Video & Transcript Research : 'hidden fees'
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MN
Minnesota 2025-2026 Regular Session
Committee on Housing and Homelessness Prevention - 03/24/26
Housing and Homelessness Prevention
Transcript Highlights:
- , park dedication fees, and infrastructure impact fees.
- , state and local taxes, permit fees, state and local taxes, permit fees, infrastructure<00:58:56.680
- <01:03:24.360>
in you might also want to include fees in you might also want to include fees - taxes and fees taxes and fees Well,<01:03:34.720>
I <01:03:34.760>guess <01:03:34.960 - fees, including park dedication, trails dedication, and similar fees.
LA
Louisiana 2026 Regular Session
Transportation, Highways and Public Works Apr 22nd, 2026
Transcript Highlights:
- And retired legislators' special prestige license plates fee distribution.
- Again, we're raising fees for Louisianians to pay a non-state entity.
- And you want to talk about the fees?
- This fee increase—we had a fee increase in 2021—and the cost of doing business has greatly increased
- So the $4 increase to $27 is equivalent to the 2021 fee of $23, our current fee structure.
Summary:
The House Committee on Transportation met on April 22, 2026, with a quorum present and took up several transportation-related bills. HB 988 by Rep. Bagley, which changes the fee distribution for current and retired legislators’ special prestige license plates so the proceeds would support the Pentagon, was reported favorably without objection. HB 1001 by Rep. Marcel, designating a portion of US 190 as the Jesse Jackson Memorial Highway, was also reported favorably without objection after brief remarks honoring Jackson’s civil rights legacy and a moment of silence.
The committee then considered HB 989 by Rep. Boyer, which updates fees public license tag agents may charge. After testimony from the Louisiana Public Tag Agent Association and Commissioner Keith Neal, Rep. Phelps offered an amendment to exclude Shreveport from the fee increase; the committee rejected that amendment on a 13-2 vote, and the bill itself was then reported favorably on a 13-2 vote. HB 1192, creating a Louisiana Dental Hygienist Association specialty license plate, was amended to remove language narrowing eligibility to association members and then passed favorably without objection. HB 1032 by Rep. Wiley, clarifying statutory references related to operating a motor vehicle under the influence, was amended technically and reported favorably without objection.
Later, HB 748 by Rep. Brough, exempting school board-owned and leased vehicles from tolls on bridges and highways, was amended to include leased vehicles and an effective date. Testimony from Plaquemines Parish school officials and the district attorney described toll costs tied to the Belle Chasse bridge, and the bill was reported favorably without objection. HB 1108 by Rep. Omade, creating a homeschool pride specialty license plate, was reported favorably without objection after discussion of the plate design and the intended recipient organization. Finally, HB 1081 by Chairman Wright, restructuring the Louisiana Ports and Waterways Investment Commission under the Office of Multimodal Commerce, was amended to clarify administrative placement and terminology and then reported favorably without objection. The committee adjourned after completing its agenda.
LA
Louisiana 2026 Regular Session
Transportation, Highways and Public Works May 18th, 2026
Transcript Highlights:
- They still have to pay an enhanced fee.
- It's a gate fee to the company, and they have to pay for the tow.
- Yeah, I'm not changing anything with the fees.
- I'm not doing anything with the fee structure. The fee structure is there.
- tow fee.
Summary:
The House Transportation Committee met on May 18, 2026, with a quorum present and first took up Senate Bill 431 by Senator Foil. As amended, the bill requires tow companies handling non-consensual private-property tows to have someone available to release vehicles within 90 minutes on weekends if they want to charge storage fees for Saturday and Sunday. Senator Foil and Louisiana State Police explained the bill was narrowed to address weekend access to towed vehicles while not mandating businesses stay open; if a company does not provide weekend access, it cannot charge weekend storage fees. Committee members asked about how the process would work, and a representative from Riverside Towing opposed the bill, citing safety concerns, the burden on office staff, and the bill’s limited application to private-property tows rather than police-initiated tows. Despite the opposition, the committee adopted a motion to report SB 431 favorably without objection.
The committee then considered House Concurrent Resolution 96 by Representative Adams, which urges the Office of Motor Vehicles to provide educational materials on proper roundabout use. Representative Adams said the resolution was intended to help drivers in smaller parishes and growing areas where roundabouts are common but confusing to many motorists. Representative Spell supported the measure, noting similar issues in his district, and Representative Phelps asked whether roundabout instruction is included in driver education. The committee reported HCR 96 favorably without objection.
At the end of the meeting, members made brief personal remarks recognizing a new DOTD staff member and a visitor from the Florida Women’s Republican group. The committee then adjourned without objection.
TX
Texas 89th Regular
S/C on Telecommunications & Broadband May 2nd, 2025
S/C on Telecommunications & Broadband
Transcript Highlights:
- It's analogous to a user fee.
- Streaming services would now not have to pay the franchise fee.
- dollars in fees.
- PEG fees, public access television fees.
- That's five billion per year in right-of-way fees and another million in the PEG fees.
Keywords:
broadband, internet access, digital equity, tax reduction, government funding, rural counties, fiber-optic, state funding, infrastructure, digital divide, economic development, fiber-optic cable, excavation, utilities, civil penalties, municipal regulations, video services, regulation, public right-of-way, franchise authority
MN
Transcript Highlights:
- Uh we're also increases in fees.
- Section 31 increases the fees for solicitors. Section 32 increases the fees for multiple locations.
- reshuffleling kind of fees a little bit? reshuffleling kind of fees a little bit?
- 1st, but it's going to be rolling in over... uh fees are. they change uh the fee uh fees are. they change
- We are uh uh going to be fees.
NM
New Mexico 2025 Regular Session
House - Labor, Veterans and Military Affairs Jan 28th, 2025
Transcript Highlights:
- We saw no data that supported any type of advanced discovery fees.
- A 33% increase in attorneys' fees is going to put pressure on the pool.
- To entitle me to get a fee, and the fee is typically 20% of the recovery.
- An attorney fee that was paid or if it was a discovery advancement.
- They will ultimately pay it, but half of the fee comes from the worker.
NH
Transcript Highlights:
- <00:18:10.080>
any housing a town could assess a fee any housing a town could assess a fee - not built is not like a $10,000 fee. not built is not like a $10,000 fee.
- So that would be the fee.
- , with a cap on that fee at $40.
- It does not mandate a fee.
MN
Minnesota 2025-2026 Regular Session
Conference Committee on H.F. 4252 - Omnibus Higher Education Finance and Policy - 05/14/26
Transcript Highlights:
- um the renewal fee is refundable or not. um the renewal fee is refundable or not.
- R2 the athletic fee. Um I know chair um R2 the athletic fee.
- change course on the athletic fee. change course on the athletic fee.
- program to cover these fees? program to cover these fees?
- student fee roughly? student fee roughly?
Summary:
The conference committee received a nonpartisan walkthrough of the House and Senate side-by-side for higher education-related legislation, with staff identifying Senate-only, House-only, identical, and technical-difference provisions. Topics included paid blood donation leave for Minnesota State employees, a revised higher education attainment goal, athletic fee restrictions, developmental course disclosures, American Indian Scholars Program eligibility, protections and definitions for pregnant and parenting students, online program management contracts, student aid reporting, work-study and dual training grants, private and out-of-state postsecondary education regulation, private career school licensing and data privacy, college savings plan changes, and several University of Minnesota-related provisions. House-only items also included an unemployment insurance aid adjustment, a $1.5 million ongoing appropriation for an identity verification system to combat enrollment fraud, and $5,000 for Bemidji State University reforestation; Senate-only items included Board of Regents appointment language, limits on for-profit control of medical school curriculum, and reporting on for-profit funding in medical education.
After the walkthrough, the committee moved to adopt the same and similar provisions and direct staff to make technical corrections. A senator asked about proposed adjustments to the pregnant and parenting student language, and the chair said amendments would be considered after adopting the same and similar provisions. The motion to adopt prevailed.
During public testimony, Sydney Spre of the Minnesota Association of Professional Employees supported the Senate’s paid blood donation leave language, saying it would create parity for Minnesota State employees and encourage blood and plasma donation. Commissioner Dennis Olsen of the Office of Higher Education thanked the committee for adopting most of the agency’s proposed language and said he was available to help clarify remaining differences. In response to questions, he explained the Senate’s higher education attainment goal proposal, saying it would extend and broaden the existing goal, raise the target from 70% to 75%, expand the age range, and use additional metrics and partner agencies; he also said the overall attainment rate had been 63.5 under the prior goal. The transcript ends as the commissioner was being asked whether the proposal would require additional appropriations.
NH
New Hampshire 2025 Regular Session
House Commerce and Consumer Affairs (02/18/2025)
Transcript Highlights:
- infamous fee.
- But at the end of the day, the whole idea of the fee being involved and what the fee is, and what we
- <00:35:51.040>
the <00:35:51.240>fee discussion was around uh the fee the fee discussion - was around uh the fee the fee that<00:35:52.160>
fee <00:35:52.480>the <00:35:52.640>- >
and <00:35:56.000>and that fee the infamous fee and um and and that fee the infamous - >
Summary:
The subcommittee first took up an amendment to a bill dealing with digital assets, zoning, utilities, and noise. Members discussed removing the “private key” language, clarifying that the bill would prohibit state or local governments from treating digital asset mining differently from other industrial uses, and narrowing several provisions based on feedback from the Municipal Association. There was also discussion about electricity use, rate schedules, and whether the bill would allow payment of electric bills in Bitcoin; members clarified that bills would still be paid in dollars and that discriminatory rates were not allowed. The amendment was approved on a straw vote, and the committee then voted 7-1 to adopt the amended bill.
The committee then considered a separate bill related to a paint stewardship program. The sponsor explained that the amendment would remove references to a fee structure that had troubled him in public hearing, while still preserving the plan and oversight by the Department of Environmental Services. Members discussed whether the bill’s liability and disclosure language affected antitrust concerns, and a representative from the American Coatings Association testified that the program’s environmental management practices and liability provisions were intended to ensure responsible handling and cleanup. The committee ultimately voted 7-1 to adopt the amended bill.
Later, the subcommittee moved to liquor-related business. It first voted unanimously, 7-0, to retain a cannabis-related item. It then discussed a tavern license bill that would create a 21-plus tavern category, with the Liquor Enforcement Division explaining that the restriction was tied to alcohol-only venues and the potential for late-night entertainment and nightclub-style operations. Members raised concerns about local control and public safety, and the discussion referenced existing cocktail lounge rules and the possibility of towns opting into such a license. The transcript cuts off before a final vote on that item is shown.
UT
Utah 2025 Regular Session
Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environment Interim Committee - November 19, 2025
Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environment Interim Committee
Transcript Highlights:
- And then also if it's sold out of state, we don't collect the fee on that.
- should be assessed on, how to calculate the fee amount, the process for collecting the fee, and where
- The report outlines a range of options associated with the fee.
- And then we also plan that if there was a fee, any fee collected would be distributed as grants.
- It says that the fee may not have a direct nexus between the fee and the service received in each system
MA
Massachusetts 2025-2026 Regular Session
Joint Committee on Transportation Jun 21st, 2026 at 01:00 pm
Joint Committee on Transportation
Transcript Highlights:
- Some states, like New York, it’s a $74 doc fee.
- Some states, like New York, it’s a $74 doc fee.
- the doc fee.
- besides the normal sales tax and registration fees.
- It was super low price, but they made up for it in the doc fee.
Summary:
The Joint Committee on Transportation held a hybrid hearing on a large slate of bills covering motor vehicle sales, registration, title processing, dealer regulation, and several local matters. Chair Cyrro noted that Senate Bill 2414 had been postponed at the sponsor’s request, though public testimony would still be accepted. The hearing then heard testimony on measures including S. 2367, which would make an insurer primary for losses caused by an insured driver in a rental car; H. 3698 and related bills on codifying registration of 25-year-old imported Japanese kei vehicles; H. 3701 on requiring lienholders to release titles within seven days; H. 3690 on capping dealer documentation fees; and H. 3641 on requiring education for class two motor vehicle dealers. Testimony also addressed e-titling and e-signatures, peer-to-peer car sharing, temporary license plates, duplicate plates, general registration plates for motor vehicle distributors, and a bill to ban tinted license plate covers.
Supporters of the rental-car insurance bill argued Massachusetts is an outlier compared with 47 other states and said the change would improve fairness, competition, and consumer understanding without raising premiums. Dealers and industry groups generally supported e-titling/e-signature modernization and the inspection-related bill, but urged safeguards to preserve title, registration, and insurance verification. The Massachusetts State Auto Dealers Association opposed the doc-fee cap, saying documentation fees are a disclosed cost-recovery tool that varies by dealership. Representatives and advocates for kei vehicles said the RMV’s 2024 reversal showed the need to codify the rules in law, while opponents of the RMV’s approach described it as arbitrary and harmful to owners and importers. Supporters of the dealer-education bill said it would curb unregulated “curbstoning” and help ensure proper title handling and consumer protection.
Several local and specialty bills also drew testimony. Hatfield officials supported a local bill allowing golf carts on certain town roads under strict safety rules, and Representative Ayers testified for a bill banning tinted license plate covers to aid toll collection, law enforcement, and vehicle identification. Senator Lovely and other advocates supported the “Easy ID” license plate proposal, saying it would improve vehicle recognition in crime and child-abduction investigations. The committee took no votes during the hearing and adjourned after public testimony concluded.
AR
Arkansas 2026 1st Special Session
ALC-HOSPITAL, MEDICAID, & DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES STUDY SUBCOMMITTEE Mar 16th, 2026
ALC-HOSPITAL, MEDICAID, & DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES STUDY SUBCOMMITTEE
Transcript Highlights:
- And then we use assessment fees, which is what's on your screen.
- Does every hospital pay an assessment fee?
- So the fees are used as the state share.
- So the hospital assessment fees totaled $119 million in state fiscal year 25.
- It's a standard fee. Yes, sir. I don't know if I would use the word standard.
Summary:
The subcommittee met to review Department of Human Services hospital payments in Arkansas Medicaid, with DHS Secretary Janet Mann and Deputy Secretary Misty Eubanks presenting first, followed by Arkansas Hospital Association Executive Vice President Jody Ann Tritt and a brief comment from Arkansas Children’s. DHS outlined the main hospital payment streams: fee-for-service per diem payments, upper payment limit (UPL) supplemental payments, cost settlements, and smaller payments such as graduate medical education and disproportionate share hospital funds. Members asked for plain-language explanations of cost settlements, why per diem rates vary by hospital type, and why UPL applies to private hospitals. DHS said cost settlements and UPL are mechanisms to help offset Medicaid underpayment, with SFY 2025 hospital payments totaling hundreds of millions of dollars and no general revenue used for supplemental payments beyond the state share funded through hospital assessments and related financing structures.
Committee members focused heavily on whether Arkansas hospitals are adequately reimbursed and why rural hospitals struggle. Tritt explained that critical access hospitals, rural emergency hospitals, PPS hospitals, and specialty hospitals operate under different federal and state rules, and said lower per diem rates for some facilities help with cash flow and later cost settlement adjustments. She said Arkansas hospitals are under financial strain, citing a negative patient services margin statewide and noting that Medicaid, Medicare, and commercial payers all contribute to the problem. She also said the association had just authorized a statewide survey of hospital finances and costs, which she expected would take about a year to complete.
A major theme was commercial insurance reimbursement. Tritt argued Arkansas hospitals are paid far less than hospitals in neighboring states even though premiums are similar, and said administrative burdens, prior authorizations, and denials add to the problem. She said hospitals receive about 52 to 53 cents on the dollar for Medicaid costs without UPL and about 78 cents with UPL, still below cost. Members also discussed Medicare wage index issues, Medicare Advantage, and whether hospitals could use technology or alternative arrangements to improve finances. No votes were taken on the hospital presentation.
At the end of the meeting, DHS provided a brief update on Living Choices and assisted living reimbursement. Officials said one assisted living facility, Pillars of the Community in Crossett, had announced closure, with nine waiver clients being transitioned to other settings. DHS said the current cost reporting period was underway and that a new rate study could be ready for review before the end of the fiscal year if reports were submitted on time. Members also asked about the broader waiver plan, and DHS said the next waiver iteration would likely be brought back to the committee in the summer.
HI
Transcript Highlights:
- Next item on the agenda is HB 422 HD1 SD2, relating to school impact fees.
- , and the School Facilities Authority can adopt rules governing fee collection.
- On behalf of the house, we have fees.
- <00:04:05.519>
It component of school impact fees. It component of school impact fees. - authority can adopt rules governing fee authority can adopt rules governing fee collection<00:04
Summary:
The joint House and Senate conference committee met on April 25 to consider several bills, mostly related to housing, transportation, school impact fees, and housing finance programs. HB 1294 HD2 SD1, relating to agricultural workforce housing, was deferred because final release was not yet available. HB 286 HD2 SD1, relating to the individual housing account program, was agreed to but also rolled over to a later 3:30 p.m. meeting pending final release.
The committee then took up HB 1298 HD3 SD1, relating to housing, and HB 422 HD1 SD2, relating to school impact fees. HB 1298 was agreed to but postponed to later in the day pending final release. HB 422 was described as repealing the construction cost component of school impact fees, exempting government housing, affordable housing, and Hawaiian homeland housing from those fees, and requiring School Facilities Authority rules and a report to the legislature; the committee approved a CD1 with mostly technical amendments by unanimous vote, with one Senate member excused.
Later, the committee reviewed additional measures including SB 662 on transportation, HB 1409 on transit-oriented development, SB 26 on affordable housing, HB 740 on housing, HB 432 on the rental housing revolving fund, SB 1229 on the dwelling unit revolving fund, and SB 944 on the low-income housing tax credit. Most of these bills had agreement on a CD1 or draft agreement but were deferred or rolled over to 3:30 p.m. in Room 16 because WAM, final, or web releases were still pending; HB 740 had no agreement yet, while HB 432 was said to need revisions. The meeting adjourned after scheduling the remaining items for later consideration.
MO
Transcript Highlights:
- I mean, this is the original fee, right? Original fee.
- But the admission fee, how do you view that as a loss to your clients?
- We pay those admission fees every two hours.
- We pay those admission fees every two hours.
- Have there been fees on your members of the chamber?
Summary:
The committee on Crime and Public Safety met for public hearings on three bills. Senate Bill 1652, sponsored by Sen. Angela Mosley, would create a permanent office in the Missouri Department of Public Safety focused on missing and murdered African-American women and girls, including a Phoenix Alert system, data collection, cold-case review, and support for community organizations. The sponsor and several supporters, including family members and advocates, said Black women and girls are disproportionately missing, often misclassified as runaways, and do not receive equal attention from law enforcement. Some members questioned whether the office should be broader and include all missing persons, and the Department of Public Safety’s estimated six FTEs and funding through grants/private sources were discussed. No vote was taken on the bill at the hearing.
Senate Bill 1572, by Sen. Mike Henderson, would change the St. Louis Police Retirement System board by staggering the mayor’s two appointments and limiting three elected board seats to active commissioned officers elected by active members, with travel time provided for board duties. The sponsor and witnesses said the change is intended to prevent the board from losing quorum when appointments are delayed or members are unavailable, which had created problems for major fiduciary decisions. The bill was described as technical and received no opposition in the hearing.
House Bill 3533, by Rep. Knight, would raise casino admission fees and gaming taxes and adjust related revenue provisions, with funds directed to state purposes including natural resources, historic preservation, education, and the Gaming Commission. The sponsor framed it as a revenue measure, while the Missouri Gaming Association opposed it, arguing the higher fees and taxes would significantly burden casinos, reduce reinvestment, and could drive patrons to neighboring states or illegal gaming machines. The Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry also opposed the bill in principle, saying the committee should be cautious about targeting one industry for higher taxes and fees. No committee action or vote was taken during the hearing.
FL
Florida 2025 Regular Session
Appropriations Committee on Higher Education Mar 11th, 2025
Transcript Highlights:
- Beside state appropriations in tuition and fees.
- If we were to look at increasing out of state fees.
- Potential changes to many of the student fees are also dictated by laws relative to how much a fee can
- While fees over offi budgets could remain the same.
- As I mentioned, if one fee were increase while another fee was decrease while we have this authority
IN
Transcript Highlights:
- Only two exceptions to the ban on fees.
- The only other fee that is allowed is a voluntary fee for something that is… The only other fee that
- is allowed is a voluntary fee for something that was not previously a mandatory fee.
- There's a fee replacement fee. Or if you need an extra fob, a fee.
- There is no way I'm paying this fee. Now, I didn't pay the fee. We closed. We did this, right?
MN
Minnesota 2025 1st Special Session
House Veterans and Military Affairs Division 3/19/25
Veterans and Military Affairs Division
Transcript Highlights:
- there needs to be a written fee there needs to be a written fee agreement.<00:10:15.360>
It - help veterans with with no fees help veterans with with no fees attached.<00:24:12.080>
uh - standards of accreditation and fee standards of accreditation and fee agreements<00:41:11.200>
- Our veterans benefits guide fees.
- And so I was these fee structures?
LA
Transcript Highlights:
- It's not a fee assessed by the department.
- That's all taken care of by the professional dispensing fee.
- to the Louisiana Medicaid dispensing fee.
- This bill further makes the fee retroactive to January 1, a provision...
- Well, Act 474 said there should be a fair and reasonable dispensing fee.
Keywords:
family leave, insurance, paid leave, employment benefits, caregiver support, liability insurance, coverage defenses, direct action, judgment enforcement, legal procedures, insurance referrals, compensation, non-licensed agents, consumer protection, insurance products, HB 870, Act 907, Louisiana insurance, health insurance, prescription drugs
NH
New Hampshire 2026 Regular Session
JLCAR Administrative Rules (04/17/2026)
Transcript Highlights:
- So, not just fee.
- So, not just fee.
- So, not just fee.
- So, not just fee.
- So, not just fee.
Summary:
The committee opened with housekeeping items, approved the minutes and consent agenda, and reminded the public that JLCAR’s role is limited to determining whether agency rules are within statutory authority, not to decide policy. Testimony was to be limited, and members noted that policy concerns should be addressed through the legislature rather than the committee process.
The first major item was Public Utilities Commission rule 25-215 concerning natural gas suppliers. Staff said the proposal had been postponed because the PUC appeared to lack authority to impose fines and penalties in this rule set, especially suspending or revoking registrations, and recommended either a conditional approval removing those provisions or a preliminary objection for lack of statutory authority. PUC counsel responded that the cited authority had been incorrect, that the Department of Energy now has most registration rulemaking authority, but argued the commission still has jurisdiction over mediation and dispute resolution and may still have authority over fines because natural gas suppliers are not expressly excluded from public-utility status. Committee members discussed the split between PUC and DOE authority and the possibility that the transition in authority had not been fully cleaned up in statute.
The committee then voted to grant a waiver of the time limit and postpone the item for another month so the agencies could work with counsel and clarify which parts of the rule could proceed. Members also urged that any needed legislative fix be brought forward quickly, noting that the Senate was not taking up non-germane amendments and suggesting the House as the likely venue for a cleanup bill.
The committee next took up Department of Energy EN900 and EN1000 rules. Staff said the EN900 net-metering rules had been postponed previously and that the main remaining issue was a retroactive requirement in EN909.03(b), which the agency agreed to revise so the language would apply only on or after the 2026 effective date of the chapter. The agency described the EN900 rules as implementing net metering authority transferred from the PUC and expanding the chapter to cover municipal group net metering and low- and moderate-income community solar projects. The EN1000 interconnection rules were described as implementing 2024 legislation requiring uniform procedures for distributed energy resources. The department said both sets of rules were developed through extensive stakeholder input and asked for approval subject to the oral amendment already discussed."}】【。json
MN