Transcript Highlights:

• </c> this is the general and education trust this is the general and education trust fund<03:26:01.960
• and the education trust fund.
• Anything above a dollar goes to the education trust fund.
• I know that the business taxes will be split 41% to the Education Trust Fund, 59% to the General Fund
• Trust Fund. Real estate transfer tax is split 2/3 to the General Fund, 1/3 to the AG? Trust Fund.

Keywords: 1189, house, all

Summary: The committee received a Department of Revenue Administration update from Commissioner Lindsay Stepp focused on revenue estimates for fiscal years 2025, 2026, and 2027. She explained the department’s forecasting method, which uses five scenarios based on the first seven months of actual collections and different assumptions for the remaining months, then selects a reasonable high and low range for FY 25 and applies projected growth rates for FY 26 and FY 27. Members asked several clarifying questions about how the scenarios are chosen and how the estimates relate to economic growth and taxpayer behavior. For business taxes, Stepp reported FY 25 year-to-date collections of $110.3 million, 18.2% below plan and 17.2% below prior year. She said the shortfall reflects both economic conditions and a resetting of estimated payments after unusually strong pandemic-era profits, and noted that the department cannot fully separate changes in taxpayer liability from changes in estimated payment behavior. She said approximately just under $72 million was refunded in FY 24 due to the CCO cap, and that FY 25 year-to-date refunds are at 41.7%. For business taxes, the department’s FY 25 range was based on either continued underperformance versus plan or a return to prior-year levels, with FY 26 and FY 27 growth projected at 3% to 8%. The committee also reviewed meals and rooms tax, tobacco tax, and related trends. Meals and rooms revenue was $6.9 million, or 3.3%, ahead of plan and prior year; the FY 25 gross estimate was $475.894 million, with a net range of about $331.82 million to $335.259 million after municipal transfers and school building aid. Stepp said recent monthly results suggest some fluctuation tied to disposable income, weather, and travel patterns, but no clear sustained decline. Tobacco tax was $18.1 million, 14% below plan and 4.8% below prior year; she said cigarette stamp sales are declining while e-cigarettes and other tobacco products are growing, with FY 25 tobacco revenue projected at $182.5 million to $185.3 million and FY 26-FY 27 growth ranging from -5% to flat. No votes or formal actions were taken.

Transcript Highlights:

• We're taking 2 million from the higher ed trust fund and 10 million from the... ...ed trust fund and
• The 2 million uh is an allowable use of unclaimed property of the higher ed trust fund.
• The Vermont Higher Ed Endowment Trust Fund can be used for two purposes.
• Into the transportation fund from the education fund, and we closed that hole in the education fund by
• hole in the education fund by moving some of the meals and rooms tax into the education fund.

Keywords: 926, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> cap off the fund. cap off the fund.
• So, I trust that you've done that.
• </c> violate that trust. violate that trust.
• 00:57:09.480><c> Fund</c><00:57:09.640><c> appropriation</c> a General Fund appropriation a General Fund
• the general fund.

Committee: Senate Finance

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• And if the Medicare trust fund is gone.
• During the next presidential term, the trust funds are gone.
• During the next presidential term, the trust funds are gone.
• During the next presidential term, the trust funds are gone.
• </c> that we have to pay back to the trust that we have to pay back to the trust funds. funds. funds.

Keywords: U.S. House of Representatives Floor Proceedings on Thursday, April 23, 2026, 1012, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> can see how the Getting to Work funds can see how the Getting to Work funds are<00:05:19.400><c>
• ><c> help</c> State operating funds will help State operating funds will help Enterprise<00:42:23.120
• </c> uncertainty from federal funding uncertainty from federal funding disruptions<00:42:27.360><c> so
• </c> trusted local news and information. trusted local news and information.
• </c> Local newspapers are the most trusted Local newspapers are the most trusted sources<00:53:39.280

Committee: Senate Jobs and Economic Development

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• As a result, it has created some strain on the fund over time.
• We believe the restitution fund has been effective and efficient over the last 30 years.
• Trust is a foundation of patient care.
• When physicians can trust that their records will not be altered, patients can trust that their care
• When physicians can trust that their records will not be altered, patients can trust that their care

Summary: The Assembly Business and Professions Committee heard a full agenda of bills covering travel consumer protections, cannabis commerce with tribes, medical record integrity, pest control licensing, pawn and gold-buying regulation, pharmacy discipline, land surveying, and expedited licensing for veterans separated under a federal transgender military policy. Members also later heard AB 1973, which would expand the ability of advanced practice clinicians to provide abortion care, with supporters arguing it would improve access and opponents warning about safety and scope-of-practice concerns. Several bills were presented before quorum was reached, and the chair repeatedly urged absent members to arrive so the committee could vote. Testimony on the bills was largely in support. Authors and witnesses said AB 1758 would raise the seller-of-travel assessment cap to keep the Travel Consumer Restitution Fund solvent; AB 2506 would allow state cannabis licensees to sell products from tribal licensees while respecting tribal sovereignty; AB 1637 would prevent non-physicians from altering physician-authored medical notes; AB 2477 would create a short provisional period for pest control workers awaiting licensure; AB 2633 would close a loophole involving remote gold-buying events and stolen property reporting; AB 2141 would let the Board of Pharmacy resolve some cases through stipulated settlements before formal accusations; and AB 1933 would make technical clarifications to land surveying law. AB 1775 drew emotional testimony from transgender service members and advocates describing the impact of federal separation policies and the need for California licensing and support. Once quorum was established, the committee voted out the consent calendar and each of the heard bills, generally on party-line or near-unanimous votes. AB 1637, AB 1758, AB 1775, AB 1933, AB 2141, AB 2477, AB 2506, and AB 2633 all passed out of committee, most to Appropriations or another policy committee as noted. AB 1973 also passed, despite a no vote from some members and an opposition witness from the California Family Council. The committee later took vote changes and additional roll calls for absent members before adjourning.

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> partnership trust or other association. partnership trust or other association.
• </c> beneficiaries of a blind trust. beneficiaries of a blind trust.
• or a mutual fund.
• </c> the things in a mutual fund. the things in a mutual fund.
• </c> funds are are moved. funds are are moved.

Committee: Senate Elections

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• We trust it for municipal elections in our cities and towns.
• We should trust it for our state elections too.
• That's how we rebuild turnout and restore trust in our democracy.
• When that's the norm, voters disengage and trust erodes.
• It is funded by taxpayers.

Keywords: 995, all

Summary: The Special Joint Committee on Initiative Petitions held a public hearing on Initiative Petition 25-12, H.503, a proposal to implement all-party state primaries for Massachusetts state and federal elections. The committee opened with procedural remarks explaining Article 48 requirements and then heard first from two subject-matter experts. Professor Costas Panagopoulos of Northeastern University testified that top-two primary systems in other states have produced mixed results: they may modestly increase primary turnout in some cases, but the research does not show a reliable reduction in polarization, and such systems can weaken party gatekeeping, increase strategic behavior, raise campaign spending, and reduce general-election choice for voters whose preferred party is not on the ballot. Katie King of the National Conference of State Legislatures outlined the different primary models used nationwide, explained that Massachusetts currently uses an open-to-unaffiliated primary, and reviewed legal distinctions between blanket primaries and top-two systems; she noted that blanket primaries were struck down by the Supreme Court, while Washington’s top-two system was upheld because it narrows the field rather than nominating party candidates. She also said voter education and administrative preparation would be important if the system changed. The proponents’ panel, led by Danielle Allen of the Coalition for Healthy Democracy, argued that Massachusetts has chronically uncompetitive elections, low turnout, and too many uncontested races, and that all-party primaries would give every voter a meaningful choice in the first round and force candidates to appeal to a broader electorate. Allen said the proposal is designed specifically for Massachusetts and differs from other states by allowing party endorsements to appear on the ballot, which supporters said would preserve useful information while shifting control of the preliminary election from party insiders to voters. Jim Henderson, the coalition’s counsel, said the bill is narrowly tailored to state-level primaries and would amend Chapter 53 to put all voters on equal footing. Other supporters, including Kevin Johnson, Kate Kavanaugh, and Spencer Reynolds, emphasized that the reform could increase competition, reduce polarization, improve participation by independents and underrepresented voters, and create more accountability to the full electorate. Committee members pressed the witnesses on turnout, the practical effect of endorsements, whether the proposal would simply shift party influence to an earlier stage, and whether it could disadvantage minority-party or independent candidates. Senator Fattman repeatedly asked about evidence that turnout would materially increase, while Representative Peisch and others questioned whether requiring or seeking endorsements would create new barriers or pressure candidates to clear the field. Supporters responded that the system would modestly increase primary participation, that the general election would remain the decisive contest, and that endorsements would be optional and handled through party rules. No vote was taken at the hearing; the committee heard testimony and questions only.

Transcript Highlights:

• We trust it for municipal elections in our cities and towns.
• We should trust it for our state elections too.
• That's how we rebuild turnout and restore trust in our democracy.
• When that's the norm, voters disengage and trust erodes.
• It is funded by taxpayers.

Bills: H5001

Committee: Joint Special Joint Committee on Initiative Petitions

Keywords: election day registration, voter registration, proof of residency, provisional ballot, party affiliation, 1212, all

Transcript Highlights:

• So the Attorney General's Trust Fund has $3 million.
• And then the next one, Veterans Trust Fund. What's that one?
• And I'm going to ask you again, that's these other funds, Veterans Trust Fund. What is that? 1579.
• We had a discussion here a while ago about funding basically the trust fund and taking, I think it was
• Page 494 is $4 million for the National Guard Trust Fund.

Committee: House Budget

Keywords: 959, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• C outlines funding for the Comprehensive Research Fund, or CRF.
• bill patterns the available university fund or AUF is a constitutional fund that provides capital funding
• The Higher Education Fund, or HEAF, is a constitutional fund that provides capital funding to institutions
• The Texas University Fund, or TUF, is a constitutional fund that provides research funding to certain
• funding.

Committee: House Appropriations - S/C on Article III

Keywords: 1184, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Is that the total funding for that? And is it funded every year, or is it just funded on occasion?
• It's funded annually. It's funded annually.
• I don't think it would... ...be prudent to allocate all of our trust fund to the S&P 500, or even just
• Our position as a total trust fund would be substantially worse than we are today.
• We also appreciate your efforts to reduce the unfunded liability of the ERS Trust Fund over the last

Bills: SB 1

Committee: Senate Finance

Keywords: campground safety, youth camp regulations, flood safety, emergency evacuation, health and safety standards

Summary: The committee heard budget presentations from the Legislative Budget Board and agency officials on several agencies, starting with the Texas Historical Commission. LBB described a large biennial reduction driven mainly by the removal of one-time funding and discussed capital projects, rider changes, and exceptional items including Presidio La Bahia and the National Museum of the Pacific War. Senators asked about heritage trails, courthouse grants, unexpended balance authority, and the status of historical-site funding. Historical Commission leadership emphasized preservation, courthouse restoration, heritage tourism, coordination with the Alamo and other Texas Revolution sites, and requested additional IT, staffing, and vehicle funding. No votes were taken. The committee then reviewed the Pension Review Board and the Employees Retirement System. The Pension Review Board’s budget was largely unchanged aside from IT maintenance and salary adjustments, with an exceptional item for additional IT enhancements. Members discussed the Dallas Police and Fire Pension System’s funding dispute and the need for a workable restoration plan. ERS presented a much larger budget, including funding for the retirement system, the group benefits plan, and the legacy payment intended to reduce unfunded liability. Senators focused heavily on pension investment returns, benchmark comparisons, and rising health-care costs, especially pharmacy spending driven by GLP-1 drugs; ERS said the plan covers about 540,000 lives and that premiums would rise 8% while benefits remain unchanged. ERS also said it had no exceptional items, and committee members requested more detailed benchmark information. The committee also heard from the Texas Emergency Services Retirement System and the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas. TESSORS reported an unfunded liability, an infinite amortization period, and requested additional state support, staffing, and IT funding, including a statutory change to allow a higher contribution level; the agency warned that without more funding it may have to cut benefits. CEPRIT’s presentation covered its bond-funded cancer research and prevention portfolio, revenue-sharing from funded projects, and a request to increase salary limits for its CEO and chief scientific officer. Senators questioned CEPRIT’s accomplishments and return on investment, while CEPRIT cited screening, prevention, and research outcomes, including tens of thousands of detected cancers and precursors and hundreds of thousands of first-time screenings. The meeting ended after these presentations and questions, with no recorded committee action or vote.

Transcript Highlights:

• What that means is if there's a trust or corporation or other artificial entity who owns one property
• If a trust or corporation owns more than one property, they still get one vote.
• When can consumers trust government spending? That $1.5 million is our money.
• This says that candidates themselves can utilize campaign funds for certain reasonable and necessary
• This is definitely not meant to be, one could use their campaign funds for any aspect of this issue,

Bills: HB344

Committee: Senate Elections & Government Affairs

Keywords: campaign finance, elections, transparency, political committees, reporting requirements, enforcement

Summary: The Senate Elections and Government Affairs Committee heard several election- and campaign-related bills. House Substitute 2 for House Bill 155 would make Public Integrity Commission reports publicly available on the commission’s website, add a specific travel-expense reporting category, and remove the FOIA requirement for accessing reports; Senator Richardson said he supported the transparency measure and asked to be added as a co-sponsor. The committee also took up House Bill 444, the Delaware John Lewis Voting Rights Act, which would create state protections against voter suppression and vote dilution, expand language access, prohibit intimidation and deception, and allow court remedies for violations. The bill drew strong support from advocacy groups including YWCA Delaware, the League of Women Voters, the ACLU, and the Legal Defense Fund, and several senators voiced support and interest in moving it quickly. House Bill 430, a constitutional amendment proposal, would make explicit that only natural persons may vote in Delaware elections, including municipal elections, in response to concerns about corporate or other artificial-entity voting in some towns. The discussion focused heavily on Fenwick Island, where the mayor testified that the town’s charter has long allowed certain artificial entities to vote in local elections and said the system is limited and has worked for years; other speakers argued the bill was needed to prevent corporate dilution of residents’ votes. Senator Richardson expressed concern about restricting entities with a local stake, while Senator Hoffner and others emphasized the principle of one person, one vote. Senator Townsend presented House Bill 344, which would tighten campaign finance rules by requiring Delaware bank accounts for candidates and committees, recurring training, better documentation of candidate loans, longer record retention, automatic filing extensions, and inactive status for noncompliant committees; one public commenter opposed the bill on cost grounds. He also presented House Bill 448, which would allow campaign funds to be used for reasonable security expenses for candidates and elected officials, with guardrails, and a commenter suggested allowing electronic security systems without a cap. Finally, the committee heard House Bill 472, a local de-annexation measure for Noble’s Pond in Cheswold to remove scattered residential lots from town boundaries and resolve uneven tax treatment; Senator Hoffner noted local law enforcement supported the change. The committee adjourned after hearing no further public comment on HB 472, and the vote to adjourn was unanimous.

Transcript Highlights:

• SB 1823, K-12 school funding revisions.
• SCR 1045, permanent funds land trust distributions.
• SCR 1045, permanent funds land trust distributions.
• Trust comes from clarity.
• I know it's sometimes long hours without pay and often not funded the way we would like it to be funded

Keywords: 1182, all

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> them uh the discretionary fund which them uh the discretionary fund which would<04:08:19.279><c>
• </c> urban area security initiative funding urban area security initiative funding and<04:16:26.640><
• 09.199><c> have</c> Recently, these funding changes have Recently, these funding changes have seen<04
• </c><04:20:24.640><c> cities,</c> remove historically funded cities, remove historically funded cities
• </c><05:13:08.400><c> by</c> should not be influenced or funded by should not be influenced or funded

Keywords: U.S. House of Representatives Floor Proceedings on Monday, July 13, 2026, 1012, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• projects are not only selected by local governments but also funded using local government funds.
• This is Continuum of Care funding.
• funds, but we routinely fund permanent supportive housing and shelter and transitional housing projects
• And that funding, Representative Timmons said that the city traditionally places conditions on funding
• He added that the funding is not really susceptible to the reasoning by analogy, because we do not fund

Bills: HB2266 , HB2489

Committee: House Housing

Keywords: housing, supportive housing, transitional housing, emergency shelters, homelessness prevention, public space, local governance, life-sustaining activities, statewide standards, regulation, 904, all

Transcript Highlights:

• , federal funding.
• , federal funding.
• There were some questions about funding earlier.
• Imagine if you have that funding earmarked to fund part of the Enough Act.
• I mean, there was an initial funder that funded it.

Committee: Joint Joint Committee on Community Development and Small Businesses

Keywords: 995, all

Summary: The Joint Committee on Community Development and Small Business held its final hearing of the session on H. 5187 and S. 3022, the Enough Act, with Chair Andy Vargas and Senator Adam Gomez opening by thanking committee members and stakeholders for their work during the session. The bills were described as a grant-based, place-based anti-poverty initiative intended to support cradle-to-career services by funding local nonprofits, schools, community organizations, and backbone entities that can coordinate housing, education, health, workforce, and family supports in high-poverty neighborhoods. Testimony was overwhelmingly in support of the bills. Speakers including Strategies for Children, Chelsea Public Schools, Bunker Hill Community College, Senator Sal DiDomenico, Rep. Kate Lipper-Garabedian, Rep. Antonio Cabral, the Harlem Children’s Zone’s Kwame Owusu Kesse and Jeffrey Canada, former Education Secretary Paul Reville, AFT Massachusetts, United Way, the Boston Foundation, Give Black Alliance, Eastern Bank Foundation, and others argued that poverty is a systems issue that schools alone cannot solve. They emphasized the need for local control, community voice, coordinated services, and long-term public-private investment, often citing examples from Chelsea, New Bedford, Springfield, Lowell, Boston, and other communities, as well as the Harlem Children’s Zone and Maryland’s similar model. Committee members asked several questions about how the bill would function in practice, including what organizations would do on day one, how it would interact with existing efforts like community schools, McKinney-Vento, and the Student Opportunity Act, and how it would be sustained over time. Witnesses said the act would help create or strengthen backbone organizations, reduce duplication, align existing resources, and leverage philanthropy and future revenue sources for long-term sustainability. No vote was taken during the hearing, but multiple speakers urged the committee to report the bill favorably and quickly.

Transcript Highlights:

• Programs can stay in business and families can remain in the care that they trust the most.
• And that is why local control over spending state and local funds is so critical.
• Cal Food funding will offset purchase food costs.
• Cal Food funding will offset purchase food costs, allowing our donor funds to be used in the food rescue
• My contention is not so much about receiving the food from Cal Food funding.

Summary: The committee first adopted a 4-0 consent calendar for SB 1345, SB 1410, and SB 1421. It then heard SB 1200 on child care, which would redefine infant and toddler age categories so providers could count 18- to 24-month-olds as toddlers without changing ratios. The author and family child care providers said the bill would better reflect child development, improve reimbursement, increase capacity, and help keep family child care businesses open; there was no opposition, and the bill passed 4-0 to Appropriations. The committee next approved SB 971, a permissive framework for counties to offer senior education and technology training through local public health systems and community partners. Supporters said it would help older adults with digital literacy, fraud awareness, health, and social connection, while remaining optional and locally tailored. There was no opposition, and the bill passed 4-0 to the floor. The committee also passed SB 1234, which requires fentanyl to be included in court-ordered drug testing in dependency cases when drug testing is already ordered. The author, an angel family member, and a sheriff’s office witness described child deaths and fentanyl exposure risks; the bill passed 4-0 to the floor. SB 1109, dealing with oversight of short-term residential therapeutic programs in small rural counties, drew substantial testimony. Supporters from Alpine County argued that two facilities there strain local emergency response and that annual review should be triggered by repeated serious citations or placement in counties lacking basic infrastructure. Opponents said the bill was too broad and could destabilize needed placement capacity. After discussion, the author accepted committee amendments, and the bill passed 4-0 to Appropriations as amended. The committee also passed SB 961, which would notify financial aid applicants that they may be eligible for CalFresh; students and advocates said it would reduce food insecurity and improve college success, with no opposition, and it passed 4-0 to Appropriations. Later, SB 1099, clarifying local governments’ authority to provide state or local public benefits to all residents under federal PRWORA exemptions, was heard and supported by local government attorneys; it was held on call after a 2-0 roll. SB 1190, creating licensing and safety rules for youth transport companies used in out-of-state residential placements, was supported by survivors and advocacy groups, with some support-if-amended testimony; it passed 4-0 to the Public Safety Committee. Finally, SB 1325, a narrow San Diego County measure to allow Feeding San Diego to participate in Cal Food under specific conditions, drew support from the author and Feeding San Diego but opposition from the California Association of Food Banks, which argued it would shift limited resources and add administrative burden. The transcript ends during committee discussion on SB 1325, before a final vote is shown.

Transcript Highlights:

• Chair and members, Carlin Shell, on behalf of the San Luis Obispo County Housing Trust Fund, the San
• Fund of Ventura County, and the Orange County Housing Finance Trust, the cities of Berkeley, Brea, Palo
• fund dollars be added.
• fund dollars in the bond.
• They found 35 different funding sources to get to 85% of the funding for their projects.

Committee: Senate Housing

Keywords: 987, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• But I trust the good-faith commitment from both sides.
• We fully trust you in that process.
• We fully trust you in that process.
• They represent countless hours of community participation and trust building.
• However, They represent countless hours of community participation and trust building.

Committee: House Natural Resources

Keywords: 988, house, all