Transcript Highlights:

• Morgan said that industry data indicates corrugated capture is about 90 percent.
• it up for the state as a whole using EIA data.
• </c><00:31:35.120><c> for</c> Minnesota specific capacity data for Minnesota specific capacity data for
• Um, so and the data here's how to do it.
• We're trying to present data.

Bills: HF4770

Committee: House Energy Finance and Policy

Summary: The committee approved the March 26 minutes and then took up House File 4770, as amended by an A1 technical amendment. The bill was presented as a proposal to help Liberty Diversified International and Liberty Paper in Becker plan for replacement steam and energy supply as the Shuro facility closure approaches in 2030. Testimony described Liberty Paper’s current closed-loop steam arrangement with Shuro, the need to study future fuel and technology options, and the potential use of anaerobic digestion, biomass, construction and demolition waste, and food waste to produce steam and possibly power. Members asked about feedstock availability, the need for a feasibility study, possible backup natural gas use, and whether waste heat or wastewater heat could be useful. The bill was laid over as amended. The committee then heard a presentation from CenterPoint Energy on Minnesota heating demand and electrification. CenterPoint staff said affordability and reliability are central concerns and outlined how the utility manages customer costs through energy efficiency, contracting, storage, peak shaving, and conservation. Dr. Joel Lynch presented research on peak heating with natural gas and the “missing piece” in Minnesota’s electrification puzzle, explaining that Minnesota’s cold climate makes winter heating demand especially challenging and that replacing natural gas would require substantial new electric capacity and renewable resources. He compared his work with prior national and state studies and said the analysis used Minnesota-specific gas throughput, COP assumptions across several electrification scenarios, and January renewable capacity data. Lynch summarized preliminary findings that Minnesota’s peak gas heating throughput could be up to 40 gigawatts, with electric resistance heating implying roughly 36 gigawatts of new demand, and lower but still substantial demand under heat-pump scenarios. The presentation was informational only; no vote was taken on the CenterPoint presentation. The meeting ended with House File 4770 laid over and the energy demand presentation continuing.

Transcript Highlights:

• And, you know, we talk about data centers, maybe... ...quickly.
• And, you know, we talk about data centers, maybe because of computer changes.
• We’re doing a lot with AI data center.
• You can use a small modular reactor for a data center.
• with data centers, large light water reactors with data centers.

Committee: Joint Advanced Nuclear Energy Committee

Transcript Highlights:

• And, you know, we talk about data centers, maybe. quickly.
• We’re doing a lot with AI data center.
• Take a microreactor and use it for a data center.
• You can use small modular reactors for a data center.
• with data centers, large light water reactors with data centers.

Committee: Joint Advanced Nuclear Energy Committee

Summary: The meeting was a presentation and Q&A at Idaho National Laboratory focused on the state of nuclear energy, advanced reactors, and the lab’s role in testing, regulation, and commercialization. Speakers described INL’s broader mission beyond nuclear, including cybersecurity and critical infrastructure, but emphasized its major nuclear capabilities: the Advanced Test Reactor, TREAT, the Materials and Fuels Complex, and other test beds used to accelerate fuel and materials testing. They also highlighted the lab’s size, workforce, internship pipeline, and partnerships with DOE, DHS, DOD, and private companies. A major topic was the federal push to speed up nuclear deployment through executive orders and regulatory reform. Speakers said DOE and the NRC are reducing unnecessary bureaucracy, streamlining environmental reviews, and working toward a goal of having three new nuclear systems achieve criticality by July 4, 2026. They discussed the difference between microreactors, small modular reactors, and traditional gigawatt-scale plants, arguing that advanced reactors can be factory-built, safer, and better suited for data centers, military bases, remote communities, industrial heat, and other nontraditional uses. They also said the U.S. is rebuilding its nuclear supply chain, including enrichment and fuel fabrication, and that states willing to host parts of the fuel cycle could see major economic benefits. The speakers addressed questions about cost, safety, waste, and international competition. They said advanced reactors rely on passive safety features, TRISO fuel, and natural circulation, and that the industry’s challenge is often cost uncertainty rather than a precise fuel or materials limit. They argued used nuclear fuel should be viewed as a resource rather than waste if recycling becomes policy, and said microreactors should produce relatively small amounts of spent fuel. They also noted that China and Russia continue to build aggressively, with China on pace to surpass the U.S. in total nuclear generation, while U.S. projects such as Palisades, Crane Clean Energy Center, Duane Arnold, Oklo, Aalo, MARVEL, and Project Pele are moving forward under DOE and private-sector partnerships.

Transcript Highlights:

• For example, we already have a number of data matches.
• We have a data match with DES to verify unemployment.
• Currently, we do not have a data match agreement with the Department of Revenue.
• A lot of the data matches are contingent on other states actually providing their data so we can cross-check
• There’s the data checks and then there’s the MCO contracting.

Committee: House House Federalism, Military Affairs & Elections Committee of Reference

Summary: The committee met with all members present, temporarily replacing Vice Chair Keshel with Representative Taylor, and held HB 4014 at the sponsor’s request. It then heard HB 415, which would extend existing state rules on paid petition circulators and initiative/referendum disclosures to municipal and county measures, require paid circulators to display identifying information, and require local measures to disclose expenditures and revenue sources. The sponsor and supporters, including the Arizona Chamber of Commerce, argued the bill would improve transparency and keep initiatives driven by Arizona residents; the bill passed 5-2. The committee also heard the mirror resolution, HCR 2051, which passed 4-3. The committee next considered HCM 2010, urging Congress to propose a constitutional amendment repealing the Seventeenth Amendment and returning selection of U.S. senators to state legislatures. The sponsor argued it would restore state sovereignty and accountability, while opponents raised concerns about direct democracy and the practical problems that led to the Seventeenth Amendment. The motion initially appeared to pass 4-3, but after a vote correction and a present vote, the measure ultimately failed. The committee then took up HB 2940, a complex AHCCCS/DES bill aimed at tightening eligibility verification, expanding competition in managed care contracting, and creating a unified eligibility rules engine. The sponsor said it would improve fiscal discipline and competition; AHCCCS and health plan representatives said many verification steps already exist, some provisions would add cost or duplicate federal/state processes, and the bill would significantly alter the managed care model. Despite those concerns, HB 2940 passed 4-3. Later, HB 2874 passed unanimously 7-0. That bill would ease termination requirements and penalties for candidate committees, PACs, or parties that never received contributions and later file termination statements. The committee then heard HB 467, which would require county recorders to display certain voter status information in precinct registers, signature rosters, or electronic poll books; after testimony from county officials and the Association of Counties, the committee adopted a verbal amendment changing “shall” to “may” and passed the bill 5-2. Finally, HB 2775, as amended, passed 4-3. The bill would bar state and local governments from using state resources to implement or enforce rules or policies of international organizations, and the amendment added restrictions on Arizona public universities’ dealings with certain foreign entities, with ABOR given review authority. Supporters framed it as a sovereignty and anti-foreign-influence measure, while the amendment’s removal of rulemaking authority was cited as important to the vote in favor.

Transcript Highlights:

• It's not one centralized data system; there's an ability to call out some of the data as needed, and
• it's all very specifically engineered to only call out to the data that's needed.
• But we did not go to the step of creating one centralized data system. Thank you.
• and then have them leave and do something with the data.
• that data is protected.

Transcript Highlights:

• the central repository for this data collection.
• and I can give them that data up front.
• how in-depth this data collection pool is.
• They did do a data collection and pool of that data across all of our higher education institutions that
• And a piece of data that they shared that just.

Committee: House House Government, Elections & Indian Affairs

Transcript Highlights:

• We are comparing the same data set.
• I couldn't tell you this story back in 2011 because we had no data.
• This data was presented in the report in September of 2024 to the council.
• Access to real-time metered utility data is important.
• Automated data uploads make life a lot easier.

Committee: House Public School Capital Outlay Oversight Task Force

Transcript Highlights:

• And we had to expand that to actually capture the data fields for itemized deductions.
• That claim data is varied. We'll talk about and the limitations from that.
• Could you go a little bit more into the data collection question that you asked?
• Each public agency or its risk pool has their own data.
• So, that's the value of the data, but the key here is there's not a single point of... data collection

Transcript Highlights:

• removing the sunset provision for the tax exemption on data centers.
• I'm curious what data we might have about this being a problem.
• I'm curious what data we might have about this being a problem.
• I'd like to try to see if we have any data on that.
• I didn't say that there wasn't data.

Committee: Senate Commerce and Tourism

Summary: The Commerce and Tourism Committee heard and favorably reported several bills. SB 1672 removed duplicative state provisions related to labor pools; CS/SB 940 prohibited third-party sale of restaurant reservations without the restaurant’s consent; and CS/SB 1820 made changes to motor vehicle manufacturer and dealer franchise law, including disclosure of performance measures, anti-retaliation protections, and limits on franchise termination or nonrenewal. The committee also approved CS/SB 324, creating a revolving loan program to help small businesses affected by prolonged public works construction, and SB 936, which creates a recurring three-year study of the effects of AI, robotics, and automation on Florida’s workforce and economy. SB 1322, the Florida Rural Jobs Act, was amended and reported favorably to encourage private investment in rural small businesses through a state tax credit program. The committee also reported favorably on CS/SB 910, which regulates for-profit veterans’ benefit assistance services, and CS/SB 656, which extends protections from extraordinary collection actions to all bill-of-care payment actions by hospitals and ambulatory surgical centers. The committee spent substantial time on CS/SB 1264, a broad Department of Commerce agency bill. The strike-all amendment added or revised provisions on Secure Florida, the RISE venture capital tax credit program, data center tax exemptions, business development classifications, military land transfers, and other economic development matters, while also repealing regional planning councils from statute. That repeal drew extensive opposition from local officials and regional council representatives, who argued the councils are important for emergency management, grant writing, planning, and support for small and rural communities. Supporters of the amendment said the councils could continue locally without state statutory involvement. After debate, the amendment was adopted and the bill was reported favorably, though Senators Davis and Smith voted no. The committee also considered CS/SB 1238, which would tighten reemployment assistance rules by disqualifying claimants who fail to meet job-search requirements or refuse work, and by adding verification and reporting requirements. Supporters framed it as adding guardrails and preventing fraud, while opponents argued Florida’s unemployment system is already difficult to access and that the bill would add unnecessary barriers and costs. Despite opposition from labor and advocacy groups, the bill was reported favorably, with Senators Smith and Arrington voting no. Finally, the committee unanimously recommended confirmation of Alexis Yarborough and John Gilbert to the Board of Supervisors of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District.

Transcript Highlights:

• And I'm honored to be able to present to you some data.
• And then we're tracking the data to be able to present to you today.
• When we look at data since since 2013, so more than a decade worth of trending data here for our on and
• So taking a closer look at the data over the last 5 years, this trends for you.
• Our data here showing that that's been trending the same way over the past 5 years.

Transcript Highlights:

• </c><00:26:35.600><c> center</c> talk a little bit about data center talk a little bit about data center
• </c> developers that were proposing that data developers that were proposing that data center<00:59:19.920
• </c><01:03:00.640><c> center</c> reflection of the data center reflection of the data center legislation
• It's unfortunately why I went from authoring the data center bill to voting against the final data center
• </c><01:08:39.359><c> legislation</c> patterning uh data center legislation patterning uh data center

Committee: Senate Energy, Utilities, Environment, and Climate

Transcript Highlights:

• When law enforcement officers misuse this data, it is dangerous.
• If they misuse data, punish them.
• Let me say it again: non-case, non-hit data.
• So the concern about data privacy is real.
• or using competitors' data in the same market.

Summary: The Assembly convened after a quorum call, prayer, and Pledge of Allegiance, then moved through a long floor session focused largely on concurrence votes on Senate amendments and a few budget-related motions. Early procedural actions included a failed motion to send AB 1207 to the inactive file, approval of motions to take up Senate amendments without reference to file, and recesses for dinner and committee meetings. The chamber also heard several guest introductions and brief ceremonial remarks, including birthday acknowledgments and recognition of interns and visitors. Members then considered and passed a series of measures on topics including armory property transfers (SB 855), data center electricity impacts (SB 57), carbon capture pipeline transport (SB 614), health budget trailer bills (AB 144 and AB 149), and a Black Caucus higher-education bill allowing institutions to consider descendants of enslaved people in admissions (AB 7). The Assembly also concurred in numerous Senate amendments on bills covering community college nursing programs (AB 1400), public health, signage for the Los Angeles Convention Center, gambling, social media warning labels for children, housing plan-check timelines, small business disaster recovery, wildfire mental health services, antitrust enforcement, foster care kinship placements, housing stability, AI cybersecurity, emergency services, and school nutrition standards. Most of these measures passed with little or no opposition, though a few drew dissenting votes or brief debate over policy details. The most extended debate came on SB 274, which would limit retention of automated license plate reader data to 60 days unless tied to an investigation. Supporters argued it was needed to protect privacy and prevent misuse of sensitive location data, while opponents said it would hinder law enforcement and crime-solving. The transcript cuts off during that debate, so no final vote is shown for SB 274 in the provided text. Earlier and later votes recorded in the session showed broad support for many bills, with several measures passing unanimously and others receiving modest no votes, and some urgency measures being sent immediately to the Governor or the Senate after concurrence.

Transcript Highlights:

• It would be data from the Texas Cancer Registry, so it's data that is being collected.
• What does the actual data say?
• But I think we have all kinds of data and...
• It's like, what does the data show? Thanks.
• We do have data that... ...that there are good data from those states that have expanded practice, which

Bills: HB35 , HB4490 , HB4454 , HB2188 , HB3078 , HB4743 , HB2556 , HB46 , HB5342 , HB4783 , HB3785 , HB5278 , HB1639 , HB2581 , HB4224 , HB4070 , HB4099 , HB4882 , HB3794 , HB46

Committee: House Public Health

Keywords: peer support, first responders, mental health, confidentiality, emergency services, disclosure, next of kin, public information, deceased persons, privacy rights, patient solicitation, marketing practices, healthcare regulation, task force, deceptive advertising, nurse aide, certification, Texas Board of Nursing, healthcare workforce, nursing standards

Transcript Highlights:

• A single test is only a snapshot, and teachers do require ongoing data.
• is encrypted and remains protected until the data reaches school personnel.
• Data is encrypted and remains protected until it reaches school personnel.
• risk associated with third-party data breaches affecting schools.
• End-to-end encryption is an important aspect of protecting data privacy.

Committee: House Education

Transcript Highlights:

• Firearm trace data is exactly what it sounds like.
• This data is a powerful public safety tool.
• , and previous legislation authorized data sharing. ...and previous legislation authorized data sharing
• Trace data is key to this story.
• investigative records into political research data sets.

Committee: Senate Public Safety

Transcript Highlights:

• We saw, with just the updated data between the data we used in the November forecast and the data we
• So this forecast, we're updating the data for newer data, and that brings down the impact of the state
• And we certainly have the data on how many claims we've paid. Of course, you know.
• And we certainly have the data on how many claims we've paid. Of course, you know.
• Last session, the Legislature changed the data that those adjustments are based on, moving from data

Committee: House Human Services Finance and Policy

Transcript Highlights:

• There's great data, but we've never done it because we're U.S.-based, right?
• It seeks to track data on how common detransitioners are.
• Do we have any data on the regrets that the... ...question: Do we have any data on the regrets that these
• It is very apparent, but are we gathering any of that data on regret?
• We have American insurance data, and we have German insurance data, which is fairly objective, that after

Committee: Senate Senate Health and Human Services COR

Summary: The committee approved the minutes and then took up a large agenda of health-related bills. SB 1214, the Arizona Stem Cell Therapy Act, drew extensive testimony from supporters who said it would create guardrails for regenerative medicine, protect patients, and encourage biotech investment, while opponents argued it was tied to abortion politics and imposed harsh penalties. The bill passed on a 4-3 vote. SB 1194, which would prohibit health professionals and institutions from denying care based on vaccination status, also passed 4-3 after testimony from supporters framing it as an access-to-care and religious-freedom measure and opponents warning it would interfere with private practice policies and parental choice. SB 1814, creating a study committee on substance use disorder treatment standards and oversight, passed unanimously 7-0. SB 1602, increasing stipends for kinship foster parents, passed as amended 7-0, and SB 1603, expanding child-only cash assistance eligibility, also passed as amended 7-0. The committee then considered several bills focused on gender-related care and public funding. SB 1177, which bars public monies from funding gender transition procedures and makes intentional violations a felony, passed 4-3 amid testimony that it protects taxpayers and counterarguments that it is discriminatory and unsupported by evidence. SB 1014, requiring insurance coverage for detransition procedures when transition care is covered and directing data reporting on transition and detransition, passed 4-3 after supporters said it would help detransitioners and collect needed data, while opponents argued it would chill providers and target transgender patients. SB 1094, creating civil liability for physicians who perform irreversible gender reassignment surgery on minors, was heard with testimony from supporters citing malpractice concerns and detransitioner harms and from opponents saying it would create a hostile environment for providers and treat trans patients differently; the transcript cuts off before the vote is shown. SB 1752, which classifies commercial harvesting or sale of mescaline as a felony while preserving bona fide religious use defenses, passed unanimously 7-0. Later, SB 1628, requiring insurers to report claims-denial and prior-authorization data and DIFI to publish standardized reports, passed unanimously 7-0 after supporters emphasized transparency and opponents called it redundant to federal reporting. SB 1629, requiring AHCCCS managed care organizations to give advance notice and network-adequacy documentation before terminating high-volume providers without cause, also passed 7-0; supporters said it would prevent patients from losing access to behavioral health care, while health plans and Access said existing oversight already covers much of this and warned the bill could slow necessary network changes. Throughout the meeting, the committee repeatedly adopted motions for due-pass recommendations and, where applicable, amendments, with several bills passing on party-line or near-party-line votes.

Transcript Highlights:

• And so, for power that's needed for key items, like data centers, data centers have to be up 99.999%
• They're building a so-called microgrid to power this data center.
• And Jupiter won't be the last data center to do this. We must close the loophole.
• Conflicting data center opportunities, be grateful, but that's not true anymore.
• But we know that data centers go into communities that But we know that data centers go into communities

Bills: SB78 , SB235 , SB22 , SB310

Committee: Senate Senate Conservation

Keywords: nuclear energy, renewable energy, sustainability, carbon emissions, energy regulation, microgrid, zero carbon resources, Public Regulation Commission, energy generation, electric utilities, motor vehicle manufacturers, licensing, dealers, franchise agreements, consumer protection, water supply, sewage improvements, environment, funding, Mora County

Transcript Highlights:

• We do some data cross-matching.
• Definitely, there's a strong appetite by the agencies to share data and do data analytics.
• basically lots of years of data.
• basically lots of years of data.
• We ran data because I wanted data modeling to say, if we considered this, would it actually help us?

Committee: House Labor & Workplace Standards

Summary: The committee heard a report from Labor and Industries on the Underground Economy Task Force in the construction industry. L&I said the task force, created by a 2024 budget proviso, studied underreporting, worker misclassification, unpaid taxes and premiums, and other underground-economy activity. L&I described consensus recommendations including defining and regulating construction labor providers, improving interagency information sharing, increasing penalties for repeat offenders, giving L&I more authority over successor accountability, reviewing agency penalties and policies, and exploring ways to track cash payments. Majority-but-not-consensus recommendations included posting subcontractor notices at job sites, setting a threshold for independent contractor use that would trigger review, holding direct contractors liable for unpaid wages owed by subcontractors, and reviewing reporting requirements. Testifiers from labor, business, and the Attorney General’s Office generally supported stronger enforcement and transparency, while business representatives cautioned against overregulation, preserving lawful cash payments, and protecting legitimate independent contractors and small businesses. L&I said the final report would be issued by December 31 and that the underground economy committee would be reconvened. The committee then heard the wage recovery work group report. L&I explained current wage-complaint law and the work group’s consensus recommendations to let the department prioritize wage complaints strategically, aggregate related complaints, raise the minimum penalty for willful violations from $1,000 to $1,500 and use a penalty matrix, improve employer awareness, and create a wage recovery fund. Under the proposal, penalties would be deposited into a new fund account, and after the fund is sufficiently built up, limited early payments could be made to eligible low-income workers facing immediate hardship, with a five-year review built in. Business and labor representatives both supported the general framework, though business raised concern about safeguards to recover funds if a claim later proved invalid or fraudulent. The committee also received an overview of Washington’s apprenticeship system and the Washington State Apprenticeship and Training Council. L&I described Washington as a state apprenticeship agency with higher standards than the federal system, and said registered apprenticeship combines paid on-the-job training with classroom instruction. L&I reported more than 15,500 active apprentices, 4,800 new registrations, 2,500 completions, and 206 active sponsors. Members asked about the difference between state and federal apprenticeship pathways, the role of program sponsors and training agents, and the objection process for new programs. L&I said objections do not stop approval but can delay recognition, and noted ongoing internal work to improve the process. The presentation also highlighted strong post-apprenticeship earnings and return on investment. Finally, the committee heard updates on wildland firefighter respiratory protection, the impacts of federal cuts to NIOSH, and ESD’s unemployment insurance and workforce systems. L&I and SHARP said wildland firefighters face significant smoke exposure and cancer risk, but current respirator options are limited by remote conditions, communication needs, fit, and heat; no NIOSH-approved commercial respirator currently meets the relevant NFPA standard. L&I said Washington’s firefighter rules do not currently require respiratory protection for wildland firefighting. On NIOSH, the presenter warned that federal cuts and grant disruptions could reduce training, surveillance, firefighter cancer research, agricultural safety work, and exposure-assessment programs, including work relevant to Hanford and mining safety. ESD reported rising UI claims, a stable unemployment rate, federal funding uncertainty, and pressure on the trust fund, but also described technology and process changes that have reduced call-center bottlenecks and improved claim processing. ESD said a 90-day pilot that compresses phone hours has increased calls answered and work completed while improving timeliness of first payments.

Transcript Highlights:

• So, TIA has a data component, and I think you can plug multiple data streams into that, right?
• Just so everybody knows, because I was floored by this data.
• Same, but are the data? And I'll share this data because we know—I'd love to see it.
• So the data shows that in Houston.
• By the time the state can take action, they're looking at old data.

Bills: HB8

Committee: House Public Education