Transcript Highlights:

• Um, in Alabama, currently, if you're a veteran and you're 100% disabled... ...you're 100% disabled, you're
• If you... ...if you can show proof you're 100% disabled and qualify for those exemptions, you do not

Bills: SB282, SB300, HB72, HB396, SB282, SB300, HB72, HB396

Keywords: virtual currency, cryptocurrency, tax exemption, state tax law, digital assets, ad valorem tax, tangible personal property, business incentives, economic impact, firefighter, license plate, fees, funds distribution, support programs, memorial, disabled veterans, property tax exemption, debt-to-income ratio, homestead, veterans affairs

Transcript Highlights:

• mental health world to help improve, you know, some of those folks helping with developmentally disabled
• Developmentally disabled or intellectually disabled folks get very, very low pay, and Mr.

Bills: SB305, SB109, SB122, SB111, SB114, SB113, SB150, SB112, SB289, SB303

Keywords: education funding, RAISE Act, student outcomes, public schools, local education agencies, accountability, weighted allocations, special education, English language learners, gifted students, Tuskegee University, Alabama Education Trust Fund, appropriation, agricultural research, Southern Preparatory Academy, fiscal responsibility, financial reporting, Education Savings Accounts, RAISE Fund, CHOOSE Act Fund

Transcript Highlights:

• play a critical role in the lives of vulnerable Texans, especially those suffering from cognitive disabilities
• Then we have disabled people that have dementia, people that are mentally ill, and people with intellectual
• disabilities, they get dementia too."

Bills: HB368, HB3311, HB1734, HB2495, HB2716, HB793, HB3376, HB2524, HB3421, HB3446, HB3181

Keywords: electronic devices, family violence, criminal prosecution, protective orders, tracking, harassment, family allowance, decedent's estate, surviving spouse, minor children, inheritance, child support, maintenance, HB 1734, Family Code, Section 155.207, suit affecting the parent-child relationship, SAPCR, continuing exclusive jurisdiction, jurisdiction transfer

Transcript Highlights:

• claims representation to all veterans in Texas with the Department of Veterans Affairs to file disability
• the areas of general assistance, financial assistance for low-income veterans, renovate homes for disabled
• the areas of general assistance, financial assistance for low-income veterans, renovate homes for disabled

Summary: The Senate Committee on Veteran Affairs heard a briefing from the Texas Veterans Commission on its major programs and outreach efforts. TVC described its claims assistance, health care advocacy, education oversight, employment services, entrepreneurship support, mental health and suicide prevention work, women veterans services, grant funding for nonprofits and local governments, and support for veteran treatment courts. The agency also highlighted its communications strategy, including media outreach, events, newsletters, social media, and the Texas Veterans State Benefits Booklet, and noted that less than 58% of veterans were aware of TVC in the latest needs assessment. A committee member asked about performance metrics, and TVC said each appropriation has associated measures and that it could provide recent results. The committee then took up Senate Bill 651, which would allow a county veterans service office in a large county to report either directly to commissioners court or to a designated county executive official. Senator West explained the bill as a cleanup of current practice, and Dallas County testified in support, saying the change would streamline internal management. No opposition was heard, and the bill was left pending. Senate Bill 897 would reduce the non-state matching requirement for the Texas Veterans and Family Alliance grant program in larger counties from 100 percent to 75 percent in the committee substitute, rather than the 50 percent reduction in the filed version. Supporters from MetroCare and Emergence Health Network said the lower match would help sustain and expand veteran mental health services, citing increased demand and program growth. The bill was left pending after testimony. The committee also adopted its rules. Finally, the committee heard Senate Bill 1814, which would create an interagency database to collect and coordinate contact information for transitioning veterans so agencies could proactively connect them with services. Senator Hancock said the goal was to better use information already being collected, though he noted the bill had a significant fiscal note. The committee also heard Senate Bill 1818, which would create a temporary six-month licensing and certification process for military members and spouses assigned to Texas while they wait for letters of good standing from other states. VFW testified in support, emphasizing the importance of employment for military families. Both bills were left pending, and the committee recessed subject to the call of the chair.

Transcript Highlights:

• You will find that the disability rights community is opposed, and for good reason.
• People with intellectual and developmental disabilities are swept into systems designed and for good
• reason, people with intellectual and developmental disabilities are swept into systems designed for substance
• People with developmental disabilities frequently have co-occurring psychiatric disabilities, trauma
• When statutes rely on vague terms like impaired, nuance disappears, and disabled people are impacted.

Keywords: 1182, all

Summary: The committee heard House Bill 2433, which would require insurers offering Medicare supplement policies to people 65 and older to also offer them to Medicare beneficiaries under 65 with ALS or end-stage renal disease, with enrollment periods and premium protections tied to 65-year-old rates. Supporters, including dialysis and ALS advocates, said the bill would help a small population facing high out-of-pocket costs and could improve access to transplants and care; opponents argued it would shift costs onto older seniors and raise Medigap premiums. The committee recommended the bill do pass on a 12-0 vote. The committee also heard House Bill 2593, appropriating $1.5 million to the University of Arizona for the Arizona Perinatal Psychiatry Access Line. The sponsor and physicians testified that the line helps obstetric and pediatric providers quickly consult on perinatal depression, postpartum psychosis, suicidality, and other mental health crises, improving outcomes for mothers, children, and families and reducing costly emergency and crisis care. The bill received a do pass recommendation on a 10-1 vote. House Concurrent Resolution 2013, proclaiming June 2026 as Celebrate Life Month, drew emotional testimony from a young woman with spina bifida and another speaker supporting the sanctity of life. Some members objected that the state should focus on practical supports such as paid leave, child care, and health care access, while others supported the resolution as a statement of human dignity. The resolution passed the committee 7-5. The committee then approved House Bill 4010, creating a Board of Genetic Counselors and licensure standards, after testimony from genetic counselors and a patient advocate about the need for qualified counseling and better access; it passed 11-1. Later, the committee approved House Bill 2196, which would require pharmacy benefit managers to reimburse non-affiliated pharmacies at least their acquisition cost and pay a dispensing fee, and establish an appeals process. Independent pharmacists and their coalition said PBM practices are driving closures and unfairly favor affiliated pharmacies, while PBM and employer representatives warned of major cost increases and said the bill would interfere with private contracts; the bill passed 11-1. The committee also adopted a strike-everything amendment to House Bill 2182 requiring insurers and health plans to report claims denial and prior authorization data to DIFI, and then gave the amended bill a 12-0 do pass recommendation. Finally, the committee approved House Bill 2189, directing the Board of Nursing to update rules for licensed health aides and collect annual data, with the sponsor and board staff saying it would help implement routine ventilator care in the home; it passed 12-0. The committee then began hearing House Bill 2404, a strike-everything amendment on inter-facility transports for behavioral health patients, but the transcript cuts off before action on that bill.

Transcript Highlights:

• why I work to push forward a bipartisan bill, the Honoring Our Fallen Heroes Act, which expands disability
• As a disabled veteran, I'm proud to lead this legislation on behalf of our veterans community.
• This bill will make meaningful improvements to the way that the program serves our disabled veterans.
• , a collective psychological disability as a people.
• , A COLLECTIVE PSYCHOLOGICAL DISABILITY AS A PEOPLE.

Keywords: U.S. House of Representatives Floor Proceedings on Monday, February 2, 2026, 1012, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Just curious, where did you work with kids with disabilities?
• It's hard to tell your stories, and that's what, when I was an advocate for people with disabilities,
• When you have a child who has a disability, I've helped some children who have been caught up in this
• They have a disability and they're thrown into the youth services center, facing bullying and All the
• The group that keeps getting forgotten in Martinez-Yazoo is the kids with disabilities.

Transcript Highlights:

• , and target our communities of color. ...and people with disabilities, and target our communities of
• health care, cuts to Medicaid that hurt the poorest of Californians, kids, seniors, people with disabilities
• It's for our seniors, our veterans, our persons with disabilities, our immigrant families who are out
• students, but also for teachers, doctors, riders, and visitors studying the growing community of disability
• person to really... ...with which she advocated not only for her son, but for every disabled person

Summary: The Assembly met after a quorum call, recess, prayer, and the Pledge of Allegiance, then moved into a highly procedural and contentious floor session centered on redistricting measures. Members debated a point of order raised by Assembly Member DeMaio challenging the constitutionality of SB 280, ACA 8, and AB 604; the Speaker ruled the point not well taken, and the Assembly sustained that ruling on appeal. The body also took up consent-calendar and procedural motions, including suspending rules to adopt late amendments on ACA 8 and to bring the measure up without reference to file. Several motions to re-refer or suspend rules on related measures failed, while the motion to adopt the late amendments on ACA 8 carried. The main substantive item was ACA 8, the Assembly Constitutional Amendment related to redistricting, presented by Assembly Member Berman as a response to mid-decade redistricting efforts in other states, especially Texas. Supporters argued the measure was a temporary, voter-driven response to protect democracy, counter partisan gerrymandering, and address broader threats tied to the Trump administration, including immigration enforcement and health care cuts. Opponents argued ACA 8 would undermine California’s independent citizens redistricting commission, violate the state Constitution, and amount to partisan gerrymandering or a power grab. Members on both sides framed the issue as a defense of democracy, but disagreed sharply over whether the Legislature should act or leave redistricting to voters and the existing commission. No final vote on ACA 8 is shown in the transcript excerpt, but the Assembly did vote on several procedural matters: the appeal of the Speaker’s ruling was sustained 58-18; the motion to adopt late amendments on ACA 8 passed 58-19; a motion to re-refer ACA 8 and SB 280 to Judiciary failed 19-58; and a motion to take up A.J.R. 21 without reference to file failed 19-58. The session remained focused on ACA 8 and related redistricting questions, with extensive floor speeches from both supporters and opponents.

Transcript Highlights:

• HB 5063 by Garcia relates to exemptions for former foster children with intellectual disabilities to
• relating to certain actions for personal injury that arise out of a sexual offense against a child or disabled
• SB 5276 by Gonzales of El Paso, relating to measures to ensure the safety of individuals with disabilities
• persons who are or may be persons of interest with mental illness or intellectual or developmental disabilities
• HB5608 by Goodwin relates to certain requirements regarding persons with disabilities enrolled in public

Keywords: 1184, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Like, we could use an example of somebody who's living. with disabilities.
• It could be their disability check. would be allowed to be used to pay for their rent. Mr.
• And so they also include people who are disabled and others.
• on the floor with me: Miss Alice Lou McCoy, Executive Director of the New Mexico Developmental Disabilities
• McCoy's office, the New Mexico Developmental Disabilities Council office.

Transcript Highlights:

• On page 8, there's only one exceptional item not included. included, which is the increase for disabled
• Can you go back for a minute to the disabled veteran assistance?
• The Texas Emergency Services Retirement System provides retirement, survivor, and disability John Posey
• We provide death benefits for On-Duty, Off-Duty, On-Duty Disability, and Tuition Exemption.
• On-Duty Disability: if a member is injured on duty, they get $400 a month minimum.

Transcript Highlights:

• that can provide equitable telecom access to allow certain residents, including residents with disabilities
• I'm an individual with a disability. I have training on accessible documents.
• <01:00:47.680> I<01:00:47.799> have individual with a disability I have individual
• with a disability I have training<01:00:48.280> on<01:00:48.559> accessible<01:00:49.480
• <01:03:06.559> Act the um Americans with Disabilities Act the um Americans with Disabilities

Keywords: 912, senate, all

Summary: The committee opened its first hearing of 2025 and announced that all measures heard that day would be deferred to the next committee hearing for decision-making on Thursday, January 30. The agenda centered largely on procurement and government-operations bills, with testimony generally split between state agencies and local governments. On procurement measures, SB 254 and SB 383 would raise small-purchase thresholds; the State Procurement Office opposed both, while county officials, the City and County of Honolulu, the state librarian, and others supported them. SB 382, which would bar disclosure of a competing offeror’s proposal or evaluation score, and SB 462, which would require performance incentive contracts to specify pricing bases, goals, and formulas, drew mostly written comments and some support from agencies such as the Department of Transportation and Department of Education. SB 615, which would treat certain large change orders as new contracts, received opposition from the Comptroller and engineering interests. The committee also heard several bills on vacancies, appointments, and legislative oversight. SB 5 on state legislative vacancies had one supporting testifier, while SB 300 on deadlines for filling certain Senate vacancies drew opposition from several individuals and support from one late testifier. SB 1081, which would create a legislative budget office to provide fiscal analysis and reports on bills, received broad support from advocacy groups, civic organizations, and individuals. SB 711, requiring Senate advice and consent for certain executive-branch appointments, drew written opposition from the Governor’s Office and support from one individual. SB 375, establishing a select commission on government restructuring, had one written supporter. SB 418, which would require the Attorney General’s office to review a portion of administrative rules each year, prompted extended discussion about outdated rules, the difficulty of repealing or amending rules, and whether the bill should be refined; the AG’s office indicated the process is burdensome and could be streamlined. The committee then took up transparency and access measures. SB 55, requiring agency rules to be posted online in a digitally accessible format, received support from several advocacy and civic groups and written comment from the Lieutenant Governor’s Office. SB 870 would direct the comptroller to identify state office buildings that could provide equitable telecom access for remote participation in hearings, especially for residents with disabilities; the Comptroller supported the concept, and members discussed using libraries, DAGS facilities, county facilities, and other public buildings, with concerns raised about staffing, bandwidth, and competing public use. SB 270, a sunshine-law measure allowing board members to attend informational meetings and presentations, drew opposition from the Public First Law Center, which argued it would create a broad loophole and should be narrowed to existing county-council provisions. SB 45, concerning neighborhood board meetings and third-party presentations, prompted discussion about whether it actually addressed neighborhood boards’ Sunshine Law concerns; the committee was told it was not the right vehicle for that issue. SB 406, which would cap copying fees for government records at 5 cents per page with exceptions, drew support from media and transparency groups but opposition from DAGS, which said its actual per-page cost is much higher; members discussed possible electronic-copy alternatives and asked for more cost information before the next hearing.

Transcript Highlights:

• I'm also a parent of a child with a disability.
• and misidentification in the use of these AI tools, and this is particularly concerning in the disability
• community, where so many of the characteristics of disability, like lack of eye contact, repetitive
• misidentification in the use of these AI tools, and that this is particularly concerning in the disability
• ,<00:32:15.760> and and students with disabilities, and and students with disabilities, and

Bills: HF3753, HF4299, HF4700, HF4282, HF4139, HF3530, HF4031

Keywords: school safety, threat assessment, pilot project, education, real-time monitoring, public safety, HF4299, school safety specialists, Minnesota School Safety Center, appropriation, general fund, fiscal year 2026, school security, school violence prevention, student safety, Department of Public Safety, school resource support, education funding, peace officer, training reimbursement

Transcript Highlights:

• Um so about 60% of our disabilities.
• <00:06:16.400> or spent on people with disabilities or spent on people with disabilities or
• <00:26:24.240> So disabilities um in these situations.
• So disabilities um in these situations.
• against people with disabilities. against people with disabilities.

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• provides for survivor and disability provides for survivor and disability benefits<00:09:59.680>
• <00:20:05.440> benefits, retirement income, disability benefits, retirement income, disability
• We are aware that duty disability is a looming issue for the fund.
• We are aware that the duty disability<00:25:11.840> is<00:25:12.000> a<00:25:12.159>
• <00:26:20.080> pension I received a 60% PRA disability pension I received a 60% PRA disability

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• with that funding um with disabilities with that funding um with the<00:01:49.640> February<00
• and older adults 1.8 disabilities and older adults 1.8 billion<00:03:02.360> or<00:03:02.720>
• We're continuing to see disability waiver spending growth.
• We're seeing an increase in what we're projecting for the inflationary adjustments for the disability
• These are the majority of services under the disability waivers.

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• and I needed extra support disability and I needed extra support for<00:36:12.720> independent
• I came to MICC because of my disability, and I needed extra support for independent transportation and
• <00:48:20.200> seeking people with disabilities seeking people with disabilities seeking employment
• skills and employment with disabilities skills and employment then<00:48:32.079> I<00:48:32.160
• opportunity for people with disabilities opportunity for people with disabilities to<00:48:39.440

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• Women of color, members of the LGBTQ+ community, those with disabilities, and Native American women face
• This program is paramount to the success and stability of families after a divorce or the death or disability
• This program is paramount to the success and stability of families after a divorce or the death or disability
• This program is paramount to the success and stability of families after a divorce or the death or disability
• This program is paramount to the success and stability of families after a divorce or the death or disability

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• She transferred more than 100 core programs and services, including the Individuals with Disabilities
• Educators and parents, especially parents of students with disabilities, they’re distraught, and they
• HHS Secretary Kennedy has troubling and ignorant views on disabilities and is woefully unqualified to
• Daphne was a mother, a mentor, an intellectual, and avid disability rights advocate, a writer and keeper

Keywords: U.S. House of Representatives Floor Proceedings on Thursday, June 25, 2026, 1012, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• down that number: 264,330 of them are seniors over the age of 60, 310,318 are individuals with disabilities
• It's going to hurt families, it's going to hurt seniors, it's going to hurt the disabled, it's going
• Rather than fighting each other on who to blame, let's stand up and fight for the poor, the disabled,
• It's about the person in our community with disabilities. It's about a child in foster care.

Keywords: 995, all

Summary: The Senate first adopted an emergency preamble for H. 4521, establishing a sick leave bank for Kathleen Roder of the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, by standing vote, with 8 in favor and none opposed. The chamber also suspended rules to refer several petitions to committee, including a resolution to rescind prior Article 5 constitutional convention applications and a petition on officer training related to stage suicides. Committee reports moved several bills forward, including legislation clarifying the duties of the Adjutant General and enhancing access and support for military-connected families, both with new drafts, and a bill designating Veterans Suicide Awareness and Remembrance Day, which was ordered to a third reading. A major portion of the session focused on the House’s nonconcurrence in the Senate’s amendment to the fiscal year 2025 supplemental budget and the appointment of a conference committee. Senators from both parties debated how to respond to the federal government shutdown and the threatened lapse in SNAP benefits, with repeated calls for the Commonwealth to use available state resources to prevent hunger, protect vulnerable residents, and seek federal reimbursement. Several members criticized the governor’s use of taxpayer-funded communications on the issue, while others defended the administration’s limited initial response and emphasized fiscal constraints. The Senate ultimately insisted on its amendment and appointed a conference committee consisting of Senators Rodrigues, Comerford, and O’Connor. The chamber also passed several local and special bills, including measures exempting Natick’s assistant fire chief from civil service, authorizing sewer service in Sharon, changing the term of the elected moderator in Holden, updating Medford’s linkage exaction program, and establishing sick leave banks for Candy J. Pike and Kathleen Roder. The Senate later adopted amended resolutions calling on the President of the United States to release contingency funds for SNAP during the shutdown, adopted an order to adjourn to the following Monday, and then adjourned.