Transcript Highlights:

• Madam Chair, members, House Bill 2324, Fire Code, Municipality. Thank you.
• Madam Chair, members, House Bill 23, 24, Fire Code, Municipalities, County buildings passed out of the
• Madam Chair, members, House Bill 2730, Occupational Therapy Board Continuation, continues the Board of
• Occupational Examiners for four years until 2030.
• HB 2231, firefighters' occupational diseases, passed the Public Safety Committee unanimously.

Keywords: 1182, all

Summary: The caucus reviewed a long list of bills and resolutions, with staff giving brief descriptions and members flagging which items were on consent, had unanimous committee votes, or should be pulled for further discussion. Topics included education, health care, public safety, labor, water, taxation, housing, and elections. Several measures were noted as party-line or mixed votes, while many others were reported as unanimous and placed on third-read or consent calendars. Among the more discussed items were bills on school and labor policy, including a proposal to prohibit teacher strikes, a measure restricting school district bond actions, a bill requiring school safety protocols and assigning felony penalties for noncompliance, and a resolution limiting public money for labor organization activities. Members also raised concerns or requested further review on bills involving pharmacist testing authority, expired opioid antagonists, a county sheriff-related measure, a housing affordability district proposal, and a tobacco/vape regulation bill. Some measures were explicitly pulled from consent, including a Medicaid audit resolution, a budget-related pay-withholding resolution, and several education and public safety bills. The caucus also heard multiple health and human services measures, such as genetic counselor licensing, nursing board and pharmacy board continuations, foster care rights, psychiatry access funding, and free school meals. In addition, there were water and energy bills on Colorado River management, groundwater, transmission-line review, and renewable energy valuation, plus election and campaign-related proposals. The meeting ended with announcements, including an upcoming Colorado River breakfast briefing and an internal award recognizing Representative Brian Garcia, followed by adjournment.

Transcript Highlights:

• No, um, as long as we're licensed in the state of Texas and meet the qualifications in our family code
• I am an attorney in Galveston, Texas, been practicing for 26 years, and I'm also president of the Texas
• That's under the estates code, that's not under the family code. I just want to be really careful.
• I'm Heather King, Texas Family Law Foundation.
• It is a crime under the penal code.

Bills: HB116

Keywords: film industry, incentives, economic development, state funding, media production

Transcript Highlights:

• So, a key retailer in Texas, and really all over East Texas and Texas, Tractor Supply operates 239 stores
• I live in Frisco, Texas.
• I live in Frisco, Texas.
• Laura Temez, Texas Trial Lawyers Association.
• Texas uses a different test called operations and control and direction.

Summary: The Senate Committee on Transportation heard several bills, mostly local memorial highway designations and transportation-related regulatory measures. Senator Hinojosa presented SB 1351 to designate part of US 281 in Hidalgo County as the Jose Rodriguez Lua Memorial Highway in honor of a Border Patrol processing coordinator killed by a drunk driver; a family member testified emotionally in support, and the bill was left pending. The committee also heard and left pending SB 2245 on bonded titles for vehicles when a lienholder has gone out of business, SB 1568 on animal-friendly specialty license plates with a second “spay, neuter, adopt” plate, SB 2589 on handling closed county roads in Webb County, SB 1104 on allowing large retailers to use one fingerprinted employee of record across multiple Texas locations, SB 1423 naming the Bill Stout Parkway in Longview, and SB 1931 naming part of US 83 the Rodolfo Valdez Memorial Highway. Most of these bills drew supportive testimony or were presented as local measures with no opposition. The committee also took up broader policy bills. SB 215 would create a digital identification program for Texas driver’s licenses and certain other licenses, but the sponsor said he was mainly laying the bill out for discussion and study; testimony was limited and the bill was left pending. SB 2707 would clarify that government entities such as TxDOT and the military remain exempt from fees on oversized/overweight permit authority, though a county commissioner raised questions about road-use impacts and fee revenue. SB 2807 drew the most discussion: it would prevent a motor carrier’s use of safety technology, training, and related practices from being used as evidence that an independent contractor is actually an employee. Supporters said the bill would encourage adoption of safety tools like cameras and braking systems without increasing misclassification risk, while opponents from the trial lawyers’ side warned the wording could conflict with existing labor-code definitions and create litigation. The sponsor and committee members discussed possible clarifying floor amendments. After public testimony, the committee voted on the pending bills. All measures were reported favorably on 6-0 votes, with committee substitutes adopted where applicable. SB 1351, SB 1423, SB 1568, SB 1931, SB 2245, SB 2589, SB 2707, SB 2807, and SB 2841 were all sent to the full Senate, and several were recommended for the local and uncontested calendar. The committee recessed subject to the call of the chair after completing the votes.

Transcript Highlights:

• And simultaneously, we're not going to get back up to 100% occupancy for commercial buildings.
• 100% occupancy for commercial buildings. 100% occupancy for commercial buildings.
• Because occupancy levels lead to devaluations of properties, which hurt our members.
• > leads<00:54:19.920> to Because occupancy levels that leads to Because occupancy levels
• And with that, Madam Chair, I do code.

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• We have to manually code that into the record. Now there's a system out.
• achieve their version of economic self-sufficiency, for instance, to prepare Floridians for in-demand occupations
• people and achieve the best possible outcomes for them moving into the REACH act implementation. 3, Texas

Keywords: 999, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• That member of the House before he retired and went to Texas testified before the Senate and read The
• retired<00:52:05.680> and<00:52:05.920> went<00:52:06.079> to<00:52:06.319> Texas
• ,<00:52:07.119> testified retired and went to Texas, testified retired and went to Texas,
• to parental alienation, limiting certain prior authorization requirements for physical therapy, occupational
• to parental alienation, limiting certain prior authorization requirements for physical therapy, occupational

Keywords: 1191, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• We regulate money services businesses under Chapter 152 of the Texas Finance Code.
• Just really quickly in terms of, in Texas Finance Code, the definition of a digital asset provider is
• Under Chapter 712 of the Texas Health and Safety Chairman Lambert: Code, the Texas Department of Banking
• Finance Code.
• Finance Code.

Transcript Highlights:

• They're in the optional municipal code sections. They're in the GMA sections.
• Looking at things like pausing the building code, the frequent code updates, to stabilize cost and reduce
• , building code, fire code...
• But also, you have to consider energy code, building code, fire code, inclusionary zoning requirements
• You know, they may object, but the code says it has to go forward.

Summary: The committee heard a series of presentations on comprehensive plan updates, permitting reform, special purpose district coordination, and subdivision reform. Pierce County and the City of Redmond described their recent comprehensive plan updates, emphasizing housing production, transit-oriented development, middle housing, preservation of affordable housing, and the need for technical assistance and clearer state guidance. Both jurisdictions said the planning process took years and was complicated by overlapping state requirements, changing legislative mandates, and multiple review authorities. Redmond in particular said mid-course legislative changes forced supplemental environmental review and added significant cost and delay, and both local governments asked for more stability, clearer statutes, and better-aligned timelines. Presenters from the architecture, building official, and development sectors focused on permitting delays and proposed ways to speed housing delivery. Dave Boucher of AIA Washington argued for a provisional construction permit process for projects stamped by licensed professionals, along with mandatory deadlines and fewer stalled review cycles. Tim Woodard of WABO described existing tools such as pre-application meetings and phased approvals, noting they can improve certainty but also require staff time and careful coordination. Representatives from Master Builders and D.R. Horton said permit and subdivision delays add substantial cost to housing, citing studies showing months of delay and tens of thousands of dollars added per home, and urged administrative approvals, concurrent review, self-certification, and limits on repeated review cycles. The committee also reviewed a Commerce-led task force report on integrating special purpose districts into Growth Management Act planning. The task force recommended early invitation and notice to water, sewer, school, port, and other service providers during countywide planning policy and comprehensive plan updates, better coordination on grants and capital projects, updated water system coordination plans, and improved school siting and funding alignment in fast-growing areas. Speakers stressed that the recommendations were intended to be light-touch and focused on better communication rather than major statutory overhaul, while also noting that rural and slow-growing areas should not be burdened with the same requirements as rapidly growing jurisdictions. On subdivision reform, FutureWise and the City of Spokane discussed making more subdivision decisions administrative, preserving vesting, clarifying exemptions, and reducing unnecessary notice and appeal steps. Spokane described local reforms such as smaller minimum lot sizes, unit lot subdivisions, and reduced-process “minor engineering review” for simple plats, while raising concerns about new notice requirements and appeals to city councils for technical plat decisions. Across the hearing, members repeatedly returned to the theme that local governments, builders, and state agencies need clearer, more coordinated rules to reduce delay and uncertainty while still protecting safety and planning goals.

Transcript Highlights:

• Located in the Hill Country, Bandera, Texas was founded in the early 1850s on the wild Texas frontier
• Um, we have some here in central Texas.
• official citations, correct enacted codes to conform the codes to the source of law from which they
• were derived, and revised codes or parts of the code enacted during the preceding legislative session
• This bill, we call it our general code update bill.

Transcript Highlights:

• Is deeply embedded in Texas law.
• I'm board certified in family law from Denton, Texas, and I'm here for the Texas Family Law Foundation
• I'm an attorney in Galveston, Texas, been practicing for 26 years, and I'm the president of the Texas
• or a PCSP under Chapter 264 of the Family Code.
• or a PCSP under Chapter 264 of the Family Code.

Bills: SB387, SB1650, SB1838, SB1839, SB1923, SB1940, SB2052

Keywords: judicial bond, guardianship, probate law, county judge, statutory county court, attorney general, criminal prosecution, public order, law enforcement, jurisdiction, attorney ad litem, parent-child relationship, compensation, legal representation, government entity, probate, court proceedings, record delivery, wills, legal documentation

Summary: The Senate Committee on Jurisprudence heard several family-law and probate bills. Senate Bill 2052 would codify a rebuttable presumption that a parent acts in the best interest of a child and require clear and convincing evidence to overcome that presumption in disputes involving non-parents; the author and several witnesses supported the bill as a clarification of existing case law, while one witness suggested refining the modification language. Public testimony was closed and the bill was left pending. The committee also heard Senate Bill 1923, which would allow child support to follow a child placed temporarily with kin or fictive kin under a parental child safety placement or authorization agreement; the bill’s author and a grandparent caregiver testified in support, while one witness suggested the Attorney General could handle the change administratively. That bill was also left pending. Senate Bill 1838 would standardize fee schedules and compensation rules for attorneys ad litem and related court-appointed counsel in DFPS child-protection cases. The author said the bill would clarify unclear current law, and witnesses from the Texas Indigent Defense Commission and family-defense bar supported it, though one asked that expert-witness expenses be expressly included. Senate Bill 387 would raise the bond requirement for county judges handling guardianship proceedings to at least $500,000; the author described it as a refiling of a prior bill that passed unanimously but was vetoed, and a statutory probate judge testified in support. Senate Bill 1839 would require original or paper wills to be delivered to the transferee court when probate proceedings are transferred; the committee substitute broadened the delivery methods, and the district clerk witness supported the change. All three bills were left pending. The committee also took up Senate Bill 1536, which had previously been voted out with the wrong committee substitute; members reconsidered the vote, adopted the corrected substitute, and then voted 3-0 to report the bill favorably to the full Senate, with local and contested calendar certification. Finally, Senate Bill 1940 would create a transfer-on-death mechanism for manufactured homes classified as personal property, similar to existing tools for real property and vehicles; the author and an estate-planning attorney testified that it would streamline transfers and reduce probate costs. A non-substantive committee substitute was still being prepared, and the bill was left pending.

Transcript Highlights:

• The energy produced in Southeast Texas, Mr.
• This clean extension of the AC tax code.
• >> The gentleman from Texas is recognized.
• >> Gentleman from Texas is recognized. >> Gentleman from Texas is recognized.
• >> from Texas yields. >> from Texas yields. >> I<08:37:08.318> reserve.

Keywords: U.S. House of Representatives Floor Proceedings on Wednesday, January 7, 2026, 1012, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• sure that we expand those protections so that all domestic workers and day laborers have full occupational
• Workers and day laborers have full occupational health and safety protection, something that we've been
• Army Corps of Engineers, and Deborah Lee, Chief Division, Chief of the Division of Occupational Safety
• Deborah Lee, Chief, Division of Occupational Safety and Health. Please, you are there at the table.
• The true measure of success for us in our safety and occupational health efforts is that every worker

Summary: The joint Senate and Assembly labor committees held a hearing on the Los Angeles wildfires and their impact on workers, employers, and recovery efforts. Chairs and members emphasized that rebuilding should prioritize worker safety, equity, local hiring, and strong labor standards rather than simply moving quickly or relying on the lowest bidder. They also stressed the need to learn from past disasters and to create a more coordinated state response for future emergencies. Worker advocates described how domestic workers, day laborers, firefighters, and other frontline workers were affected by the fires. Testimony focused on workers being trapped in evacuation zones, lacking timely information in Spanish, losing jobs and income, and facing exposure to toxic debris without adequate PPE. Speakers called for expanded outreach and education, stronger Cal/OSHA enforcement, broader occupational safety coverage for domestic workers and day laborers, recall and transfer rights, childcare and transportation support, and a centralized disaster relief system that can quickly deliver cash aid and equipment regardless of immigration status. Firefighter Derek Irwin said California firefighters face serious carcinogenic exposure and urged continued funding for the firefighter cancer prevention and research program, along with a long-term state health monitoring and research effort similar to the World Trade Center Health Program. Building trades and labor representatives argued that cleanup and rebuilding should be done through community workforce agreements, prevailing wage, apprenticeship requirements, and local hire provisions, and said the state already has trained workers available. They also said federal debris-removal work through the Army Corps has limited the state’s ability to impose some standards, but that state and local funding or subsidies should trigger labor requirements. Employer and business representatives described major losses to property, inventory, revenue, and jobs, especially in Altadena and nearby areas. The Altadena Chamber said it is coordinating recovery resources, while a construction business owner said small local firms are being shut out of disaster contracts and proposed a more accessible procurement process for local and minority businesses. LAEDC presented preliminary estimates of billions in property damage and business disruption, tens of thousands of potential job losses, and a recovery timeline of five to ten years, warning that low-income communities will be disproportionately affected and that workforce retraining and upskilling will be needed alongside the broader economic recovery.

Transcript Highlights:

• This bill makes it clear that the Texas Family Code, that the Texas Family Code that another person or
• One of these is um chapter, Texas Family Code chapter 32.003.
• This addresses inconsistencies within the Texas Family Code, uh, in Title 12, and 5 does not, uh, apply
• Um, throughout the Texas Family Code, there are multiple references to attorneys' fees, um, but the standards
• And so the Texas Family Code currently, again, grants sole managing conservators various exclusive rights

Transcript Highlights:

• In favor of the bill, and no need to testify, New Jersey Occupational Therapy Association.
• To summarize, removing specific occupations from the ABC test is bad for workers, bad for state revenue
• To summarize, removing specific occupations from the ABC test is bad for workers, bad for state revenue
• I have a list here of 600 affected occupations. I have a list here of 600 affected occupations.
• joined the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors, I took an oath to adhere to a code

Keywords: 1146, all

Transcript Highlights:

• The team to the world championship in Houston, Texas.
• Gentleman from Texas is recognized for three minutes.
• The gentleman from Texas is recognized for one minute.
• Remember, Judge Matt Kesmik of the Northern District of Texas?
• Texas? They were lining up around the Texas?

Keywords: U.S. House of Representatives Floor Proceedings on Tuesday, April 8, 2025, 1012, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• You've only registered as Texas, representing Texas Short Line.
• One in Sun Ra, Texas, one in Gonzales, Texas, and one located in Brownwood, Texas.
• Members, under section 21.105 of the Transportation Code, the Texas Transportation Commission.
• Currently, there's a conflict with the transportation code and the government code.
• Uh, the Texas Department of Transportation in partnership with the Texas A&M Transportation Institute

Transcript Highlights:

• <00:58:59.599> And<00:58:59.839> so chapter of the Juvenile Code 610.
• And so chapter of the Juvenile Code 610.
• Section four amends KRS 200.505, definitions for Kentucky Penal Code.
• CARIS 508.025 sets out a lengthy list of occupations that do have special treatment.
• <02:01:45.920> hazard is that is truly an occupational hazard is that is truly an occupational

Keywords: Meeting Start: 00:00:00 Agency Updates: 00:01:45 26RS SB 125: 00:02:10 26RS SB 101: 01:14:58, 958, all

Summary: The Juvenile Justice Oversight Council met on February 6, 2026, took roll, approved a motion to convene, and heard agency updates from materials in the packet. The council then took up Senate Bill 125 out of order because Senator Carol was present. The bill was presented as a collaborative effort focused on creating a secure, state-run high-acuity mental health facility for justice-involved youth who need specialized psychiatric care and cannot be appropriately served in detention or by private hospitals. Speakers said the facility would fill a gap in services, improve safety and treatment outcomes, and be designed with trauma-informed, medically equipped spaces rather than a jail-like setting. The presenters also outlined other parts of the bill, including a placement process in which DJJ and CHFS would evaluate youth and provide recommendations before the judge makes the final decision, with certain hospital-declination provisions to be delayed until the new facility is operating. They described payment incentives for hospitals treating high-acuity youth, confidentiality and escape-related disclosure provisions, and contracts with a public teaching university for clinical services. The proposed facility was described as a 24-bed center at Central State, with staffing to include mental health professionals and juvenile detention staff receiving enhanced training. Dr. Clark Lester said staffing needs would vary by youth and could include one-to-one supervision for some patients. The bill also addressed female juvenile detention capacity. Speakers said the number of detained girls has risen sharply since 2024, peaking at 51 in 2025, and that current facilities cannot meet the separation requirements for boys and girls or high- and low-level youth. The proposal would build two female detention centers, with possible locations discussed in central Kentucky and western Kentucky, and a third or fourth center could be added if population data show the need. Members asked about hospital placement authority, staffing, and average length of stay for girls; the presenters said the current court-order process would remain until the new facility is built and that they would provide additional data later. No vote was taken during the portion of the meeting provided.

Transcript Highlights:

• So, uh, House Bill 557 amends the Texas Family Code to create reasonable safeguards.
• This bill proposes several changes to the estate code in Texas to provide greater clarity, improvement
• Uh, your witness affirmation says Texas Family Foundation, but I believe that's the Texas Family Law
• The Texas Property code currently requires trustees to divide, uh, or provide detailed accountings that
• House Bill 2301 is a straightforward amendment to the Texas Family Code and clarifies the timing of providing

Transcript Highlights:

• From my understanding, there are only three zip Codes in the entire state that don't have these services
• And with that, we will go to House Bill 128, Firefighter Occupational Disease Disablement.
• So, House Bill 128 updates a law regarding occupational disease disablement for firefighters.
• And what it did was it updated the list of occupational cancers that constitute a line of duty death.
• I was diagnosed with occupational cancer in 2016.

Keywords: 996, all

Transcript Highlights:

• They are a vital part of our electoral process in Texas.
• The Texas election code sets forth the requirements related to a plan for a central count station operation
• Chair calls Emily French with Common Cause Texas. Welcome.
• The Texas League opposes 817 because it bans preferential voting in all Texas elections.
• But if the Texas election code already prohibits ranked choice voting or preferential voting, then why