Transcript Highlights:

• legislature would decide to lift that prohibition, they're not authorizing surcharging, they're permitting
• merchants also gain expanded authority to impose surcharges on credit cards in the states where it's permitted
• use the new wheelbarrow, and I could probably use the new set of, you know, garden gloves because mine

Keywords: 995, all

Summary: The Special Commission on the future of payments and sales transactions by credit card heard extensive testimony from credit union, banking, retail, restaurant, and payments-industry representatives about proposals to limit interchange fees, especially on the tax and tip portions of transactions. Several witnesses opposed state-level restrictions, arguing they would create a patchwork of rules, burden state-chartered institutions, raise compliance complexity, and ultimately reduce resources for fraud prevention, cybersecurity, rewards, and access to credit. Others, including retail and merchant advocates, said swipe fees are a significant and growing cost for small businesses and that states should consider reforms such as limiting fees on taxes and tips, allowing surcharging, improving transparency in merchant contracts, and studying collection costs more closely. Witnesses also discussed recent legal and regulatory developments, including Illinois’s interchange-fee law, OCC and NCUA interim rules, and the ongoing Visa/Mastercard antitrust settlement. Industry representatives said the Illinois law has been delayed and is likely preempted for most transactions, while merchant advocates argued the state efforts and court rulings show that networks and banks do not set fees competitively. The proposed antitrust settlement was described by some as a meaningful but limited merchant victory, with temporary fee reductions and expanded surcharge/steering rights, while others said it still falls short of structural reform. The commission members pressed witnesses on the practical effects of fees, the cost of cash, whether merchants can pass costs through, and whether small businesses are actually seeing benefits from the current system. Members repeatedly emphasized the need for a fair middle ground that protects both small businesses and the payment system. No substantive votes or policy actions were taken beyond accepting testimony, and the meeting ended with adjournment after all scheduled witnesses had spoken.

Transcript Highlights:

• Prescribers, dispensers, and other health care providers shall be permitted to access a patient's dispensation
• Prescribers, dispensers, and other health care providers shall be permitted to access a patient's dispensation
• Because that's a huge concern of mine, what you mentioned at the latter part.

Keywords: 959, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• events This bill would allow microbreweries to sell the beer they brew at any of the 12 special events permits
• Members, House Bill 129 prohibits the issuance of certain Class C permits for sales of high and low alcohol
• I'd like to take personal privilege here and recognize a constituent of mine that's in the audience that

Summary: The Senate Committee on Judiciary B met on May 14, established a quorum, approved the May 5 minutes, and then took up a long agenda of bills and resolutions. The committee first heard House Bill 1252, which would expand and modernize local court jurisdiction in Avoyelles Parish by enlarging the Marksville and Bunkie city courts, adding small claims, misdemeanor, juvenile, and civil jurisdiction, and allowing online payments and virtual appearances. Supporters said it would keep justice local and reduce pressure on district court, while opponents urged more study and warned about impacts on existing courts and funding. The committee adopted Amendment Set 3835 and reported HB 1252 with amendments. It also reported HB 167, requiring state prisons to provide release documentation to inmates; HB 1038, after amendments and continued negotiation with marshals and constables; HB 1077, allowing microbreweries to sell at certain special events; HB 1204, changing administration of the Back on Track Youth Pilot Program to the Office of Juvenile Justice; HB 492, placing the Governor’s Impaired Driving Task Force into statute; HB 175, dedicating $500,000 in lottery proceeds annually to a veterans service grant fund; HCR 41, directing ATC to allow electronic beer rebates; HB 833, creating a Sexual Assault Survivor Empowerment Task Force; HB 656, creating a pilot program for inmate-administered services; HB 978, raising the population threshold for mayor’s courts to remit indigent defender fees; and HB 969, updating and expanding the crime victim compensation program. The committee also approved HB 985, which adds QR codes to sex offender identification cards, after adopting Amendment Set 3861, and HB 579, updating the Sexual Assault Survivors’ Rights Act, after adopting Amendment Set 3830. Several bills drew notable opposition or requests for further work. HB 968, which creates a framework for electronic monitoring providers to notify courts before removing ankle monitors for nonpayment, drew objections from the ACLU and a vendor representative who argued it would turn criminal courts into debt-collection forums and could lead to jail for inability to pay; the author said the bill was intended as a public-safety framework, not debt collection. Despite those concerns, the committee reported HB 968 favorably and agreed to move a 10-day-to-15-day notice change on the floor. HB 525, requiring DOC to publish more incarceration data, especially from local facilities, was opposed by the Louisiana Sheriffs’ Association, which said the bill would impose substantial new reporting burdens; DOC said it was already posting most of the data and would continue updating it. The committee ultimately deferred HB 525, with members encouraging further work. HB 1005, a cleanup-and-restructuring bill for the Office of the State Public Defender, was reported favorably after the Louisiana Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers raised concerns about substantive changes, including removal of board approval for the state public defender and changes to district defender protections; Vice Chair Harris said he would work with stakeholders on those issues. HB 1029, a local alcohol-permit moratorium bill for House District 3, was voluntarily deferred to next week so the author could address concerns about the length of the moratorium. The meeting ended after all scheduled business was completed, with the committee agreeing to revisit the deferred items later.

Transcript Highlights:

• Additionally, if the permits are more or less ready to go, that makes a huge difference.
• Because if it's going to take two years to get permits and other states have already gotten it up to
• I'm going to interject a question of mine, and then we'll go to Representative Thomas.

Summary: The committee held a work session focused on the effects of tariffs on Washington’s economy, agriculture, and small businesses, followed by updates on emergency management, cybersecurity, disaster resilience, tsunami preparedness, and World Cup security planning. Office of Financial Management economist Abdelamintrawe Trieri said tariff increases are expected to raise prices, reduce output and employment, and lower state revenue over a four-year horizon, with the hardest-hit sectors including aerospace, food and beverage manufacturing, and agriculture. Members asked about updated tariff scenarios, crop-specific impacts, inflation versus deflation in different goods, and whether some manufacturing sectors could benefit; staff said updated numbers would need to be rerun as tariff rates changed. Washington Department of Agriculture representative Ryan Hamm described how tariffs raise costs for farm inputs such as equipment, parts, packaging, and fertilizer, while also affecting exports of key commodities like wheat, potatoes, apples, cherries, dairy, and wine. He said some sectors support tariffs on competing imports, but retaliation and market restrictions have hurt exports, especially to China and, in the wine sector, Canada. Department of Commerce representative Andrea Chartock outlined export assistance, business finance, recruitment, and industry-sector development programs, and proposed expanding tariff-resilience support through market diversification, supply-chain optimization, and efforts to attract investment and federal funding. She also noted uncertainty around delayed federal STEP funding for small business export assistance. Emergency Management Division Director Robert Ezell warned that federal disaster and mitigation funding is becoming less reliable, citing the denied bomb cyclone disaster declaration, delays in FEMA grant processing, and possible restructuring of FEMA that could shift more responsibility to states. He said Washington may need stronger state-funded public assistance, individual assistance, and mitigation programs, along with broader coordination among state agencies and local governments. Cybersecurity staff described state efforts to support local governments through the Cybersecurity Advisory Committee, threat intelligence sharing, vulnerability assessments, and a proposed volunteer incident response team, while noting the loss of MS-ISAC funding and the importance of continued state matching funds for cybersecurity grants. Hazard mitigation and tsunami staff emphasized the need for sustained investment in flood, wildfire, earthquake, lahar, and tsunami resilience, including vertical evacuation structures and language-access outreach. Ezell also briefed the committee on World Cup security preparations and federal grants for counter-unmanned aircraft systems, explaining that the state can buy mitigation capabilities but current authority to use them remains largely federal; the committee asked follow-up questions about fan zones, training, and the meaning of drone mitigation. No votes were taken, and the meeting ended with adjournment after the presentations and questions.

Transcript Highlights:

• All too long, communities like mine have been sold a naive and under-informed version of public safety
• Providers consistently face barriers like restrictive zoning, site limitations, and costly permitting
• they raised some legitimate issues around the fact that they don't themselves hold down the seizure permits

Keywords: 988, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• We will not permit conduct that disrupts, disturbs, or otherwise impedes the orderly conduct of legislative
• Public comment may be provided only at the designated time and place as permitted by me, the Chair.
• into this tier that there is less investment, and maybe you can respond to this, in communities like mine

Keywords: 988, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Members, it's a great honor today to bring forward a resolution in memory of a very good friend of mine
• HB 2812 by Isaac relating to the exemption of public water. supply wells from regulation permitting or
• penalties for violating certain statutes under the jurisdiction rules or orders adopted by or licensing permits

Keywords: 1184, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Three, the district attorney or permit. Three, the district attorney or permit.
• , allows, does not force a uh permits, allows, does not force a uh permits, allows, does not force a
• somebody to commit to be able to permit somebody to commit to be able to permit somebody to commit to
• And so, well, your reasonings for supporting this were mine. Wanting to supporting this were mine.
• Wanting to supporting this were mine.

Bills: HJR 4, HJR 6, HB 195, HB 13, HB 143, HB 135

Keywords: occupation tax, securities, financial regulation, tax exemption, legislative amendment, capital gains tax, realized gains, unrealized gains, investment income, asset sale, capital assets, wealth tax, estate tax, trust tax, tax limitation, constitutional amendment, Texas Constitution, Article VIII, property tax, sales tax

Transcript Highlights:

• So, uh, we have a graph; the numbers are mine, they're putting it together as Karen's, and it just kind
• So, uh, we have a graph; the numbers are mine, they're putting it together as Karen's, and it just kind
• graph,<00:37:14.240> the<00:37:14.480> numbers<00:37:14.720> are<00:37:14.960> mine
• ,<00:37:15.760> they're graph, the numbers are mine, they're graph, the numbers are mine,
• <01:40:10.159> software software um the the permitting software software um the the permitting

Keywords: 1191, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Um, signs are not permitted in the hearing room or in the testifiers’ table.
• Um, signs are not permitted in the hearing room or in the testifiers’ table.
• Um, signs are not permitted in the hearing room or in the testifiers’ table.
• privilege, me in particular, uh when I walked up, um just a few minutes ago, um a former student of mine
• Um, signs are not permitted<00:02:41.599> in<00:02:41.760> the<00:02:41.920> hearing

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• So if you'll permit me. to ask you some questions where we can outline to the committee.
• It simply amends the Constitution to permit. to permit the denial of bail in this particular fact situation
• Later, there's a mother of three, and she's mine.
• I did mine a few hours ago. I should have thought of that. We shouldn't have my boys watch it.
• I don't think they're permitted to do that under the law now.

Bills: HB36, HB75, HB76, HB166, HB799, HB 1135, HJR15, HJR16, HB36, HB75, HB76, HB166, HJR15, HJR16

Keywords: family violence, global positioning monitoring system, victim resources, electronic monitoring, protective orders, magistrate, criminal procedure, probable cause, written findings, law enforcement, bail bonds, bail fund, charitable bail fund, nonprofit bail organization, public funds, local government spending, political subdivision, county, city, taxpayer lawsuit

Transcript Highlights:

• So, currently, a temporary permit holder can practice up to 90 days in the state.
• vacationing or visiting family for a short period of time can do so through the 90-day temporary permit
• has really discussed interest in that part of it, but it does find interest in making the temporary permit
• <01:05:17.280> for<01:05:17.520> reasonable<01:05:18.000> medical permitted for
• reasonable medical permitted for reasonable medical management.<01:05:19.280> Uh<01:05:19.440>

Bills: HB1853, HB1591, HB1961, HB1854, HB1965, HB1962, HB1959, HB2505, HB2576, HB1801, HB1804, HB1864, HB2319, HB2314, HB2115

Keywords: HB1853, dementia, Alzheimer's disease, cognitive impairment, memory care, memory clinic, Hanai Memory Network, Executive Office on Aging, aging services, kupuna, caregiver support, long-term care, elder care, geriatrics, public health, dementia screening, care coordination, referral network, neighbor islands, rural health

Summary: The committee heard testimony on SB 2047, relating to pharmacy benefit managers. The Insurance Division said the bill would require new enforcement resources and estimated an appropriation of about $1.5 million and five positions. Kaiser Permanente asked for an amendment to exclude HMOs from the definition of third-party PBMs, saying the bill should not interfere with integrated care models. PCMA and the Hawaii Pharmacist Association supported narrowing amendments, with pharmacists objecting to section 3 and warning the bill as amended could create major operational burdens and a significant general fund cost. No vote was taken in the portion provided, and the chair moved on to the next measure after questions. The committee then took up SB 2080, which would allow Hawaii to join the psychology interjurisdictional compact. Supporters, including DCR, the Hawaii Association of Health Plans, the Hawaii State Association of Counties, the Grassroot Institute, and others, said the compact would expand access to psychology services, especially for people in rural areas or those needing continuity of care while traveling. Opponents, including the Board of Psychology and a Shamanad University psychology professor, raised concerns about client safety, crisis-response procedures, enforcement costs, FBI background checks, and possible loss of state control over training and specialization standards. The board said Hawaii’s current 1,900-hour internship/postdoc requirement is higher than the compact’s standard and that the state is still implementing a separate provisional licensing law that may address some access issues. The discussion focused on whether the compact would meaningfully reduce shortages and whether Hawaii should instead pursue changes within its existing licensing system. Finally, the committee heard SB 2277 on hospital price transparency. The Office of Consumer Protection initially noted the bill could require significant staffing, but later testimony from SHIP suggested the measure could be handled more simply by working with the Healthcare Association of Hawaii and publicly posting violations. The Healthcare Association of Hawaii opposed the bill, arguing hospitals already must comply with federal CMS transparency rules and that adding state requirements would increase costs and legal exposure, especially if violations were treated as unfair or deceptive trade practices. Steve Fenberg testified in support, saying the bill would simply codify existing federal requirements in state law and that he was open to amendments removing state enforcement and the unfair trade practice language. No final action was taken in the excerpt provided.

Transcript Highlights:

• So portfolio to permitted third parties.
• communities like mine communities like mine has<01:53:56.640> a<01:53:56.720> lack
• <05:49:58.880> that their operations around permits that their operations around permits that
• <05:50:14.360> allowance, Permits are not a perpetual allowance, Permits are not a perpetual
• commercial aquarium extractive permits. commercial aquarium extractive permits.

Keywords: 910, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• One of them was a relative of mine, Iggy Swodzinski, and he wasn't allowed to sign it because the pen
• One of them was a relative of mine, Iggy Swodzinski, and he wasn't allowed to sign it because the pen
• Effective bans on large-capacity magazines, required permits for long guns, or to report stolen
• <00:48:26.080> Minnesotans that would uh permit Minnesotans that would uh permit Minnesotans
• I know mine did. if if they have the capacity. if if they have the capacity.

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• we're 1.5 degrees or more over the industrial age, but if we just calculate all the gas and oil permitted
• Somerville utilizes a comprehensive permitting and data platform for all zoning, building, and certificates
• of occupancy permitting.
• It might be mine.
• boreholes or the waste heat produced from a bakery or data center, is a rapidly evolving area of permitting

Keywords: 995, all

Summary: The hearing focused on several climate and utility-related bills, especially H. 3449/S. 2292 to expand the municipal fossil fuel-free building demonstration program from 10 to 20 communities and related home rule petitions for Somerville and other municipalities. Witnesses from Somerville, Salem, Worcester, Cambridge, Newton, Arlington, Wellesley, Watertown, and the Massachusetts Municipal Association argued that local governments should be allowed to opt into fossil fuel-free or net-zero building standards, citing climate goals, environmental justice concerns, housing production, and data showing all-electric construction can cost about the same as or less than mixed-fuel construction. Committee members repeatedly pressed witnesses for cost data and asked for written follow-up, while also discussing whether strong environmental standards affect housing supply; witnesses responded that the main housing constraints are financing and that they would provide more data from local projects and state studies. A second major topic was H. 3564, which would require gas companies to provide municipalities with detailed multi-year pipe replacement plans, allow local review and objections, and limit reimbursement for projects not previously disclosed except in emergencies. Municipal leaders and advocates said the bill would improve coordination of street work, reduce disruption and costs, and help cities plan for electrification, network geothermal, and non-pipeline alternatives. Testimony from Wellesley, Cambridge, Arlington, Newton, and others emphasized repeated problems with last-minute gas main work, the need for advance notice, and the value of municipal participation in planning gas system retirement and alternatives. The committee also heard testimony on the “tactical transition” bills, S. 2249/H. 3539, aimed at managing the gas-to-clean-energy transition. Supporters from Gas Transition Allies, Rewiring America, and 350 Mass said the bills would require joint gas-electric planning, create an advisory council, eliminate subsidies for new gas hookups, shift investment toward repairs and clean alternatives, protect workers through retraining, and make utility plans more transparent. They argued these changes would reduce ratepayer costs, avoid stranded gas assets, and support orderly decarbonization. In addition, HEET testified on H. 3541, which would update greenhouse gas accounting to better reflect methane’s short-term climate impact, and H. 3543, which would establish a framework for managing shared thermal resources and thermal energy networks; committee members asked several questions about the meaning, ownership, and consumer-cost implications of the proposed “thermal commons.” No votes were taken during the hearing.

Transcript Highlights:

• If you wish to vote at your desk and then leave the chambers, Senate customs and usage have permitted
• customs<00:12:45.280> and<00:12:45.480> usage<00:12:46.160> have<00:12:46.360> permitted
• <00:12:46.800> that customs and usage have permitted that customs and usage have permitted
• Um, a constituent of mine, an optometrist, brought this to me last summer that um it was a concern he

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• I will say, quite frankly, It is a priority of mine as an independent branch to ensure that our data,
• what we learned in this last cycle is so many of our wastewater systems are outside of their EPA permit
• And a lot of those systems are outside of their permits.
• you all had an allowed wastewater—we've never seen so many of these systems outside of their EPA permit
• I certainly didn't include grants, permits, fees, licensing, etc.

Transcript Highlights:

• Code 5032 is our oversized and overweight permitting section.
• I'll talk about mine, though. Thank you.
• <03:01:39.800> though mine though mine though yeah<03:01:42.279> thank<03:01:42.439>
• So nobody has any permits and licensing moving forward.
• So that's permits and licensing, that unit.

Keywords: 928, house, all

Summary: The committee met with New Hampshire DOT Commissioner Bill Cass and Finance Director Danielle Shandra to review the agency’s FY 2026 budget. Cass gave a high-level overview of DOT’s mission, organization, funding structure, and staffing trends, noting the agency has about 650 employees across five divisions. He said the Governor’s recommended FY 2026 budget totals $95.99 million, essentially flat from FY 2025, with funding primarily from Turnpike funds, Highway funds, federal sources, and a small General Fund share for non-highway units. Members asked about how Turnpike and Highway funds are treated in state accounting, and DOT explained that while they are enterprise funds restricted to their purposes, they are considered unrestricted from the statewide perspective and are appropriated through the budget process. A major topic was staffing and budget targets. DOT said its full-time staffing level has remained relatively flat since 2014 even as vehicle miles traveled increased and vacancies rose. To meet budget targets, the department unfunded seven permanent positions and nine temporary full-time positions, and later noted additional reductions in Finance, including the elimination of two full-time positions, reduced print shop equipment purchases, and deeper cuts to overtime, temporary help, equipment, and supplies in FY 2027. DOT also explained that it shifted funding for one unmanned aerial system position from General Funds to Highway Funds, saying the change was workable because the position supports highway-related work and federal-aid-eligible activities. Members asked for clarification on the state transit operating match, and DOT explained that the Legislature had previously provided about $1.8 million annually in General Funds to help local transit agencies meet federal match requirements, but that funding was not included in this budget. DOT said that could reduce the ability to draw down some federal transit funds, though the impact may not be immediate because those funds can be used over several years. The department also described its unmanned aerial system program, saying it has been used for about five years for mapping, survey work, construction oversight, and storm damage assessment, and that it now has about five drones and two full-time positions supporting the program. DOT said it is expanding cross-training so more employees can operate drones without adding positions. No votes or formal actions were taken in the portion provided.

Transcript Highlights:

• Alfredo Gutierrez was born on September 1, 1945, in the copper mining town of Miami, Arizona.
• He returned home at the age of 22 to work in the mines as his father had years before.
• He returned home at the age of 22 to work in the mines as his father had years before.
• The sponsor of the measure is permitted three minutes. Turn page.
• Permitted three minutes for closing comments. I'm going to stop there.

Keywords: 1182, all

Transcript Highlights:

• You have heard the testimony of all the physicians, one of them being a friend of mine.
• God forbid that could happen to mine, and then you'd lose everything.
• I have a recent example of a patient of mine who was working with physical therapy.
• Locations and permitting the sale of inhalable products are all steps in the right direction.
• Hawkins addressing someone else's bills instead of mine for a change.

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

Keywords: local government spending cap, expenditure limit, political subdivision, property tax, ad valorem tax, budget cap, taxpayer protection, spending restraint, inflation adjustment, population growth, voter approval, supermajority vote, county budget, municipal budget, school district finance, junior college district, hospital district, special district, attorney general enforcement, local fiscal limits