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

Skip to main content

Current Articles & Research Resources, April 14, 2022

In this weekly post, we feature helpful research tools and recent articles of interest to the legislative community.

  • Consider which news sources Americans trust. (YouGovAmerica, April 5, 2022)
  • Read about how wind energy was recently the second largest source of electricity production in the U.S. (U.S. Energy Information Administration, April 14, 2022)
  • Review recent travel-related face mask orders from the CDC. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, April 13, 2022)
  • Find out how to replace a Social Security card. (CNET, April 13, 2022)

 

Librarians review and select articles from more than 1,000 print and online sources to compile a weekly annotated list of Current Articles of interest to the legislative community. View this week's Current Articles.

 

Members of the Texas legislative community may request articles by using our online form or by calling 512-463-1252.

Interim Hearings – Week of April 18, 2022

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 20, 2022
House Committee on International Relations & Economic Development
Charge: Economic Development Incentives. Examine current economic development incentive programs and identify opportunities to enhance job creation in Texas. Make recommendations to promote transparency and enhance effectiveness of such programs.

 

Charge: Semiconductor Investment. Evaluate Texas' current efforts to attract semiconductor investment to the state. Identify potential strengths and vulnerabilities that could impact the success of Texas' semiconductor industry and the ability to create and maintain a reliable semiconductor supply chain.

 

Charge: Trade with Russia. Review the impact that trade with Russia has on the Texas economy, including Texas manufacturers. Consider the impact of Texas investment in businesses and funds owned or controlled by the Russian government or Russian nationals, and determine the need for investment restrictions. Consider the impacts of any proposed investment restrictions on access by Texas businesses and the Texas scientific and technological community to capital investment, global markets, and competitive knowledge.

 

Senate Committee on Local Government
Bond Elections: Review and report on voter participation and bond election result differences between November and May elections. Make recommendations for improved voter turnout, increased election efficiencies, and better accountability of local debt.

 

Ballot Language: Study the development of the language used for constitutional amendment and local ballot propositions. Recommend changes to make ballot propositions more easily understood by voters.

 

 

April 21, 2022
House Committee on Ways & Means
Charge: Actively oversee associated rulemaking and agency actions to ensure the intended legislative outcome of:

 

Charge: Study and consider methods of providing additional property tax relief, including the use of $3 billion in available American Rescue Plan Act funds that were held for future tax relief by the 87th Legislature, and other sources of revenue. Explore options to reduce business property tax burdens and options for limiting the growth of property tax bills.

 

Charge: Evaluate the impact of shifting to destination sourcing for local sales and use tax purposes, including the benefits of reduced taxpayer confusion. Monitor the implementation of the Comptroller's amendments to 34 Tx. Admin. Code §3.334, relating to local sales and use taxes, and the Comptroller's Sales Tax Rate Locator. Make recommendations for legislation to improve Texas' local sales and use tax sourcing.

 

 

Current Articles & Research Resources, April 7, 2022

In this weekly post, we feature helpful research tools and recent articles of interest to the legislative community.

  • Explore legislation related to cannabis by state. (National Conference of State Legislatures, March 21, 2022)
  • Check on flight delays at U.S. airports. (Federal Aviation Administration, accessed March 31, 2022)
  • Consider coastal carbon and its role in state environmental policy. (Pew Charitable Trusts, March 28, 2022)
  • Review ways to limit negative health and environmental effects in wildfire burn areas. (Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, updated March 21, 2022)

 

Librarians review and select articles from more than 1,000 print and online sources to compile a weekly annotated list of Current Articles of interest to the legislative community. View this week's Current Articles.

 

Members of the Texas legislative community may request articles by using our online form or by calling 512-463-1252.

Interim Hearings – Week of April 11, 2022

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 12, 2022
House Interim Study Committee on Criminal Justice Reform
Charge: Criminal procedure and due process from initial detention through appeal, including prosecutorial discretion.

 

House Committee on Urban Affairs
Charge #4: Study the effects of local governance, planning, and administration on the current state of municipal water and wastewater infrastructure. Examine the measures municipally owned utilities have taken and the costs required to maintain and improve that infrastructure. Make recommendations for cost-effective solutions to ensure reliable infrastructure and uninterrupted municipal utility services, especially during a severe weather event.

 

Charge #5: Study municipal fees with respect to the function of the fee and the relationship of the fee to the cost of providing an associated municipal service. Make recommendations to address municipal fees that are disproportionate or unrelated to the cost of providing the associated service.

 

 

April 14, 2022
House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence
Charge: Study the accessibility to counsel in cases involving an indigent defendant and make recommendations to improve access to counsel in these cases. Evaluate methods to improve the effectiveness of court-appointed counsel, caseload processing, caseload distribution, and the state's compliance with applicable appointment of counsel requirements.

 

Interim Hearings – Week of April 4, 2022

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 4, 2022
Senate Committee on Border Security
Topic: Review border security appropriations and their directed purposes. Invited testimony only from the following:

  • Office of the Governor
  • Texas Department of Public Safety
  • Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
  • Texas Department of Motor Vehicles
  • Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board

Border Security Appropriations (Presented to Senate Committee on Border Security), Legislative Budget Board, March 8, 2022

 

April 5, 2022
Senate Committee on Border Security
Topic: Review border security appropriations and their directed purposes. Invited testimony only from the following:

  • Texas Military Department
  • Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission
  • Office of the Attorney General
  • Office of Court Administration
  • Texas Department of Criminal Justice
  • Texas Commission on Jail Standards
  • Texas Commission on Law Enforcement
  • Department of State Health Services

Border Security Appropriations (Presented to Senate Committee on Border Security), Legislative Budget Board, March 8, 2022

 

April 7, 2022
House Select Committee on Youth Health & Safety
Charge: Study the allocation and use of state resources to preventative and rehabilitative services that address the primary challenges facing Texas youth placed in the juvenile justice system, including the redirection of those resources as necessary to ensure effectiveness and efficiency.

 

Charge: Study the programs, services, and governmental action focused on the rehabilitation of youthful offenders, including considerations related to developmental factors that impact a youth's entry into the justice system.

 

Current Articles & Research Resources, March 31, 2022

In this weekly post, we feature helpful research tools and recent articles of interest to the legislative community.

  • Consider the safety of food packaging. (Consumer Reports, March 24, 2022)
  • Search for which corporations have violated rules and broken laws. (Good Jobs First, ©2022)
  • Review which states offer protections for monarch butterflies. (Stateline, March 28, 2022)
  • Find out ways to share large files online. (Popular Science, March 26, 2022)

 

Librarians review and select articles from more than 1,000 print and online sources to compile a weekly annotated list of Current Articles of interest to the legislative community. View this week's Current Articles.

 

Members of the Texas legislative community may request articles by using our online form or by calling 512-463-1252.

Interim Hearings – Week of March 28, 2022

Today's Committee Meetings on the LRL website is a calendar of interim committee hearings with links to agendas.

 

March 31, 2022
House Committee on House Administration
The committee will consider:

 

Current Articles & Research Resources, March 24, 2022

In this weekly post, we feature helpful research tools and recent articles of interest to the legislative community.

  • Explore partisan polarization in today's U.S. Congress. (Pew Research Center, March 10, 2022)
  • Submit damage reports from recent wildfires and tornadoes. (Texas Division of Emergency Management, accessed March 23, 2022)
  • Find out how to block spam calls and text messages. (Wired, March 12, 2022)
  • Review the spring weather and climate outlook for the U.S. (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, March 17, 2022)

 

Librarians review and select articles from more than 1,000 print and online sources to compile a weekly annotated list of Current Articles of interest to the legislative community. View this week's Current Articles.

 

Members of the Texas legislative community may request articles by using our online form or by calling 512-463-1252.

New & Noteworthy Books and Reports: March 2022

The Library is continually adding new books to its collection. Below are the titles from our March 2022 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 and delivery of any of these items, you can submit an online request through the New & Noteworthy page on our website, contact the library at 512-463-1252.

In honor of Women's History Month, we are highlighting books about women's history in Texas.

 

1. Women's Suffrage in Texas: Struggle, the Story: Successes, Notable Firsts: Senators, Women of the Texas Senate
By Texas Senate
Reflects on the legislative efforts, struggle for suffrage, and achievements of women in Texas in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Nineteenth Amendment. Provides brief biographies of significant women in Texas, including former and current Texas Senators. Notes that since the first woman was elected to a statewide office a century ago, Texas women have served at every level of state and local government.
Texas Senate, 2019, 63 pages
L1803.8 W842 2019

 

 

2. Women in Texas History
By Angela Boswell
Provides a chronological overview of women's history in Texas, from Native American Texas to the end of the twentieth century. Considers physical, geographic, legal, political, social, and cultural factors that challenged and shaped Texas women's roles in creating the state of Texas. Highlights women in politics, including former Governor Ann Richards and state legislators such as former Ambassador Kay Bailey Hutchison, former U.S. Representative Barbara Jordan, U.S. Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson, former Representative Irma Rangel, Representative Senfronia Thompson, and other political female "firsts."
Texas A&M University Press, 2018, 345 pages
305.409764 B657W 2018

 

 

3. Texas Women First: Leading Ladies of Lone Star History
By Sherrie S. McLeRoy
Celebrates the contributions and achievements of a mix of unconventional, trailblazing women in the Lone Star state. Profiles famous and not so famous women who broke barriers in areas as diverse as aeronautics, government, arts and entertainment, business, education, medicine, law, military, and social justice. Highlights memorable "firsts" accomplished by Texas women including former Representative Frances 'Sissy' Farenthold, and former Ambassador Kay Bailey Hutchison.
The History Press, 2015, 188 pages
979 M154T 2015

 

 

4. Texas Women: Their Histories, Their Lives
By Elizabeth Hayes Turner, Stephanie Cole, and Rebecca Sharpless, editors
Compiles a collection of biographies and essays of Texas women showing the racial, class, and religious diversity of the Lone Star State, from the Spanish colonial era to the twenty-first century. Explores the lives of Native American, European, African American, and Hispanic women and their impact on Texas. Focuses on a range of topics, including the influence of Spanish law, slavery, higher education, equal rights, civil rights, politics, business, ranching, and the arts. Provides essays on Oveta Culp Hobby and former U.S. Representative Barbara Jordan.
The University of Georgia Press, 2015, 526 pages
305.409764 T852T 2015

 

 

5. Texas Dames: Sassy and Savvy Women Throughout Lone Star History
By Carmen Goldthwaite
Highlights the stories of 53 Texas women and their accomplishments from early Tejas to the mid-twentieth century. Details how these courageous "Dames" broke both gender and racial barriers in education, ministry, business, entertainment, athletics, medicine, and politics to become the "firsts" in their fields. Includes former Representative Edith Eunice Wilmans.
The History Press, 2012, 157 pages
976.4 G58T 2012

 

 

6. Texas Through Women's Eyes: The Twentieth-Century Experience
By Judith N. McArthur and Harold L. Smith
Offers an overview of women's achievements in Texas throughout the twentieth century with a focus on rural, working-class, and minority women. Discusses women's roles in working for social and political reform, the right to vote, better opportunities in education and the workforce, and civil rights. Provides a selection of primary documents including letters, memoirs, and oral histories.
University of Texas Press, 2010, 295 pages
305.4209764 M127T 2010

 

 

7. Black Women in Texas History
By Bruce A. Glasrud and Merline Pitre, editors.
Explores how African American women have affected the culture and history of Texas while also showing how they have been shaped by the larger culture. Compiles essays written by era experts to provide a survey of African American women's experiences through time and themes, including slavery and freedom, Reconstruction, the Civil Rights Era, and more. Argues that often-disenfranchised black women actively pursued ways to make their voices heard and build community. Highlights former U.S. Representative Barbara Jordan.
Texas A&M University Press, 2008, 248 pages
325.26 B64W 2008

 

 

8. Capitol Women: Texas Female Legislators, 1923-1999
By Nancy Baker Jones and Ruthe Winegarten
Examines the Texas Legislature through the experiences and history of the women who have served or are currently serving as legislators from January 1923 to January 1999. Includes 4 essays for cultural context and profiles on all 86 women who have served in that window of time through 58 chronologically arranged biographies, and 28 “snapshots.
University of Texas Press, 2000, 328 pages
328.764 J722C

 

 

Current Articles & Research Resources, March 17

In this weekly post, we feature helpful research tools and recent articles of interest to the legislative community.

  • Explore the family budget map and calculator. (Economic Policy Institute, March 2022)
  • Consider whether navigation tools suggest the safest routes for driving trips. (Texas A&M University Engineering, February 21, 2022)
  • Find data related to bridges maintained by TxDOT. (Texas Department of Transportation, updated March 15, 2022)
  • Track testing locations of automated driving systems. (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, accessed March 16, 2022)

 

Librarians review and select articles from more than 1,000 print and online sources to compile a weekly annotated list of Current Articles of interest to the legislative community. View this week's Current Articles.

 

Members of the Texas legislative community may request articles by using our online form or by calling 512-463-1252.

Previous Entries / More Entries