Title: House of Representatives Committee on Saving Taxes (57th Legislature) public hearing audiotapes
Description: The Texas House of Representatives Committee on Saving Taxes created in 1959 by House Simple Resolution 152 (56th Texas Legislature, 1st Called Session) had five members appointed by the Speaker of the House. The committee was charged with investigating ways to reduce costs and waste in state government and with devising operational plans for all state departments, agencies, and institutions to provide economical and efficient services to the public. Records of the committee are audiotape recordings of public hearings that according to the labeling on the tape boxes were held on October 2 and 3, 1959, and on February 19, March 4, 12, and 18, and April 7, 1960; dates are not announced in the recordings. Testimony was heard from staff of the Texas State Board of Control, Texas Prison System, Texas Highway Department, Texas State Department of Public Welfare, Texas Game and Fish Commission, Texas State Building Commission, Texas Commission on Higher Education, Texas Comptroller's Office, and Texas State Treasury Department. The chairman of the board of regents of Sam Houston State Teachers College (renamed as Sam Houston State University in 1967) and the architect of the college president's home also presented testimony to the committee. Archives staff have not listened to the entirety of the recordings to determine or verify all who testified as witnesses to the committee. It is not known whether the committee held additional public hearings that are not documented in these recordings. The committee began its work upon the members' appointment on October 1, 1959, and was to continue until the convening of the 57th Legislature on January 10, 1961. The committee was to report to the House of Representatives before the beginning of the next legislative session on the matters charged to it, though it is not known where the report may exist. Committee members were Representatives Wesley Roberts (chair), Robert E. Johnson (vice chair), Charles Lee Ballman, George Cook, and James Cotton. The audio recordings were originally made on seven-inch open reels of ¼-inch tape.
Collection: Texas House of Representatives Committee on Saving Taxes (56th Legislature) public hearing audiotapes and transcript
Creator: Texas. Legislature. House of Representatives. Committee on Saving Taxes
Date of creation: 1962
Citation information: (Identify the item), Texas House of Representatives Committee on Saving Taxes (57th Legislature) public hearing audiotapes. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
Arrangement: These audio recordings are arranged in chronological order. Tape reels were numbered according to their original physical order, which in most cases does not reflect chronological order.
Copyright information: Due to the fragility of the audiotapes, the digital copies must be used instead of the original tapes. Researchers wishing to access the original audiotapes must contact Archives staff. Access may be granted if the researcher wants to view the physical tape and its container.
Size or duration: 0.1 cubic ft.
TARO URL: http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/tslac/70061/tsl-70061.html
General note: Legal and physical custody of the original recordings now resides with the Legislative Reference Library. Access to the original records must be requested through the Legislative Reference Library. Digital copies created by the Texas State Library and Archives Commission with grant funding provided by the Library Services and Technology Act, Institute of Museum and Library Services, are available through the Texas Digital Archive.
