm Deductibles (focuses on 18 coastal states and the District of Columbia), Insurance Information Institute, May 2012
- "Hurricane Insurance: Private Insurers at Risk," The Ledger (Florida), June 19, 2012
- "Commissioners Debate Regional Solution to Gulf Coast Insurance Woes," Times-Picayune (New Orleans), May 30, 2012
- Four Problems, Four Solutions: A Blueprint for Reforming Texas's Insurance Environment, Heartland Institute, March 2011
- Windstorm Inspection Program - General Information and Building Codes and Downloads, Texas Department of Insurance
September 13th
House Committee on Agriculture & Livestock
Charge: Cedar eradication as a means to enhance resource conservation
- "Removing Woody Vegetation Has Little Effect on Conduit Flow Recharge," Ecohydrology, April 2012
- Simulation of Streamflow and the Effects of Brush Management on Water Yields in the Upper Guadalupe River Watershed, South-Central Texas, 1995–2010, U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report, 2012
- "Energy Balance and Water Use in a Subtropical Karst Woodland on the Edwards Plateau, Texas," Journal of Hydrology, May 2009
- Saltcedar Control and Water Salvage on the Pecos River, Texas, 1999 to 2003, USDA Forest Service, 2007
- A Report to the House of Representatives, 79th Legislature (Interim Charge No. 2), House Committee on Agriculture & Livestock, November 24, 2004
House Committee on Pensions, Investments & Financial Services (continuation of previous day's hearing)
House Committee on Ways and Means
Topic: Local economic development tools including but not limited to:
- Chapter 311, Tax Code
- Chapter 312, Tax Code
- Chapter 313, Tax Code
- Chapter 380, Local Government Code
- Chapter 381, Local Government Code
- Chapter 387, Local Government Code
- Chapters 501-505, Local Government Code
Senate Committee on Education
Charge: Extended learning time and student success, after-school programs
- Expanding Time for Learning Both Inside and Outside the Classroom: A Review of the Evidence Base, Child Trends, commissioned by The Wallace Foundation, August 2012
- "Senate Panel Would Allow Use of After-School Funds for Extended Day," Education Week/Politics K-12, June 19, 2012
- Harnessing the Power of Expanded Time to Improve Schools: A Study of Three Districts, National Center on Time & Learning, August 2011
- A State Policymaker's Guide to Expanded Learning Time, Education Commission of the States, Summer 2011
Invited and public testimony
Listed below are budget hearings of state agencies, listed by agency name or date on the Legislative Budget Board website along with the time and location.
September 4th
Bond Review Board
Optometry Board
September 5th
Judiciary Section, Comptroller's Department
Prairie View A&M University
Risk Management, State Office of
Tarleton State University
Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University at Galveston
Texas A&M University System Health Science Center
Texas A&M University System: Administrative and General Offices
West Texas A&M University
September 6th
Alcoholic Beverage Commission, Texas
Emergency Communications, Commission on State
Ethics Commission, Texas
Texas A&M International University
Texas Transportation Institute
Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi, Kingsville, Commerce, San Antonio, Central Texas, Texarkana
Texas Engineering Experiment Station
Texas Engineering Extension Service
September 7th
Adjutant General's Department
AgriLife Extension Service and AgriLife Research, Texas
Racing Commission
Texas Forest Service
Texas Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory
Veterans Commission
September 10th
Assistive and Rehabilitative Services, Department of
Court of Criminal Appeals
State Law Library
Utility Commission of Texas, Public
September 11th
Aging and Disability Services, Department of
Historical Commission
September 12th
Attorney General, Office of the
Blind and Visually Impaired, School for the
Deaf, School for the
Injured Employee Counsel, Office of
Lamar Institute of Technology
Lamar State College- Port Arthur, Orange
Lamar University
Sam Houston State University
Sul Ross State University, Rio Grande College
Texas State University - San Marcos
Texas State University System
September 13th
Family and Protective Services, Department of
Texas State Technical College - Harlingen, West Texas, System Administration, Marshall, Waco
September 14th
Preservation Board
