07.08.12
A busy week of hearings at the Texas Capitol
This week’s list of interim hearings are likely to give a pretty good preview of what’s likely to be on the agenda for the next legislative session - the 83rd Legislature in 2013. Via the Legislative Reference Library, Interim Hearings - Week of July 9th:
Week of July 9thJuly 9thHouse Committee on Appropriations - Subcommittee on Articles VI, VII, & VIIICharge: Dedicated accounts in the state budget
- “Hard-Up Defendants Pay as State Siphons Court Fees for Unrelated Uses,” Austin American-Statesman, March 3, 2012
- “Texas Victims Fund May Require Rescuing,” Houston Chronicle, April 10, 2012
- Report on Use of General Revenue Dedicated Accounts, 82nd Legislature, Texas Comptroller, last revised September 27, 2011
- “State’s Budget Relies on Diversion,” San Antonio Express-News, August 9, 2009
House Committees on Appropriations - Subcommittee on Articles VI, VII, & VIII and Transportation [Joint Hearing]Charge: Transportation funding reforms, options to eliminate “diversions” from Fund 6 (state highway fund)
- Transportation Funding and Finance, National Conference of State Legislatures
- Major State Transportation Legislation, 2011 (see Funding and Finance category), National Conference of State Legislatures, May 2012
- Federal Financing of Transportation in Texas, Legislative Budget Board, March 2012
- Interim Report to the 82nd Texas Legislature (Funding), House Select Committee on Transportation Funding, January 2011
- Interim Report to the 82nd Legislature (Charge 6), Senate Committee on Transportation & Homeland Security, February 2011
Senate Committee on FinanceCharge: Correctional health care system
- Audit Reports on Correctional Managed Health Care at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston and Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, State Auditor’s Office, February 2011
- The Cost of Correctional Health Care: A Correctional Institution Inspection Committee Summary of Ohio’s Prison Health Care System (includes comparison of 2009 prison health care spending in California, Florida, Georgia, Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania, and Texas), Ohio Correctional Institution Inspection Committee, December 15, 2010
- Texas Correctional Managed Health Care Committee
July 10thHouse Committees on Appropriations - Subcommittee on Articles VI, VII, & VIII and Environmental Regulation [Joint Hearing]Charge: Effectiveness of the Texas Emissions Reduction Plan (TERP)
- An Audit Report on the Texas Emissions Reduction Plan Program at the Commission on Environmental Quality, State Auditor’s Office, December 2010
- TERP Biennial Report to the Texas Legislature, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, December 2010
- Texas Emissions Reduction Plan (TERP), including summary reports on projects funded to date, by emission source and area, August 30, 2011 and What is the Texas Emissions Reduction Plan (TERP)?, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
House Committees on State Affairs and Technology [Joint Hearing]Charge: Cloud computing
- Capitals in the Clouds: The Case for Cloud Computing in State Government (white papers), National Association of State Chief Information Officers
- The Cloud Imperative: Better Collaboration, Better Service, Better Cost: A Comprehensive Guide for Best Practices in Cloud Computing for State and Local Governments, Tech America Foundation’s State & Local Government Cloud Commission, February 2012
- Cloud Computing in Vermont State Government: Analysis of Opportunities, Vermont Legislative Director of Information Technology and State CIO, 2010
House Committee on State AffairsCharge: Monitor agencies and programs under jurisdiction, including implementation of SB 1048 regarding public-private partnerships on state-owned propertySenate Committee on Agriculture & Rural AffairsCharge: Land use and market trends in Texas agriculture
- “Aging Threatens Texas Farms, Ranches,” San Antonio Express-News, June 2, 2012
- Texas Rural Land Value Trends, American Society of Farm Managers & Rural Appraisers, April 2012
- A Decade of Change in Texas Agriculture, Texas A&M, October 2009
Charge: Veterinary medical workforce
- “Shortage of Rural Vets in Texas Creates a Challenge,” Texas Tribune, April 1, 2012
- State Veterinary Loan Repayment Programs, American Veterinary Medical Association, updated April 2011
- Projecting the Need for Veterinary Medical Education in Texas, Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, January 2009
Charge: Horse slaughter facilities
- “Activists Say Horse-Slaughter Plants Face a Rough Ride,” USA Today, June 16, 2012
- “Texas Mayor Paula Bacon Kicks Some Horse Slaughter Tail,” Forbes, January 10, 2012
- “Emotional Issue of Slaughtering Horses Returns,” San Antonio Express-News, December 22, 2011
- Horse Welfare: Action Needed to Address Unintended Consequences from Cessation of Domestic Slaughter, Government Accountability Office, June 22, 2011
Senate Committee on Business & CommerceTopic: Quarterly updates from selected state agencies and entitiesCharge: Relationship between cities and municipally-owned utilities
- Austin Energy Rate Review, Draft Annual Performance Report 2011, Austin Energy, June 2012
- CPS Energy 2010/2011 Annual Report, CPS Energy
- ERCOT - Municipal members list
- “‘Green’ Municipalities Cut Ties with Utilities,” Governing, May 2012
Charge: ERCOT generation protocols, grid reliability and electricity rates
- Annual Energy Outlook 2012, U.S. Energy Information Administration, June 25, 2012
- ERCOT Investment Incentives and Resource Adequacy, The Brattle Group/ERCOT, June 1, 2012
- Report on the Capacity, Demand, and Reserves in the ERCOT Region, ERCOT, May 22, 2012
- Texas Electricity Profile 2010, U.S. Energy Information Administration, January 30, 2012
Charge: Homeowners insurance market
- Texas Homeowners Insurance Policy Comparison Report to the 82nd Texas Legislature as Required by Senate Bill 1 (81st Legislature, 2009), Texas Department of Insurance, January 2011
- “Texas Homeowners Pay Highest Insurance Premiums for Second Year in a Row” (including table of the 10 states with the highest average premium for homeowners insurance in 2009), Dallas Morning News, January 10, 2012
July 11thHouse Committees on Government Efficiency & Reform and State Affairs [Joint Hearing]Charge: Privatization of state services
- Annual Privatization Report 2011, Reason Foundation, May 2012
- Facts & Issues: Privatization, League of Women Voters of Houston, February 2012
- Report on Privatization of a State Mental Health Hospital, Texas Department of State Health Services, January 12, 2012
- “Lawmakers Chafe as Push Continues to Privatize Prison Health Care,” Austin American-Statesman, April 30, 2011
Charge: State agency rulemaking
- Bureaucratic Barbed Wire: How Occupational Licensing Fences Out Texas Entrepreneurs, Institute for Justice Texas Chapter, October 2009
- “Groups Find Fault with Standards for Licensed Breeders,” Texas Tribune, March 30, 2012
- 52 Experiments with Regulatory Review: The Political and Economic Inputs into State Rulemakings, Institute for Policy Integrity, November 2010
- Time for Regulatory Transparency, Texas Public Policy Foundation, May 2009
House Committee on Judiciary & Civil JurisprudenceCharge: Transparency in asbestos bankruptcy trusts and litigationCharge: Asbestos and silica multidistrict litigation
- Asbestos Injury Compensation: The Role and Administration of Asbestos Trusts, U.S. Government Accountability Office, September 2011
- Interim Hearings - Week of February 6, 2012, Legislative Reference Library, January 30, 2012
- “Louisiana Stops Bill Aimed at Protecting Asbestos Manufacturers,” Asbestos.com, May 31, 2012
Charge: Monitor agencies under jurisdiction, testimony from agenciesJuly 12thHouse Committee on Appropriations - Subcommittee on Article IICharge: Mental health services infrastructure and funding
- Mental Health: A Survey of State-Funded Delivery, Texas Public Policy Foundation, November 2011
- Texas 82nd Legislative Session: Summary of Mental Health-Related Legislation (including mental health funding chart and mental health budget riders), Hogg Foundation for Mental Health, The University of Texas at Austin, August 2011
Topic: Disproportionate Share Hospital ProgramHouse Committee on Government Efficiency & ReformCharge: Purchasing cooperatives created under Chapter 791 of the Texas Government Code, including the bid process and the role of inter-local contracts
- Cooperative Purchasing, Texas Association of Counties
- “Cooperative Purchasing,” Texas County Progress, December 1, 2011
- Model Purchasing Manual for Texas Cities and Counties 2010, Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, November 22, 2010