Transcript Highlights:

• equipment bought by telecom companies to provide telecom services, the $275 million we spent on the dividends
• The $275 million we spent on the dividends received deduction, which I still don't entirely understand
• but, near as I can figure out, is basically a tax break for big businesses who get stock dividends from
• As I can figure out, the dividends received deduction is basically a tax break for big businesses who
• get stock dividends from other big businesses.

Bills: HR118 , HR196 , HR237 , HR285 , HCR85 , HB442 , HB443 , SCR5 , SCR29 , SCR33 , SCR63 , SB25 , SB202 , SB319

Committee: House House and Governmental Affairs

Keywords: water utility, tax credit, excessive rates, residential service, subcommittee, fallen trees, property damage, insurance, property values, hurricanes, storm damage, local government, homeowners, risk management, committee study, census, military population, Department of Defense, representation, federal funding

Bills: SB324 , HB395 , HB222 , HB310 , HB285 , HB144 , HB251 , HB380

Committee: Senate Judiciary

Keywords: parole, pardons, paroles board, board of pardons and paroles, Alabama criminal justice, sentencing reform, prison reform, reentry, recidivism, risk assessment, validated risk and needs assessment, supervision, probation, parole denial, parole reconsideration, medical parole, violent offense, nonviolent offense, law enforcement member, board appointments

Transcript Highlights:

• We oppose CDAs, and we oppose extending a foreign-owned toll contract for another 20 years.
• A foreign consortium currently operates the southern 41 miles of SH-130 near Austin, and a bit of history
• How about we buy back a portion of this from the foreign company and make it a freeway?
• listed in transportation. ...as a threat to being tolled at some point and handed over to a private foreign

Bills: HJR58 , HJR63 , HB263 , HB542 , HB905 , HB 1288 , HB1402 , HB2003 , HB2262 , HB2323 , HB2429 , HB2876 , HB3019 , HB263

Committee: House S/C on Transportation Funding

Keywords: healthcare, insurance, elderly, retirement, benefits, transit-oriented projects, constitutional amendment, state highway fund, funding allocation, voter approval, highway fund, funding, public transportation, transit projects, transportation, local transit, fund allocation, voting rights, election integrity, ballot access

Transcript Highlights:

• </c><00:31:34.320><c> Um</c><00:31:35.039><c> interest</c><00:31:35.360><c> dividends</c><00:31:35.760
• Um interest dividends and to do so.
• Um interest dividends and income<00:31:36.399><c> or</c><00:31:36.640><c> income</c><00:31:36.880><c>
• c><00:35:36.880><c> Mississippi</c><00:35:37.280><c> Press</c> Section 10 makes it unlawful for a foreign

Committee: Joint Elections

Transcript Highlights:

• Section two deals with, um, dividend approvals and, um, uh, traditionally in Mississippi a bank has had
• They don't have to ask for that regulatory approval to issue dividends.
• Um, then so long as the board is operating the institution, they can approve a dividend without seeking
• So um what approval to issue dividends.
• a dividend without seeking regulatory<00:03:57.040><c> approval.

Committee: Joint Business and Financial Institutions

Transcript Highlights:

• But every single citizen was subject to the interest and dividends tax.
• But every single citizen was subject to the interest and dividends tax.
• But every single citizen was subject to the interest and dividends tax.
• But every single citizen was subject to the interest and dividends tax.
• I think Citizen was subject to the interest and dividends tax.

Committee: Senate Finance

Transcript Highlights:

• Um, and so that was just part of interest and dividends.
• </c> just part of interest and dividends. just part of interest and dividends.
• And that is to interest and dividends. And that is our<00:16:02.800><c> bill.
• </c> The amount of interest and dividends The amount of interest and dividends that<00:57:49.560><c>
• ><c> by</c><00:58:37.080><c> owning</c> And dividend income earned by owning And dividend income earned

Committee: Senate Finance

Transcript Highlights:

• You can't distribute dividends to them.
• </c> token holders as dividends. token holders as dividends.
• </c><01:28:24.159><c> will</c> portion of the rent uh dividends will portion of the rent uh dividends
• And the property, we're going dividends.
• But &gt;&gt; there could be out of dividends?

Summary: The meeting began with roll call and approval of the prior meeting minutes, which passed unanimously. Members then introduced the day’s presentations, including one on the Canton network and another on tokenizing real-world assets, with a focus on how blockchain systems can support regulated financial institutions and asset tokenization. Julie, the director of policy and government affairs at Digital Asset, presented on the Canton network, describing it as a privacy-enabled public blockchain designed for regulated finance. She said tokenization should preserve the same legal and economic rights as the underlying asset, and argued that blockchain-based books and records can shorten settlement times, improve 24/7 trading, and reduce friction in capital markets. She identified three main barriers to institutional adoption of public blockchains: lack of privacy, limited throughput/scalability, and lack of control for compliance purposes such as freezing assets, pausing transactions, and meeting AML/sanctions obligations. She explained Canton’s structure as a public, permissionless network with application-level privacy controls, a global synchronizer, and super validators chosen by vote. She also highlighted current ecosystem participants and use cases, including Broadridge, Circle, and the DTCC’s planned tokenization of U.S. Treasuries on the network. Members and online participants asked about the relationship between tokenized assets and the Clarity Act, tokenized deposits, safeguards for faster settlement, and whether the platform could be used for municipal or property records. Julie said Digital Asset was not taking a position on rewards, but supported clearer statutory definitions because tokenized securities should carry the same rights as the underlying assets and investors need to know whether a token is a true tokenized security or a synthetic/reference token. She said the company is agnostic on whether the cash leg is stablecoins or tokenized deposits, though it expects both to develop. In response to concerns about rapid settlement, she pointed to institution-level permissions and SEC disclosure expectations as safeguards. She also said the technology could be used for other records, including potentially property-related records, if those assets can be tokenized.

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> dividend income. dividend income.
• The SBI is interest in dividends.
• Today, the fund distributes only what it earns in annual interest and dividends.
• Today, the fund distributes only what it earns in annual interest and dividends.
• Today, the fund distributes only what it earns in annual interest and dividends.

Committee: Senate Education Finance

Transcript Highlights:

• Then the foreign languages were gone just before I got into middle school. good um I'm Sarah Wen and
• these actor school activities<01:21:08.480><c> then</c><01:21:08.639><c> the</c><01:21:08.760><c> foreign
• </c><01:21:09.080><c> languages</c> activities then the foreign languages activities then the foreign
• 24.679><c> or</c><02:03:24.920><c> art</c><02:03:25.599><c> uh</c><02:03:25.760><c> classes</c> of foreign
• languages or art uh classes of foreign languages or art uh classes or<02:03:26.679><c> the</c><02:03

Summary: The hearing focused on House Bill 115-FN, which would remove the income cap from New Hampshire’s Education Freedom Account eligibility rules. Representative Valerie McDonnell, the bill’s sponsor, said the measure is intended to fund students rather than systems and to expand educational choice regardless of income or zip code. She described the change as a small statutory edit but argued it would have significant benefits, including helping families afford alternative education settings and testing costs such as AP exams. She also cited testimony from families who said EFAs helped children with special needs or difficult circumstances, and she argued the program is popular and cost-effective. Committee members questioned McDonnell about the bill’s fiscal impact and administration. One member asked whether removing the income cap would extend vouchers to families above the statewide median income and whether the change could cost more than $100 million annually; McDonnell said she did not agree with that estimate and pointed to Arizona as a comparison. Representative Wendy Thomas asked whether the bill should require stronger data-sharing from the Children’s Scholarship Fund, which administers the program, so the Department of Education and taxpayers could better track spending; McDonnell said the program already uses ClassWallet and regulated expenditures, and that the question was better directed to the administrator. Several members testified in opposition. Representative Wendy Thomas said the bill would increase costs for public schools, raise local property taxes, and worsen oversight problems. Representative Heath Howard argued the proposal would function as a subsidy for wealthy families already paying private tuition and said public education and special education should be funded first. Representative Megan Murray also opposed the bill, emphasizing the lack of a legal reporting requirement for EFA spending and the need for transparency, accountability, and attention to special education needs. Representative Sam Farrington supported expansion, sharing a constituent story about a student who left public school after harassment and benefited from private school placement. No vote or final action was taken in the portion provided.

Transcript Highlights:

• And that is likely due in large part to behavior in the stock market, dividends payments, as well as
• The interest and dividends tax brought in 48% of that surplus at about $615 million over plan.
• </c><04:41:06.600><c> payments</c><04:41:07.120><c> as</c> the stock market dividends payments as the
• stock market dividends payments as well<04:41:07.560><c> as</c><04:41:08.080><c> interest</c><04:41:
• </c><04:43:22.840><c> tax</c> funds and interest in dividends tax funds and interest in dividends tax

Summary: The meeting was a Ways and Means briefing opened by the vice chair, who introduced Jason Wong of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston to discuss the national and regional economy. Wong focused on inflation, asking why it had fallen from about 9% in 2022 to the 2%–3% range, and what that meant for monetary policy and the risk of an economic downturn. He said the Fed’s target is 2%, noted that recent PCE inflation was about 2.4% and core PCE about 2.7%, and described the ongoing debate over whether interest rates should stay tight or be lowered further to protect the labor market. Wong explained that the improvement in inflation has been driven largely by goods prices, especially durable goods such as cars, appliances, and furniture, as well as non-durable goods like food. He said supply-chain disruptions during the pandemic caused major price spikes in 2022, but those pressures have eased and many goods prices are now at or below the Fed’s target. He also referenced the New York Fed’s Global Supply Chain Pressure Index, saying it showed extreme pandemic-era disruptions that have since receded. The main remaining inflation problem, he said, is in services, especially housing. Wong broke services into rent of shelter and all other services, explaining that shelter is a large share of household budgets and that housing inflation has a lag because rent measures often reflect older lease terms rather than current market rents. He said monthly Zillow data suggest market rents have cooled and may eventually feed through to official inflation measures. Members asked several questions about the chart’s time scale, the treatment of real estate, property taxes, and utilities, and Wong clarified that housing costs are counted in services and that the slides would be shared digitally. No votes or formal actions were taken.

Transcript Highlights:

• dirty cars would effectively mitigate these emissions in the year of replacement and pay long-term dividends
• Undermine the California market in the sense that it would be foreign competitors bringing and seeking

Committee: House Transportation

Transcript Highlights:

• I guess the number of foreign-born U.S. truck drivers has doubled in the last 25 years, so every one
• in five drivers is foreign-born.
• The number of foreign-born U.S. truck drivers has doubled in the last 25 years, so every one in five
• drivers is foreign-born.
• reiterating the minority leader's position, Consumer Protection, Consumer Fraud Fund has reaped dividends

Transcript Highlights:

• </c><00:27:20.000><c> income</c> necessary, interest in dividend income necessary, interest in dividend
• ,</c> distributions to interest and dividends, distributions to interest and dividends, distributions
• </c><00:37:36.640><c> only</c> current interest and dividends only current interest and dividends only
• </c> earns in annual interest and dividends. earns in annual interest and dividends.
• Right now schools can only receive the interest and dividends from the fund.

Bills: HF3900

Committee: House Education Finance

Transcript Highlights:

• AND BY DOING THIS WE TOOK EXTRAORDINARY STEPS TO LOOK AT DIVIDENDS AND MAKE SURE THAT OIR COULD VIEW
• AND IMPROVE ALL DIVIDENDS SUBMITTED BY INSURERS FOR NEXT YEAR AND ANY REQUEST PROVIDED DETAILED EXPLANATION
• YOU MENTIONED DIVIDENDS AND CLAIMS DATA.
• Bakofsky: WE WOULD ASK COMPANIES PROVIDE DETAILED PROJECTIONS AS PART OF ANY DIVIDEND REQUEST THEY WOULD
• LET'S RESTRICT THE DIVIDENDS TO PRIOR APPROVAL. LET'S COLLECT THE DATA AND GET THAT DATA SOONER.

Transcript Highlights:

• That would amend the definition of foreign principal on page three, item D.
• principal from a foreign adversary under certain circumstances.
• The foreign-made product is not. Okay.
• This foreign-created product.
• Do foreign companies know what our specifications are?

Bills: HB1163 , HB1168 , HR252 , HR253 , HCR103 , HCR108 , SB80 , SB131 , SB251 , SB254 , SB279 , SB384 , SB414 , SB468 , SB469 , SB496

Committees: House Commerce , House Commerce, Consumer Protection, and International Affairs

Keywords: fireworks, retail sales, fire safety, legislation, holiday celebrations, construction standards, precast concrete, DOTD, building regulations, minimum requirements, public projects, private projects, consumer protection, credit card fees, cash transactions, rounding practices, transparency, low-income, economic impact, residential construction

Transcript Highlights:

• So House Bill 3765 basically is a foreign land ownership bill.
• Members, House Bill 3495 criminalizes a straw purchase of land on behalf of a foreign national.

Bills: HB3765 , HB4324 , HB3678 , HB4170 , HB3495 , HB3040 , HB3062 , HB4140 , HB4106 , HB4109 , HB4104 , HB3581

Committee: House Criminal Judiciary

Keywords: property rights, forfeiture, noncitizen, land ownership, felony, public safety, criminal procedure, sentence modification, resentencing, judicial review, postconviction relief, district attorney, prosecutor, victim rights, victim notification, Department of Corrections, inmate rehabilitation, sentencing reform, life without parole, nonviolent offense

Transcript Highlights:

• Texas universities both public and private to provide foreign language course credit to students studying
• abroad in lieu of traditional stateside foreign language classroom instruction.

Bills: SB530 , SB757 , SB769 , SB1085 , SB1241 , SB1242 , SB1409 , SB1878 , SB2138 , SB2314 , SB2231 , SB2361 , SB2431 , SJR59

Committee: Senate Education

Keywords: accreditation, postsecondary education, Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, baccalaureate degrees, junior colleges, program delivery, faculty recruitment, higher education, performance standards, student loan debt, degree programs, funding, students with disabilities, accessibility, enrollment, report, SB 1085, Sul Ross State University, Rio Grande College, Del Rio

Summary: The Senate Committee on Education K-16 met with a large agenda and repeatedly recessed for floor activity and other committee conflicts. The committee heard and left pending several higher education bills, including SB 2361 to transfer University of Houston-Victoria from the University of Houston System to the Texas A&M System and rename it Texas A&M University Victoria; testimony from university officials, local leaders, and industry representatives strongly supported the move as a way to better align degree programs with regional workforce needs in engineering, agriculture, and STEM. SB 530, which would align Texas accreditation statutes with federal rules allowing institutions to choose among nationally recognized accreditors, also received supportive testimony and was left pending. SB 1085, allowing Sul Ross satellite campuses to offer lower-division coursework toward bachelor’s degrees, was laid out and left pending as well. The committee also took up a series of education policy bills. SB 1241 would expand the standardized tests Texas public universities may accept for admission beyond the SAT and ACT, with supporters from the Classic Learning Test, homeschool advocates, and student-choice groups arguing it would increase access and competition; it was left pending. SB 769 would require a TEA/Higher Education Coordinating Board report on barriers faced by students with disabilities in higher education, and testimony from The Arc of Texas and others emphasized the need for better data and accessibility; the bill was left pending. SB 2231 would designate the second week of October as Free College Application Week, and SB 1878 would modernize terminology and support workforce-oriented programs at the Josie School; both were laid out and left pending. The committee reported several bills favorably after adopting committee substitutes. SB 605, concerning charter school expansion applications while under conservatorship or a management team, passed on a 9-0 vote. SB 1871, SB 1873, and SB 1874, all related to school discipline and teacher immunity/placement review provisions, were adopted and reported favorably, with members noting the need for further discussion on some language. SB 762, dealing with flag displays in public schools, passed on a 7-1 vote. SB 1962, relating to public school accountability and challenges to school system operations, passed 7-1 after a corrected vote. SB 1750, replacing a $60 million statewide charter facilities cap with an attendance-growth-based allotment, passed 7-1 with one member voting present not voting. SB 2252, supporting kindergarten readiness and early literacy/numeracy, SB 2253, concerning educator preparation and certification, SB 2365, on student use of wireless devices during instructional time, and SB 1924, restoring local peace officer citation authority for school offenses and adding reporting and parent-notification requirements, were also reported favorably. The committee additionally heard SB 37 on higher education governance and compliance oversight, which passed 7-1 after a substitute that refined curriculum review, governing board authority, faculty senate rules, and a new compliance office within the Higher Education Coordinating Board.

Transcript Highlights:

• But the dividends, the investment, is paying back time and time again. But is it enough?
• heard a little bit about claim sharks, but I want to talk about the perspective from the Veterans of Foreign
• officer, CalVet, call, you know, the American Legion, the VSO, or whatever it might be, Veterans of Foreign
• officer, CalVET, call, you know, the American Legion, the VSO, or whatever it might be, veterans of foreign
• I'm a 28-and-a-half-year veteran of the Army, myself, and also with the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

Summary: The joint informational hearing focused on the role of County Veterans Service Officers (CVSOs), CalVet’s support for them, and the growing problem of for-profit, unaccredited claims companies. Committee leaders and witnesses emphasized that CVSOs are often the first point of contact for veterans and their families, helping with disability claims, education benefits, survivor benefits, housing, health care, and other wraparound services. Testimony highlighted the return on investment from CVSO work, with witnesses citing hundreds of millions in new federal benefits secured for California veterans and arguing that current state funding is too low relative to the workload and need. County representatives from Nevada, Los Angeles, and San Luis Obispo described local models of service. Los Angeles County highlighted a “no wrong door” approach, peer navigators, suicide review work, justice-involved veteran services, and homelessness coordination, while San Luis Obispo described rural outreach, mental health partnerships, and high suicide rates in its county. Nevada County stressed that smaller counties can be disadvantaged by workload-based formulas and that additional funding would expand access, especially in rural areas. Several witnesses said veterans often need more than claims help and should be connected to mental health, employment, food, and family supports. Much of the discussion centered on predatory claims consultants, which witnesses said charge veterans for services that accredited CVSOs provide free. Members and witnesses described cases involving requests for VA and banking logins, misleading advertising, and contracts that can take a percentage of veterans’ benefits. Committee members expressed support for legislation to curb these practices and for increased funding for CVSOs, including the Legislature’s intent to fund 50% of county veterans’ services operations. A CalVet deputy secretary also testified that California’s accreditation and training system improves claim quality and appeal outcomes, and that CalVet works with CVSOs through training, district offices, and appeals representation.