Transcript Highlights:

• 2083 is a bill that would amend a session law from 2021 that gave temporary authority to cities to transfer
• 2083 is a bill that would amend a session law from 2021 that gave temporary authority to cities to transfer
• authority to uh that gave temporary authority to cities<00:01:28.600> to<00:01:29.600> transfer
• cities to transfer unobligated increment uh<00:01:32.880> for<00:01:33.280> certain<00
• <00:14:10.720> up<00:14:10.959> additional extension would also open up additional

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Motion has been made and seconded; we are now open for discussion.
• been made and seconded we are now open been made and seconded we are now open for<00:28:51.159><
• <00:37:24.960> of 561 relative to the transfer of 561 relative to the transfer of state-owned
• We are now open for discussion.
• it was first open it was first open but<00:39:29.359> in<00:39:29.599> more<00:39:

Keywords: 928, house, all

Summary: The committee met in executive session on several House bills and first took up HB 181, which would have made the state responsible for maintaining Opticon systems for fire and emergency on state roads. Members noted that a system already exists and that towns are generally responsible for maintenance once they choose a system, so the committee voted ITL/OTL-style recommendation by a unanimous 18-0 roll call and discussed placing it on the consent calendar. The committee then considered HB 7113, concerning mile markers along Route 112/Kancamagus Highway. Supporters argued the markers would improve safety and help locate stranded motorists in a rural area with poor cell service, while another member noted the bill’s language should be clarified to refer specifically to the Kancamagus and to DOT’s usual 0.2-mile spacing. The committee voted 18-0 to recommend OTP with a fiscal note, and because it was a money bill it would not go on the consent calendar. HB 300, directing DOT to seek proposals on the Conway Branch rail line and creating a rail study committee, was recommended ITL after members said the issue had already been studied and the corridor had already been designated for rail trail; that vote was unanimous and the bill was placed on the consent calendar. HB 375, allowing municipalities to designate sections of state and local highways for all-terrain vehicles, was also recommended ITL. Members said there is already a process for towns to authorize such use and expressed concern about a blanket approach and possible local conflicts; the motion passed unanimously and was sent to the consent calendar. HB 578, relating to a sound barrier along the F.E. Everett Turnpike, drew more discussion: some members said the project should go through the 10-year plan and environmental review process, while others cited local impacts and the need for some barrier or privacy protection. The committee ultimately voted 16-2 to recommend ITL, and it was not placed on the consent calendar. Finally, the committee took up HB 561, concerning transfer of state-owned real property to municipalities. Members voted to retain the bill, with supporters saying they wanted more information, including a site visit to Merrimack’s Continental Boulevard and further discussion of how state roads are handled in other towns. The retain motion passed unanimously 18-0, and members noted that retained bills do not go on a calendar. The chair then announced the committee’s next full meeting would be on February 24 at 10:30 a.m., with a briefing on the capital budget process and a meeting with the Secretary of the Treasury.

Transcript Highlights:

• So Eric, let me ask you, how is Senate Bill 17 different than what UNM is doing in terms of transfers
• Does UNM provide additional surtax funds, or is it all the transfer funds?
• It's an intergovernmental transfer, so it's just a transfer to the—they don't pay the surcharge because
• We're providing technical assistance on leveraging existing flexibilities such as transfer.
• It prohibits Ed from transferring Title I-A or I-D to another federal agency like HHS.

Transcript Highlights:

• About the transfer in the LFC, and then there was a million dollars in emergency supplementals in the
• With that, Madam Chair, I will open up to any questions you or the committee may have.
• Is the casino being open?
• Does that have an impact on the... ability of a race, you know, to stay open?
• and having to shut down and open, shut down and open.

Transcript Highlights:

• support military families by enhancing flexibility and improving access to existing state and district open
• conducted in 2020 found that 51% of active duty families with a child in special education had trouble transferring
• committee today would further support our military families, especially military family students, with open
• instead of going through the federal court system, which is designed for adults, that case could be transferred
• The court system, which is designed for adults, that case could be transferred to the family court system

Keywords: 995, all

Summary: The Joint Committee on Veterans and Federal Affairs held its first public hearing of the 2025–2026 session, with House Chair Rep. Joe McGonagle outlining the committee’s focus on veterans’ benefits, military families, and related policy priorities. He noted the committee’s recent record of advancing major veterans legislation, described the hearing as hybrid, and explained that testimony would be limited to three minutes. The committee then heard testimony on several bills, including H. 3886/S. 2503, H. 3863/S. 2480, and H. 3859, among others. Melissa Willett of the Department of Defense and Rep. John Stanley testified in support of H. 3886/S. 2503, which would expand support for military families by improving school open enrollment flexibility, special education continuity, concurrent jurisdiction for juvenile matters on military installations, and coordination around military protective orders. Committee members questioned the juvenile jurisdiction and protective-order provisions, with concerns raised about federal versus state authority and due process; witnesses said the jurisdiction change would be case-by-case and that military protective orders are commander-issued decisions that could be used as evidence in civilian proceedings. The Department of Defense said the proposal aligns with priorities from military stakeholders and other New England states. Jim Keene testified in support of H. 3863/S. 2480, seeking a cost-of-living adjustment for veterans’ benefits and extending certain benefits to Guard and Reserve members killed on active duty. Allie DeBateau of the Massachusetts Municipal Association testified on H. 3859, which would streamline veterans benefits administration by having the state pay benefits directly rather than reimbursing municipalities quarterly; she said this would reduce local administrative burden while leaving local veterans service officers’ roles unchanged. Committee members asked about municipal support and the fiscal impact, and the hearing concluded with no votes taken, followed by adjournment.

Transcript Highlights:

• We'll open up questions.
• We're finally opening our opening our lobby so that patient licensees can come in and receive face-to-face
• I will open for questions. Thank you for that.
• records actct open meeting open meetings actct and we'll have as we we're building in another book because
• We've done a few dignified transfers.

Keywords: 914, all

Transcript Highlights:

• But their water jugs—I opened them. They're filthy. They're not iced. It's unbelievable.
• After four state prisons, I got transferred to a private prison with air conditioning.
• This order has now opened the door for every inmate and staff member who suffers from some form of heat
• Texas Appleseed strongly endorses the codification of this transfer of post-secondary responsibility
• Are these credits transferable to main campus institutions? How will the institution collect data?

Bills: HB1826, HB2854, HB3006, HB4614, HB5261, HB5639

Keywords: mental health, women's health, county jail, depression screening, criminal justice, HB 2854, Pokuaa-Flowers Act, parole, mandatory supervision, electronic monitoring, releasee, parole officer, hospital visit approval, general hospital, law enforcement notification, DSHS, Department of State Health Services, corrections, public safety, liability immunity

Transcript Highlights:

• thing called the transfer portal. thing called the transfer portal. transfer<00:20:04.240> portal
• So, we've got to get that timing right as transfer portal windows are about to open.
• :59.520> open.
• You know, we're going are about to open.
• The the fact the door open to everybody.

Keywords: 910, house, all

Summary: The joint House-Senate higher education briefing focused on how the University of Hawaii athletics department plans to remain competitive in the NIL era, especially as the House settlement and related changes allow new forms of athlete compensation. Chair and Senator Kim opened by framing the issue as balancing competitiveness, sustainability, compliance, and UH’s educational mission. Coaches Laura Beeman and Timmy Chang described how NIL and the transfer portal are already affecting recruiting and retention, with Beeman saying women’s basketball has lost six to 10 recruits because UH cannot yet match offers, and Chang citing examples of players being courted with large sums and the need to retain proven local and out-of-state athletes. Both emphasized that student-athletes should still prioritize education, culture, and team values, while also receiving support that helps them stay at UH. Athletic Director Matt Elliott then outlined UH’s broader strategy. He said the department’s vision is to create an outstanding student-athlete experience, recruit and retain elite athletes, compete at the highest level of the Mountain West, and strengthen the bond with the community. He described NIL as having moved from a largely unregulated period to a new phase in which institutions can directly control some NIL payments, while outside deals still must be reviewed for fair market value. Elliott said UH wants to use NIL to help athletes cover basic needs and build financial stability, while also keeping them academically on track. He noted the department is pursuing fundraising, including a “Boost the Bose” account, corporate sponsorships, and licensing deals, to support NIL opportunities. In response to questions from Senator Kim, Elliott clarified that UH’s approach involves both institution-controlled payments and outside NIL deals: internal payments can be structured at the department’s discretion within the cap, while external sponsor deals must go through NIL Go and meet market-value standards. No votes or formal actions were taken during the informational briefing.

Transcript Highlights:

• Historically, New Mexico had a fairly slack labor market, with more unemployed than job openings.
• This will come out of the other transfers.
• In FY 26 through 28, we'll begin sharing the transfers between the trust fund and that.
• We are certainly opening up for questions. If we'd like, we've got representatives.
• How are we losing jobs, and yet we have so many job openings?

Transcript Highlights:

• Once we have completed our invited testimony for the day, we will open up the hearing for public testimony
• It would be just to bump us up to a level three and that would open up the door for. more me being able
• Open positions positions that you are trying to fill. Yes.
• that person to them, again, for transparency and open government purposes.
• The, this has opened up a whole stuff thing for me.

Keywords: 1184, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• <00:08:24.800> that starting with the act 90 transfers that starting with the act 90 transfers
• It's been a real collaborative movement of these TKs. act 90 transfers total 276 act 90 transfers total
• , not the do not transfer transfer list, not the do not transfer list<01:09:25.920> that<01:09
• >> Yes, it is. >> This is open to nonprofits as well. >> Open to you. >> Oh, everyone. >> Everyone.
• transfer to next year? transfer to next year?

Keywords: 910, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• We will also then open it up for any questions you all might have for us.
• And the Commission has opened up the additional 300 megawatts.
• had to beg and borrow space to hold our open meetings.
• In Section 7, it is distributing that general fund as an interagency transfer.
• We are open for questions. Great. Thank you very much, Mr. Secretary.

Transcript Highlights:

• Relationship in which continuing exclusive jurisdiction is transferred.
• Public testimony is now open on House Bill 2340. Chair calls Honorable Claudia Laird.
• We'll open, uh, testimony. No, I don't. Uh, chair called Steve Bresnan.
• The courts are open for business. Uh, we are adjudicating cases.
• comparator, um, but, but they have 20 cases since they opened in October, I guess they opened about the

Transcript Highlights:

• The first provision here is Senate language that permits certain open...
• The first provision here is Senate language that permits certain open... evening so far.
• 00:16:48.800> permits<00:16:49.880> um<00:16:50.880> certain<00:16:51.279> open
• The language that permits certain open meeting laws participants to participate remotely from a
• $200,000 the first year for transfer $200,000 the first year for transfer into<00:38:38.720>

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• <00:25:47.039> a hearing on Senate Bill 158 and open a hearing on Senate Bill 158 and open
• Most of those bingo halls are open 22 hours a day.
• /c><00:48:15.319> 22 games of chance casinos are open 22 games of chance casinos are open 22 hours
• Open the hearing on Senate Bill 160.
• He doesn't know if you can transfer a tax credit. Dr. K.

Keywords: 1191, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Next, House Bill 228, Senate Bill 106, an act transferring foster care review responsibilities to the
• But one of the things would be to open that up to the care and protection cases as well.
• Having a CRA open is factored in when you are put into DCF custody.
• But that home remained open for nearly 10 years before it was finally shut down.
• I anticipated it was regarding a different child, but when I opened it, it was late.

Keywords: 995, all

Summary: The Joint Committee on Children, Families, and Persons with Disabilities held a hybrid hearing on a series of child welfare bills focused on DCF, foster care, mandated reporting, educational records, and family support. Chair Kennedy and Chair Livingstone opened with accessibility and testimony rules, then heard testimony on bills including S.127 on expanding mandated reporters, S.107/H.235 on a Foster Children’s Bill of Rights, S.106/H.228 on transferring foster care review from DCF to the Office of the Child Advocate, H.258/S.125 on an electronic backpack for foster children’s educational records, H.205 on kinship foster care background checks, H.246/H.266 on minimizing trauma in care and protection cases, and S.159 on support for families after sudden unexpected infant death. Supporters of the mandated reporter bill, led by Sen. Feeney and Foxborough advocates, described a local model that trains all adults who work with children and argued the state should scale that approach statewide to improve recognition and reporting of abuse. Testimony on the foster care bills emphasized the need for clearer rights, better notice to children and attorneys, stronger remedies, and independent oversight. Advocates, youth with lived experience, and legal organizations described placement instability, delayed notifications, abuse in care, poor educational continuity, and the need for rights around safety, family contact, culture, language, and access to records. Several witnesses urged that the Foster Children’s Bill of Rights include enforceable court remedies, not just reporting requirements. On the oversight bill, supporters argued DCF should not review its own foster care system and pointed to poor outcomes, high placement instability, and recent investigative reporting as evidence for moving review responsibilities to the Office of the Child Advocate. On the electronic backpack bill, testimony focused on the need for real-time data sharing and a centralized system so schools can receive foster students’ records quickly and support continuity. On the trauma-minimization bill, Rep. Miskin framed the proposal as a set of practical changes to reduce harm during removals and court involvement. On the SUID bill, Sen. Lovely said families should be given information about available grief and support resources after an infant death. No votes were taken during the hearing; the committee primarily received testimony and questions.

Transcript Highlights:

• They just have to make that transfer over to it being a capital project.
• In Section 9, we're providing for a transfer.
• No, this is an open discussion.
• No, this is an open discussion. And for now, hurting President Willis. Okay.
• It's all open. That week is open. Would August 18th work for people?

Summary: The Higher Education Funding Review Committee met to continue work on a draft higher education funding formula and related capital building fund changes. Lisa Johnson of the North Dakota University System updated the committee on the board’s developing policy for low-producing academic programs. She said the board is using a five-year rolling window, with thresholds of fewer than 10 undergraduate graduates or fewer than 5 graduate graduates, and that programs flagged in three consecutive review cycles would go to the board for review. Possible outcomes include continuation, continuation with modifications, inactivation, or termination. Members asked about how the policy would account for enrollment, program costs, workforce need, and programs that serve students outside their major. Johnson said the board would likely use an accompanying procedure to consider those factors. She also reported that about 200 programs could potentially be reviewed under current guidance, with 135 inactivated and 112 terminated, and said the process is intended to support quality and stewardship rather than simply cut programs. Jamie Wilkie then reported on the Capital Building Fund. He reviewed the fund’s history, matching requirements, and use for extraordinary repairs, deferred maintenance, and some legislatively authorized projects. He said about $334 million in state and matching dollars has been invested overall, with roughly 78.7% going to deferred maintenance and extraordinary repairs. Committee members pressed for updated information on how much deferred maintenance has actually been reduced, and several members said they wanted clearer reporting on the return on investment from new buildings versus repairs. NDSU representatives said the tier funding has helped significantly reduce deferred maintenance and allowed demolition and renovation work on campus. The committee also discussed the need for updated five-year facility plans and space-utilization information from the institutions. The committee then began a section-by-section review of a draft bill that would replace the current higher education funding formula with an FTE-based model and restructure the capital building fund. The draft would fund UND and NDSU differently from the other nine institutions, use fall enrollment rather than completed credits, add performance funding for completions in in-demand fields, create research incentives for UND and NDSU, and combine capital building fund tiers while changing matching requirements and eligible uses. Members raised concerns about the treatment of professional students, the use of CIP codes, incentives for waivers, and whether the formula should rely on more current data. The committee did not take final action on the draft during this meeting, but it continued detailed discussion and indicated more review would follow.

Transcript Highlights:

• This protects the personal information of professional license holders from open record requests unless
• It transfers to an exchange, which transfers to another exchange.
• a box here, but it's going to be opened anyway.
• for business; we're open for Bitcoin.
• As you know, I'm always open to amendments. I'll see.

Bills: HB565, HB3743, HB4310, HB5083, HB5129, HB5195, HB5331, HB5469, SB21, HB3185, SB 21

Keywords: constitutional amendment, fiscal impact, state budget, ballot measure, transparency in voting, management-to-staff ratio, state agencies, employee regulations, government efficiency, workforce management, public information, governing board, transparency, confidentiality, access rights, privacy, identifying information, state agency, consent, occupational license

Transcript Highlights:

• Part of that is the fact that we are an open access, open door institution.
• And then, of course, our university transfer programs.
• We're leaders in open educational resources and low-cost textbooks and free textbooks.
• So that top line there representing that university transfer.
• Transfer students are up about 7%, our workforce up about another 6%.

Summary: The committee held a work session on the state of Washington’s community and technical college system with State Board executive director Nate Humphrey and Tacoma Community College president Ivan Harrell. They described the system’s open-access mission, 34 colleges serving more than 307,000 students, relatively low tuition, enrollment growth over 12 consecutive quarters, and strong outcomes such as more than 46,000 credentials awarded last year. They also highlighted system initiatives including guided pathways, I-BEST, dual enrollment, tribal partnerships, a new program search tool, and six colleges named Aspen Prize finalists. At the same time, they emphasized major challenges: high rates of student food, housing, and homelessness insecurity; sharply rising emergency aid requests; and federal funding disruptions affecting TANF, BFET, adult basic education, Carl Perkins, NOAA-related tribal work, and several federal grants. Members asked about SNAP impacts, declining high school graduates, and how BFET and TANF interact with other aid programs. The presenters also discussed system priorities such as AI, Workforce Pell, capital planning, nursing accreditation alignment, and the Washington College Grant. The committee then heard testimony from AFT Washington and the Washington Association of Higher Education on faculty and staff conditions in the community and technical college system. Jackie Kane and Suzanne Sutherland argued that classified staff, professional staff, and contingent faculty are essential to student success but face low pay, instability, and weak retention, and they urged lawmakers to protect existing funding and avoid further cuts. They said working conditions for faculty and staff are student learning conditions, and that underfunding leads to reduced services, shortened advising, and program instability. Marina Parr of the Workforce Board presented on federal H.R. 1’s new Workforce Pell provisions and the updated Career Bridge website. She explained that Workforce Pell would allow federal aid for short-term training programs of 8 to 15 weeks, with high completion, employment, and earnings thresholds and a requirement that credentials be stackable and portable. She said Washington is well positioned to implement the program because of its existing eligible training provider evaluation system and Career Bridge, which now has a redesigned public portal, digital portfolios, multilingual access, and performance data on programs. Members asked about rulemaking, possible gaps in state services, and how the wage and completion standards would be applied. The Washington Student Achievement Council then briefed the committee on the new Washington Completes FAFSA campaign created by executive order. Staff described an advisory board with statewide representation, a pilot that used microgrants and other supports at 25 priority schools, and a new goal of 46,000 FAFSA or WASFA completions this year. They reported that completion rates were tracking slightly ahead of last year, with 24% of high school seniors having completed a FAFSA by the end of November, and they showcased a public dashboard with subgroup data and a WIAA-based leaderboard. Members asked about outreach to rural and homeschool students, legislative communications, Pierce County representation, and barriers to FAFSA completion, and staff said they would provide toolkits and continue expanding outreach. The committee then began hearing from student presenters about affordability, access, equity, and student experience.

Transcript Highlights:

• <00:15:04.959> to<00:15:05.279> teachers, opened up the committee to teachers, opened
• And with that, I will<00:15:59.759> open<00:15:59.920> it<00:16:00.079> up<00:16
• will open it up to questions. will open it up to questions.
• They're just going to be transferring to different departments as the proposal to end the Department
• They're just going to be transferring to different departments as the proposal to end the Department

Keywords: 1187, senate, all