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• degree may include may include a master's degree or higher in an area of certification or teacher assignment
• has with a minimum of 18 graduate semester hours relating to the area of certification or teacher assignment

Keywords: 999, senate, all

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• the prior banking experience to say that I think most of those contracts would say successors and assigns
• There is a, an agreement that, that, that, um, binds successors and assigns.

Bills: HB 246, HB 796, HB 1056, HB 1544, HB 1846, HB 2001, HB 2618, HB 2625, HB 2869, HB 2898, HB 3069, HB 3114, HB 3157, HB 3228, HJR 98

Keywords: federal directives, state authority, Tenth Amendment, government enforcement, local governance, gold standard, legal tender, currency, transactional currency, financial transactions, electronic payment systems, state finance, regulatory compliance, electric trucks, charging infrastructure, advisory council, transportation, sustainability, criminal penalties, official information

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• you're a visual learner like myself, there's a good visual in there that sort of gives a sample assignment
• of how the assignment of various different products of the excise tax would work, could work.

Summary: The Ways and Means Committee met on March 13, 2025, for its first meeting of the session, with member and staff introductions followed by consideration of several tax-related bills. The committee first heard HJR 163 and its implementing bill HB 165, which would extend the homestead property tax exemption for quadriplegics to surviving spouses, similar to the treatment for surviving spouses of certain disabled veterans. Sponsor Rep. Tant and constituent J.R. Harding described the financial and caregiving burdens faced by spouses of quadriplegics. The committee heard supportive testimony from the Florida Association of Property Appraisers and members voted both measures favorably without opposition. The committee then considered HB 785 on heated tobacco products. Rep. Tramont said the bill would create a new tax/regulatory category for the product, and an amendment clarifying the definition was adopted. The James Madison Institute offered a resource on the issue, the Florida Retail Federation waived in support, and Ranking Member Eskamani said she had concerns about the excise tax treatment and would vote no. The bill passed 16-1. Next, HB 321, a property tax exemption clarification for homes for the aged, was presented by Rep. Smith as a technical “glitch bill” to align state law with IRS tax code and ease development of low-income senior housing. It drew supportive testimony and passed unanimously. The final bill, HB 503 by Rep. Botana, would cap local government revenue from local business taxes and require refunds if collections exceed the cap, with carve-outs for fiscally constrained areas. Local government and economic development groups, including the Florida League of Cities, the City of Winter Haven, the Miami-Dade Beacon Council, and the Florida Association of Counties, opposed the bill, arguing it would limit funding for public safety, inspections, economic development, and other services and create administrative refund problems. Several members supported the bill as a tax-cutting measure, while others warned of impacts on local services and revenue flexibility. The committee reported HB 503 favorably on a 14-5 vote, and then adjourned.

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• retired North Adams police officers as special police officers within said city for paid detail assignments

Summary: The House received two gubernatorial messages: one recommending legislation on terms for certain Commonwealth bonds, referred to the Committee on Bonding, Capital Expenditures and State Assets, and another exempting George Petrinos from the maximum retirement age for firefighter service in Dudley, referred to the Committee on Public Service. The Committee on Rules also reported favorably on resolutions commending the Town of Plymouth for its commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, and the House suspended the rules and adopted the resolution. The House then took up Senate Bill 2577, further regulating parking fines in Scituate. After suspending Rule 7A, the bill was ordered to a third reading. The House also passed to be enacted two engrossed bills: House 4141, authorizing North Adams to appoint retired police officers as special police officers for paid detail assignments, and House 3929, regulating the maximum age for original appointment as a police officer in Worcester. Later, the House passed to be engrossed Senate Bill 2908, establishing a sick leave bank for Shannon Manning of the Trial Court, Senate Bill 3031, establishing a sick leave bank for Stephanie Rivera of the Worcester County Sheriff's Office, House Bill 4443, changing the maximum age requirement for original appointment as a firefighter or police officer in Haverhill, and House Bill 5379, relating to the transfer of interest in land in West Brookfield. The House adopted an order to adjourn until Wednesday at 11 a.m., and then adjourned to meet then in informal session.

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• retired North Adams police officers as special police officers within said city for paid detail assignments

Keywords: 1212, all

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• This was assigned over to a subcommittee at that time.

Bills: HB393, HB61

Keywords: tax abatement, incentive programs, NAICS code, economic development, business, Covington County, carbon dioxide, underground wells, nonhazardous fluids, environmental protection, constitutional amendment, 1136, house, all

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• Because it was not assigned to committees' committee. That's the capital outlay bill.

Summary: The committee met to review staff recommendations on several bills introduced the previous day, with staff noting that the measures were generally straightforward because they either carried a message or included an appropriation. The chair first took up Senate Bills 73, 78, and 214, and the committee agreed without objection to report them out as germane. The committee then discussed Senate Bill 240, the capital outlay bill, which had been sent directly to Finance rather than through the committee. Members expressed concern about preserving proper procedure and avoiding a precedent of bypassing committee rules. The chair concluded that no formal action was needed in the committee and that the matter would be handled by having the committee chair seek unanimous consent on the floor to send the bill back through the proper process; the same approach would be checked for the straw budget bill filed by Senator Muñoz. Finally, the committee considered a second group of appropriations bills and approved staff recommendations on the listed measures, including bills 249, 248, 243, 238, 235, 222, and 221, with no objection. Those bills were ruled germane, while other bills not included in the motion remained on the list. The committee then adjourned.

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• The two new select committees will be meeting this week to address the issues that they have been assigned

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• I will assign the floor statement to myself.

Keywords: 909, all

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• The message assigned Thomas S. Bodern, Secretary of the Senate.

Keywords: 1183, house

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• Budget items that remain undecided are then assigned or bumped to Chairs McClure and Hooper.

Summary: The Higher Education Budget Subcommittee met with a quorum present for what was described as its final committee meeting of the session. Chair Busatta opened the meeting by outlining the upcoming budget conference process, explaining that the House and Senate had both passed their budget bills and that conference negotiations would begin soon, with the Senate serving as the hosting chamber this year. She reviewed how the conference process works, including side-by-side budget documents, chamber offers, subcommittee negotiations, escalation to the chairs and then to the Speaker and President, and the required 72-hour cooling-off period before final budget passage. The main discussion focused on the differences between the House and Senate higher education budgets for fiscal year 2025-2026. The chair noted a total $62.5 million difference, with the Senate budget higher overall. Key differences included House reductions for vacant FTE positions, differing approaches to recurring versus nonrecurring funding in financial aid and workforce programs, the Senate’s larger funding level for workforce development capitalization incentive grants, and differing allocations for colleges and universities. In the university budget, the Senate centralized nurse education funding at the University of South Florida’s Center for Nursing and funded several specific initiatives, while the House proposed additional funding for performance-based metrics, faculty recruitment and retention, and tuition waivers. The chair also highlighted a major proviso difference involving the EASE grant, where the House proposed minimum benchmark metrics for institutional eligibility. No testimony was taken and no votes were held on the budget differences. After the overview and brief explanation of the budget and proviso side-by-side documents, the committee concluded its agenda and adjourned on a motion by Representative Blanco, without objection.

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• You could be teaching social studies and then all of a sudden get assigned to teach reading or teach

Keywords: 1183, house

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• I had planned to have more of the bills assigned to the committee heard today, but we were not able to

Keywords: 914, all

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• The other thing that I wanted to talk about was the assignment of CFI participants.
• Um The other thing that I wanted to talk about was the assignment of CFI participants.
• </c> assignment of CFI participants. assignment of CFI participants.
• amount of time that people go between medical eligibility assessment to case management agency assignment
• </c> to case management agency assignment. to case management agency assignment.

Keywords: 1189, house, all

Summary: The meeting began with quorum and seating issues, including the temporary appointment of Representative Shaw to fill in for a House member, followed by approval of the previous minutes and the consent calendar. Two items were then postponed to next month: Mechanical Licensing Board item 25-241 and Board of Veterinarian item 25-223. The committee then took up Department of Energy rulemaking on distributed energy resources interconnection procedures, including items 25-220 and related sections on fees, additional controls, and equipment. The Department explained revised language to address concerns that the original draft improperly suggested agency or PUC approval of utility fees; under the amended language, utilities would set fees designed to recover costs, with complaints handled through existing complaint procedures. Committee members and the Department discussed the statutory basis for that approach, including cost responsibility versus fee-setting authority. Public testimony was mixed. A small solar developer argued the rules still exceed statutory authority, impose unfair costs on customer generators, and allow utilities to shift transmission-related study costs onto interconnecting customers. Clean energy advocates supported the Department’s revised language but asked for clearer limits on charging customers for later-added controls, arguing costs should be tied directly to the customer’s interconnection and not to later utility-driven changes. Eversource supported the revised fee language, said most prior concerns were resolved, and recommended conditional approval, while also suggesting a minor wording change in the “Additional Equipment” section to clarify that only operational performance is covered.

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• Did you, the four of you, have any assigned responsibility in the event of a flood evacuation? No.
• We have, in 137 of the 254 Texas counties, TDM has at least one employee assigned to that county.
• TDM has at least one employee assigned to that county.
• So what we need to do as a state is to assign resources just like we do for firefighters.
• Why had nobody been assigned to our families?

Keywords: 1184, house, all

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• Uh, but it is somebody assigned to special projects, works no more than X number of hours in a year and
• So he wants you know since they are assigned those special projects, uh that's the reason he chose that
• Uh, but it is somebody assigned to special projects, works no more than X number of hours in a year,
• So he wants, you know, since they are assigned those special projects, uh, that's the reason he chose
• to this committee have been assigned to this committee will<04:27:44.560><c> be</c><04:27:44.640><c>

Keywords: 1189, house, all

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• Now he does, he goes beyond that, and he assigns a cost to each one, as you know, and he came up, uh,
• Now he does, he goes beyond that, and he assigns a cost to each one, as you know, and he came up, uh,
• Now he does, he goes beyond that, and he assigns a cost to each one, as you know, and he came up, uh,
• Now he does, he goes beyond that, and he assigns a cost to each one, as you know, and he came up, uh,
• Now he does, he goes beyond that, and he assigns a cost to each one, as you know, and he came up, uh,

Keywords: 1189, house, all

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• ,</c><00:58:01.960><c> concentration,</c> classes, assignments, concentration, classes, assignments,
• , particularly in some of the smaller institutions, there's only sort of one person that will be assigned
• , particularly in some of the smaller institutions, there's only sort of one person that will be assigned
• Particularly in some of the smaller institutions, there's only sort of one person that will be assigned
• Particularly in some of the smaller institutions, there's only sort of one person that will be assigned

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

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• manager, and he's currently hit the ground running and working on one of the two new studies that was assigned
• Complaints are assigned to agents in the order that they are received.
• or the increase in time, is largely in the time between when a worker files a complaint and it is assigned

Summary: The committee met on July 15, 2026, but initially lacked a quorum, so it could not adopt prior minutes. Chair Jerry Pollett welcomed new member Senator Victoria Hunt and new JLARC staff, and noted national recognition for recent JLARC reports. The meeting then moved into a series of preliminary audit presentations and an agency strategic management update, with committee members asking questions after each item. JLARC presented a preliminary audit of DCYF’s Juvenile Rehabilitation programs. Staff concluded that crowding, staffing shortages, weak risk assessments, and inconsistent programming combine to create unsafe conditions. The report found that most youth are housed in two large secure facilities operating near or above capacity, incidents rise as population rises, 47% of frontline staff leave within a year, current assessment tools are not valid for the population, and program access depends more on facility than individual need. JLARC made one recommendation to the legislature to address crowding and seven to DCYF, including improving retention, training, incident response procedures, validated assessments, program alignment, and data quality. DCYF Secretary Ross Hunter said the agency agreed overcrowding is a serious problem, described ongoing efforts to improve staffing and safety, and said a detailed response would be provided later. Committee members raised concerns about education access, retaliation against staff or youth who participated in the audit, and whether JR-25 has helped or worsened conditions. JLARC then presented a preliminary audit of Labor and Industries’ enforcement of farm worker labor laws. The audit found that L&I generally meets inspection timelines for health and safety complaints, but not for wage and hour or retaliation complaints, where delays are driven largely by time before assignment to an investigator. Staff said complaint volume exceeds capacity, though the agency has added staff, created screening processes, and reorganized workloads, and 2026 legislation now allows prioritization of complaints and broader investigations. JLARC recommended that L&I report back in December 2026 and December 2027 on backlog reduction and implementation of the new law. An L&I representative said the agency is hiring additional staff and will provide a formal response later. The committee also received a JLARC overview and Department of Health strategic management plan update on hospital data reporting, inspections, complaints, and adverse event reporting. DOH reported measurable progress on inspection compliance, new staffing and licensing systems, translated complaint forms, and plans for future work on language access, adverse event reporting, and financial data dashboards. After lunch, JLARC began its 2026 tax preference performance reviews. The first review covered the Main Street tax credit, which JLARC said has helped increase the number of Main Street communities and businesses, with positive growth near designated districts; JLARC recommended continuing the preference and improving business-count data. The second review covered the equitable access to credit program, which JLARC said appears to support underserved communities by funding loans through CDFIs; JLARC recommended continuing the preference beyond its 2027 expiration. The committee began questions on the program mechanics and the role of the Community Reinvestment Act, and the presentation was still underway when the transcript ended.

Transcript Highlights:

• emphasize, is specifically for classified staff because it is related to the salary ranges that are assigned
• We do not assign salary ranges to unclassified staff.
• Since the comp ratio calculation is based upon the salary range, and we only assign salary ranges to

Keywords: 908, all