Transcript Highlights:

• Simply put, this bill reduces red tape, increases clarity, and protects public safety.
• Inspections are vitally important, and this bill continues to protect inspections.
• The language is clear to protect against hydraulic system modifications.
• . protections and establishing clear oversight for emerging practices.
• If comp plans work, why are we all stuck in traffic bumper-to-bumper every day?

Committee: House Commerce Committee

Transcript Highlights:

• Army Corps of Engineers worked closely with our National Guard and others to protect our levees and the
• With those dollars, we will build and protect thousands of affordable housing units, make it easier for
• National Guard in other states from being sent into Washington State without our permission, and helped protect
• Representative Lowe and Reid are working together to allow the Traffic Safety Commission better access

Summary: The joint session of the Washington Legislature convened to receive Governor Bob Ferguson’s State of the State address, with the House and Senate, Supreme Court justices, statewide elected officials, tribal leaders, consular representatives, and other guests formally introduced. The meeting also included the Pledge of Allegiance, a performance by the Wapato High School Choir, a prayer by Reverend Indiana Driver Gimmer, and a poem by State Poet Laureate Derek Sheffield. In his address, Governor Ferguson said the state remains strong economically but faces major challenges from recent historic flooding, aging transportation infrastructure, ferry reliability problems, the housing shortage, and affordability concerns. He proposed major budget priorities including more than a billion dollars for bridge and road maintenance without raising taxes, another billion dollars for ferries, and a record housing investment. He also called for a millionaire’s tax to fund expanded Working Families Tax Credit benefits, tax relief for small businesses, and more support for K-12 education, along with utility assistance and early learning expansion funded in part by a large private gift. The governor also criticized federal immigration enforcement practices and changes at the CDC, urged action on a bill to prohibit masked law enforcement and require identifying information, and backed shifting vaccine recommendations to the state health department. He highlighted several bipartisan proposals he said he would sign, including expanded early learning for military families, modular housing standards, reckless driving changes, crash review access to medical information, wildfire air resources for local fire departments, and fee refunds for missed agency deadlines. After the governor’s remarks, the joint session was dissolved by motion and the House adjourned until the next legislative day.

Transcript Highlights:

• The Springs protection zones. I remember when this bill was presented last session.
• increase protections for the springs.
• Not just saying okay, if there's harm, we have to move forward with a springs protection zone because
• And so, yes, we need to move forward with a with a springs protection zone or in some cases a lot of
• Has that had any impact on any of the proposed to springs protection zones of late?

Transcript Highlights:

• The key findings in the 2023 AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety study said that the odds of a vehicle
• AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety study AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety study said<00:06:53.039><c>
• , that rely on pedestrian traffic to get back and forth across the street.
• , that rely on pedestrian traffic to get back and forth across the street.
• </c> businesses that rely on foot traffic businesses that rely on foot traffic that<01:09:14.799><c>

Bills: HF3694 , HF3844 , HF4006 , HF3785 , HF3849 , HF4102 , HF3441 , HF3507 , HF3562

Committee: House Transportation Finance and Policy

Transcript Highlights:

• can apply the appropriate protections.
• However, it would ensure that federally protected California native species could be considered for protection
• Protected by changes in federal law, should be protected by the State's Endangered Species Act.
• And throughout this session we've heard a lot about protecting children, protecting women, about making
• Because, for some, protecting gun owners' rights are more important than protecting children and women

Transcript Highlights:

• We want... real resources that are going to protect us and this just isn't it.
• Thereby achieving GGRF savings necessary to protect current service levels of fund users of the motor
• Much of what we'll talk about in terms of new funding to protect communities from wildfire and build
• We know that we can protect ourselves and our communities best.
• When you think about what we mean by this, these are conserving, protecting our natural lands.

Transcript Highlights:

• . protections. protections.
• </c> I appreciate protecting our hearing. I appreciate protecting our hearing.
• </c> protect. I have another amendment. protect. I have another amendment.
• removes citizens' protections.
• removes citizens' protections.

Transcript Highlights:

• Oklahoma City's Traffic and Transportation Commission, and he continues to serve through several military
• Instructor for 13 years and through civic leadership, including service as Chairman of Oklahoma City's Traffic

Bills: HR1041 , SB137 , SB1255 , SB1226 , SB1238 , SB1258 , SB1325 , SB1460 , SB1543 , SB1730 , SB1921 , SB1733 , SB1216 , SB1256 , SB1061 , SB1534 , SB1873 , SB1653 , SB540 , SB1948

Transcript Highlights:

• the disabling, removal, or interference with emission control devices, and to amend the Vehicle and Traffic
• the disabling, removal, or interference with emission control devices, and to amend the Vehicle and Traffic

Committee: Senate Environmental Conservation

Summary: The Environmental Conservation Committee, chaired by Senator Pete Harckham, met with a quorum and took up a 19-bill agenda, largely consisting of repassed environmental measures. Bills discussed included standards for ambient lead in soil, restrictions on false recyclability claims and plastic labeling, environmental restoration projects, commercial fishing and marine licenses, bans on unencapsulated foam flotation on docks and floating structures, indirect source review for warehouse operations, nuisance wildlife operator disclosure requirements, waterfront revitalization for Doodle Town Brook, a ban on fuel oil grade No. 4, renewable energy development rights on reforestation areas, fee exemptions for veterans and active-duty service members, a ban on mercury-added lamps, designation of water development representatives, bans on cleaning products containing triclosan or triclocarban, a composting symbol, bans on paper receipts for certain purchases, climate corporate data accountability, PFAS product restrictions, and prohibitions on tampering with emissions control devices. Members raised several policy concerns during the meeting. Senator Palumbo questioned the PFAS bill’s inclusion of cookware and suggested an incremental approach, while the sponsor defended keeping cookware in the bill because heating PFAS can increase exposure through food and inhalation. On the renewable energy/reforestation bill, Senator Stec noted implementation concerns about allowing solar development in reforestation areas, and Senator May responded that the bill is intended mainly to facilitate transmission lines across state forest lands. There were also questions about the climate corporate data accountability bill’s scope, including revenue thresholds, overlap with existing DEC greenhouse gas regulations, and the source of fee revenue, with staff explaining it would apply to large companies doing business in New York and use registration fees to cover program costs. Most bills were advanced either to the calendar or to finance. Bills including the lead standards, marine license changes, foam flotation ban, mercury lamp ban, water development representatives, composting symbol, and emissions tampering restrictions were advanced to the calendar. Several measures, including the recyclability labeling bill, environmental restoration projects, warehouse indirect source review, veterans’ fee exemption, and climate corporate data accountability bill, were referred to finance. The paper receipt bill was advanced to commerce, and the committee concluded after voting to move the final bills, including the PFAS restrictions and emissions tampering measure, with technical date fixes noted for the climate accountability and PFAS bills.

Transcript Highlights:

• The average daily traffic, recent improvements, yes or no, the safety, cost, and the priority ranking
• The average daily traffic, recent improvements, yes or no, the safety, cost, and the priority ranking
• The average<00:26:23.160><c> daily</c><00:26:23.520><c> traffic</c><00:26:24.720><c> recent</c> average
• daily traffic recent average daily traffic recent improvements,<00:26:26.280><c> yes</c><00:26:26.600
• c><00:27:08.760><c> maps.kytc.ky.gov</c> /trafficcounts /trafficcounts and that will tell you the traffic

Summary: The committee met for the first interim meeting of the 2025 Budget Review Committee on Transportation and heard from Bobby Jo Lewis, commissioner of Rural and Municipal Aid at the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. She reviewed the new County City Bridge Improvement Program, created in the 2024 regular session, reporting that phases one and two are complete, 45 bridges have been funded so far, and about $18.45 million has been authorized. She said roughly $6.549 million remains for phase three in the current fiscal year, with about $26.445 million in bridge applications still pending. For fiscal year 2026, the program will again have $25 million and will use four application phases. She also described a training resource, Local Bridges 101, and said a new executive advisor, Greg Meredith, has been brought in to help with the bridge program. Members asked how rollover applications would be handled, whether they would be re-evaluated with new applications, how the program would account for bridge longevity and load posting, and how isolated communities would be prioritized. Lewis said applicants not funded in FY25 would be contacted and could choose to roll their applications into FY26, and all applications would be evaluated together at the end of each phase. She said preservation projects are assessed for how much they extend a bridge’s life, and isolated community access bridges or closed bridges with no detour access receive priority. She also said the department aims for equitable distribution across regions and plans to produce a map showing where funds have been awarded. Lewis then turned to the County Priority Projects Program and the Local Assistance Road Program established in House Bill 546 and related resolutions. She said the application cycle opened June 1 and closes October 1, with 106 memoranda of agreement being prepared for awards in House Joint Resolution 46. She described updated application and reporting forms, a scoring matrix, and a County City Pavement Evaluation Manual used to rate projects based on preservation of assets, average daily traffic, recent improvements, safety, cost, and district priority. She said projects must be rehabilitation projects designed to restore the original condition of the road, cannot exceed $500,000, and must use local match percentages tied to the economic development grant program formula. She also reported on funding status for prior road projects, including completed, partially completed, pending, and underrun amounts that may be reauthorized. Committee members asked about photo documentation, online access to project materials, how to measure whether projects truly restore roads to original condition, and what happens when project costs exceed estimates. Lewis said the department is still working on how best to store and share the large volume of photos, and that projects are certified through district offices and local sign-off after completion. She said overages are the responsibility of the applicant because the state does not have additional money beyond the awarded amount. No formal votes were taken during the discussion.

Transcript Highlights:

• If we do that, we can make good on our promise to protect the environment and protect other water users
• Our communities have been protecting these trees locally for decades, much like the longstanding protections
• AB 1167 and AB 2461 protections through circumvention.
• Protecting public health is indeed an important goal, but so is protecting our jobs, protecting our tax
• AB 2711 does not weaken any environmental protections.

Summary: The committee heard a long series of bills, beginning with AB 2026 on groundwater recharge. The author and supporters said the bill would streamline permitting for recharge projects, codify long-standing CEQA exemptions for flood diversions to recharge, and add tribal consultation and other guardrails. Water agencies and local districts supported the measure as a way to capture high-flow water and reduce groundwater subsidence, while environmental groups and some irrigation districts opposed it, warning that the bill’s exemptions and broader diversion authority could harm rivers, Delta resources, and public trust values. The bill was discussed but not voted on because the committee lacked a quorum at that point. The committee then took up AB 1577 on data center energy accountability, which would require monthly reporting of energy-use data and permit-related estimates of energy and water demand. The author and the Little Hoover Commission argued the bill would improve transparency, help protect ratepayers, and give regulators better information for grid planning. Data center industry representatives opposed it as duplicative, burdensome, and uniquely targeted, while local governments, environmental groups, and some utilities supported it or supported it if amended. The bill was later reported out with a due pass recommendation once a quorum was established. Members also heard AB 2245 on a producer responsibility program for lubricant products and containers, AB 2170 on CEQA language-access and environmental review protections for overburdened communities, AB 2059 on rural transportation and VMT mitigation, AB 1808 on Western Joshua tree permitting and fee relief, AB 2182 on industrial energy efficiency program changes, and AB 2231 on streamlining two hospital projects. Testimony was mixed on most of these bills: supporters emphasized affordability, local control, environmental justice, or project urgency, while opponents raised concerns about CEQA scope, regulatory duplication, costs, and environmental impacts. Several measures received due pass recommendations and roll-call votes, including AB 2170, AB 2059, AB 1808, AB 2182, and AB 2231, with some members voting no or not voting and some bills left open for absent members.

Transcript Highlights:

• for the delay, but we were pausing starting the meeting because, uh, several people were stuck in traffic
• /c><00:02:11.360><c> were</c><00:02:11.520><c> stuck</c><00:02:11.760><c> in</c><00:02:11.920><c> traffic
• </c><00:02:12.160><c> on</c> several people were stuck in traffic on several people were stuck in traffic
• We also convened the community in Louisville via the Protect Our Schools Kentucky infrastructure that
• </c><00:35:50.800><c> against</c> strengthens the protections against strengthens the protections against

Committee: Senate Education

Transcript Highlights:

• Chair, Senate Bill 414 by Senator Talbot is an act to amend Title 51 relative to medical debt protection
• , to create the Louisiana Medical Debt Protection Act.
• And that's, that was actually the intent of this bill initially was to try to protect the free entities
• So the VFW has their standard, and then we've put additional standards that try to protect veterans the
• Then two juvenile court judges will be reduced, and two municipal and traffic court judges.

Bills: SCR12 , HB221 , HB509 , HCR58 , SB78 , SB25 , SB80 , SB132 , SB155 , SB157 , SB202 , SB228 , SB250 , SB414 , SB433 , SB479 , SB513 , SCR9 , SCR58 , SB65 , SB215 , SB249 , SB269 , SB282 , SB296 , SB323 , SB363 , SB369 , SB474 , SB490 , SB492 , SB500 , SB514 , HCR32 , HB17 , HB41 , HB73 , HB223 , HB244 , HB759 , HB906 , HB966 , HB1006 , HB1009 , HB1086 , HB1107 , HB1112 , HB1215 , HB1242 , SB217 , SB283 , SB469 , HB36 , HB42 , HB74 , HB119 , HB159 , HB259 , HB302 , HB414 , HB459 , HB776 , HB848 , HB956 , HB1017 , HB1028 , HB1095 , SB208 , SB312 , SB382 , SB389 , HB210 , HB258 , HB359 , HB368 , HB468 , HB552 , HB732 , HB784 , HB870 , HB953 , HB1117 , HB1236

Transcript Highlights:

• The concurrence is excellent; there are a few technical changes with the manual on uniform traffic control
• But I can tell you this right now: I probably have more passion about protecting our veterans than anybody
• I'm willing to sit here and work with anybody to try to protect them.
• But I will not stand by and listen to people saying that we're not doing what we can to protect them.
• We have to make sure we're protecting all veterans. So I really appreciate being on the committee.

Transcript Highlights:

• a municipality could regulate agriculture, giving cities and towns the possibility of controlling traffic
• possibility giving cities and towns the possibility of<00:27:28.679><c> controlling</c><00:27:29.320><c> traffic
• </c><00:27:29.840><c> ingress</c><00:27:30.280><c> and</c> of controlling traffic ingress and of controlling
• traffic ingress and egress,<00:27:31.480><c> parking,</c><00:27:32.080><c> signage,</c><00:27:33.080

Transcript Highlights:

• I've been stuck in traffic. Is it on out there? I got stuck in the I-75 traffic.
• I've been stuck in traffic. Is it on out there? I got stuck in the I-75 traffic.

Summary: The Housing Task Force met to approve its September and October minutes and then consider its final report, which was described as an overview of the second year of the task force’s work and included 14 recommendations for future legislative action. Members thanked the co-chairs and staff for compiling the report and noted that it had been posted publicly. Several members emphasized that housing problems affect both urban and rural areas across Kentucky and that the report should help guide next steps in the General Assembly. Members offered a range of comments on the recommendations. One representative urged stronger language on the state’s role and cautioned against moratoriums on building-code reforms that could discourage sustainable practices or raise long-term utility costs, while also suggesting more down payment assistance. Others highlighted the need for local flexibility in housing policy, support for rehabilitation tax credits, and continued use or expansion of affordable housing credits and direct support for construction, infrastructure, revolving loan funds, and low-income housing tax credits. Another member suggested adding clearer “right to rebuild” language so homeowners could rebuild after a fire if the home meets current code. The co-chairs summarized the task force’s main takeaways as two broad issues: regulatory delays and the need for more financial incentives. Members also discussed zoning, permitting delays, and the importance of moving permits more quickly so development can proceed without unnecessary holdups. After a motion and second, the committee approved the report as amended by the added “right to rebuild” language, and agreed to submit it to LRC, the Senate President, and the Speaker for approval before adjournment.

Transcript Highlights:

• We had a bill the other day, especially in municipalities, a lot of misdemeanors and especially traffic
• violations are never entered. ...and especially traffic violations are never entered in NCIC.
• So if they have a failure to appear on a traffic offense... ...failure to appear on a traffic offense

Bills: HB202 , HB42 , HB146 , HB492 , HB285 , HB7 , HB454 , HB42 , HB7

Committee: House Judiciary

Transcript Highlights:

• </c><00:15:21.000><c> the</c> also making sure we protect the also making sure we protect the Integrity
• protect those into the future.
• protect those into the future.
• </c> governor's proposal here is protect governor's proposal here is protect Investments<01:01:44.960
• Traffic control at a funeral is taxable.

Committee: House Taxes

Transcript Highlights:

• So we're also doing traffic calming on San Pedro. Thank you.
• start moving water and infrastructure into that southeast corner, southwest corner, dealing with the traffic
• So traffic calming on San Pedro and pedestrian safety along Central.
• I understand that they've got a job to do as well, and they've got to protect their localities and what

Bills: SB36 , SB88 , SB92 , SB97 , SB48 , SB55 , SB58 , SB76 , SB93 , SB89 , SB60

Committee: Senate Senate Tax, Business & Transportation

Transcript Highlights:

• Hopefully<00:10:10.560><c> the</c><00:10:10.800><c> traffic</c><00:10:11.040><c> was</c><00:10:11.279
• c> not</c><00:10:11.440><c> so</c><00:10:11.600><c> bad</c><00:10:11.680><c> on</c> Hopefully the traffic
• was not so bad on Hopefully the traffic was not so bad on the<00:10:12.000><c> bridge</c><00:10:12.240

Summary: The Maryland Senate met on Ash Wednesday, February 18, 2026, with a quorum present. The session opened with an invocation by Chaplain David Stadler, followed by journalization of his remarks and several introductions recognizing guests in the chamber, including dentists, an intern, a former legislative staffer, and representatives from the University System of Maryland and other groups. Senators also noted upcoming committee meetings and a Legislative Black Caucus photo the next day. The main floor action centered on a resolution honoring Maryland Career and Technical Student Organizations for Career and Technical Student Organization Week. The sponsor described the role of CTSOs in serving more than 12,000 students statewide and in building leadership, professional, and career skills. The resolution was read in full and adopted unanimously, with the Senate expressing congratulations and appreciation for the organizations’ work with young people. The Senate then took up layover items and calendar bills. Senate Bill 56, concerning Maryland Longitudinal Data Center external data sharing for multi-state reporting, was special ordered for one day after members raised privacy-related questions. Senate Bill 99, the Open Meetings Act/Local Board of Education Transparency Act measure, was also special ordered for one day after discussion of its committee amendment. The chamber also received administrative corrections from the Governor and referred them to the Executive Nominations Committee, and the majority leader later moved adjournment until February 19 at 10:00 a.m., which was adopted without objection.