Transcript Highlights:

• Indirect Medical Education Program.
• This program provides payments to eligible public teaching hospitals to address the nursing shortage
• This program provides fee-for-service and supplemental payments and directed payment program for physicians
• This program provides fee-for-service and supplemental payments and directed payment program for physicians
• Indirect Medical Education Program.

Summary: The Legislative Budget Commission considered 21 budget amendments, most of them routine authority adjustments tied to federal grants, Medicaid payment programs, and trust fund realignments. The Department of Education received $14.751 million for a Preschool Development Grant to support early learning system improvements, workforce credentialing and training, IT modernization, and related early childhood certification work. The Department of Veterans Affairs shifted $2.2 million within its trust fund to cover higher nursing home occupancy, replace contract nursing with OPS staff, and meet rising operating costs. The Department of Health moved about $9.1 million to support Disability Determinations, where roughly 140,000 cases were pending or in process, and said the change would help reduce backlog and avoid a deficit. The Agency for Health Care Administration presented multiple amendments for Medicaid-related programs, including $766 million for indirect medical education, $1.9 million for managed care network adequacy audits, $209 million for the Rural Health Transformation Program, and several large supplemental payment programs for hospitals and physicians; members asked about CMS approval delays, provider access, and how rural funds would be distributed. The commission also adopted an amendment realigning KidCare funds, placing a $32.1 million surplus into reserve, though several members objected that the state had not yet implemented the 2023 KidCare expansion and that children remained on a wait list. Another Medicaid amendment placed a $376 million surplus into reserve after updated estimating conference projections. Other agencies also received approvals. FDLE received $16.26 million to buy counter-unmanned aircraft systems equipment such as radar and RF sensors to detect and mitigate drone threats. The Department of Juvenile Justice received $1.6 million for the Florida Scholars Academy and a Social Services Block Grant realignment, with staff confirming corrective action had been taken after prior audit findings about allowable SSBG spending. The Division of Emergency Management received federal pass-through authority for FIFA World Cup security and counter-UAS funds, both controlled by the Miami host committee, and members noted the state had little direct oversight over how those local grants would be used. The Department of Commerce received $148.4 million for Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery work, with questions focused on the split between housing, infrastructure, and administrative costs. The Department of State received $408,377 for arts and culture federal grant obligations. All amendments were adopted, generally without objection, after brief questioning and no public testimony.

Transcript Highlights:

• Indirect Medical Education Program.
• This program provides payments to eligible public teaching hospitals to address the nursing shortage
• This program provides fee-for-service and supplemental payments and directed payment program for physicians
• This program provides fee-for-service and supplemental payments and directed payment program for physicians
• Indirect Medical Education Program.

Summary: The Legislative Budget Commission met to consider 21 budget amendments, beginning with the Department of Education’s request for $14.751 million in federal grant authority for the Preschool Development Grant. Members asked whether any funds would support VPK or provider payments; the department said the money is for birth-to-kindergarten early learning work, including IT modernization, workforce credentialing, training, and streamlining director certification. The amendment was adopted without objection. The commission then approved amendments for the Department of Veterans Affairs to shift $2.2 million within its trust fund to cover higher nursing home occupancy and reduce staffing agency use, and for the Department of Health to realign about $9.1 million for disability determinations amid a backlog of roughly 140,000 cases. The Agency for Health Care Administration presented multiple Medicaid-related amendments, including $766 million for indirect medical education, $1.9 million for managed care network adequacy audits, $209 million for the Rural Health Transformation Program, and several large supplemental payment programs for KidCare, hospitals, physicians, cancer hospitals, nursing IME, and public hospital payments. Members questioned network adequacy, rural access, and the KidCare surplus and expansion; the KidCare realignment drew debate, with some members objecting because the 2023 eligibility expansion has not been implemented, but the amendment passed on a roll call vote. Other amendments adopted included FDLE’s $16.3 million for counter-UAS detection and mitigation equipment, DJJ’s $1.6 million for Florida Scholars Academy and a Social Services Block Grant realignment, and emergency management pass-throughs for FIFA World Cup security and counter-drone funding to the Miami host committee. The Department of Commerce received $148.4 million for disaster recovery under the CDBG-DR program, with questions about the split between housing, infrastructure, and administrative costs. The Department of State also received $408,377 for arts and culture grant authority. Most amendments were adopted without objection, and the commission adjourned after completing the agenda.

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> nurse is never a physician. nurse is never a physician.
• Support Program in our adult program. Support Program in our adult program.
• . program. program.
• </c> resilience programs. resilience programs.
• </c> do the RX program? do the RX program?

Committee: House Commerce and Consumer Affairs

Keywords: 1189, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• If you talk to nurses, you talk to else.
• </c><00:03:53.120><c> to</c> painful for the doctors and nurses to painful for the doctors and nurses
• Doctors and nurses and clinics.
• Doctors and nurses terms of providers. Doctors and nurses and<00:09:52.440><c> clinics.
• </c> programs anymore. programs anymore.

Keywords: 918, senate, all

Summary: The interview focused on Senate File 3612, which the senator described as “patient-centered care” legislation for Minnesota’s Medicaid and MinnesotaCare programs. He said the bill would remove private insurers and HMOs from administering those public programs, replace them with a state contract for claims processing and administrative services, and shift care coordination directly to primary care clinics, counties, and nonprofits. He argued the current managed-care system creates churn, prior-authorization barriers, and fragmented care, and said providers should manage care rather than insurers. The senator repeatedly cited Connecticut as a model, saying that state moved away from managed care, improved primary care participation, and saved money. He also argued Minnesota’s current system lacks transparency and may be overpaying health plans, pointing to fraud concerns and a past example in which UCare returned money to the state after an overpayment. He said the bill would improve accountability, make fraud easier to detect, and could save taxpayers billions, though he emphasized his main goal was better care rather than savings. On support and prospects, he said the bill has backing from the governor and the American Cancer Society but currently only DFL co-authors. He said he does not expect it to become law this year because the fiscal note and details are still pending, and he does not expect insurance companies to support it. He added that he is open to discussion but sees the insurers as fundamentally opposed. The interview ended with him saying workers in insurance and claims processing should be treated fairly and offered retraining or dislocated-worker support if broader reforms reduce their roles.

Transcript Highlights:

• Whereas the Legacy Keepers Nurse Honor Guard of Arkansas was established in 2025 by a group of nurses
• Arkansas upholds the legacy of nursing as a sacred calling and honors those nurses who gave so much
• I've had many family members as nurses, and my niece is currently training to be a nurse.
• I've had many family members as nurses, and my niece is currently training to be a nurse.
• I've had many family members as nurses, and my niece is currently training to be a nurse.

Keywords: 1204, all

Transcript Highlights:

• We know we need nurses, but what kind of physicians? What kind of nurses?
• We're gonna be short about 6000 nurses by 2030.
• Um, so we're already, we're already experiencing nursing short.
• or even the NP program?
• I don't foresee these programs being successful.

Committee: House Legislative Health & Human Services Committee

Transcript Highlights:

• So this is really great that we have this universal home visiting program where nurses can come into
• I think the program is universal home visit where a nurse actually visit the whole.
• A nurse can educator on the program. A physician can educate on that program.
• that program.
• and R B H Impact program.

Keywords: 999, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Federal funding of the SNAP program, for example, and of school lunch programs could be a start.
• It's a rule that would triple the registered nurse requirements in nursing homes, which is going to lead
• The SNAP program—everything you've said about the SNAP program, I agree with.
• Look at the school health program.
• Which program you're using when.

Committee: Senate Finance Committee

Transcript Highlights:

• Yes, this model is drawn from a program in Oklahoma.
• My name's Gloria Doherty, a PhD prepared nurse and nurse practitioner.
• I'm here representing the New Mexico Nursing Association and the New Mexico Nurse Practitioner Council
• Linda Siegel with all the health care providers, doctors, nurses, nurse practitioners, OTs, PTs, psychologists
• Again, Gloria Doherty I'm a PhD-prepared nurse practitioner and nurse, and a recipient of this in the

Committee: Senate Senate Health & Public Affairs

Keywords: 996, all

Transcript Highlights:

• So this is really great that we have this universal home visiting program where nurses can come into
• I think the program is your universal home visit, where a nurse actually visits the home.
• How does that program work?
• A mother who is going to her doctor's appointment can be educated on that program by a nurse or a physician
• that program.

Committee: Senate Health Policy

Summary: The Senate Health Policy Committee met to discuss maternal and infant health, beginning with a presentation from New Jersey’s Maternal and Infant Health Innovation Authority (MiHA). Pamela Taylor described New Jersey’s statewide effort to reduce maternal mortality and racial disparities through the Nurture New Jersey campaign, a strategic plan with more than 80 recommendations, universal home visiting, Medicaid-covered doula care, hospital report cards, limits on non-medically indicated early elective C-sections, and a new maternal and infant health innovation center. Senators asked about doula certification, funding, home visiting, and how New Jersey coordinates across agencies; Taylor said the authority uses quarterly stakeholder meetings, annual summits, and a tracker for recommendations, and that community input helped shape its programs. Florida Agency for Health Care Administration Deputy Secretary Brian Meyer then outlined Florida Medicaid’s maternal coverage and managed care structure. He reviewed eligibility and services for pregnant women, labor and delivery, postpartum coverage, newborn coverage, and family planning, noting 12 months of postpartum coverage, expanded benefits in managed care plans, and new contracts launching February 1 with more maternal-health-focused benefits, quality measures, and a new quality withhold incentive structure. Senators questioned doula certification and duplication with Healthy Start, provider access and network adequacy, kick payments, quality reporting, and whether Florida should consider broader eligibility standards; Meyer said many details are still plan-driven, that quality metrics are public, and that the agency is working on maternal-health work groups and incentives. Department of Health Division Director Shea Holloway followed with an overview of Florida’s maternal and child health programs and data. She cited Florida CHARTS data showing pregnancy-related deaths, severe maternal morbidity, and infant mortality trends, and described the Title V block grant, the Maternal Mortality Review Committee, the Florida Perinatal Quality Collaborative, the electronic prenatal risk screen, Healthy Babies, BH Impact for perinatal mental health, Healthy Start, WIC, family planning, telehealth maternity care, and the Pregnancy Care Network. Senators asked about delays in mortality review reporting, preterm birth, substance use disorder in pregnancy, WIC participation, cesarean rates, and the impact of the abortion ban; Holloway said the department is continuing to monitor outcomes, expand screening and telehealth, and use data and hospital partnerships to improve care. The committee then adjourned without further business.

Transcript Highlights:

• There's a California pay-per-value program. Rhode Island and Tennessee have a commercial program.
• Last weekend, a nurse manager relayed the recent experience of a nurse receiving her concerning mammogram
• It means a nurse, nurse aide, medical assistant, hospital employee, allied health professional, laboratory
• There are practitioners stating that when a nurse or nurse practitioner complaint is... ...reported to
• Even though the same prior complaint regarding the nurse by the Board of Nursing was addressed prior

Bills: SB95 , SB268 , SB493 , SB619 , SB660 , SB922 , SB984 , SB1098 , SB1188 , SB1307 , SB1332 , SB1822

Committee: Senate Health & Human Services

Keywords: immunization, written informed consent, civil liability, health care provider, vaccine compensation, administrative penalty, health care, licensing, complaint procedure, disciplinary action, law enforcement, pharmacy benefit manager, PBM, gag clause, prescription drug pricing, out-of-pocket cost, cash price, pharmacist, pharmacy, prescription drug benefit

Transcript Highlights:

• </c><00:55:20.839><c> long-term</c> while ensuring the programs long-term while ensuring the programs
• You're representing the University of Hawaiʻi system and also the Center for Nursing, School of Nursing
• You're representing the University of Hawaiʻi system and also the Center for Nursing, School of Nursing
• Center for Nursing School of Nursing um Center for Nursing School of Nursing and<01:17:52.920><c> dental
• </c><01:18:13.480><c> I</c> the hawwai State Center for Nursing I the hawwai State Center for Nursing

Keywords: 910, house, all

Summary: The Committee on Education heard several Department of Education-related bills and received extensive testimony on school meals and veteran diplomas. HB 628 would restore authority for the Department of Education to issue high school diplomas to veterans whose schooling was interrupted by World War II, the Korean War, or the Vietnam War. The superintendent testified in support, explaining the authority had sunset in 2020 and describing the measure as a way to recognize veterans. No opposition or questions were raised, and the bill was left without further action in the excerpt. The committee also heard HB 1074 and HB 110, both supported by the Department of Education and the School Facilities Authority. HB 1074 was described as a cleanup measure to clarify land-related language and make the statute more consistent across state agencies and DOE. HB 110 concerned benchmarking and the farm-to-school/local food effort; DOE and several supporters, including county councils, the Hawaii Public Health Institute, the Hawaii Farm Bureau, and the Hawaii Farmers Union, said the bill would help align metrics and support the 30% local food goal by 2030. Members questioned DOE about progress, and DOE said it was working on menus, procurement, and coordination with distributors and farmers. A Farm to School representative said the current bottleneck was poor communication with farmers and the need to bring them into planning earlier; DOE said it was still figuring out the process and that island-based procurement and separate RFPs were being explored. HB 328, relating to school meals and local resource food and plant-based options, drew the most testimony. DOE testified with comments, and the Attorney General’s office suggested revisions to clarify that the bill would apply to both DOE and charter schools, to separate public and private funds if donations or grants are accepted, and to add standards if nonprofit or private entities receive public money. Supporters included HSTA, the Hawaii Public Health Institute/Farm to School Network, Climate Protection Hawaii, the Hawaii Cattlemen’s Council, and numerous individuals and organizations. Supporters emphasized healthier school meals, student-requested plant-based options, support for local farms, and the 30% by 2030 goal. Some testimony urged more local purchasing and raised concerns about decentralization, while DOE said it was considering island-based procurement and separate contracts to better support local producers. No votes were taken in the excerpt.

Transcript Highlights:

• Programs and services and analyzing gaps.
• Meal programs assist in keeping people in their homes.
• It increases the current emergency services program.
• Lund on the work that is being done with this program.
• This is about allowing skilled nurses to do a task that they are licensed to do under the Nurse Practice

Committee: House Human Services Finance and Policy

Transcript Highlights:

• </c><00:11:47.360><c> Program</c> number of key provisions. Program number of key provisions.
• We also see aligning assistance program.
• I think we practices for DHS programs.
• </c><00:19:38.320><c> homes,</c> settings as we do for nursing homes, settings as we do for nursing homes
• ><c> the</c><00:19:40.559><c> benefit</c> skilled nursing that enjoy the benefit skilled nursing that

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Anything we can do to get more nurses, but improve patient-to-nurse ratio.
• Anything we can do to get more nurses, but improve patient to nurse ratio.
• Our nurses are burnt out.
• That's not what the major events reimbursement program looks like.
• actually benefit from the reimbursement program.

Summary: The Senate first adopted a motion to move the intent calendar deadline to 4 p.m. and then took up several bills by suspending the regular order of business. Senate Bill 2031, concerning removal of high fences around breeder deer release sites, passed after an amendment shortened the testing period from five years to three, tied visible identification requirements to the date Parks and Wildlife began requiring them, and made the bill effective immediately. Senate Bill 1490, a cleanup to adult charter high school funding, and Committee Substitute Senate Bill 2227, creating a process for delayed birth certificates and renamed the Charles E. Barton Act, both passed unanimously after floor amendments. Committee Substitute Senate Bill 1964, regulating artificial intelligence systems used by state agencies, also passed unanimously after the author described guardrails for high-risk AI and disclosure requirements. The Senate then considered Senate Bill 2877, which increases penalties for election fraud and related attempts; after debate over whether existing law already covers some conduct and whether the bill was necessary given the small number of convictions, it passed to engrossment and later final passage on a 21-10 vote. Committee Substitute Senate Bill 2658, on brackish groundwater production and study, passed after four amendments, including one giving water districts authority to stop production if monitoring shows harm to freshwater supplies or subsidence and another returning a portion of transported water revenue to districts. Committee Substitute Senate Bill 648, strengthening recording requirements for real property instruments to help prevent deed theft, also passed on a 26-4 vote. Other measures approved included Committee Substitute Senate Bill 401, making it easier for homeschool students to participate in UIL activities through local district opt-in/nearest-district participation rules; Committee Substitute Senate Bill 407, requiring health care facilities to honor conscience or religious vaccine exemptions for employees, despite extensive questioning about patient safety and immunocompromised patients; Committee Substitute Senate Bill 2117, creating a Texas Committee on Foreign Investment to review risky foreign acquisitions; Senate Bill 1718, adding the NRA annual meeting to the major events reimbursement program after a failed amendment seeking equal space for gun-control advocacy; Committee Substitute Senate Bill 1626, clarifying limits on censorship and interference with digital expression by social media platforms; and Senate Bill 2206, updating the state R&D franchise tax credit and related sales tax treatment, which passed 31-0. The chamber also debated Senate Bill 1395 on school health advisory councils. An initial amendment to restore voting seats for teachers and school employees failed, but a later amendment by Senator West added students back in an advisory, non-voting capacity. The Senate then handled routine motions, committee scheduling, first-reading referrals, and adjourned until April 29, with the session ending in memory of two constituents.

Transcript Highlights:

• The bill defines a dropout retrieval program as a program that serves students who have officially withdrawn
• education programs and school performance calculations.
• So I believe the first example is a school nurse.
• So that could be with the school nurse or that could be at a...
• But what can happen is there's a train-the-trainer program.

Committee: Senate Education Pre-K - 12

Summary: The Senate Committee on Education Pre-K through 12 considered a series of education-related bills, many of them after adopting amendments. SB 1122 on Florida Virtual School was amended to remove virtual preschool provisions and then passed favorably, with the sponsor describing it as a clarifying bill about FLVS operations, revenue sources, reporting, and student access. SB 1374, on school district reporting requirements for educator arrests and misconduct, was also approved; it requires faster district action and reporting when instructional personnel are arrested for certain offenses and clarifies that self-reports are not admissions of guilt. SB 1402, on student enrollment and dropout retrieval programs, was amended and passed to broaden eligibility for dropout retrieval services and allow certain virtual providers to receive a school improvement rating instead of a school grade. SB 364, moving the Council on the Social Status of Black Men and Boys from the Department of Education to Florida Memorial University, was amended and reported favorably. The committee also approved SB 772 on diabetes management in schools, which would allow districts to obtain and store glucagon for emergency use by trained school staff or nurses, with liability protections included. SB 1102 on school readiness programs for children with disabilities passed after testimony that it would expand identification of disabilities, require more training for providers, and direct special-needs funding toward better-supported classrooms. SB 1382, also on school readiness, was approved and would change the definition of economically disadvantaged families, adjust priority tiers, and update the waitlist and forecasting process for child care assistance. The most debated measure was SB 140, which was substantially rewritten by delete-all amendment to create “job engine charter schools,” allow municipalities to seek charter schools aimed at attracting industry, authorize parent votes for conversion of existing public schools, and set requirements for district five-year property plans and surplus property use, including affordable housing and charter school purposes. Supporters argued it could aid economic development and repurpose underused property, while opponents raised concerns about privatization, reduced stakeholder input, unclear voting procedures, and loss of district control over property. Despite extensive debate and multiple public speakers against it, the bill passed favorably. The committee also approved SB 430, a merged AED and cardiac emergency response bill requiring public schools to have a cardiac emergency plan, trained staff, and an operational AED in a publicized location, with reimbursement provisions and liability protections; it passed after supporters emphasized life-saving benefits and manageable training costs. The committee adjourned after recording additional members’ votes on selected bills.

Transcript Highlights:

• practitioners, and nurse midwives.
• Family Pact, Cancer Detection Program, Every Woman Counts, the Breast and Cervical Cancer Treatment Program
• The program rules were changed, which devastated the entire program system.
• comply or even want to be in the program.
• wrong in relation to the program.

Keywords: 988, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> that aren't covered by the nursing that aren't covered by the nursing facility.<00:29:03.520><c>
• </c> patient account at a nursing facility. patient account at a nursing facility.
• /c><00:31:31.279><c> allowed</c> nursing facility recipient being allowed nursing facility recipient
• Happy to answer Cannabis Program.
• Um, when I think about the program.

Keywords: 928, house, all

Summary: The committee heard testimony on Senate Bill 118, as amended, which contains several unrelated provisions with a modest fiscal note. Nathan White of the Department of Health and Human Services explained that section 1 would change the personal needs allowance for Medicaid-eligible residents of private and county nursing homes from an adjustment every five years to an annual adjustment, increasing the state cost by about $50,000 per year. He also described section 2, a one-time appropriation of about $160,000 to make certain Hampstead employees whole for missed bonuses and lost leave during the state’s transition of the facility to Dartmouth management. White then outlined sections 3 through 5, which would create a dedicated fund for Hampstead lease revenue to cover the state’s contractual obligation to match Dartmouth capital improvements dollar-for-dollar up to $3 million. He said the state receives about $1.141 million in lease revenue in the first year, with a 3% annual escalator, and that the fund would hold lease revenue until needed for reimbursement. Members questioned how the matching arrangement would work, what happens if Dartmouth spends before the fund has enough money, and whether the state could refuse to match certain improvements. White said Dartmouth has final determination under the agreement if disputes arise, and that if the bill does not pass the state could face difficulty meeting the obligation without cutting services or finding other general funds. Several members also raised policy concerns about the personal needs allowance becoming an automatic cost driver. Brian Clark, attorney for the Bureau of Adult and Aging Services, clarified that current law requires the allowance to be updated at least every five years, but the legislature could change it in an off year if it chose. He also explained that the allowance is money residents retain from their own income, such as Social Security, as part of Medicaid cost-of-care calculations, and that the department does not regulate how residents keep those funds. No vote was taken during the discussion, and the committee paused to correct the bill copy before continuing testimony.

Transcript Highlights:

• Members, would you please welcome Alexis as our nurse of the day.
• She has been a nurse for four years.
• nurse for two years.
• This is year three of a five-year program for a CrNA program. Thank you.
• Their services were cut in their day programs that they went to.

Bills: HB3418 , HB3985 , HB3463 , HB3002 , HB4303 , HB3919 , HB3416 , HB3417 , HB3415 , HB2206 , HB3414 , HB3265 , HB3310 , HB3413 , HB4486 , HB1219 , SR39 , SB1177 , HB3298 , HB2696 , HB3941 , HB3970 , HB3264 , HB3321 , HB2650 , HB3497 , HB3980 , HB3981 , HB4421 , HB3177 , HB3322 , HB3499 , HB3500 , HB3845 , HB3742 , HB3622 , HB1250 , HB2710 , HB3831 , HB4408 , HB1002 , HB3008 , HB3086 , HB3595 , HB3678 , HB4107 , HB3695 , HB3315 , HB3590 , HB3006 , HB3151 , HB2959 , HB2398 , HB3026 , HB3467 , HB4268 , HB3372 , HB2210 , HB4359 , HB4427

Keywords: public works, bidding procedures, construction contracts, transparency, public trust, electronic bidding, school districts, property rights, public nuisance, compensation claims, government enforcement, Oklahoma Safe Neighborhoods Act, municipal audit, state auditor, local government, financial transparency, gasoline tax allocations, counties, county officers, education

Transcript Highlights:

• Members, would you please welcome Alexis as our nurse of the day?
• She has been a nurse for four years.
• This school security piece was a three-year pilot program.
• This is year three of a five-year program for a CRNA program. Follow up. Thank you.
• Their services being cut in their day programs that they went to.

Bills: HB3418 , HB3985 , HB3463 , HB3002 , HB4303 , HB3919 , HB3416 , HB3417 , HB3415 , HB2206 , HB3414 , HB3265 , HB3310 , HB3413 , HB4486 , HB1219 , SR39 , SB1177 , HB3298 , HB2696 , HB3941 , HB3970 , HB3264 , HB3321 , HB2650 , HB3497 , HB3980 , HB3981 , HB4421 , HB3177 , HB3322 , HB3499 , HB3500 , HB3845 , HB3742 , HB3622 , HB1250 , HB2710 , HB3831 , HB4408 , HB1002 , HB3008 , HB3086 , HB3595 , HB3678 , HB4107 , HB3695 , HB3315 , HB3590 , HB3006 , HB3151 , HB2959 , HB2398 , HB3026 , HB3467 , HB4268 , HB3372 , HB2210 , HB4359 , HB4427

Keywords: public works, bidding procedures, construction contracts, transparency, public trust, electronic bidding, school districts, property rights, public nuisance, compensation claims, government enforcement, Oklahoma Safe Neighborhoods Act, municipal audit, state auditor, local government, financial transparency, gasoline tax allocations, counties, county officers, education

Summary: The Senate convened with a quorum, offered prayer, and recognized the Doctor and Nurse of the Day, along with several visiting groups in the galleries, including the Goldsby Volunteer Fire Department and families honoring fallen firefighters Todd Pendleton and Brian Jenkins, the Sapulpa Elks Antlers, the Grove Chamber of Commerce, and northeastern Oklahoma cattlemen. The chamber adopted Senate Resolution 39, celebrating the 100th anniversary of U.S. Route 70 and its economic importance to southern Oklahoma communities. The main item of business was the Joint Committee Report for Senate Bill 1177, the General Appropriation Bill for the State of Oklahoma. Senators questioned the budget’s overall size, the use of gross production tax revenues, the new sovereign/endowment trust fund, Medicaid and Health Care Authority funding, mental health appropriations, child care subsidy funding, school security, career tech, tourism, the Commissioners of the Land Office, textbook allocations, and several other agency lines. The chair explained that the budget included about $1.5 billion in cash and sweeps, a $250 million base appropriation for the Health Care Authority, $200 million for the endowment trust fund, $31 million for PREP projects, $25 million for the Governor’s Quick Action Closing Fund, and other agency-specific appropriations and supplements. Several members debated the report before adoption. Supporters argued the budget addressed agency needs and future savings, while opponents criticized it as a flat or spending-heavy budget that favored special projects and well-connected interests over core services such as child care, mental health, water infrastructure, and county needs. After debate, the Joint Committee Report for SB 1177 was adopted, and the Senate moved through the budget discussion with no recorded roll-call vote in the transcript provided.