Transcript Highlights:

• But additionally, in 2018 there was a biomass economic impact study, as well as a Duth Steam Plant study
• materials environmental impact study materials environmental impact study and<00:15:30.519> then
• There was a weather trend study, and then an energy savings loan as well.
• <00:18:18.600> program new geothermal feasibility study program new geothermal feasibility
• study program launched<00:18:19.480> this<00:18:19.640> year<00:18:20.559> since

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• Um, I know that the cabinet is going to talk about the fish study that they did, where they took samples
• So our government has been slow to sort of study this issue and adopt any kind of uniform guidelines
• this issue and adopt to sort of study this issue and adopt any<00:07:54.479> kind<00:07:54.720
• But, you know, the EPA, the FDA, and the USDA are all studying PFAS.
• I don't understand are all studying PAS.

Keywords: Meeting Start 00:00:00 Attendance Roll Call 00:01:40 Chair Comments 00:02:51 Rep. Nima Kulkarni PFAS Presentation 00:04:35 EEC PFAS Presentation 00:39:36 Rusty Cress PFAS Presentation 01:01:10 Chair Comments on Admin Regs and Reports Received 01:14:41, 958, all

Transcript Highlights:

• The chair has set aside some consideration for our Senate to study the issue of sports wagering.
• to study the issue of sports wagering. to study the issue of sports wagering.
• As it relates to the study, I think the one comment I wasn't intending to make, but since it's up for
• I think the one comment I wasn't study.
• are our horsemen involved in that study are our horsemen who<00:25:18.080> quite<00:25:18.400

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• I'm a senior at the University of Minnesota studying plant science and the former president of Lambda
• I'm a senior at the University of<00:03:53.680> Minnesota<00:03:54.200> studying<00:03:
• 54.600> plant<00:03:54.920> science<00:03:55.840> and of Minnesota studying plant
• science and of Minnesota studying plant science and the<00:03:56.040> former<00:03:56.320>
• I mean, study on the Saint Paul campus? >> Misty Walt. Um, Representative Carroll, thank you.

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• HB Number 48 by DARB relating to the creation of a working group to study alert notification systems
• HB number 60 by Lopez at Cameron relating to the study by the Texas Water Development Board of the state
• Infrastructure fund and the implementation of streamlining procedures based on the results of the study
• HB number 68 by Lopez and Cameron relating to the study by the Texas Water Development Board on the cost
• HB 152 by money relating to a study of alternative methods of taxation to replace revenue loss to political

Transcript Highlights:

• input from myself, the staff at the Collins Center for Public Management at UMass Boston, the Charter Study
• I have a degree in human psychology, and I've invested more than $45,000 in my dog training studies.
• municipalities, consulted studies, and undertook a robust process of community engagement.
• consulted studies and undertook a robust process of community engagement we held approximately 50 open
• COVID-19 and long COVID have been under clinical study over the last five years and appear to affect

Keywords: 995, all

Summary: The committee held a lengthy hybrid hearing of the Joint Committee on Municipalities and Regional Government, with testimony spanning local board training, animal welfare and enforcement, municipal charters, water district dissolution, and other home rule matters. Chairs Rausch and Lewis set strict time limits because of the large number of speakers and explained that written testimony would also be accepted. Members heard from local officials, advocates, municipal employees, and residents, with many bills receiving broad support from municipal and advocacy witnesses. Several speakers supported bills requiring or expanding training for local boards and commissions, including pre-service training for planning, zoning, and other land use boards. Supporters said training would help volunteers understand complex laws, improve consistency, reduce legal challenges, and speed up housing and development decisions. Related testimony also backed a bill to modernize historic district commissions and another to allow associate planning board members to serve more broadly when needed to maintain quorums. A major portion of the hearing focused on animal legislation. Witnesses supported bills to expand citations for cruel conditions beyond dogs, update dangerous dog procedures, improve animal health inspections and breeder oversight, strengthen tethering rules, and protect pet consumers. Animal control officers, humane organizations, and some victims of dog attacks described enforcement gaps and the need for clearer standards, while several dog trainers and the American Kennel Club opposed parts of the dangerous dog bill and tethering restrictions, arguing they would limit humane training tools and professional discretion. The committee also heard strong support for a bill to create a statewide pet shop and consumer protection framework. The committee also heard testimony on several local home rule petitions. Medford officials and residents strongly supported a new city charter that would replace the current at-large council with ward-based representation and periodic charter review. Wayland representatives supported a bill to preserve the library’s Millennium Fund as intended, Cambridge officials backed creation of an employment and job training trust, and Carver officials supported dissolving the North Carver Water District due to compliance and financial problems. No votes were taken during the hearing, and the chair repeatedly invited written testimony and follow-up materials.

Transcript Highlights:

• I've got a short refresher for you on the cooling need study that ODOE conducted with our consultant
• The study focused on three types of housing: mobile and manufactured homes, publicly supported rental
• The estimated cost to install permanent cooling equipment in all the housing types studied across the
• So kind of data sense that study. Thank you.
• In the study, heat pumps were the preferred solution for efficient cooling and heating service.

Keywords: 907, all

Summary: The committee met for a series of information sessions focused on housing stabilization, rental assistance, senior housing, and heat resilience. In the first panel, OHCS and NOAA described the state’s affordable housing preservation work, including the $35 million in 2025 stabilization funding used to reduce debt and keep distressed affordable rental projects operating, plus manufactured home park preservation efforts. OHCS said the portfolio remains under strain, with about a third of projects at debt coverage ratios of 1.0 or less and rising insurance and operating costs. NOAA urged faster closings on the stabilization awards, more funding in 2027, and broader rent assistance and process reforms. Committee members asked about the gap between current appropriations and need, and OHCS explained that the new Article 11-Q bond preservation program is structured differently and requires full refinancing rather than simple cash infusions. The committee then heard a detailed discussion of the state’s eviction prevention and rental assistance program, ORDAP. OHCS said the program is administered through community action agencies, prioritizes households at imminent risk of eviction, and is now funded at a much lower level than in the prior biennium, reducing expected service to about 8,200 households this biennium. The Oregon Law Center, a county community action agency, and Multifamily Northwest all agreed the program prevents homelessness and is effective, but they differed on whether assistance should be tied so closely to eviction court. Legal aid and community action witnesses said the current system is underfunded and that eviction filings are the clearest indicator of need, while Multifamily Northwest argued the process can push people into court unnecessarily and should be moved earlier when possible. Legislators raised questions about whether a pre-eviction model could be developed and about the costs of court involvement; one member shared a personal story about how rental assistance helped keep their family housed. Next, the governor’s office, OHCS, and OHA presented on the new senior housing initiative and healthy homes work. The governor’s housing director said Oregon is making progress on homelessness and housing production, with reductions in homelessness outside Multnomah County and an estimated 50,000 future units added to the pipeline through recent state actions. OHCS outlined the senior housing programs launched in May: a debt-financing program using elderly and disabled bond authority, an older adult housing development program funded through the senior property tax deferral revolving account, and a rehousing program for older adults that will use bridge funding and services to move at least 400 unsheltered older Oregonians into housing. OHA also described its Healthy Homes Grant Program, including $24.6 million already awarded, a new $5 million grant round for seniors and people with disabilities, and examples of home repairs and weatherization that help people remain safely housed. The final information session focused on home cooling and heat resilience. OHA presented data showing rising extreme heat days, more heat-related emergency visits, and likely undercounted heat deaths, especially among older adults, people with disabilities, low-income communities, and people without access to healthy homes. ODOE reviewed implementation of Senate Bill 1536, including a cooling needs study that found 58% of surveyed households in the studied housing types needed permanent cooling, with estimated statewide costs of $582 million to $1 billion. ODOE said its rental home heat pump and community heat pump programs have supported 4,638 installations so far, with a temporary reopening planned using remaining funds. The session ended with a remote presentation from a Community Action Partnership of Oregon representative, continuing the discussion of how community action agencies help deliver energy and anti-poverty services.

Transcript Highlights:

• So, it's all of the amendments and contracts for our planning studies, as well as any amendments we had
• basically enacting it so we can get started as the office and the commission on working on those studies
• as well as any for our planning studies as well as any amendments<00:01:31.439> we<00:01:31.680
• <00:02:00.799> and on uh working on those studies and on uh working on those studies and working
• The consultant that we are going under contract with will complete the study, and the amount of that

Keywords: 916, all

Transcript Highlights:

• A New Mexico study repeated that same study and showed that one physician generates 11.4 jobs and $1.9
• And there's good science on this, and this is not a one-up study. Show the next.
• This competition is happening, even though study after study have shown that business location decisions
• Many of these studies are good and accurate within the limits of economic modeling.
• I never saw an economic study.

Summary: The committee first approved the minutes from its fourth meeting, held October 27-28 in Santa Fe, with Representative Duncan moving approval and no opposition. The chair then introduced a panel on the cost of providing medical care in New Mexico, focusing on physician shortages, rising practice costs, and access problems, especially in southern New Mexico and Las Cruces. Panelists included family physicians, a pediatrician, a cardiologist/electrophysiologist, and a community health center medical director, who described their backgrounds and practices before turning to the policy discussion. The doctors argued that New Mexico is losing physicians because of three main pressures: medical malpractice exposure, gross receipts tax on medical services, and low Medicaid reimbursement. They said malpractice premiums are much higher than in neighboring states, punitive damages and venue shopping increase risk, and the patient compensation fund and attorney fee structure create additional costs. They also described administrative burdens from insurance billing and referrals, the high debt and long training period for physicians, and the effect of corporate medicine and private equity on practice decisions. One panelist emphasized the economic impact of each physician on jobs and local spending, while another noted that shortages force patients into emergency rooms and delay specialty care. The panel presented a list of proposed solutions: reform punitive damages, limit venue shopping and stacking, restore lifetime medical payments from the patient compensation fund, enact apology protections, cap attorney fees, continue Medicaid funding improvements, and eliminate gross receipts tax on medical and dental services. Committee members generally agreed the presentation was thorough and useful, but several noted that some proposals fall outside this committee’s jurisdiction and would likely need to move through other committees, especially judiciary and tax. Some members supported drafting legislation or working on separate bills, while others urged caution, requested more input from hospitals and economists, and raised concerns about local government revenue impacts from GRT changes. The chair concluded by encouraging members to continue discussions offline and noted that the tax-related issue would be taken up further in the next day’s work.

Transcript Highlights:

• Hernandez shared that in terms of We just completed a supply and demand study that shows exactly that
• And the cost, quality, and outcome study had come out on child growth and development.
• It's because the studies that justified this, one, targeted low-income at-risk families, and our state
• What you'll see is that Firstborn, to your previous point, is currently being studied in a multi-year
• study to see if it can receive Medicaid reimbursement, so that is in the works.

Transcript Highlights:

• And we do everything from drug development to clinical studies and interventional trials.
• the human brain I uh be able to study the human brain I uh can<00:37:52.599> say<00:37:53.000
• <00:37:59.160> human used um most uh often to study human used um most uh often to study human
• For example, the techniques that we have perfected for studying the brain have been commercialized.
• For example, the techniques that we have perfected for studying the brain have been commercialized.

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• [Music] I wanted to try to get the EIDBI licensure study report in, but we had a great conversation and
• As I mentioned earlier, we've done this study in three phases.
• As I mentioned earlier, we've done this study in three phases.
• As I mentioned earlier, we've done this study in three phases.
• So some providers who participated in our study said they need more direction from DHS.

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Summary: The committee heard a presentation from DHS on its early intensive developmental and behavioral intervention (EIDBI) study and related licensing proposal. Christy Grom explained that EIDBI is a Medical Assistance state plan service for children and young adults under 21 with autism or related conditions, and that DHS’s multi-phase evaluation included standards review, community engagement, and a comparison with other states. She said the service is important but that DHS identified gaps in oversight, including stretched clinical supervision, providers affiliated with many centers, out-of-state providers, and rapid growth in enrollment that has outpaced current monitoring capacity. DHS’s main recommendation was to create a provisional license for EIDBI in Chapter 245A as an immediate step, with later work toward full licensing standards. The proposal would let DHS identify controlling individuals, disqualify ineligible people, investigate maltreatment, suspend or revoke licenses, require background studies and qualifications before service delivery, move EIDBI providers into a higher-risk category for revalidation, and make DHS the lead investigative agency for maltreatment. DHS also recommended statutory standards for supervision, caseloads, training, and documentation, while emphasizing the need to balance oversight with continued access to services. Grom said the provisional licensure proposal is part of the governor’s budget and that DHS hopes to begin implementation in 2025, with a possible full license start date in 2028. Testifiers then spoke in support of EIDBI while urging the committee to preserve access and include more community input. Ana Hagi Muhammad, a parent of three autistic children and a Somali community advocate, said EIDBI has been beneficial for her family and that community organizations serving Somali families have not been sufficiently engaged in DHS’s process. Ana Muhammad, a Black mother of a young autistic child, said ABA has helped her son with communication, self-regulation, and independence, and asked that discussions reflect the diversity of family experiences. Committee members asked testifiers to keep remarks brief and to identify which modality they use, and the chair indicated the committee would continue hearing from additional testifiers before further discussion.

Transcript Highlights:

• I'd be in support of studying it. flaws. I'd be in support of studying it.
• I'm thinking about studying it. I know you are. I don't want another study commission.
• it studied a little. it studied a little.
• I'm thinking about studying thinking? I'm thinking about studying it. it. it.
• completed extensive animal studies. completed extensive animal studies.

Keywords: 1191, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• <01:02:42.240> for the general fund for some studies for the general fund for some studies
• to extend the effective date for a study to extend the effective date for a study due<01:48:01.760
• So the study is essentially a two-prong study to compare the method introduced in Senate File 1111 as
• > a<01:52:36.159> two-prong the study is essentially a two-prong the study is essentially
• :38.239> method<01:52:38.560> introduced study to compare the method introduced study to

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• unanimously agreed to have a study. unanimously agreed to have a study.
• is the ACES study, right?
• is the ACES study, right?
• is the ACES study, right?
• is the ACES study, right?

Keywords: 910, house, all

Summary: The committee heard several housing, landlord-tenant, and condominium-related measures. Senate Bill 62, relating to the Hawaii Public Housing Authority, would allow HPHA-owned parcels and related areas such as parking lots to be closed to the public with posted signage; HPHA strongly supported the bill, saying it would help reduce loitering, drinking, and other problems, and no further testimony was offered. Senate Bill 822, relating to the landlord tenant code, would create a three-year working group in the Department of the Attorney General to study and improve the residential landlord-tenant code. The Judiciary supported the measure but said the scope should be narrowed; the Attorney General opposed leading the group and suggested another agency should do so; Hawaii Realtors and the Hawaii Worker Center supported the concept and suggested moving the chairmanship to the Judiciary and including Legal Aid participation. The Judiciary said it could chair the group if the bill were narrowed to matters within the court’s purview. Senate Bill 38, relating to housing, would limit counties from imposing stricter conditions, AMI requirements, or fee-waiver reductions on certain affordable housing proposals if those changes would increase project costs. HHFDC supported the bill, saying county changes after state approval create uncertainty for developers, while the Hawaii State Association of Counties opposed it as an intrusion on local authority and a restriction on county safety and infrastructure conditions. Members asked about whether existing county review periods were sufficient, and the county association said the main concern was the bill’s language limiting counties from making cost-increasing conditions. Senate Bill 146, relating to condominiums, would revise alternative dispute resolution procedures for condo disputes, including evaluative mediation and binding arbitration. The Hawaii Real Estate Commission said it took no position overall but supported a $150 mediation fee and asked for a similar arbitration fee; Community Associations Institute supported the bill with suggested amendments; however, most testimony was strongly opposed by condominium owners and advocates, who said the bill had been changed to the detriment of owners and would increase costs and reduce protections. The committee noted 44 testimonies on the bill, with 2 in support, 37 in opposition, and 2 with comments. Senate Bill 253, relating to condominium reserves, would require a detailed budget summary to stand on its own, remove a good-faith defense for certain noncompliant budgets, and clarify standing and the association’s burden regarding substantial compliance. Hawaii Realtors and Community Associations Institute supported the measure as improving transparency and giving owners and buyers a clearer picture of association finances. Greg Msakian also supported it, arguing it would help owners and describing problems he experienced with budget committee exclusion and budget noncompliance in his own association. The discussion ended while testimony on the bill was still underway, with additional witnesses expected.

Transcript Highlights:

• Chair, I move interimm study. Mr. Chair, I move interimm study.
• <03:08:23.120> study<03:08:23.439> from<03:08:23.600> the A separate study,
• a case study from the A separate study, a case study from the National<03:08:24.080> Library<03
• This raises serious questions studies.
• Another study found that there are, say, a review actually of other studies found that there are mental

Keywords: 1189, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Okay, no testimony, no studies. Thank you for your answer.
• Okay, no testimony, no studies. Thank you for your answer.
• Okay, no testimony, no studies. Thank you for your answer.
• there are case studies of that show there are case studies of other<01:40:46.000> states<01:40
• <02:23:50.000> that article or actually the study that article or actually the study that

Keywords: 928, house, all

Summary: The meeting was a House budget briefing focused on the overall state budget and the first of three divisions. The presenter reviewed the size and structure of the budget, noting that the state had eliminated the interest and dividends tax and still balanced the budget. He explained the major spending categories in the general fund and total budget, emphasizing that health and human services and education remain the largest areas, while transportation is largely self-funded. He also walked through the revenue picture, including business taxes, insurance taxes, court fees, communications taxes, and Medicaid recoveries, and said the remaining interest and dividends tax revenue reflected late payments from prior assessments. Members asked about the size of the tax cut from eliminating the interest and dividends tax, federal funding stability, and why Medicaid was being reduced if federal support was expected to remain steady. The response was that the lost revenue would have been about $200 million absent repeal, and that the budget gap was addressed through many small cuts across departments. On federal funds, the presenter said most aid is tied to multi-year grants and that core programs such as Medicare and Medicaid were expected to remain relatively stable, though some federal reductions could occur. He also said some agency reductions came from eliminating long-vacant, funded positions and from expected lapses. The discussion then moved into Division One, which covers smaller and miscellaneous agencies. The division made cuts to the governor’s office, eliminated a temporary position at the Governor’s Commission on Disability, reduced Department of Information Technology spending through a back-of-budget cut, and found savings in Administrative Services. It also delayed maintenance at the Sununu Youth Services Center, stopped advertising for paid family medical leave, changed retiree health insurance funding, and consolidated several personnel-related boards into one. The division eliminated the Commission on Aging and the Office of the Child Advocate, made a temporary special education advocate position permanent, reduced the Secretary of State’s budget, kept municipal rooms-and-meals distributions flat, and made changes to the retirement system, including $55 million to improve Group 2 retirement benefits and a new retirement structure for future state hires. The judicial branch was also asked to find savings and received two additional judges because of expected caseload increases from other eliminations.

Transcript Highlights:

• I get these letters back from the State House and it's sent out to a study.
• What do these studies consist of?
• out of study anytime during the session.
• However, I did find out later that for some reason it went to study.
• However, I did find out later that for some reason it went to study.

Keywords: 995, all

Summary: The Joint Committee on Public Service held its third hearing of the 194th General Court session, taking testimony on several individual bills and home rule petitions, mostly involving retirement and pension-related relief. The committee chair outlined hearing procedures, including three-minute limits for individuals, ten-minute limits for panels, livestreaming, and the deadline for written testimony. At the end of the hearing, the chair noted that House matters heard that day must be reported by Friday, July 11, 2025, subject to extensions, and the committee adjourned after testimony concluded. Several witnesses supported bills seeking retirement credit or pension adjustments for public employees. These included H. 2917 for Dedham-Westwood Water District employees seeking pension buy-in credit; H. 2976 for Eileen Mullen to purchase creditable service for teaching in a criminal justice pilot program; H. 2996 for Virginia Cummings, a retired Department of Correction lieutenant seeking greater pension parity; H. 2977 for Wendy Lopieri to buy back part-time community college service; and H. 2989 for Wayne Taylor, who said he was mistakenly credited for fewer years of select board service than he expected. Testimony emphasized long public service, injuries, and what witnesses described as unfair denials or flawed interpretations of retirement law. The committee also heard testimony on bills involving post-retirement earnings and disability-related relief. Kevin Blanchett testified in opposition to H. 2931, arguing it would improperly reduce money owed to a regional retirement system and its members, while the bill’s sponsor argued the retirement board was seeking an excessive recovery based on law firm gross earnings rather than the individual’s earnings. Jamie Magarian described severe injuries from a 2018 crash and urged favorable action on his bill, with support from the State Police Association. Michael Palmer testified in favor of S. 1841, seeking to extend prior violent-crime retirement income-cap relief to his case after being shot on duty and later finding that even part-time private-sector work exceeded his retirement earnings limit.

Transcript Highlights:

• The study will also look at which industries and areas are most affected, which ones are most at risk
• And this study fits directly within that mission.
• The study will also look at which industries and areas are most affected, which ones are most at risk
• And this study fits directly within that mission.
• This study fits directly within that mission.

Summary: The Transportation and Economic Development Budget Subcommittee met and first took up CS/HB 567, a broad transportation bill by Rep. McFarland. The bill, as explained, covered a range of transportation policy changes including higher speed limits, local regulation of e-bikes and e-scooters, parking accommodations for pregnant women, advance land acquisition for DOT projects, changes to FDOT contracting, elevation of roads in capacity projects, MPO quality metrics, and repeal of the Metropolitan Planning Organization Advisory Council. Two amendments were adopted: one added a prohibition on driving too fast through flooded roads and creating excessive wake, and another updated language to allow for future technology in traffic management systems. The strike-all removed several items from the original bill, including utility-right-of-way language, private-public-use airport funding, and an electric vehicle tax redirect, and added MDX board changes. The bill then passed favorably on a recorded vote. The committee next considered CS/HB 1535, also by Rep. McFarland, a lengthy hurricane recovery and preparedness measure. It requires local governments to post storm-preparedness and recovery information online, expands special needs shelter information, mandates emergency management training, improves debris removal planning, and adds provisions for fiscally constrained counties. It also addresses shelter access, rebuilding rules, permitting timelines and fees after storms, homestead rebuilding limits, and election flexibility after disasters, including a process for supervisors of elections to request emergency changes through the Secretary of State. Members asked several questions about local rebuilding ordinances, election “super sites,” and the request/approval process. The bill drew support from several groups, including disability advocates, builders, waste and recycling interests, crane owners, and restaurant and lodging representatives, and it passed favorably. The committee then heard CS/HB 561 and CS/HB 563 from Rep. Cobb on manufacturing. HB 561 would elevate a chief manufacturing officer within the Department of Commerce, create a voluntary Florida manufacturing promotional campaign, and require biennial reporting on manufacturing efforts; an amendment removed the grant portion of the program, and the bill passed favorably with support from industry groups. HB 563 established an annual fee, capped at $100, for participants in the voluntary manufacturing promotional campaign and also passed favorably. Finally, Rep. Spencer presented HB 827, which directs a statewide study on the impact of automation and artificial intelligence on Florida’s workforce, to be updated every three years and developed with business, academic, and local input; it too passed favorably. The meeting then adjourned with notice that the subcommittee would meet again the following week.

Transcript Highlights:

• Uh another study shows that 50%.
• A film studies teacher illustrating.
• study the issue of school bullying. study the issue of school bullying.
• <06:25:00.798> school constructive bill to study school constructive bill to study school
• We need to take need to study it.

Keywords: 1189, house, all