Transcript Highlights:

• to overstate that, but we are, along with just about everybody in the United States, right now monitoring
• Your question, Representative, yes, we are absolutely monitoring it regularly.
• that and um and it really now monitoring that and um and it really bourbon<00:25:15.279> as<00
• <00:26:10.480> it<00:26:10.720> Rel<00:26:11.240> regularly absolutely monitoring
• it Rel regularly absolutely monitoring it Rel regularly we're<00:26:12.399> uh<00:26:12.520><

Keywords: Reuploaded to restore full meeting 00:13 Call to Order and Roll Call 01:14 Approval of Minutes 01:40 Tourism, Arts, and Heritage Cabinet 27:44 Department of Parks 59:23 Adjournment, 958, all

Summary: The committee met for its second Budget Review on Economic Development, Public Protection, Tourism, and Energy and first approved the minutes from the prior meeting. Members then heard a presentation from the Tourism, Arts, and Heritage Cabinet and the Kentucky Department of Tourism on the 1% tourism marketing fund. Witnesses explained that the fund supports statewide tourism promotion, advertising, research, regional marketing, and matching grants to local tourism commissions, and that it cannot be used for capital construction. They reported that the General Assembly and governor increased appropriations in the 2024 session, adding $3 million in FY25 and $7 million in FY26, and set aside funding for the Kentucky Mountain Regional Recreation Authority, the National Quilt Museum, and the Southern Kentucky Tourism Initiative. Tourism officials emphasized that Kentucky tourism is a major economic driver, citing 2023 figures of $13.8 billion in economic impact, 79.3 million visitors, $9.7 billion in direct spending, more than 95,000 jobs supported, and nearly $1 billion in state and local tax revenue. They said the department now uses targeted digital and over-the-top advertising in selected domestic and international markets, with 62% of media placements digital and 80% of the budget spent out of state. Members asked about market selection, how the department measures return on investment, and what attracts visitors from places such as Dallas, Orlando, Toronto, and Washington, D.C.; officials said research shows a mix of family visits, outdoor recreation, and varied Kentucky offerings, and that 81% of overnight visitors are repeat visitors. They also discussed the potential impact of tariffs and trade tensions on bourbon-related tourism and international visitation, especially from Canada, and officials said they were monitoring the situation with U.S. Travel Association and Brand USA. The committee then heard from Kentucky State Parks officials on capital projects funded through HJR 76, HJR 56, and House Bill 6. They said they are providing quarterly project reports and have been meeting regularly with the Finance Cabinet’s engineering and contract staff. The presentation focused on campground utilities, broadband, and structural upgrades, including $40 million for campground improvements across the park system, with completed bathhouse renovations at Barren River and Nolin Lake and additional projects underway or in planning. Officials said the work is based on camper survey feedback, such as requests for better Wi-Fi, sewer and electric upgrades, frost-free spigots, and improved site layouts, and noted that the My Old Kentucky Home campground project is under construction and expected to be completed by spring 2026.

Transcript Highlights:

• Remote assistance agents do not continuously monitor a vehicle.
• You don't continuously monitor a set of vehicles with some expectation that they're going to jump in.
• They don't continuously monitor a set of vehicles with some expectation that they're going to jump in
• So we also monitor their driver's licenses like you would with a United States-based license.
• But I think there are requirements for monitoring their driver records and things that, you know, may

Keywords: 988, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• more in the field, not only wearing them in the jail itself, but in the field doing electronic monitoring
• itself, but in the field uh doing jail itself, but in the field uh doing electronic<00:29:33.600> monitoring
• ,<00:29:34.640> supervising electronic monitoring, supervising electronic monitoring, supervising
• 00:55:53.840> now<00:55:54.160> and<00:55:54.359> they're<00:55:54.600> monitoring
• <00:55:55.280> this times now and they're monitoring this times now and they're monitoring

Keywords: 1191, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• That platform allows us to gather information, but we don't have enough staffing or personnel to monitor
• Inside the Real-Time Crime Center, they are monitoring cameras, some of the assistance plate readers,
• you may have a person from the City of Albuquerque that is doing some dispatch work and trying to monitor
• We've just got guardsmen that are monitoring the cameras all of the time.
• They had guns, and they were We were able to notify APD because we're monitoring the cameras.

Transcript Highlights:

• access to EWA that includes other things that other services charge money for, things like identity monitoring
• one of our members charges $9 a month for a suite of services that includes both EWA and identity monitoring
• Including free credit monitoring, free, uh, account monitoring.
• We offer free credit monitoring. We offer free, free, um, account monitoring. So if you.
• Provide some guardrails and and monitor and be able to say we do have something that's happening and

Transcript Highlights:

• And unfortunately, I was not able to monitor those, but all those receipts, those payments, were received
• And so we've implemented some internal control to make sure that we're monitoring and making sure those
• And unfortunately, I was not able to monitor those, but all those receipts, those payments were received
• And so we've implemented some internal control to make sure that we're monitoring and making sure those
• It was my monitor. Oh, okay. That's fine. All right, go ahead. I'm sorry.

Keywords: 1204, all

Transcript Highlights:

• legislation, I think, AB 2006, Assembly Member, your legislation, I think, AB 2006, also furthers how we monitor
• department that makes a single inspection of all state-funded affordable housing for compliance monitoring
• AB 2006 does is it ensures that we are working together to streamline the compliance review and monitoring
• take us a step farther in ensuring that, again, the infrastructure is there so that compliance monitoring
• helpful for the amount of housing in the pipeline that we unlock, given our due to the accountability monitoring

Summary: The joint hearing focused on the Governor’s 2025 reorganization plan to split the Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency into two new agencies: a Business and Consumer Services Agency and a California Housing and Homelessness Agency. Administration officials said the change would give each side more focused leadership, improve consumer protection and regulatory oversight, and better align housing and homelessness policy with the state’s broader housing goals. Leaders from the Department of Consumer Affairs, Cannabis Control, Alcoholic Beverage Control, and Financial Protection and Innovation all voiced support for the business-side reorganization, while housing officials emphasized that the new housing agency would help streamline funding, compliance, and coordination across programs. Members raised concerns about timing, budget impacts, office space, and whether the split would actually reduce bureaucracy. The administration said the plan would be included in the May Revision, was intended to be cost-neutral, and would not require fee increases for licensees or additional office space. On the housing side, officials said the new Housing Development and Finance Committee would work toward a single application and more coordinated award process for affordable housing funding, while preserving CalHFA’s statutory and financial independence. They also said the reorganization would improve compliance monitoring, data collection, and coordination with local governments, including Los Angeles homelessness programs. Public testimony was largely supportive. Industry groups representing beverage distributors, craft brewers, wine, mortgage lenders, and housing organizations backed the business-side split, and housing advocates such as Housing California, the California Housing Partnership, and the California Housing Consortium supported the housing agency concept and the proposed one-stop-shop approach. Several witnesses urged that tax credits, bonds, and other funding sources be better coordinated, and some said the plan should be paired with additional state investment and implementation resources. No formal vote was taken; the hearing was informational.

Transcript Highlights:

• House Resolution 380 by Representative Freeman to create the real-time fence line air monitoring alerts
• House Resolution 380 by Representative Freeman to create the real-time fence line air monitoring alerts
• House Resolution 380 by Representative Freeman to create the real-time fence line air monitoring alerts
• Catahoula Parish Sheriff's Office to establish a pilot program for home incarceration and electronic monitoring
• House to reject the amendments so that we can put it in conference to work on some language for the monitoring

Bills: HR310, HR314, HR316, HR317, HR321, HR275, HR276, HR279, HR282, HR286, HR289, HR292, HR295, HR302, HR319, HCR112, HR307, SCR59, SCR61, SCR62, SCR68, SCR69, SCR70, SCR54, SCR55, SCR64, SCR75, HCR3, HCR49, HCR66, HCR67, HB1, HB2, HB42, HB45, HB66, HB71, HB79, HB126, HB133, HB145, HB159, HB167, HB213, HB218, HB222, HB289, HB291, HB312, HB313, HB316, HB324, HB352, HB383, HB398, HB403, HB429, HB457, HB459, HB511, HB549, HB571, HB579, HB591, HB608, HB616, HB624, HB766, HB769, HB783, HB799, HB804, HB864, HB874, HB909, HB951, HB971, HB983, HB1005, HB1017, HB1051, HB1056, HB1095, HB1126, HB1129, HB1186, HB1193, HB1223, HB1224, HB1230, HB1235, HB1249, HB723, HB36, HB140, HB181, HB198, HB205, HB211, HB226, HB259, HB271, HB302, HB335, HB342, HB487, HB513, HB623, HB682, HB730, HB740, HB761, HB775, HB797, HB812, HB816, HB940, HB968, HB979, HB1028, HB1029, HB1038, HB1049, HB1084, HB1161, HB1194, HB1199, HB1201, HB1203, HB1247, HB1256, SB25, SB132, SB155, SB157, SB202, SB228, SB237, SB250, SB405, SB406, SB414, SB433, SB480, SB513, SB149, HB359, SB29, SB43, SB78, HB210, HB258, HB468, HB784, HB134, HB1117, SB42, SB274, SB382, SB449, SB300, HR74, HB463, HB715, HB998, SB80, SB268, SB444, SB479, HB901, HR20, HCR65, HCR71, HCR98, HB284, HB306, HB341, HB366, HB393, HB458, HB577, HB603, HB605, HB614, HB625, HB646, HB733, HB752, HB773, HB798, HB911, HB955, HB996, HB1035, HB1069, HB1113, HB1140, HB1180, HB1191, HB1240, HB1255, SB82, SB89, SB97, SB123, HB74, HB119, HB368, HB414, HB552, HB732, HB776, HB848, HB870, HB953, HB956, HB1236, SB208, SB217, SB283, SB387, SB389, SB401, SB408, SB469

Keywords: oil and gas, orphan wells, inactive wells, shut-in wells, marginal wells, plugging and abandonment, well decommissioning, site remediation, site restoration, Oilfield Site Restoration, OSR program, financial security, bonding, taxpayer liability, public liability, offshore wells, onshore wells, coastal erosion, Department of Conservation and Energy, natural resources

Summary: The House met with a quorum, opened with prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance, and then received Senate messages, committee enrollment reports, and a series of House resolutions. Members adopted or advanced numerous resolutions recognizing individuals and institutions, expressing condolences, and creating or continuing study task forces on topics including homeownership assistance, speech-language pathology assistant licensure, clean water, Medicaid reporting, voter accessibility, air monitoring, fire chief operations, maternal health, and other issues. Several Senate resolutions were also concurred in, and personal privileges were used to recognize the family of Susan Ann Taylor Bidding and to commend Anita Whitaker LaFontaine and her father, Green Whitaker, Sr. The House then moved through Senate bills on final passage. Bills approved included measures on registrar of voters compensation, dental coverage related to cancer treatment, paid parental leave planning for educators, election supervisor compensation days, weight management services, nursing facility quality oversight, a Slidell hotel occupancy tax subject to voter approval, medical debt interest-rate limits, Medicaid coverage for weight-loss medications, a shrimping-related butterfly net exception, public works design-build contracting, and a municipal lead-service-line replacement measure. Some bills were temporarily returned to the calendar, including measures on water utility service lines and registrar compensation, while others passed with strong bipartisan margins. The chamber also considered Senate amendments to many House bills and concurrent resolutions. Members concurred in amendments on topics such as hospital stabilization, student loan access for certain professional degrees, rural economic development, behavioral health and school policies, retirement and compensation provisions, food labeling, climate-change litigation, school emergency plans, anti-cancer medication coverage, domestic abuse procedures, and several infrastructure and workforce measures. A few bills were rejected for further conference, including some retirement, alternative power, and AI-related provisions. The session ended with the House taking a one-hour recess for lunch, with instructions to return by 12:45.

Transcript Highlights:

• what mechanisms does the Department of Health and Human Services need to have in place to be able to monitor
• what mechanisms does the Department of Health and Human Services need to have in place to be able to monitor
• what mechanisms does the Department of Health and Human Services need to have in place to be able to monitor
• what mechanisms does the Department of Health and Human Services need to have in place to be able to monitor
• What mechanisms does the Department of Health and Human Services need to have in place to be able to monitor

Keywords: 1189, house, all

Summary: The Special Committee on COVID Response Efficacy met briefly without a quorum because many members were tied up in legislative committee of conference work. The chair said the committee would resume in June and, in the meantime, directed members to the committee webpage and the 2024 committee’s report and COVID-19 after-action report, which he said could be reviewed for possible updates and legislative recommendations on how New Hampshire should respond to future pandemics. The chair then introduced two recent articles as framing material: one about the U.S. Supreme Court declining to hear a challenge to the Los Angeles Unified School District’s COVID vaccine mandate, and another about CDC internal emails and alleged failure to publicly acknowledge vaccine safety signals. He argued these examples raised concerns about mandates, transparency, and the balance between individual rights and public health, and said the committee would revisit the issue in future meetings. Representative Pollazok thanked the chair for presenting both legal and medical perspectives and suggested the committee focus on reviewing scientific methodology and the quality of evidence behind competing claims. A member asked whether vaccine pamphlets now include risks and benefits, and the chair responded that FDA-approved products should have patient inserts available on the FDA website, including sections listing adverse events from clinical studies and commercial use. He said he would research and email the committee copies or excerpts. Members also discussed how to evaluate studies over different time periods, dosing levels, and the timing of side effects, as well as the difficulty of comparing vaccinated and unvaccinated outcomes when definitions change over time. Before adjourning, the chair said the committee would ask the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services how it would monitor and assess vaccine or pandemic-related issues in real time and whether additional structures would be needed in a future emergency. He said the committee would likely take July and August off, resume in September, and aim to have a draft report by mid-October and a final report by late October ahead of the November elections.

Transcript Highlights:

• Section eight is another House section that requires an in-person, unannounced monitoring visit for grants
• Section eight is another House section that requires an in-person, unannounced monitoring visit for grants
• amendment. that requires an in-person uh that requires an in-person uh unannounced<00:08:14.320> monitoring
• /c><00:08:14.919> visit<00:08:15.400> for<00:08:15.760> grants unannounced monitoring
• visit for grants unannounced monitoring visit for grants that<00:08:16.320> are<00:08:16.640>

Keywords: 919, house, all

Summary: The Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund Conference Committee met on May 13, 2026, to finalize House File 3426. After roll call established a quorum, staff walked members through the conference agreement and spreadsheet, noting that most appropriations were unchanged from the House and Senate positions. The report kept the LCCMR recommendations in resiliency, water, fish and wildlife, energy, and most land and education/outdoor recreation items, while removing the “cultivating conservation leaders through education and wilderness experiences” project and a Senate rotational grazing pilot provision. The committee also noted the overall appropriation total and carryforwards/extensions, and that the community grants program appropriation remained in the bill. Members then reviewed the policy language in the DE amendment. The agreement retained House provisions setting guardrails for the community grants program, including requirements for emerging issues account votes, maximum grant amounts, staff training, monitoring visits, pre-award risk assessments, surety bond or fiscal-agent approval for advance payments, and quarterly progress reports, while also adopting Senate language repealing a DNR acquisition-approval requirement. Senators McEwen and Her offered contrasting comments about the removal of the Boundary Waters-related project, with McEwen criticizing the decision as politicized and Her emphasizing stewardship and the importance of exposing young people to the Boundary Waters. Representatives Heintzeman and Fischer defended the need for accountability and said the issue had been addressed in a bipartisan way. The committee reported receiving a letter from the DNR supporting the language and thanking the conferees and staff. Chair Her moved adoption of the HF 3426 DE amendment and the spreadsheet dated 5/13/26 at 11:38 a.m., authorized staff to prepare the conference committee report and make technical and conforming changes, and the motion passed 7-0. The meeting ended with thanks to staff, LCCMR participants, and Speaker Melissa Hortman, followed by adjournment and instructions for members to watch for and sign the conference committee report electronically that night.

Transcript Highlights:

• encourages the Arizona State Retirement System and the Public Safety Personnel Retirement System to monitor
• And it's to closely monitor the development in Bitcoin exchange-traded funds and other digital exchange-traded
• But we are encouraging them to consider and to closely monitor and then consider those particular assets
• And it's to closely monitor the development in Bitcoin exchange traded funds and other digital exchange
• lines with regard to this to the statement but we are encouraging them to consider and to closely monitor

Bills: SB1042, SB1043, SB1067, SB1180, SB1221, SB1292, SB1503, SCR1033

Keywords: public funds, virtual currency, bitcoin, investment, Arizona Strategic Digital Asset Reserve Act, state treasurer, retirement system, state payments, cryptocurrency, Arizona law, payment methods, government transactions, tax lien, property tax lien, real property tax lien, foreclosure, right of redemption, redeem, excess proceeds, county abatement lien

Transcript Highlights:

• Cimarron Watershed Alliance, Potato Working Group, Estancia Basin Watershed, Health and Restoration Monitoring
• Even before the fire was fully out, our ecological monitoring team was working in the burned areas to
• With a team to analyze the monitoring data to determine types of treatments that lead to reduced fire
• Collectively, the monitoring and research have led to several publications, briefing papers, and other
• The species would only be a net positive, and this would allow us the opportunity to monitor and manage

Transcript Highlights:

• We are carefully monitoring requests and projects as they come in from our communities to make sure that
• for with the Department of Public Safety and the state police, for the purposes of regulating and monitoring
• Again, we're monitoring compliance of commercial motor vehicles, and we maintain the facilities where
• Then we have our ignition interlock program, which funds our monitoring and the indigent fund, which
• We also license and monitor compliance for DWI schools across the state, and currently, there are 21

Transcript Highlights:

• We do monitor placement stability to make sure that kids aren't being bounced from foster home to foster
• The other is also licensed and monitored.
• not have a safety plan, they have not been screened, and they receive guardianship without any monitoring
• and families and recommending system-wide improvements that will benefit children and families. monitoring
• Nebraska created a committee to provide a high-level leadership body to monitor and evaluate the child

Transcript Highlights:

• CDT also conducts 24/7 continuous internal monitoring for nearly 110 departments and programs.
• This continuous monitoring approach has shifted from a point-in-time review to real-time scanning of
• Continuous monitoring is essential for maintaining real-time visibility into threats and vulnerabilities
• The state's HOC program monitors the state's primary enterprise network 24/7/365, detecting and responding
• But if we’re in there as far as SACA’s a service, we do that on that 24/7 monitoring, but we also reach

Summary: The Assembly Select Committee on Cybersecurity and the Assembly Committee on Emergency Management held a joint informational hearing focused on maximizing the value of state cybersecurity investments, especially by fully using security features already included in existing vendor contracts. The first panel included representatives from Microsoft, Zscaler, and Palo Alto Networks, who described the products and services they provide to California and generally agreed that agencies often have strong adoption in some areas but still face challenges from tool overlap, limited staff, lack of awareness of available features, and the need for ongoing training and configuration support. They also discussed major threats such as ransomware, data loss, attack-surface exposure, IoT/OT vulnerabilities, and the growing role of AI in both attacks and defenses. Members pressed the vendors on whether state departments underuse purchased cybersecurity tools, how to improve utilization, and how to address the cybersecurity workforce shortage. The vendors said utilization is often constrained by staffing, procurement complexity, and the need to align tools with agency missions and maturity levels, but emphasized that training, leadership buy-in, and regular vendor-agency collaboration can improve results. They also discussed how AI can help with phishing triage, data-loss prevention, and security operations, while warning that agencies must manage AI safely and with human oversight. The second panel featured officials from the Department of Technology, Cal OES/CalSIC, and the California Military Department. They described statewide oversight efforts including audits, independent security assessments, continuous monitoring, advisory services, vulnerability disclosure programs, and workforce development initiatives such as the Information Security Leadership Academy and Cybersecurity Education Summit. Officials said some underutilization is real, but it is often tied to differing agency maturity, overlapping tools, and deliberate feature restrictions to reduce attack surface and complexity; they emphasized a balanced approach using people, process, and technology, with plans of action and milestones to hold departments accountable. They also noted federal uncertainty around MS-ISAC and the state and local cybersecurity grant program, saying California is advocating through federal partners and monitoring the impact. The hearing ended after public comment and adjournment.

Transcript Highlights:

• to is how the funding came about, the emergency status for it, or any plans that are in place to monitor
• to is how the funding came about, the emergency status for it, or any plans that are in place to monitor
• Uh any plans that are in place<00:26:27.039> to<00:26:27.360> monitor<00:26:27.760>
• <00:26:29.120> Um<00:26:29.360> but place to monitor if it's working.
• Um but place to monitor if it's working.

Keywords: 0:16 – CALL TO ORDER 0:20 – ROLL CALL 0:56 – ELECTION OF CO-CHAIRS 1:54 – APPROVAL OF MINUTES 2:10 – OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL 3:28 – PERSONNEL BOARD 4:30 – EDUCATION AND LABOR CABINET, BOARD OF EDUCATION, DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 5:18 – PUBLIC PROTECTION CABINET, OFFICE OF CLAIMS & APPEALS 12:03 – PUBLIC PROTECTION CABINET, DEPARTMENT OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE CONTROL 12:54 – CABINET FOR HEALTH AND FAMILY SERVICES, DEPARTMENT FOR MEDICAID SERVICES 14:54 – CABINET FOR HEALTH AND FAMILY SERVICES, DEPARTMENT FOR COMMUNITY-BASED SERVICES 31:44 – NEXT MEETING ANNOUNCEMENT/ADJOURNMENT, 958, all

Summary: The Administrative Regulation Review Subcommittee met to reorganize its leadership for the new term, renewing Representative Derek Lewis as House co-chair and Senator Steven West as Senate co-chair. The committee then approved the minutes and moved through a series of agency regulations, generally adopting staff-suggested amendments without objection. Among the regulations reviewed were an Attorney General rule changing how a commission reviews and distributes funds and how grant reporting is handled; Personnel Board changes abolishing and renaming certain job classifications and adjusting probationary periods; an Education and Labor Cabinet rule removing references to local board of education members; several Public Protection Cabinet rules covering Board of Claims and Crime Victims’ Compensation procedures; an Alcoholic Beverage Control rule on direct-to-consumer shipping forms; and a Medicaid Services emergency regulation establishing the Kentucky Trauma Hospital Rate Improvement Program for rural hospitals serving many Medicaid patients. The committee also heard that the Board of Claims and Crime Victims’ Compensation regulations included both staff and, in one case, an agency amendment, which were approved. The most extended discussion came on the Department for Community Based Services’ regulation increasing per diem rates for private child-placing therapeutic foster care levels 2 and 3. Committee members questioned the estimated $10 million biennial cost, the source of the funding, and why the cabinet had not yet filed regulations implementing Senate Bill 151 on kinship care. DCBS staff said the rate increase was discretionary and intended to address placement crises for children with high needs, while acknowledging they could not personally explain the budget decisions. A kinship caregiver testified in support of the rate increase but urged the cabinet to also implement SB 151 and expand support for kinship families. The committee expressed frustration over the lack of SB 151 implementation but stated the rate increase itself was appropriate and allowed the regulation to proceed.

Transcript Highlights:

• And post-treatment monitoring for all Texas Medical Board licensees. But it's got to be funded.
• Physician Health Program, and I am here to answer any questions you have about how it works with the monitoring
• We do currently monitor all license types under the Texas Medical Board. We get...
• We also take self-referrals and third-party referrals, so we'll monitor all of those.
• We monitor anybody that has a potentially impairing condition that's licensed under TMB.

Bills: SB1406, SB1681, SB2480, SB2721

Keywords: body donation, medical science, forensic science, willed body program, informed consent, boarding home, boarding home facility, adult care home, group home, assisted living, county reporting, municipal reporting, annual report, reasonable accommodation, fair housing, disability accommodation, local ordinance, permit requirement, Texas Health and Human Services Commission, HHSC

Transcript Highlights:

• will support continuity of services when students transfer transparency for families and effective monitoring
• It would be something that we would help you all monitor for that cohesion over time too.
• Chair, representative districts are the ones that monitor their own staffing in terms of reasons why
• Chair, yes, and our monitoring of the expenditures of that at-risk money through our accreditation process

Transcript Highlights:

• , all of the above, our youth hunters, but at the same time keeping things in place so that we do monitor
• estate, all the above, our youth hunters, but at the same time, keeping things in place to where we do monitor
• have a deer that is found, one deer, many instances where we've had only one deer and continue to monitor
• emergency and follow that procedure, but I'm confused as to whether any additional regulation or monitoring

Keywords: 965, house, all

Summary: The Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission/task force met on April 17, 2026, with a quorum present. Members adopted the agenda and prior minutes, then received an update on the chronic wasting disease (CWD) index case in Washington Parish. Staff explained that a hunter-submitted deer tested positive in January 2026, the case was confirmed by the National Veterinary Services Laboratory, and an emergency declaration was issued March 11 to extend the CWD control area into portions of Washington and surrounding parishes. The update also reviewed baiting restrictions in enhanced mitigation and buffer zones, the 180-day duration of the emergency declaration, and the department’s website tools for locating affected areas. The commission then agreed to table its own CWD task force recommendations while Senate Concurrent Resolution 24 was being considered during the legislative session. Senator Womack summarized SCR 24 as a “reset” of CWD policy. He said it would set a 1.5% apparent prevalence trigger, require at least 300 samples, shorten the management zone from 25 miles to 15 miles, and allow baiting/supplemental feeding from the opening of deer season through March 31 unless the trigger is met. He said the resolution would also help address feral hog issues and restore more normal hunting and economic conditions. Commission and staff members clarified that the resolution would not affect deer pens or livestock under the Department of Agriculture, and that if sampling goals are not met, feed bans would apply the following year. Several stakeholders testified on the economic and management impacts. Louisiana Farm Bureau representatives supported the effort to find a workable solution but asked for clarity on how the resolution would be implemented, especially whether emergency declarations would immediately impose new restrictions. They emphasized the need to avoid discouraging deer sampling and to consider impacts on feed suppliers, landowners, and hunting leases. A written statement from Vic Blanchard of the Louisiana Landowners Association opposed SCR 24 and HCR 4, arguing that easing restrictions would worsen CWD spread and undermine wildlife management. Other speakers said the resolution should preserve economic planning for feed businesses and allow the commission to continue monitoring disease prevalence. After public comment, the commission voted to table its recommendations and then adjourned without taking a vote on SCR 24 itself.

Transcript Highlights:

• deletes the section on dredging and filling and the requirements that the dredging and turbidity monitoring
• The proposed rule relies on conservation practices, monitoring, and offsets to protect the continued
• I think the department has done a stellar job of trying to continue to monitor and conserve our state
• You know, certainly I'm going to be monitoring this bill.

Summary: The Committee on Environment and Natural Resources met with a quorum present and took up several environmental bills and one confirmation. First, the committee considered SB 1422 on surface waters, which was amended with a strike-all focused on coral reef protection and designation of coral reefs as critical natural infrastructure. Senator Garcia described the amendment as a way to support restoration, disaster resilience, and access to federal funding; Audubon Florida waived in support. The committee adopted the amendment and then reported CS for SB 1422 favorably. The committee next considered SPB 7034, a DEP rule ratification concerning the Lower Santa Fe and Ichetucknee River minimum flows and levels and recovery strategy. Senator Rodriguez explained the rule would replace prior MFLs and allow longer permits, while opponents from the Florida Springs Council and local river advocates argued the plan relies too heavily on one future wastewater reuse project, delays restoration, and lacks a clear funding source. DEP and JEA waived in support. After debate, the committee approved the motion to submit the proposal as a committee bill; the measure was favorably reported, with Senator Smith voting no. The committee then heard SB 1510 on DEP-related matters, as amended. The strike-all addressed Outstanding Florida Springs B-MAP mediation plans, septic system upgrades where sewer is unavailable, rural cost-share eligibility, notice to property owners, rulemaking procedures, and land acquisition governance, while removing biosolids and fee provisions. Florida Springs Council opposed the 60-day delay for B-MAP effectiveness, saying it could slow restoration and allow more conventional septic systems to be installed before stricter requirements take effect. DEP and others supported the bill. The committee reported CS for SB 1510 favorably. It also heard SB 1196 on waste facilities, which would prohibit new ash-producing incinerators and waste-to-energy facilities within two miles of certain federally authorized water impoundment areas, with an amendment narrowing the bill to Miami-Dade and Broward County. Supporters, including the City of Miramar, said it would protect water resources and Everglades restoration; opponents from the Florida Waste-to-Energy Coalition warned it would limit local solid waste options and could force more landfilling. The committee adopted the amendment and reported CS for SB 1196 favorably. Finally, the committee considered SB 912 on battery collection and recovery, establishing a battery stewardship program and requiring producers and retailers to join a stewardship organization by 2028. Supporters from the battery industry and recycling sector said the bill would reduce fires and keep batteries out of the waste stream. The committee adopted the amendment and reported CS for SB 912 favorably. The committee also recommended confirmation of Gary Jennings to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, and then adjourned.