House and Senate committees have publicly posted the following notices as of MAY 5, 2008:

House Committee on Licensing & Administrative Procedures
May 07, 2008 - 10:00 AM
State Capitol, E2.010 Capitol Extension

To consider the following: Charge #4: Review the Bingo Enabling Act, and recommend needed changes to the licensing process, fee structure, and permitted forms of play. Study whether specific changes are needed to direct a greater share of bingo revenue toward charities the act was intended to benefit. Charge #5: Study the possible need for regulation of charitable raffles.
Additional Information Contact: Rep. Kino Flores, 512/463-0704

Senate Committee on Transportation and Homeland Security
May 20, 2008 - 08:00 AM
McAllen City Hall, 1300 Houston Ave., McAllen

The Senate Committee on Transportation and Homeland Security will hold a public hearing on Tuesday, May 20, at 8:00 a.m. in the City Council Chambers of McAllen City Hall located at 1300 Houston Ave., McAllen, Texas 78501. The Committee will hear public and invited testimony regarding the following interim charges: [...] Monitor urban crime laboratories and their compliance with state laws regulating their functions and make recommendations to restore public trust in their functions and to ensure full compliance with federal Homeland Security reporting requirements. Specifically, review the report report issued by the Independent Investigator for the Houston Police Department Crime Laboratory and Property Room, the independent panel review of certain criminal convictions prompted by the conclusions of this report, and the implementation by the City of Houston of any reforms recommended in this report.
Additional Information Contact: Sen. John Carona, 512/463-0116

House Committees on Law Enforcement, Transportation, and Defense Affairs & State-Federal Relations
May 21, 2008 - 01:00 PM
State Capitol, Room E2.010

The Committee on Law Enforcement will be meeting with the House Committee on Defense Affairs & State-Federal Relations and the House Committee on Transportation to review the current requirements for driver's license and identification card holders in Texas in order to recommend legislative measures to prevent these documents from being used to further criminal activities and recommend ways to enhance homeland security. (Interim Charge #4) Invited Testimony Only.
Additional Information Contact: Rep. Joe Driver, 512/463-0574

Senate Committee on Jurisprudence
May 23, 2008 - 10:00 AM
University of Houston Hilton Hotel, Flamingo Room, 4800 Calhoun St.,
Houston

The Senate Jurisprudence Committee will hold a public meeting on Friday, May 23, 2008, at 10:00 a.m. at the University of Houston Hilton Hotel, Flamingo Room, 4800 Calhoun Street, Houston, Texas 77204. The Committee will discuss the following interim charges:

(Charge 1) Study the laws governing suits affecting the parent-child relationship involving non-parents, including suits for possession of or access to a child by a grandparent, and make recommendations for providing the best care and protection for the children involved. Provide an assessment of the constitutional issues involved with these suits.

(Charge 4) Identify and study best practices for representation of children in child abuse and neglect cases and determine whether to implement further training, oversight, or other requirements for judges, attorneys, and others responsible for child abuse and neglect cases, including child sexual abuse cases. Develop and implement tools for children's advocacy centers (CACs) and prosecutors to successfully investigate and prosecute child abusers. Include the following: - Explore changes to the rules of evidence that could facilitate the presentation of child testimony in court; - Explore making prior extraneous sex offenses admissible during - Explore possible expansion of the rules regarding how cases are consolidated and punishments are stacked in a single trial.

Additional Information Contact: Sen. Jeff Wentworth, 512/463-0125

The Lt. Governor has recently released the list of issues to be studied by Senate committees during the legislative interim.  For a complete listing, view the entire document here:

http://www.senate.state.tx.us/assets/pdf/InterimCharges2008.pdf 

Here is a brief run-down of some of the topics to be reviewed, arranged by committee:

CRIMINAL JUSTICE

• implementation of Senate Bill 103, the TYC reform bill 
• drug prevention, esp. "cheese" heroin and meth
• effectiveness of TDCJ's increased budget for rehabilitation
• oversight and accountability for local asset forfeiture funds
• deferred adjudication
• delays in resolution of criminal cases involving child victims
• inmate re-entry to free society
• joinder/severance of capital murder defendants
• mentally ill offenders (*joint charge with STATE AFFAIRS committee)
• impact of Senate Bill 909, the TDCJ sunset legislation
• copper theft

FINANCE

• funding of county public hospitals

HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

• CPS caseloads
• foster care
• preventing child abuse

JURISPRUDENCE

• SAPCRs involving non-parents/grandparents
• new tools for child abuse cases, including changes to the rules of evidence
• increasing jury participation through note-taking, asking questions, etc.

STATE AFFAIRS

• voting fraud
• illegal gambling, including eight-liners

TRANSPORTATION AND HOMELAND SECURITY

• HPD crime lab and other urban crime labs 
• illegal immigration, drug trafficking, human smuggling, and border crime (*joint charge with INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND TRADE committee)
• compliance and collection under Driver Responsibility Program (aka "surcharges")

November 30, 2007

This week, Speaker Craddick released the list of issues to be examined by House committees during the current legislative interim.  For a complete listing of those issues (which were released in no particular order in three separate documents), click on the links below.

House interim charges, part I

House interim charges, part II

House interim charges, part III

Senate committee charges have yet to be released by the Lt. Governor; we will update this page with those issues when they are made public.

Welcome to the new Legislative page for TDCAA's website.  There won't be much content on this page until we work out the bugs in the new website, but that's OK because there isn't anything new to report anyway!

Check back for updates late in 2007, when the House and Senate are expected to announce their interim studies.

Until then, enjoy surfing our new website!

-Shannon