Transcript Highlights:

• The second item on there is for short line rail development.
• And our workforce is having to choose the alternatives or stepping out of the workforce altogether.
• The workforce of today depends on it and the workforce of tomorrow is waiting.
• TWC knows the We were part of a plan that was developed to help stabilize the child care workforce and
• Now, with the governor and the legislature setting out to increase career. training and workforce development

Bills: SB1, SB 1

Keywords: appropriations, budget, state funding, education, healthcare, infrastructure, campground safety, youth camp regulations, flood safety, emergency evacuation, health and safety standards, 1185, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• This program is similar to the existing Workforce and Affordable Home Ownership Development Program,
• This program is similar to the existing Workforce and Affordable Home Ownership Development Program.
• Investing in Black Workforce Development, that's another opportunity, and it's a return on the investment
• Investing in Black Workforce Development, that's another opportunity, and it's a return on the investment
• Investing in Black Workforce Development, that's another opportunity, and it's a return on the investment

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• House File 110 ... ...driving for workforce and economic development program that leads to stable employment
• Beyond workforce development, HAP is a CDFI, a community development financial institution that fuels
• <00:04:59.120> programs 3,000 motans in Workforce programs 3,000 motans in Workforce programs
• $202 per hour Beyond Workforce $202 per hour Beyond Workforce Development<00:05:21.960> hap
• hap is a cdfi a community Development hap is a cdfi a community development<00:05:24.680> financial

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• development and student success.
• One, our workforce development in conjunction with the local economy and industry, major players within
• So first and foremost, a big goal is continued enhancement of workforce development.
• And with that comes additional demands from our workforce perspective.
• And our local workforce with AdventHealth.

Summary: The committee first heard CS/SB 270, which would extend Bright Futures eligibility by 12 months for certain students whose parent was serving overseas in public service and then retired, giving military and diplomatic families more time to return to Florida without losing scholarship eligibility. Senator Burgess also explained a late-filed amendment to set the bill’s effective implementation for the 2025-26 school year, and the committee adopted the amendment without objection. The bill received supportive testimony, including from Senator Smith, and was reported favorably by a roll call vote. The remainder of the meeting focused on confirmation hearings for appointees to state college boards of trustees, with the chair emphasizing a new process of hearing from each nominee individually rather than taking a blanket vote. Nominees from Tallahassee State College, St. Johns River State College, South Florida State College, Broward College, State College of Florida Manatee-Sarasota, Palm Beach State College, Pasco-Hernando State College, and Valencia College described their backgrounds and priorities, which largely centered on workforce development, nursing and health sciences, dual enrollment, fiscal responsibility, student retention, and partnerships with local employers and communities. Several nominees highlighted their own educational or professional ties to the colleges, and some noted the importance of serving rural or military-connected communities. One nominee, John Aloko for Pasco-Hernando State College, was not present because he was attending a conference in Hawaii and was deferred to a later hearing. After hearing all other nominees, the committee voted to recommend confirmation of the remaining appointees in a block vote, covering Tabs 2 through 22 except Tab 8, and the motion passed. Two members later asked to be recorded as voting in the affirmative on earlier items.

Transcript Highlights:

• Workforce, and so in the establishment of the Department of Workforce, in the legislation you had two
• The Workforce Board, of course, is requiring Senate confirmation, and that Workforce Board consists of
• plan that is being developed.
• Legislation that developed and created the Department of Workforce established this Workforce Board,
• and their plan is going to be Alabama's focus moving forward for Workforce Development.

Keywords: 923, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• White, William White, who is our career and workforce development director, along with Claude Mentot,
• We've developed a really robust internship program.
• So what does our current landscape look like for workforce right now?
• And we already know we have an aging workforce.
• Economic development and recruitment has been very successful in Mobile.

Keywords: 924, joint, all

Transcript Highlights:

• It might look like temporary employment through our workforce development program.
• ,<00:32:51.919> including and aid in their development, including and aid in their development
• Released last week called A Workforce Solution That Works: How Child Care Can Close Kentucky's Workforce
• it's a very very thorough plan developed it's a very very thorough plan developed by<01:09:16.319
• And so what we're childare workforce.

Keywords: 958, all

Summary: The committee first approved the minutes from its July 30, 2025 meeting. Members then heard a presentation from Roger McCann of the Department for Community Based Services on Kentucky’s 2026-2027 Community Services Block Grant state plan. He explained that the federally funded grant, now about $12 million annually, is distributed through 23 local community action agencies that use flexible funds for locally identified needs such as housing, nutrition, transportation, Head Start, and domestic violence services. McCann said the plan is submitted every two years and that the agencies served about 264,000 Kentuckians and 130,000 families in 2024. Senator Meredith asked whether there was a central place to review local projects, and McCann said regular reports exist and could be shared with members. The committee then approved the CSBG state plan by roll call vote. After that, members received an update on Kentucky’s state-designated domestic violence shelter programs from Angela Yanelli of ZeroV, Mary Foley of Maryman House Domestic Crisis Center, and Elizabeth Martin of the Center for Women and Families. The presenters described ZeroV’s role as the statewide domestic violence coalition, its 15 member programs across all area development districts, and its contract with the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to provide emergency shelter, supportive services, housing assistance, and batterers intervention programming. They emphasized that services are available 24/7 and are trauma-informed, with a strong focus on children and family support. The domestic violence providers reported high demand and rising costs. ZeroV said its network served more than 14,000 adults and children in fiscal year 2025, including nearly 900 children in shelter and more than 500 in outreach, while Maryman House reported operating at 90-92% capacity, with 53 households waiting for emergency shelter and 63 more waiting for intake. Maryman House also described an 8-unit transitional housing complex and plans for a 48-unit apartment complex if tax credit funding is approved. The Center for Women and Families highlighted school-readiness support for children, tutoring, counseling, and family services, including back-to-school supplies and rights information for homeless students. No additional votes or formal actions were taken during the domestic violence presentations.

Transcript Highlights:

• , management, and economic development, management, and economic development, ensuring<00:09:31.279
• ,<00:10:39.519> civic foundational to Kucky's workforce, civic foundational to Kucky's workforce
• <00:24:15.600> stakeholders to benefit all workforce stakeholders to benefit all workforce
• nationally in workforce participation. nationally in workforce participation.
• participation and workforce engagement. participation and workforce engagement.

Keywords: 958, all

Summary: The House Budget Review Subcommittee on Postsecondary Education met without a quorum, so no minutes were approved. The committee then heard a presentation from Western Kentucky University President Timothy Kabone, who highlighted WKU’s recent gains in graduation rate, retention, degree production, graduate enrollment, research activity, and financial stability. He said WKU’s FY 2026 budget is structurally balanced without one-time reserves, and he tied the university’s growth to its strategic plan and to Senate Bill 77, which created a pathway for WKU’s first PhD program. WKU’s initial PhD offering is planned in data sciences for fall 2027, and Kabone said the university continues to pursue R2 research status. Kabone also outlined WKU’s budget requests, including a 4.5% base appropriation increase for each year of the biennium, a $30 million increase in the performance funding pool, a $30 million trust fund for tuition waiver reimbursement, and $2 million per year for the Gatton Academy. He also requested continued funding for the Kentucky Mesonet, 8.9% of proposed asset preservation funding, and support for a $280 million new Potter College facility. He emphasized inflationary pressures, rising fixed costs, and the burden of mandated tuition waivers, and said the university supports performance funding but wants the model adjusted to better reward student success rather than enrollment growth. Members asked about WKU’s student housing situation and the transition away from the former student life foundation model. Kabone said the foundation structure had run its course, that the university had lacked adequate oversight under the old arrangement, and that WKU is moving to a public-private partnership with Gilbane and the College Housing Foundation. He said the new model would not increase the university’s debt load and would replace older residence halls with a roughly 1,000-bed complex, eliminate community-style bathrooms over time, and expand living-learning communities. Representatives McCool and Tipton praised WKU’s graduation and retention results and asked questions about the housing project and its timeline. The committee then heard from CareerVXR and KCTCS about a proposed career exploration pilot. Company representatives said the platform uses web-based and virtual reality experiences to show students real jobs and workplaces, with the goal of addressing an “awareness gap” in workforce participation. They proposed a $1.8 million, two-year pilot to reach 50,000 to 60,000 students in three regions, including Hazard Community and Technical College, Southeast Community and Technical College, and western Kentucky. Members asked about cost, funding source, and locations, and were told the request would come through the KCTCS budget. The meeting ended with notice that the next meeting was scheduled for Thursday, February 26.

Transcript Highlights:

• Our third big effort is workforce development, training the current and future transportation workforce
• I was also chair for 12 years of the Governor's Workforce Development Council, and one of our recommendations
• We just view this as growing the workforce, and we need a bigger workforce.
• Yeah, I'm familiar as chair of the Governor's Workforce Development Council, of getting actually being
• So you have a lot of programs that are developed, and I'm wondering what standards those are developed

Keywords: 908, all

Summary: The committee first reviewed the 2024-25 tuition waiver report for the North Dakota University System. Staff explained that waivers were reported for degree-seeking students and broken out by residency, institution, and waiver type. Members asked about partial versus full waivers, institutional discretion, athletic waivers, and whether campuses have published guardrails or transparency requirements. Staff said most waivers are set by institutions, with some statutory and board-required categories, and that athletic waivers are a small share of total waiver dollars. The report showed total gross tuition of $354.5 million, tuition waived of $38.9 million, and 11,193 of 42,040 students receiving some waiver. Members also discussed how waivers affect net tuition revenue, housing and food collections, and whether campuses are using waivers strategically compared with scholarships and other funding sources. The committee then heard a presentation on tuition rates by campus and State Board policy. Staff explained the board’s tuition factors for resident, Minnesota reciprocity, contiguous-state/U.S. nonresident, and international students, and noted that campuses often seek exceptions based on program-specific competition and enrollment goals. Members asked whether rates are based on cost or competition, and staff said campuses typically bring forward estimates and market comparisons when requesting special rates. The presentation also reviewed general fund appropriations versus net tuition revenue by campus, and members discussed how local tuition decisions and waivers do not directly affect the state funding formula, though they do affect institutional revenue and reserves. Questions were also raised about the Higher Learning Commission’s financial composite indicator and how it differs from the more intuitive reserve and revenue figures. The committee next received a broad overview of non-higher-education entities affiliated with the State Board of Higher Education, beginning with NDSU agriculture-related units. Dr. Greg Lardy described the State Board of Agricultural Research and Education, the NDSU Extension Service, the Agricultural Experiment Station, and the branch research centers, emphasizing their statewide role in crop and livestock research, extension education, and county-based outreach. He outlined funding mixes for extension, the experiment station, and branch stations, noting that grants and contracts support both research and education, while the agronomy seed farm is self-funded through seed sales. Members asked about the new and vacant FTE pool, R1 research status, matching requirements for grants, and whether state appropriations count toward research expenditures. Dr. Lardy also highlighted major research impacts, including crop varieties, virtual fencing, AI-assisted weed control, and NDAWN weather data. The Northern Crops Institute and the Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute also presented. NCI described its role in market development, technical services, and education for regional agriculture, its governance through the Northern Crops Council, and its funding from state appropriations, other states, and earned revenue. Members asked about the source of out-of-state funding, intellectual property, and the institute’s international reach. UGPTI then outlined its transportation research, federal and state funding structure, and work on road and bridge condition assessments, travel demand modeling, and workforce training. No votes were taken during the portion of the meeting reflected in the transcript.

Transcript Highlights:

• At the same time, we're doing everything we can to help develop the workforce of the future.
• development agency.
• We have the best educated, best trained workforce in the nation.
• So many of the ESEs are long-term programs and the headcount, unlike A traditional workforce development
• And so for us, it's about that care that wraps around the housing and the workforce development piece

Keywords: 988, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• and economic development.
• and Economic Development, HB 2484.
• and economic development.
• HB 2545 by Gerdes, relating to the establishment of rural workforce training grant program for...
• Subcommittee on Workforce.

Keywords: 1184, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• So with that, we want to welcome you to the Assembly Committee on Economic Development, Growth, and Household
• Economic Development Corporation.
• At CSUSM, workforce development is embedded into our mission of social justice. mobility.
• It represents 10 percent of the private workforce. workforce here, private sector workforce in San Diego
• We are a financial development corporation.

Keywords: 988, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• our resources in areas of need for our workforce to address our current workforce challenges, different
• are struggling to get their workforce are struggling to get their workforce needs<00:51:18.720><
• So what we did, and this actually answers your question about workforce development, which will be a
• So what we did, and this actually answers your question about workforce development, which will be a
• Including creating a position of associate vice president for workforce development to bring all of the

Keywords: 910, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• <00:10:14.959> to it's a serious problem as we develop to it's a serious problem as we develop
• Minnesota coming in for workforce Minnesota coming in for workforce housing<00:38:35.440> projects
• And when we look at workforce housing, all the like the greater Minnesota workforce housing, there's
• And when we look at workforce housing, all the like the Greater Minnesota workforce housing, there's
• And when we look at workforce country.

Keywords: 919, house, all

Summary: The House took up House File 1141, the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency supplemental budget bill. Representative Howard described it as a bipartisan housing package aimed at addressing Minnesota’s housing shortage by funding housing infrastructure bonds, Greater Minnesota workforce housing, homeowner education, a senior housing pilot, and family homelessness assistance and prevention. He said the bill is budget-neutral, using unspent interest earnings and other redirected funds, and includes transparency and accountability reforms for MHFA. Several members spoke in support, emphasizing housing supply, affordability, and the need for more homes across the state. The main floor debate centered on the Norris A6 amendment and the Igo A1 amendment to it. Norris proposed changing rent-increase limits in low-income housing tax credit properties from area median income to the lower of area median income or the consumer price index, arguing that seniors on fixed incomes were being priced out as rents rose faster than Social Security COLAs. Igo’s A1 amendment instead would have preempted cities, counties, and townships from adopting or renewing rent control ordinances statewide, with supporters arguing rent control harms development and affordability. Opponents said the proposal had not been fully vetted in committee and that public subsidies justify rent limits. Both the A1 amendment to the amendment and the underlying A6 amendment failed on tied 67-67 votes. After the amendments were defeated, the bill received its third reading and further discussion. Howard and other supporters reiterated that the bill would help produce an estimated 2,000 to 2,200 housing units, with HIB-funded projects historically spread across the metro and Greater Minnesota. Members also highlighted the bill’s support for first-time homebuyers, manufactured housing, senior housing, and homelessness prevention. No final passage vote is shown in the transcript excerpt.

Transcript Highlights:

• development and student success.
• The workforce development in conjunction with the local economy industry, major players within the economy
• development.
• development programs and strengthen partnerships with local businesses industries.
• Yields ensuring her graduates are ready to meet the demands of today's workforce.

Keywords: 999, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• c> uh<00:15:40.160> we Workforce Development tax credit uh we Workforce Development tax credit
• <00:39:41.240> Development dedicated to that Workforce Development dedicated to that Workforce
• > by Workforce Development uh dispersed by Workforce Development uh dispersed by the<00:43:24.480
• <01:19:56.320> Development little bit about Workforce Development little bit about Workforce
• c> our<01:32:18.920> Workforce<01:32:19.360> Development Development our Workforce

Keywords: 912, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• uh possibilities for workforce uh possibilities for workforce development<00:44:24.160> and
• For the record, I'm Christine Dudley, the director of workforce development for the community college
• referenced this in the workforce referenced this in the workforce development<00:47:28.560> space
• Mountains Community College in workforce Mountains Community College in workforce development<00
• > fit workforce development and how we fit workforce development and how we fit into<00:51:00.800

Keywords: 1191, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Over 97.8% of the Texas workforce is non-union, which means on...
• One, you talk about the overall workforce, but we're not talking about the overall workforce here.
• The Texas workforce is what you said.
• Only 20% of our workforce is going to be able to work on it.
• PLAs are more than just a contractual tool; they're a strategic workforce development mechanism.

Bills: HB1951, HB2715, HB3092, HB3237, HB3278, HB3511, HB3592, HB3675, HB3778, HB3782, HB3826, HB3970, HB4016, HB4049, HB4341, HB4344, HB4406, HB4427

Keywords: collective bargaining, public works, government contracts, labor agreements, state funding, removal from office, political subdivisions, local government, judicial proceedings, administrative judicial region, electric transmission, public convenience, landowner consent, utility regulation, energy infrastructure, energy consumption, higher education, governmental entities, sustainability, electricity reduction

Transcript Highlights:

• So I want you to think about, again, the alignment between workforce, economic development, and NDSU.
• I want you to think about, again, the alignment between workforce, economic development, and NDSU.
• Partnerships develop these pathways.
• You know, some things beyond agriculture we do in workforce, economic development, and other things we
• development perspective.

Summary: The Higher Education Institutions Committee met at NDSU and heard an extensive presentation from President David Cook/President Stewart and NDSU leadership on the university’s priorities, including enrollment, student success, research growth, and use of New Horizons funding. Leaders emphasized NDSU’s land-grant mission, its role in workforce development, and its goal of becoming more distinctive through strategic planning, recruitment and retention, commercialization, and partnerships. They highlighted that NDSU awarded 2,370 degrees in 2025, produces a large share of the state’s engineering, nursing, and agriculture graduates, and reported strong outcomes for graduates staying and working in North Dakota. They also noted enrollment headwinds, competition from other institutions, and the need to manage tuition waivers more carefully through a scholarship optimization effort. Provost Sherry Vale outlined academic stewardship efforts, including review or consolidation of low-producing programs, strategic hiring tied to institutional priorities, faculty workload policy changes, and expanded online and regional offerings. She said the university is using New Horizons dollars to strengthen advising, student support, and programs in engineering, agriculture, and health. NDSU leaders also described new or expanded academic offerings such as robotics and automation, artificial intelligence, material science and engineering, nuclear engineering certificates, accelerated nursing, nurse practitioner certificates, a Master of Health Administration, and a clinical research master’s program with Sanford Health. They stressed that these investments are intended to improve student completion, meet workforce needs, and increase return on public investment. The committee also heard testimony from students and recent graduates who described the value of NDSU’s education, mentorship, internships, research opportunities, and support services. Alyssa Hodges spoke about pharmacy education, public health work, and campus support as a parent and student; Ethan Blessy described engineering coursework, internships with Marvin, and career preparation; and Aiden Freolic discussed neuroscience research, federally funded projects, and plans for graduate study. Their testimony was followed by presentations on partnerships with Gateway to Science for K-12 STEM outreach and with Sanford Research on biomedical research, clinical trials, obesity research, and a joint biostatistics hire. NDSU also highlighted systemwide shared services, Governor’s School programming, and research growth, including a reported 8% increase in research expenditures from $199 million to $215 million. No bill votes were taken; the meeting was informational and featured presentations, testimony, and discussion of future planning and partnerships.

Transcript Highlights:

• Workforce development: we've spent a lot of time in workforce development to understand both what our
• year on the healthcare workforce development program.
• a Workforce Development this is a Workforce Development this is a continuation<00:15:16.040> um
• > were Workforce Development program there were Workforce Development program there were two<00
• > jobs Workforce Development but generate jobs Workforce Development but generate jobs so<00:42

Keywords: 912, senate, all