Transcript Highlights:

• fees as low as possible.
• You could probably raise that money from just fees, could you not?
• First, TDI is funded primarily by maintenance taxes and fees paid for by the insurance industry.
• It's the short story... and the COPA program is a fee-supported program.
• The fees come in and get spent on the COPA program.

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:

• Can you just explain food license fee.
• This has corresponding reduction in fee revenue as well.
• as well or reduction in fees that correspond with those expenditure changes.
• fee revenue as well. fee revenue as well.
• in fees that correspond with reduction in fees that correspond with those<01:13:36.240> expenditure

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Charitable gaming has a $25 fee.
• Uh the renewal can be it's $25 fee.
• Uh sports betting fees are years.
• would hesitate to recommend a fee would hesitate to recommend a fee structure<00:10:13.760> that
• a larger fee on their renewal. a larger fee on their renewal. >> Okay. >> Okay.

Keywords: 958, all

Summary: The committee approved the minutes from its August 21 meeting and then received an update from Kentucky Horse Racing and Gaming Corporation leadership on implementation of Senate Bill 299 and House Bill 566. Jamie Eids and staff described the agency’s new structure after charitable gaming was brought under the corporation, including new divisions, staffing, banking, payroll, insurance, procurement, and reporting systems. They also unveiled the corporation’s new logo and tagline, and said the transition had been designed to avoid interruption for charities, licensees, and racing operations. A major focus was the fee structure required by House Bill 566. Eids outlined current licensing fees across racing, sports wagering, and charitable gaming, compared Kentucky’s fees with other states, and recommended keeping the status quo for one more year because the agency has only recently brought all three components fully in-house. Members asked about whether charitable gaming had harmed veterans’ groups or other nonprofits, whether any revenue should be transferred back to the state, and whether the charitable gaming licenses cover one-off raffles as well as standing operations. Eids said she had not heard complaints, said the licenses include all such activity with some exemptions, and agreed to look at the question of future transfers. The committee then heard from Melissa Combs Wright on pari-mutuel wagering and Hannah Sims on sports wagering. They reported continued growth in historical horse racing, more than $11 billion in total pari-mutuel wagering in fiscal year 2025, over $10.5 billion in HHR wagers, and about $161 million in pari-mutuel tax revenue, with most of that supporting the general fund and horse-breeding development funds. They also said sports wagering has generated nearly $5 billion in wagers since launch, $73 million for the public pension fund, and more than $2 million for problem gambling services, while expanding to 13 retail locations and 92 additional sports events. Members raised concerns about players being cut off after winning, the lack of local government revenue sharing from gaming facilities, and the growth of computer-assisted wagering; the witnesses said they were reviewing CAWs and that Kentucky does not license poker rooms through the corporation.

Transcript Highlights:

• $225 annual fee. $225 annual fee. In<00:33:28.920> St.
• annually it's a $97 individual fee. annually it's a $97 individual fee.
• In Brooklyn Center, there's an annual establishment fee of $3,000 and a $1,500 investigation fee.
• Mandatory tree fees, mandatory park fees, in addition to building a park.
• On page two, line 10, after the first occurrence of fees and that comma, after the first fees, insert

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Fee for the fee-for-service system, that is embedded in the Medicaid statute.
• fee schedule.
• <01:21:05.240> for still just using the Medicaid fee for still just using the Medicaid fee
• even in a self-funded fee-for-service even in a self-funded fee-for-service system,<01:36:31.480
• , in the fee-for-service fee-for-service, in the fee-for-service world, world, world, there<01:36:54.120

Keywords: 958, all

Summary: The Medicaid Oversight and Advisory Board met on September 24, 2025, approved the minutes from the September 9 meeting, and then continued its discussion of Medicaid waivers with Leslie Hoffman and Carmen Hancock from the Department for Medicaid Services. Members asked for updates on the 2024 waiver waitlist management assessment recommendations, including aligning waiver policies, standardizing applications and waitlist placement, and modernizing data systems. DMS said that work is being done jointly with Aging and Independent Living and Behavioral Health/Developmental and Intellectual Disabilities through task forces, that ARPA spending delayed action, and that implementation timelines extend through March 2027. The board also reviewed per-member waiver cost averages for fiscal years 2023 through 2025 for ABI, ABI long-term care, HCBS, Model II, Michelle P, and SCL. DMS emphasized these figures were benefit-only averages based on paid claims, not full waiver costs, and explained that true budget neutrality is calculated on an aggregate basis against institutional care comparisons approved by CMS. DMS said all six waivers remain in compliance with budget neutrality and that the most recent 18-month lag review for FY 2022 and FY 2023 found costs at or below institutional care. Members also asked about unused waiver slots; DMS said slots generally cannot be reallocated mid-year if they have been used, except in cases such as death or reserved capacity, because CMS treats participants as unduplicated for the waiver year. A major portion of the meeting focused on the new child waiver created under House Bill 6. Legislators questioned whether the waiver’s design, including the exclusion of participant-directed services and the emphasis on high-acuity children with behavioral health, DCBS, or juvenile justice involvement, matched the bill’s intent to keep children at home. DMS said it used the $14.7 million appropriated for FY 2026 to develop the program, that there is no priority list, and that the waiver is intended to serve the highest-acuity children while also addressing residential needs for those sleeping in offices or placed out of state. Members also raised concerns about the rapid growth of the HCBS waiting list and asked for more detail on age and timing patterns, which DMS said it would provide later. Finally, DMS gave average processing times from application to eligibility determination and from approval to service start, and said the overall average from application to services beginning was about 80 days, while members requested follow-up information on the Carewise assessment contract and related costs.

Transcript Highlights:

• The proposed $493 licensing fee for speech language pathology assistants, or SLPAs, is more than double
• the supervision requirements while also seeking a cost estimate to reduce the assistant licensing fees
• The proposed $493 licensing fee for speech language pathology assistants, or SLPAs, is more than double
• the supervision requirements while also seeking a cost estimate to reduce the assistant licensing fees
• The proposed $493 licensing fee for speech language pathology assistants, or SLPAs, is more than double

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• There's also an aspect there in Section D that would require or asking to cap their fee at $50.
• If the agency can't recover enough costs, they're going to raise the fees on the graders.
• , it will cost you $100 a year for fees.
• It'll cost you for every 30 dozen that you sell, it costs you 4 cents to pay into that fee.
• All of our, our fees are set in rule and not in statute.

Transcript Highlights:

• However, these design, designated groups are currently required to pay an additional $3 fee for their
• A fee not uniformly applied across all military merit plates.
• Senate Bill 1227 addresses this disparity by eliminating the $3 fee.
• OK, Representative Lopez, on the fee, the, the $3 fees, do this is going to be exempted for all military
• This is gonna wipe out that $3 fee, that 1st $3 fee on, on all of them.

Transcript Highlights:

• And that sharing in legal legal fees.
• We allow for direct fees.
• fee, flat fee, hourly fee, just any fee or any money that a business, which a law firm is.
• fee, flat fee, hourly fee, just any fee or any money that a business, which a law firm is.
• Just any fee or any money that a business, which a law firm is.

Keywords: 981, all

Transcript Highlights:

• We have essentially a sliding fee scale.
• We have essentially a sliding fee scale.
• We have essentially a sliding fee scale.
• would be yes we follow a sliding fee would be yes we follow a sliding fee scale<01:13:52.760>
• you are providing you know lower fees you are providing you know lower fees and<01:14:04.239>

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• Listed on our Medicaid fee schedule.
• In fee for service, sorry, current fee-for-service rates are lower than those paid by capitated plans
• Currently,... listed on our Medicaid fee schedule.
• In fee for service, sorry, current fee for service rates are lower than those paid by capitated plans
• This proposal will help in redesigning the Medicaid fee-for-service fee schedule to ensure those children

Summary: The Appropriations Committee on Health and Human Services heard a presentation on the governor’s proposed fiscal year 2026-27 budget for the health and human services silo, which totals $48.5 billion. Agency leaders outlined major requests for AHCA, APD, DCF, DOEA, DOH, and the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, including behavioral health redesign, Medicaid rate changes, developmental disability services, child welfare and opioid programs, senior services, cancer research, public health initiatives, and veterans’ facility and technology needs. The committee also received an overview of the overall state budget, which was described as $117.4 billion, up 1.1% from the current year. AHCA’s presentation focused on $71.6 million for a Medicaid behavioral health redesign, including funding for residential treatment, a serious mental illness waiver, and higher inpatient psychiatric rates for youth, plus $7.1 million to raise private duty nursing reimbursement in fee-for-service Medicaid, $2.5 million for the background screening clearinghouse, and $124.4 million for the Health Care Connection System (FX). APD requested funding to continue moving people off the pre-enrollment list and to support developmental disability centers, a new forensic facility, an electronic health record system, and higher operating costs. DCF highlighted $81.9 million for eligibility and system integrity, $187.5 million for opioid prevention and treatment, $35.5 million for community-based care lead agencies, and $72.7 million to expand behavioral health bed capacity, including 474 new beds at state hospitals. DOEA sought additional funding for Alzheimer’s services, home care, and community care for the elderly. DOH emphasized $278 million for cancer research and innovation, $5 million for food and product safety testing, $5 million for the Florida FIRST blood-on-ambulance initiative, and $5.7 million for a public lab feasibility study. Veterans Affairs requested funds for facility improvements, cybersecurity, and medication management equipment. Members asked detailed questions about several items, especially the proposed changes to the AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP), which would reduce eligibility and the number of people served. Senators and public witnesses criticized the lack of transparency and urged the department to pause the changes and work with stakeholders; the Surgeon General said the issue was driven by funding constraints and federal changes, not a legal barrier, and that the agency was exploring alternatives. Questions also addressed the Office of Minority Health and Health Equity, the Kids Care/CHIP expansion implementation, the cancer research funding structure, and the timeline and cost of the FX system. Public testimony focused heavily on ADAP, with speakers warning that thousands could lose medication access and calling for community involvement and a review of the program’s finances. The committee adjourned after the presentations and questions, with no votes taken on the budget items during this meeting.

Transcript Highlights:

• And just to provide some context as to what that is on the fee for service side, a lot of payments are
• So on the fee for service side, you have an up or payment limit.
• And we also used CMS is clinical laboratory fees schedule as well as our own Florida Medicaid, a fee
• The average we fee schedule from 243 biomarkers to 632.
• So in terms of as you can see for a fee for service, there's there's limited paid claims.

Transcript Highlights:

• In Miami-Dade, there's a lake belt management fee; there's mobile home licensing fees.
• We are going to fee the citizens of Florida to death.
• We are going to fee the citizens of Florida to death.
• They don't have the ability to have fees.
• Municipalities can choose to charge a fee, whatever they want.

Keywords: 998, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• One is export fees had been talked about today.
• When you talk about export fees, you mentioned that the most common use of those fees is mitigation.
• GCDs are funded through either production fees or, for a few, by taxes, but the production fees authorized
• , permit fees, tax revenue, among other methods.
• And you don't recover any of your fees for that.

Keywords: 1184, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• But doesn't your fee cover that?
• We have a fee for that, but if we move to a sales tax model, we were concerned that fee would also be
• of our boundaries that are using our services to contribute towards that so that's but doesn't your fee
• cover that we have a fee for that but I if we move to a sales tax model that fee would we were concerned
• that fee would also be reconsidered and that'd be part of that discussion about how do we on have an

Summary: The Committee on Local Government held a public hearing on Senate Substitute No. 2 for Senate Committee Substitute for Senate Bill 1023, sponsored by Senator Justin Brown. Brown explained that the bill would expand existing authority for certain public library districts to seek voter approval for a sales tax, with property tax reductions tied to the sales tax in some cases. He noted special provisions for Cass and Johnson counties, where the sales tax rate would be capped at 0.33% and would replace real and personal property taxes, and also described a separate provision allowing circuit courts to collect a civil case filing surcharge of up to $15 for law library maintenance. Library representatives and supporters testified in favor. They argued that libraries rely heavily on property tax revenue, that the bill would let local voters choose a more diversified funding mix, and that it would help libraries respond to growth and facility needs. Witnesses from Scenic Regional Library, St. Charles City-County Library, Marshall Public Library, the Missouri Library Association, and the Kansas City Public Library described local circumstances, including St. Charles County’s three-year phase-out and rollback requirement, Marshall’s voter-approved sales tax and concerns about county reclassification, and Kansas City’s request for fiscal-year flexibility. Committee members raised questions about the fairness of shifting library funding to sales tax, especially for nonresidents, and one member objected to the tone of the senator’s questioning during the hearing. No one testified in opposition, and the chair closed the public hearing. The committee announced it planned to executive the bill on Monday, with notice to follow. The meeting then adjourned.

Transcript Highlights:

• Are y'all willing to supply that data as far as your administrative fees or costs?
• increase that by 30% because that's the charge that they're going to charge us for administrative fees
• OK, well, I'm worried about the administrative fee.
• Well, we're not talking about, I'm not talking about administrative fees.
• But if this cost is already included in the fees you're getting now, but anyway, I, I think we're kind

Bills: HB138

Keywords: voter registration, application rejection, transparency, election integrity, state law

Transcript Highlights:

• It isn't a student facilities fee.
• It isn't a student facilities fee.
• Um and isn't a student facilities fee.
• In terms of the fee, I know that the university, you know, says that the fee was in place, that, you
• <01:16:38.280> for<01:16:39.240> um address fees for um address fees for um for<01:

Keywords: 918, senate, all

Summary: The committee discussed a higher education attainment-goals bill and several related amendments. Members first reached agreement on funding changes: one amendment redirected money for fraud-prevention software for MnSCU and $5,000 for trees in Bemidji, and another moved $570,000 for workforce development-related funding. Members noted the use of general fund dollars to cover a FIG shortfall and expressed support for addressing fraud prevention while also saying MnSCU should be made whole in the next biennium. Both amendments were adopted. The main policy debate centered on an amendment updating the statewide attainment goal and related P-20 partnership language. Senator Um Ruebain proposed returning the attainment goal from 75 percent to 70 percent, and members discussed whether the bill’s expanded reporting and coordination duties would create costs for the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF). Nonpartisan staff and Commissioner Olsen said the Office of Higher Education and the P-20 partnership expected no costs, while DCYF’s fiscal note assumed reporting and staffing costs. After discussion, DCYF indicated it would absorb the costs, but some members still objected to expanding the partnership and creating additional bureaucracy. Members also debated whether early childhood and K-12 subgoals should be included as part of the attainment-goals framework. Supporters said aligning early childhood, K-12, and higher education goals is necessary to improve postsecondary attainment, while opponents argued the committee should focus on existing higher education goals and basic K-12 achievement. The committee ultimately adopted the Senate language on the attainment-goals section as amended, including the change back to 70 percent and revisions directed by staff to ensure the correct references were updated. The A12 amendment on pregnant and parenting students was also adopted earlier in the meeting.

Transcript Highlights:

• do not it the fees that are the fees do not it the fees that are collected<00:50:36.240> they
• Currently the fees come from fees.
• database will be assessed a $100 fee. database will be assessed a $100 fee.
• >> Prior to that there was no $100 fee. >> Prior to that there was no $100 fee.
• would be $150 fee. Is that correct? would be $150 fee. Is that correct?

Keywords: 1189, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• I have spent nearly $600,000 on legal fees. I have spent nearly $600,000 on legal fees.
• And after the hearing, our legal fees were around $200,000. We thought it was over.
• We are now approaching $600,000 in attorney fees.
• I think we're applying fees and it's approximately $580,000.
• I think we're applying fees and it's approximately $580,000.

Summary: The Committee on Education K-16 heard several bills focused largely on special education transparency, school safety, and student support services. Senate Bill 1908, by Senator Zaffirini, would direct the Higher Education Coordinating Board to study the feasibility of a statewide system for coordinating clinical training placements, including regional portals for healthcare clinical slots, with a report due by December 1, 2026. A representative of the Texas Nurses Association and the Nursing Legislative Agenda Coalition testified in support. The bill was left pending subject to the call of the chair. The committee then took up Senate Bill 111, by Senator Hall, which in its committee substitute was narrowed to a reporting bill requiring school districts to disclose legal proceedings involving special education due process complaints when legal fees exceed $10,000, rather than capping spending. Several parents and advocates testified that districts spend large sums on litigation against families of children with disabilities and that greater transparency is needed; some senators raised concerns about unintended consequences, including possible pressure to settle cases. The committee adopted the substitute and left the bill pending. The committee also heard Senate Bill 1551 on automated external defibrillators in public schools, Senate Bill 865 on CPR instruction requirements for certain volunteers, Senate Bill 1032 on the Governor’s University Research Initiative, and Senate Bill 571 on school employee misconduct reporting and access to the Do Not Hire Registry; each was reported favorably after committee substitute adoption and roll-call votes. Additional bills discussed included Senate Bill 1884, which would formalize and expand dedicated staff support for the State Board of Education and give the board chair hiring authority over that staff; members questioned whether it duplicated TEA functions, while a witness argued the workload increase justified the change, and the bill was left pending. Senate Bill 625 would replace the current half-credit economics requirement with a half-credit in personal financial literacy; educators and advocates strongly supported making the course required, and the bill was left pending. Senate Bill 582 would make TEA settlement agreements in special investigations publicly available when sanctions are imposed, and Senate Bill 2600 would bar transportation fees for students living within two miles of campus unless districts do not receive state transportation funding; both were left pending. The committee also heard Senate Bill 2751, which would require TEA inspections of non-public special education programs to consider medical standards of care and crisis-prevention training; testimony from a program operator described severe student behaviors and the need for more flexibility, and the bill was left pending after the substitute was adopted.

Transcript Highlights:

• amendment for HB 2257 modifies the percentage of funds collected from the numbering of watercraft fees
• Madam Chair and members, HB 4030, Rates, Fees, Taxes Increase Moratorium, prohibits a city, town, or
• county from raising a tax, fee, or utility...
• Madam Chair and members, House Concurrent Resolution 2052, Rates, Fees, Taxes Increase Moratorium, does
• for groundwater transportation and update the fee annually to reflect inflation.

Keywords: 1182, all

Summary: The caucus reviewed a long calendar of House bills across education, health, water, land, housing, labor, public safety, and taxation. Several measures dealt with artificial intelligence, including bills on AI disclosures for minors, AI-assisted divorce arbitration, an Arizona AI education program, AI privilege protections, and a required AI course in schools. Other topics included ESA administration funding, a prohibition on public money for certain foreign-controlled genetic sequencing devices, towing regulations, DUI and ignition interlock changes, health facility and nursing facility complaint timelines, internationally trained physicians, nurse anesthetist reimbursement, pharmacy penalties, childhood cancer research, cybersecurity encryption, school mental health instruction repeal, superintendent performance pay, adoption disclosures in student health settings, anti-Semitism in schools, and a range of water, land, and housing bills. Members frequently raised concerns about local control, unfunded mandates, constitutional issues, and the scope of state intervention. Several bills drew criticism for affecting school curriculum, public education, reproductive rights, protest activity, or tribal communities. Others were supported as technical fixes, consumer protections, or funding measures. The caucus also discussed a series of bills related to the Mexican gray wolf, state land management, solar and wind siting, groundwater transport, and rural development, with some members objecting that the proposals would undermine federal protections or tribal interests. A number of bills were pulled from consent for further discussion, including HB 2020, HB 2957, HCR 2044, HB 2352, HB 2667, HB 2906, HB 2093, HB 2386, HB 2481, HB 2830, HB 2076, HB 2411, HB 2136, HB 2665, and HB 2904. The meeting ended with an announcement of the Latino Caucus guest presentation and an emotional tribute to Reverend Jesse Jackson, followed by presentation of an Affordability Award to Representatives Lorena Austin and Stephanie Simacek for work on economic justice and working families. The caucus then adjourned.