Transcript Highlights:

• And others who are trying to get into the business or trying to grow their business will not be allowed
• new businesses, to get into this world.
• No subcontractors, but that business owner, yes, that business owner does not have the knowledge or wherewithal
• And he told me, yes, but the company went out of business.
• And he told me, yes, but the company went out of business.

Bills: HB2144 , HB2190 , HB2191 , HB2303 , HB2345

Committee: House Labor & Workplace Standards

Keywords: employee monitoring, workplace privacy, performance evaluations, notification, transparency, language access, collective bargaining, providers, healthcare, interpreters, social services, construction, wage theft, misclassification, independent contractor, employee classification, fringe benefits, prevailing wages, subcontractor liability, joint and several liability

Transcript Highlights:

• Yes, and/or make sure that it's delineated that this is also open to businesses.
• For every dollar of tax credit, businesses must donate $5 to Missouri schools.
• But I think we need to incentivize especially small businesses because these small businesses don't have
• I work on the business side of our robotics team.
• I work on the business side of our robotics team.

Committee: House Higher Education and Workforce Development

Summary: The Committee on Higher Education and Workforce Development heard House Bill 3359, presented by Rep. Travis Wilson on behalf of Rep. Riggs. The bill would create a state income tax credit for donations to registered school robotics/STEAM programs, including cash, equipment, software, materials, and certain employee volunteer hours. The proposal was described as a 20% credit, capped at $10 million annually beginning in tax year 2027, with a six-year sunset. Committee members raised questions about whether the credit applies to individuals or businesses, how volunteer hours would be valued, whether the bill should be limited to qualified coaches or employees rather than parents or general volunteers, which state agency would administer reporting, and whether the 20% rate should be higher. Rep. Wilson said he was open to clarifying amendments and noted the bill sponsor would need to weigh changes. The bill’s student author and witness, Sarah Waldron, a Westminster Christian Academy senior and robotics team CEO, testified in support. She said the bill was intended to help Missouri schools, especially under-resourced ones, access funding for robotics programs and argued that the credit would leverage private donations into student opportunities and workforce development. She clarified that the volunteer-hour provision was meant for business employees, not individual volunteers, and said she had drafted an amendment to provide higher credits for schools with higher free-and-reduced-lunch percentages. Several committee members praised her work and discussed the need to target aid toward schools with fewer resources. Arne C. A.C. Dinoff, State Public Advocate, testified in opposition. He praised the student’s initiative but argued the state could not afford another tax credit given budget deficits and said volunteerism should not be tied to a fiscal reward. He also questioned the fiscal note and said robotics support should be handled locally rather than through a state tax credit. No vote was taken, and the chair concluded the hearing after testimony.

Transcript Highlights:

• ,</c><00:06:28.520><c> which</c> with the second order of business, which with the second order of business
• </c> We'll now proceed to the fifth order of business, which is reports of committees.
• ,</c> proceed to the sixth order of business, proceed to the sixth order of business, which<00:07:50.040
• Members, let's now proceed to the ninth order of business, which is motions and resolutions.
• ,</c> proceed to the ninth order of business, proceed to the ninth order of business, which<00:11:01.000

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• They've got a brand-new business, starting a brand-new business, Mr.
• You will go and you'll do your business plan.
• And so every business good model will have that.
• We have a couple of House bills and some other unfinished business.
• We have a couple of House bills, some other unfinished business.

Keywords: 996, all

Transcript Highlights:

• reliability requirements to business and commerce.
• Of this state to business and commerce, Senate Bill 724 by Col Course relating to providing in-person
• Is to provide information to users about the collection of personal data to business and commerce.
• Senate. 748 by Zafarini relating to the regulation of laser hair removal to business and commerce.
• Senate Bill 824 by Middleton relating to the Public Information law to business and commerce.

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> information specific for businesses. information specific for businesses.
• </c> businesses and consumers benefit. businesses and consumers benefit.
• </c> and and the small business owners. and and the small business owners.
• </c><01:09:47.359><c> of</c> business, you're in the business of business, you're in the business of
• </c> business operations. business operations.

Bills: HF3794 , HF3408

Committee: House Commerce Finance and Policy

Keywords: surveillance, price discrimination, wage discrimination, automated decision systems, consumer protections, data privacy, biometrics, consumer protection, price setting, biometric data, retail, privacy, 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• for business purposes.
• Taxes on business-to-business sales might seem appealing because the resulting costs to consumers are
• Taxes on business-to-business sales might seem appealing because the resulting costs to consumers are
• We have businesses forming California as a place where a lot of businesses form.
• We have businesses forming. California is a place where a lot of businesses form.

Summary: The committee opened with the State Controller’s Office May Revision requests, including funding for Fiscal book-of-record stabilization, a Broadcom IDMS licensing adjustment, the California State Payroll System, ACFR reporting automation, and $3 million for unclaimed property outreach. Testimony emphasized progress on Fiscal becoming the state’s accounting book of record in July, faster ACFR publication, and the move to electronic unclaimed property claims. Members asked about the size of the unclaimed property fund and how quickly money is transferred to the General Fund; the Controller’s office said about $15 billion is held, with most excess transferred regularly, and the LAO noted the fund is the General Fund’s fourth-largest revenue source. No concerns were raised by Finance or the LAO, and the item was closed after no public comment. The committee then heard the administration’s proposal to tax prewritten digital software and software-as-a-service, with Finance saying it would modernize sales tax treatment and raise an estimated $450 million General Fund and $560 million local revenue in 2026-27. The LAO supported modernizing the tax but suggested broader digital goods coverage and a business-use exemption; industry and taxpayer groups opposed the proposal, warning of higher costs for consumers and businesses. Members also heard CDTFA’s administrative request tied to the proposal, plus a separate CDTFA budget reduction reflecting lower operational needs; that reduction was presented as a savings item and drew positive reactions. Next, the committee considered federal conformity for “Trump accounts,” which would align California tax treatment with federal rules for tax-deferred children’s accounts and avoid tracking burdens for families. The LAO recommended approval, and the item drew no opposition. The committee also heard a proposal to cut the first-year $800 annual business tax to $400 for LLCs, LPs, and LLPs; Finance argued it would lower startup costs and encourage new business formation, while the LAO said the benefit was not well targeted and could subsidize entities that would form anyway. Members discussed the policy tradeoff, and public commenters split between support for small business relief and concern about revenue loss. The final major revenue item was a permanent business tax credit limitation, capping credits at the greater of $5 million per corporation or 50% of pre-credit liability, while excluding the low-income housing tax credit and personal income tax credits. Finance said it would raise significant revenue from large profitable corporations, and the LAO said it was a reasonable option but noted it would mainly affect the R&D credit and could have future implications for programs like California Competes. Public testimony was sharply divided, with business groups opposing the cap and anti-poverty advocates supporting it as a way to recapture revenue. The committee also heard FTB’s CalFile realignment request, which would return most of the direct-file-related resources to the General Fund while retaining a smaller staff to improve CalFile, and the California Arts Council’s request to reauthorize the Keep Arts in Schools voluntary contribution fund, which members and advocates supported despite relatively modest annual donations. The hearing continued with GoBiz proposals on civic media funding, CA RISE reappropriation, and a semiconductor facility reversion, with the LAO supporting the latter two and members raising questions about the civic media program’s scope, outreach, and inclusion of broadcast and ethnic media.

Transcript Highlights:

• for business purposes.
• Taxes on business-to-business sales might seem appealing, because the resulting costs to consumers are
• Taxes on business-to-business sales might seem appealing because the resulting costs to consumers are
• LLCs are an important business entity for small businesses that they use to receive limited liability
• We have businesses forming California as a place where a lot of businesses form.

Keywords: 988, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• First order of business: roll call.
• It's a good small business bill.
• Pretty simple small business bill.
• Jordan Redman, Chairman, House Business Committee.
• Speaker, we are the Committee on Business.

Keywords: 989, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Programs live for a reasonable lifetime, and during that lifetime business evolves, business needs change
• meet it now because business processes have changed, business needs have changed, and the needs of our
• <c> change</c> business evolves, business needs change business evolves, business needs change and<00
• because business processes have changed,<00:04:09.120><c> business</c><00:04:09.439><c> needs</c><00
• </c> to do business with the Commonwealth. to do business with the Commonwealth.

Keywords: 0:20 Rollcall 2:28 Definition of Legacy system and demands of modern workplaces 10:48 Discussion of funding and planned expenditures 22:26 Contingency funding 23:16 Adjournment, 958, all

Summary: The House Budget Review Subcommittee on Personnel, Public Retirement, and Finance heard a presentation from the Commonwealth Office of Technology on legacy IT modernization funds and how they are used to address outdated, unsupported, or unsustainable systems. David Carter and Carrie Welch explained the state’s definition of a legacy system under KRS 7A.180, emphasizing not only vendor support issues but also changing business needs, regulatory compliance, and the loss of institutional knowledge for older systems. They described the office’s review process for determining whether a project qualifies, including assessing business risk, comparing options such as upgrades, replacements, shared solutions across agencies, or commercial products, and then matching the project to available funding. The presenters said COT reports twice a year to the Interim Joint Committee on Appropriations and Revenue on progress with legacy modernization projects. They reported 30 projects funded to date, with 18 completed, and said remaining projects are still moving forward while agencies continue to identify modernization needs. They highlighted examples of completed work, including modernized security cameras, replacement of unsupported systems, migration of documents to the Commonwealth Enterprise Content Management Platform, restoration of vendor support, a digital policy acknowledgement portal, replacement of the State Police dispatch system, and digitization of paper records for faster retrieval and better disaster resilience. Members asked for more detail on how the $10 million request would be allocated, including system-by-system spending, the split between software, hardware, vendor contracts, and staff time, and how the office determines when a system needs replacement. COT said it did not have a system-by-system or cost-category breakdown at the hearing but could provide one later, and explained that the funds are intended for development and first-time acquisition costs rather than ongoing maintenance. They also said the $5 million annual request was based on prior years’ experience and that agencies often contribute some funding themselves, so the program could still operate if appropriated less than the full amount. The committee then approved the minutes and adjourned.

Transcript Highlights:

• Senator Hall moves suspension of the regular order of business on Senate Bill 1394.
• Senator Flores moves suspension of the regular order of business on Senate Bill 241.
• Senator Paxton moves suspension of the regular order of business on Senate Bill 609.
• So at this point, I'd move suspension of the regular order of business.
• Senator Perry moves suspension of the regular order of business on Senate Bill 2155.

Summary: The Senate opened with a quorum, an invocation, and routine motions to excuse Senator King and dispense with the reading of the previous journal. Members then took up several ceremonial resolutions and recognitions, including honoring Duncanville High School’s boys basketball state championship, recognizing the city of Palestine, welcoming the Texas African American Lawyers Foundation and Barbara Jordan Leadership Institute, acknowledging the Cibolo Chamber of Commerce, and designating Texas County Treasurer’s Day and Mesquite Day. A memorial resolution for Clyde Vance Dunham of Waco was adopted, with multiple senators speaking in tribute to his long legal career and community service; the Senate agreed to adjourn in his memory. The chamber then considered a series of bills, most of which were advanced on expedited motions. Senate Bill 1948, concerning fire prevention standards for certain agricultural facilities, passed after suspension of the rules and the three-day rule. Senate Bill 1394, updating weight and tire-load rules for ready-mix concrete trucks, passed unanimously. Senate Bill 1814, creating an electronic database to provide information to certain veterans, also passed unanimously. Senate Bill 241, tightening enforcement of the public camping ban and authorizing state enforcement and reimbursement mechanisms, drew questions about impacts on unhoused people but ultimately passed. Senate Bill 1147, withdrawing Texas from the Interstate Mining Compact, passed unanimously. The Senate also passed Committee Substitute for Senate Bill 921 on Medicaid ex parte renewals after a narrower vote, and Senate Bill 609, requiring school districts and charter schools to comply with legally required policies, after rejecting an amendment by Senators Menendez and Perry that would have added a good-faith/resource-limitation safeguard for districts. Committee Substitute for Senate Bill 660, requiring bollards or similar barriers near certain hospital emergency rooms, passed with rural exemptions and exceptions for existing protections. Senate Bill 2155, a cleanup bill returning veterinary board authority from TDLR to the State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners, passed with amendments. Committee Substitute for Senate Bill 1209 on election dates and Committee Substitute for Senate Bill 1396 prohibiting national sex education standards in public schools also passed. The Senate then received first-reading bills and adjourned until the next day.

Transcript Highlights:

• Majority being present, the House is now ready to do business.
• House Bill 648 was referred to the Business Committee.
• The House now advanced to eighth order business.
• , House at the 10th order business.
• The House now advanced 11th order of business.

Keywords: 989, all

Transcript Highlights:

• He had a business plan. He submitted it. He won the FAU Business Plan competition.
• He then won the state of Florida business plan competition.
• The business and the medical school have done great things.
• We've got a growing influx of high-net-worth individuals and businesses, financial businesses, as well
• Is there any further business to come before the committee?

Committee: Senate Appropriations Committee on Higher Education

Keywords: 999, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Chair lays out as a matter of pending business HB 1562.
• Chair lays out, as a matter of pending business, HB 2213.
• Chair lays out as a matter of business HB 2221.
• Chair lays out as a matter of pending business House Bill 2520.
• Chair lays it out as a matter of pending business.

Committee: Senate Business & Commerce

Keywords: 1185, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• who's really trying to build your business.
• It doesn't matter whether or not you do business in Massachusetts.
• interest, which is really needed for businesses at this time.
• And so when I write the checks for businesses, and I do it all the time, I feel like it's... ...businesses
• We're not talking again about hurting any small businesses.

Committee: Joint Joint Committee on Revenue

Keywords: 995, all

Summary: The Joint Committee on Revenue, chaired by Senator James Eldridge and Representative Adrian Madaro, opened its hearing with a moment of silence for the late Lowell State Senator Ed Kennedy and reviewed hearing procedures and deadlines. The committee then took testimony on several corporate tax bills, including S. 2033/H. 3110 on offshore tax avoidance, H. 3248 on a manufacturing tax exemption, H. 3057 on a tiered corporate minimum tax, and S. 2041 on a corporate tax haven blacklist, along with a separate business interest deduction bill. No votes were taken during the hearing. Supporters of S. 2033/H. 3110, including labor unions, health care workers, educators, public health advocates, seniors, and several legislators, argued that Massachusetts needs new revenue to offset federal cuts to Medicaid, SNAP, health care, education, and other services. They said the bill would raise roughly $400 million annually by increasing the share of offshore profits included in the state tax base from 5% to 50%, and they framed it as a fairness measure that would require large multinational corporations to pay more while leaving most local businesses and workers unaffected. Testimony emphasized risks to MassHealth, PCA services, adult dental care, hospitals, schools, and public health programs if new revenue is not raised. Opponents, including the Mass Taxpayers Foundation and the Council on State Taxation, argued the proposal is poor tax policy and likely unconstitutional because it would tax foreign-source income without allowing foreign tax credits or a comparable apportionment method. They said Massachusetts should take a broader, coordinated approach to federal tax changes rather than a standalone bill, and warned of litigation risk and possible double taxation. Supporters such as MassBudget and former tax counsel Don Griswold countered that the bill is a reasonable rough-justice approach, consistent with federal and neighboring-state treatment, and that it would primarily affect a small number of very large multinationals. On S. 2041, the Global Business Alliance opposed the proposed tax haven blacklist, while supporting a separate bill allowing business interest deductibility.

Transcript Highlights:

• Everyone has to do it in the business world.
• They're busy working to pay your taxes.
• That's 0.2% of businesses.
• I am Vice President of State Affairs for the Global Business Alliance, a business association representing
• Our small businesses pay what they owe today, period.

Committee: House Revenue and Taxation

Keywords: 988, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Under current law, certified small businesses, micro businesses, and disabled veteran business enterprises
• , and disabled veteran business enterprises.
• As a result, contracts that once fell squarely within the small business and disabled veteran business
• and disabled veteran business enterprise option.
• of Women Business Owners, California.

Committee: Senate Governmental Organization

Keywords: 987, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Do you consider your property a business?
• But I do not consider a small business.
• During the time we operated the business, the city of Witton's in the city, TR business in our home for
• And this clearly is a business issue because it's in the business community, not the business committee
• And this clearly is a business issue because it's in the business community, not the business committee

Committee: House Business

Keywords: 989, all

Transcript Highlights:

• We've had a number of our businesses in Boone County and Columbia be faced with this.
• As you heard from Brad Jones a minute ago, a lot of ours are small businesses.
• Recall that litigation is 80% business on business. It's not individuals versus businesses.
• The term good faith is used in business agreements I've seen over many years.
• Seeing no further business before the Commerce Committee, we stand adjourned.

Committee: House Commerce

Keywords: 959, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• A quorum is present, and the Senate is ready for business.
• There is no further business in the eighth order, Mr. President.
• The Senate is in the ninth order of business.
• Without objection, the Senate will advance to the 13th order of business.
• Without objection, the Senate will advance to the 15th order of business, miscellaneous business.

Keywords: 989, all