Texas 2021 - 87th Regular

Texas House Bill HR1950 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New		Differences
1		-	H.R. No. 1950
	1	+	87R30077 BK-D
	2	+	By: Metcalf H.R. No. 1950
2	3
3	4
4	5		R E S O L U T I O N
5	6		WHEREAS, For more than a century, the Legislative Reference
6	7		Library has provided invaluable assistance to Texas lawmakers; and
7	8		WHEREAS, Signaling to the world that the Texas Legislature
8	9		early on understood the need for expert assistance from
9	10		professional library staff and the value of a specialized reference
10	11		library, leaders of this state reserved a special place at the core
11	12		of the 1888 Capitol to house this vital resource for current and
12	13		future generations; the Legislative Reference Library was
13	14		established on the second floor in the north wing to assist members
14	15		of the legislature and their staffs, and its resources are also
15	16		available to the lieutenant governor, the speaker, and their
16	17		staffs, to the staff of the governor's office, to legislative
17	18		officers, agencies, and committees, to state agencies and
18	19		commissions, to librarians and legislators from other states, to
19	20		members of the press, and to Texas citizens; and
20	21		WHEREAS, The tools may change through the decades, but the
21	22		need for information endures, and the library's electronic data
22	23		systems currently expedite the delivery of knowledge to the
23	24		legislative community and the people of Texas in both direct and
24	25		indirect ways; the creation, compilation, and utilization of
25	26		information in a reliable and timely fashion are provided today in a
26	27		manner unimaginable by the legislature in 1888, yet the importance
27	28		of the library's continued proximity to the seat of Texas
28	29		government was reaffirmed during the restoration of the Capitol in
29	30		the 1990s, thus underscoring the intrinsic value of this treasured
30	31		institution; and
31	32		WHEREAS, The effectiveness of the library would not be
32	33		possible without the talented people who staff it; these
33	34		individuals provide in-depth analyses of legislation from all 50
34	35		states, respond to historical legislative queries, and create ad
35	36		hoc legislative statistical reports for staff in the speaker's and
36	37		lieutenant governor's offices; during legislative sessions, the
37	38		library plays an integral part in the legislative process; staff
38	39		develop electronic records in the Texas Legislative Tracking System
39	40		for each bill or resolution filed and furnish real-time information
40	41		to the legislative community, to executive agencies, and to
41	42		citizens of this state through such proprietary applications as
42	43		TLIS and TLO; and
43	44		WHEREAS, Stationed on the floor of the house and senate
44	45		chambers, library staff record critical legislative actions as they
45	46		occur, and they work closely with the senate and house
46	47		parliamentarians, the senate and house journal clerks, the chief
47	48		clerk of the house, the secretary of the senate, and their staffs to
48	49		ensure that these records are accurate and complete; library staff
49	50		members are also responsible for assigning and entering subject
50	51		terms and companion relationships to facilitate legislative
51	52		research, and they review enrolled legislation for the effective
52	53		dates of each measure; in addition, the library operates a
53	54		toll-free bill status hotline for the public; and
54	55		WHEREAS, As the statutory custodian of legislative records,
55	56		the library maintains the most comprehensive physical repository of
56	57		information relating to the Texas Legislature, including original
57	58		legislative bill files, historical and current publications of
58	59		legislative committees, state agencies, and institutions of higher
59	60		education, and legislative legal resources, journals, law reviews,
60	61		and periodicals; a circulating collection of materials is also made
61	62		available to the legislative community; and
62	63		WHEREAS, The library has undertaken an ambitious and ongoing
63	64		project to digitize historical legislative records and
64	65		information, including the house and senate journals, to ensure
65	66		that this information is available to scholars and the public to
66	67		foster better understanding of the history of Texas and the
67	68		legislature's role in that history; and
68	69		WHEREAS, Each business day, the library compiles select
69	70		articles from newspapers statewide for the legislative community,
70	71		and it generates weekly listings of important journal articles and
71	72		monthly listings of newsworthy additions to the library's
72	73		collection; the library provides accurate and up-to-date
73	74		legislative information electronically through a number of
74	75		databases; the Texas Appointment System contains information on
75	76		members of state councils, boards, and committees appointed by the
76	77		governor, lieutenant governor, and speaker; the Legislative
77	78		Archive System holds the only electronic version of original
78	79		legislative bill files and documentation, while the Index to
79	80		Sections Affected is the sole source of information detailing the
80	81		proposed statutory effect of bills; moreover, the library maintains
81	82		Texas Legislators: Past & Present, highlighting legislative
82	83		membership information from 1846 to today, as well as a legislative
83	84		reports database covering that same period, and it archives
84	85		gubernatorial executive orders, messages, and proclamations; and
85	86		WHEREAS, Guided skillfully by director/librarian Mary Camp,
86	87		the LRL staff includes assistant director/librarian Catherine
87	88		Wusterhausen, administrative/legislative staff Michelle Martinez,
88	89		Kali Palmer, and Julia Walden, administrative staff Amber Baade,
89	90		Donald Brower, Christopher Taylor, and Jay Young, clipping service
90	91		staff Vincent Cowan, David Wood, and Karen Wright, and librarians
91	92		Elizabeth Buchanan, Linna Dean, Ali Dzienkowski, Sally Harlow,
92	93		Melanie Harshman, Mickey Lanning, Karen McBurney, Kaelyn Morice,
93	94		Ana Sifuentes-Martinez, Brandon Vasquez, Lindsay Wickham, and Ia
94	95		Wood; and
95	96		WHEREAS, These hardworking and dedicated professionals
96	97		demonstrate an unyielding commitment to excellence as they carry on
97	98		the long and storied tradition of their agency, and they may take
98	99		justifiable pride in the important services they provide to the
99	100		legislature and to the citizens of the Lone Star State; now,
100	101		therefore, be it
101	102		RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 87th Texas
102	103		Legislature hereby honor the Legislative Reference Library and
103	104		extend to the staff members sincere appreciation for their
104	105		outstanding contributions; and, be it further
105	106		RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be
106	107		prepared for the library as an expression of high regard by the
107	108		Texas House of Representatives.
108		-	Metcalf
109		-	______________________________
110		-	Speaker of the House
111		-	I certify that H.R. No. 1950 was adopted by the House on May
112		-	31, 2021, by a non-record vote.
113		-	______________________________
114		-	Chief Clerk of the House