Transcript Highlights:

• Members, in 2023, the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services reported over...
• elder abuse in Texas, up from 60,000 cases reported in 2022.
• This is just fraud, a continuation of more fraud! Okay.
• Seeing none, Representative Leach moves that Senate Bill 1141, without amendments, be reported...
• Amendments be reported to the full House with recommendation that it pass and be printed.

Bills: SB1015, SB2933

Keywords: statutory probate courts, probate court fees, judicial fund, county reimbursement, comptroller, Texas Government Code, Local Government Code, court fees, fee allocation, excess contributions, judicial education and support fund, presiding judge salary, county finance, court administration, Texas judiciary, revenue distribution, SB 2933, elder abuse, neglect, judicial training

Transcript Highlights:

• , and certain divided committee reports.
• certain divided committee reports.
• , and certain divided reports.
• and order of business, reports of select committees, procedural committees, and certain divided reports
• The Senate will be on the seventh order of business, reports of select committees, procedural reports

Keywords: 908, all

Summary: The Senate opened with prayer, the Pledge, a quorum call, and approval of journal corrections. It then handled several House messages, appointing conference committees on Senate Bills 2004 and 2006 and House Bills 1018, 1019, and 1363, and re-referring House Bill 1216 to Appropriations. The chamber also adopted amendments to House Bill 1601, which would have expanded special assistant attorney general authority for certain offices, but the bill failed on final passage after strong opposition centered on preserving the Attorney General’s control and avoiding a solution in search of a problem. A major portion of the day focused on education funding. House Bill 1369 was amended to raise per-pupil aid from 2% and 2% to 3% and 3% and to increase the school construction loan transfer from $75 million to $100 million; supporters said this would help local schools and military base projects, while opponents raised questions about special education placement language and state coordination. The bill passed 44-3. House Bill 1013, the DPI budget, was also amended extensively to adjust staffing, funding sources, grants, meal assistance, teacher training, and other education programs; it passed 45-2. House Bill 2234, dealing with Choice Ready grants, was amended to shift funding away from general funds and toward federal or other sources, but then failed on final passage after the sponsor urged a red vote. The Senate also approved House Bill 1482, restricting bond and indebtedness elections for counties, cities, school districts, and park districts to primary or general election days, and House Bill 1332, creating a value-added agriculture facility incentive program with an emergency clause. House Bill 1010, the Insurance Department budget, passed unanimously after amendments reflecting the merger of the Securities Department into Insurance and adding staff and fee changes, while House Bill 1011, the separate Securities Department budget, failed because its funding was already included in HB 1010. House Bill 1584, a major pharmacy benefit manager reform bill, passed with an enforcement fund and new licensing/enforcement structure despite debate over ERISA and market transparency. In other action, the Senate concurred in House amendments and passed Senate Bills 2226, 2230, 2069, 2082, 2387, 2385, and 2186, with SB 2186 on parenting time interference and a child custody task force passing 27-20 after debate over whether the issue should be left to the courts. Senate Bill 2234, on Choice Ready grants, and Senate Bill 2243, on driver’s license points and traffic penalties, both failed after concurrence motions were adopted but final passage votes were overwhelmingly negative. The chamber also advanced Senate Bill 2291 to conference committee consideration near the end of the transcript.

Transcript Highlights:

• Chair. obligation on the reporter to do so in obligation on the reporter to do so in good<00:13:46.079
• <00:31:49.600> would bill, the full unredacted report would bill, the full unredacted report
• data as a part of the optimum reports. data as a part of the optimum reports.
• and they give that report to DHS. and they give that report to DHS.
• um the information and the report um the information and the report to to to the<00:53:54.640>

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• We're seeing a lot of news stories about fraud in some states.
• But I would dare say... ...lot of news stories about fraud in some states.
• would dare say that if you looked nationally, I think the issue of inefficiency is even bigger than fraud
• One of the things we learned through the prior report we did for you was that if I walk into a workforce
• only helping you locally, like through the meetings and the planning we’re doing and through the report

Summary: The committee met to hear consultants Mason Bishop and Cameron Christie discuss Arkansas’s “one door/no wrong door” workforce and social services modernization effort. Bishop argued that the current system is fragmented across multiple agencies, offices, and portals, making it hard for job seekers and employers to access services efficiently. He said the goal is to create a more integrated system that promotes upward mobility, longer labor force attachment, better employer access to talent, greater efficiency, and faster adaptation to changes such as AI and other economic disruptions. Bishop repeatedly pointed to Utah as a model, describing how that state combined workforce and public assistance functions into a single agency, used statewide cost allocation to blend funding streams, and improved customer service and outcomes after reform. He said Arkansas should consider integrating governance, service delivery, and financing, including possible waivers, a statewide cost allocation plan, and a benefits-cliff pilot. He also said Arkansas’s current local workforce board structure creates duplication and weak coordination, and that Launch is a useful tool but not a full service-delivery system. Committee members asked how the proposal would work in practice, including whether TANF could be used to cross-train DHS workers, how federal waivers might be obtained, how local boards would be affected, and how disabled clients would be handled. Bishop said TANF should be treated as part of a workforce strategy, that federal pilot authority for workforce reform nearly passed but did not, and that waivers are now the practical path. He also said Arkansas could either merge functions more fully or at minimum co-locate workforce staff in DHS offices statewide. No votes were taken; the meeting ended with plans to continue the discussion in August, including a focus on case management and whether the state is managing programs or people.

Transcript Highlights:

• , today, this is a quote from the report, today, this is a quote from the report, today<01:25:01.080
• Those reports are...
• <01:49:33.720> under Commerce to share data reported under Commerce to share data reported
• classification, and reporting classification, and reporting requirements.<01:55:59.440> It
• reporting requirements. reporting requirements.

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• EDUCATION MUST BE ATTAINABLE FOR STUDENTS REGARDLESS OF THEIR FAMILIES FINANCIAL STATUS AND I'M HAPPY TO REPORT
• I AM HAPPY TO REPORT THAT THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION IS RECEPTIVE TO BLOCK GRANTING MONEY TO US SO WE CAN
• WE SAW THE PETITION FRAUD THAT TOOK PLACE WITH THE AMENDMENTS THREE AND FOUR BUT PARTICULARLY NUMBER
• WE NEED TO CLEAN UP THE PETITION FOR FRAUD AND WE NEED TO CLEAN UP IS OUT OF CONTROL AMENDMENT PROCESS

Keywords: 999, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• must be attainable for students regardless of their families' financial status, and I'm happy to report
• I am happy to report that the Trump administration is receptive to block granting money to us so we can
• We saw the petition fraud that took place with the Amendments Three and Four but particularly Number
• We need to clean up the petition fraud and we need to clean up this out of control amendment process

Keywords: 998, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• This week on Senate Spotlight, senators say fraud is expensive, but the proactive protection and oversight
• Minnesota is one step closer to having a new tool to fight fraud.
• federal partners, and local stakeholders to ensure that the I.G. will be able to identify and stop fraud
• In a vote of new tool to fight fraud.
• ,<00:02:09.119> I opportunity to clamp down on fraud, I opportunity to clamp down on fraud

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• When do you think that report would be available?
• If it does fall within a bad category of suspicion of fraud, pays weekly.
• suspicion of fraud, we can hold it indefinitely.
• The current cost reporting period will run through April 30th.
• We are working with our providers to get those cost reports returned.

Summary: The subcommittee met to review Department of Human Services hospital payments in Arkansas Medicaid, with DHS Secretary Janet Mann and Deputy Secretary Misty Eubanks presenting first, followed by Arkansas Hospital Association Executive Vice President Jody Ann Tritt and a brief comment from Arkansas Children’s. DHS outlined the main hospital payment streams: fee-for-service per diem payments, upper payment limit (UPL) supplemental payments, cost settlements, and smaller payments such as graduate medical education and disproportionate share hospital funds. Members asked for plain-language explanations of cost settlements, why per diem rates vary by hospital type, and why UPL applies to private hospitals. DHS said cost settlements and UPL are mechanisms to help offset Medicaid underpayment, with SFY 2025 hospital payments totaling hundreds of millions of dollars and no general revenue used for supplemental payments beyond the state share funded through hospital assessments and related financing structures. Committee members focused heavily on whether Arkansas hospitals are adequately reimbursed and why rural hospitals struggle. Tritt explained that critical access hospitals, rural emergency hospitals, PPS hospitals, and specialty hospitals operate under different federal and state rules, and said lower per diem rates for some facilities help with cash flow and later cost settlement adjustments. She said Arkansas hospitals are under financial strain, citing a negative patient services margin statewide and noting that Medicaid, Medicare, and commercial payers all contribute to the problem. She also said the association had just authorized a statewide survey of hospital finances and costs, which she expected would take about a year to complete. A major theme was commercial insurance reimbursement. Tritt argued Arkansas hospitals are paid far less than hospitals in neighboring states even though premiums are similar, and said administrative burdens, prior authorizations, and denials add to the problem. She said hospitals receive about 52 to 53 cents on the dollar for Medicaid costs without UPL and about 78 cents with UPL, still below cost. Members also discussed Medicare wage index issues, Medicare Advantage, and whether hospitals could use technology or alternative arrangements to improve finances. No votes were taken on the hospital presentation. At the end of the meeting, DHS provided a brief update on Living Choices and assisted living reimbursement. Officials said one assisted living facility, Pillars of the Community in Crossett, had announced closure, with nine waiver clients being transitioned to other settings. DHS said the current cost reporting period was underway and that a new rate study could be ready for review before the end of the fiscal year if reports were submitted on time. Members also asked about the broader waiver plan, and DHS said the next waiver iteration would likely be brought back to the committee in the summer.

Transcript Highlights:

• The clerk read the report. Mr.
• Chairman, I move that when the Committee of the Whole rises to report that it reports HB 2492 do pass
• The clerk will read the report. Mr.
• The clerk will read the report. Mr.
• Clerk, will read the report. Mr.

Keywords: 1182, all

Transcript Highlights:

• , ingredient fraud.
• It just... ...affects this one drug class where there's been an immense amount of fraud. Mr.
• You said there's all this fraud or misadvertising or whatnot.
• They're making sure that the reports are done on time. They're not scientists.
• Census Bureau, only $33 million worth of vape were reported to customs.

Bills: HB2746, HB2750, HB2765, HB4036

Keywords: trade offices, committee, Arizona commerce authority, stakeholder input, efficiency, Arizona-Sonora, Sonora, Mexico, trade commission, cross-border trade, bilateral trade, international trade, economic development, foreign relations, border economy, investment, infrastructure, business exchange, academic exchange, legislative commission

Transcript Highlights:

• We're seeing fraud and misuse happen today with those consumer tools, yet we are not doing anything about
• A lot of people can easily be, you know, I mean, it’s what’s, it’s being used for fraud right now.
• Assembly Member: ...about fraud as a whole in the financial space.
• And then in terms of what we've talked about fraud and the potential to fraud and the existence already
• of widespread fraud, how do you think your bill would impact or potentially reduce that?

Keywords: 988, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• We're seeing fraud and misuse happen today with those consumer tools, yet we are not doing anything about
• A lot of people can easily be, you know, I mean, it's what's, it's being used for fraud right now.
• About fraud as a whole in the financial space.
• And then in terms of what we've talked about fraud and the potential to fraud and the existence already
• of widespread fraud, how do you think your bill would impact or potentially reduce that?

Summary: The committee took up AB 2285, a bill related to cryptocurrency staking and broader crypto regulatory issues. The author said the amendments would give California clearer guidelines for staking-as-a-service, maintain consumer disclosures, and remove a fee cap to make the business model workable. Supporters, including representatives of the Crypto Council for Innovation and the Satoshi Action Fund, said the bill would provide needed clarity and help Californians participate in blockchain-related opportunities. Opposition came from the Consumer Federation of California and credit union representatives, who argued the bill would weaken consumer protections, create an uneven playing field for state-chartered institutions, and move California into the middle of unresolved federal debates over the Clarity Act. They also raised concerns about fraud, money laundering, and the effect of the bill on DFPI’s authority and pending litigation involving Coinbase. The author responded that staking is distinct from buying crypto, that blockchain can improve traceability, and that the bill was still a work in progress with room for further amendments. Members discussed preemption, the pending federal framework, and whether the bill should wait until federal law is settled. The chair emphasized California’s role in setting policy and said other states were allowing consumers to benefit from staking. The committee ultimately adopted a due pass as amended motion and sent AB 2285 out on a 7-2 vote.

Transcript Highlights:

• Uh when we look to other statutes, we also have the fraud statutes.
• statutes, we also have the fraud statutes, we also have the fraud statutes.<00:25:16.960> I'm
• the report and that piece there. the report and that piece there.
• So, this is on our report every year. So, this is on our website.
• mouths closed and they don't report mouths closed and they don't report their<01:48:22.719> victim

Keywords: 1189, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• <00:23:38.400> thank<00:23:38.600> you<00:23:38.840> very fraud thank you very fraud
• /c> encourage more reporting of crimes we encourage more reporting of crimes we need<01:06:47.400>
• the challenges of reporting the challenges of reporting investigating<01:11:21.640> and<01
• Thank you, Vice Chair. report that dbed may need one FTE to report that dbed may need one FTE to facilitate
• side and lastly in the committee report side and lastly in the committee report that<01:34:30.719

Keywords: 910, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• <00:09:45.200> Uh licenses where they suspected fraud.
• Uh licenses where they suspected fraud.
• and the agencies to do to stop fraud and the agencies to do to stop fraud because<00:23:12.080><
• be able to uh stop any fraud be able to uh stop any fraud immediately.<00:24:11.760> So<00
• So if someone fraud even more easily.

Bills: HF2433, HF2434

Keywords: education funding, children with disabilities, transition aid, special education, school district consolidation, healthcare, personal care assistance, worker retention, disability services, state funding, 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• Those reports are back online.
• Those reports are back online.
• Those reports are back online.
• Those reports are back online.
• Those reports are back online.

Keywords: 1189, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Clerk, please report. report. report.
• . report. report.
• Clerk, please report. report. report.
• Clerk, please report. report. report.
• Clerk, please report. report. report.

Keywords: 958, all

Transcript Highlights:

• There's a system of fraud in the state of Texas.
• What really amounts, folks, I'm sorry, but it's fraud. Okay, it's... Jack Fraud.
• I call that fraud. Perhaps it's a little strong.
• You're talking about whether it's fraud or not? No, you said it was fraud. I didn't say that.
• As fraud or inflation of prices.

Bills: HB4806

Keywords: civil action, damages, health care services, noneconomic damages, negligence, legal standards, 1184, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Beginning on page four, standing committee report numbers 2479 to 2693 for adoption.
• Beginning on page four, standing >> Beginning on page four, standing committee<00:02:00.320> report
• President, I move for the adoption of standing committee reports numbers 2479 to 2693.

Bills: SB2350, SB2349, SB2178, SB2101, SB2373, SB2905, SB3231, SB3296, SB2704, SB3162, SB2885, SB2174, SB3256, SB2333, SB2713, SB2100, SB3012, SB2805, SB2102, SB2478, SB2103, SB3233, SB2678, SB2461, SB2645, SB3247, SB2005, SB2022, SB2083, SB2128, SB2130, SB2240, SB2306, SB2547, SB2603, SB2756, SB2782, SB2818, SB2944, SB2982, SB2986, SB3022, SB3031, SB3032, SB3035, SB3053, SB3288, SB2435, SB2970, SB2938, SB3110, SB3251, SB3322, SB2068, SB2268, SB3046, SB2526, SB2231, SB2448, SB2567, SB3095, SB3264, SB3131, SB3069, SB3180, SB2119, SB2137, SB2209, SB2180, SB2949, SB2431, SB2410, SB3199, SB3245, SB2274, SB2277, SB2175, SB2080, SB2799, SB2491, SB2310, SB2489, SB2925, SB2709, SB17, SB2227, SB2887, SB2006

Keywords: agriculture, aquaculture, livestock, agribusiness, Department of Agriculture, regulatory functions, employee benefits, restorative practices, sustainability, environmental stewardship, local food systems, Native Hawaiian, workforce development, industrial hemp, Hawaii, Native Hawaiian practices, regulation, cultural stewardship, economic development, organic waste