Transcript Highlights:

• I was wondering how long the process is. What's it looking like in this current atmosphere?
• I understand you're on an expedited time frame, so I won't take too much time. It's my privilege.
• If not, I know you guys are trying to be expedited.
• I know you guys are trying to be expedited. I'm happy to answer any questions that you may have.
• I was trying to expedite things. Jacqueline Wynne. I apologize. I was trying to expedite things.

Keywords: 909, all

Transcript Highlights:

• the process.
• and all of that has really helped to expedite this and hoping to continue to expedite it.
• :07.039> and has really helped to expedite this and has really helped to expedite this and hoping
• <00:26:08.799> So hoping to continue to expedite it.
• So hoping to continue to expedite it.

Keywords: Appropriations - Room 216, 12 March, 2026; 10:30 AM, 925, all

Summary: The committee began by noting the plan to suspend the rules later that afternoon so several measures could be taken up on the floor, including bills that may be on final passage or contain reverse repealers. Members were reminded to clearly identify which bills were final passage measures so the chamber would know it might be the last opportunity to vote on them. The committee then moved through a series of appropriations bills. In the education and judicial budgets, Senator DeBar explained House Bills 1928, 1933, 1935, 1936, and 1937, covering the legislative operations budget, DFA buildings reappropriations, K-12 education, MPB, and the library commission. He described increases for teacher pay, special education supplements, testing contracts, ELC coaches, financial literacy, ESA funding, and other adjustments, along with reductions in some areas and a decline in student enrollment affecting the funding formula. The bills were adopted by title sufficient, do pass, with strike-all motions where applicable. Senator Wiggins presented House Bills 1924, 1926, 1927, 1930, and 1931, covering the Attorney General, Capital Postconviction Council, district attorneys and staff, the Office of State Public Defender, and the Supreme Court/AOC budget. He highlighted salary increases for agency attorneys, human trafficking funding, new district attorney positions from judicial redistricting, public defender support for family defenders and the rural legal services pilot, and major court-system items such as judicial salary increases, youth court intake, CCID courts, and the MyCIDS replacement system. Questions focused on the meaning of personal services, vacancy funding, and possible use of opioid settlement funds for AOC; the committee was told those issues could be handled through the reverse repealer or other vehicles. The bills were advanced, with the committee noting which ones contained reverse repealers and which were final action. Subcommittee 5 and 6 then handled human services, health, licensing, and transportation-related measures. House Bills 1906, 1909, 1912, and 1921 covered Child Protective Services, Human Services, Medicaid, and Rehabilitation Services, with explanations for new attorney positions, salary and vacancy funding, SNAP administration, Medicaid agency funding, and restoring positions in rehab services. House Bill 1908 for the Department of Health added money for Jackson water litigation and public health priorities such as obesity management, remote monitoring, cancer screenings, and maternal-infant health. House Bills 1913, 1914, 1915, 1917, and 1918 were taken up together for licensing boards, with most changes described as cloud services, PIN restoration, or vacancy funding; only the Board of Medical Licensure bill had a reverse repealer. Finally, Senator Thompson handled special fund and transportation bills, including the Port Authority, waterway and river districts, Yellow Creek, and MDOT. He noted overtime concerns at the Port Authority, special-fund increases for contractual services and capital improvements at the water districts, and MDOT increases for salaries, commodities, equipment, and the three-year highway plan. Senator Wiggins raised a question about utility relocation costs in transportation projects, saying some municipalities were being told to pay those costs themselves; Senator Thompson said he would follow up with MDOT.

Transcript Highlights:

• <00:09:28.640> the money out, I just want to expedite the money out, I just want to expedite
• And currently it's an expensive, laborious process.
• And so then you go through the hearing process.
• If you go through the hearing process.
• It took them two years to get through the process.

Bills: SB9, SB90, SB82, SB84, SB9, SB90, SB82, SB84

Keywords: Alabama Athletic Commission, Attorney General, criminal penalties, unarmed combat, regulation, boxing, mixed martial arts, civil fines, Green County, racing, pari-mutuel wagering, gaming regulations, commission appointments, historical horse racing, local tax, SB82, warrant recall, outstanding warrants, stale warrants, misdemeanor warrants

Transcript Highlights:

• process.
• process there is a panel convened.
• the chief justice and it's an expedited the chief justice and it's an expedited litigation<00:40
• :46.920> process.
• a in a very expedited process there is a in a very expedited process there is a panel<00:40:56.560

Bills: SB2109, SB2151

Keywords: emergency preparedness, Hawaii Emergency Management Agency, multilingual resources, American Sign Language, public education, community resilience, disaster response, emergency management, governor powers, legislative oversight, public safety, 910, house, all

Summary: The committee on Public Safety met on March 20, 2026, and the chair opened by noting severe rain and flooding conditions in Hawaii and said the committee would proceed with the hearing but defer decision-making until the next meeting on March 25. The first measure discussed was SB 2109, an omnibus bill on emergency preparedness communications. Testimony was overwhelmingly in support, including from state agencies and advocacy groups such as the Disability and Communications Access Board, Hawaii Emergency Management Agency, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, the Legal Clinic, the Hawaii Coalition for Immigrant Rights, and others. Supporters emphasized the need for funding and planning for multilingual emergency materials and language access, citing current evacuation notices that were not available in languages such as Ilokano or Tongan. The chair stated that action on SB 2109 would be deferred until March 25. The committee then heard SB 2151, relating to emergency management and changes to the governor’s emergency authority. Testimony was mixed but heavily focused on concerns about executive power. Earthjustice supported the bill with amendments, saying it should narrow extraordinary emergency powers, add definitions for emergency and disaster, preserve transparency under the Uniform Information Practices Act, and lower the legislative threshold to terminate an emergency proclamation from two-thirds to a simple majority. Other supporters, including the League of Women Voters of Hawaii and some individuals, also backed reform. Opponents, including Hawaii Emergency Management Agency and numerous individuals, argued the bill still gave the governor too much power, used overly broad disaster definitions, and did not sufficiently protect constitutional rights; several urged major amendments or repeal of portions of Chapter 127A. Some opponents specifically objected to the two-thirds termination standard and to provisions they said could enable compulsory immunizations or other mandates. Members questioned Earthjustice about whether the bill would suspend constitutional rights. Earthjustice responded that the bill would not authorize constitutional violations, but would allow suspension of laws enacted by the legislature, and pointed to existing statutory procedures for individuals to challenge emergency proclamations. The witness described a Mauna Kea case in which a three-judge panel granted relief to an individual under the current statute, and explained that the process could potentially affect a broader proclamation if allowed to run to completion. The hearing continued with additional testimony and questions, but no final vote or committee action on SB 2151 was taken during this portion of the meeting.

Transcript Highlights:

• process.
• In response to the directive to complete the expedited portability process, In response to the directive
• to complete the expedited portability process through an all-county letter, in October 2024, the department
• issued All-County Letter 24-77, which provided guidance on the expedited portability process.
• To strengthen the system or the process, I recommend continuing the expedited porting flexibility.

Keywords: 988, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Another component of the bill that would help with an expedited process would be the micro center portion
• And I agree that we're going to have to take some significant steps to expedite a lot of these processes
• And I agree that we're going to have to take some significant steps to expedite a lot of these processes
• And I agree that we're going to have to take some significant steps to expedite a lot of these processes
• a lot some significant steps to expedite a lot of<00:17:18.800> these<00:17:19.000> processes

Keywords: 958, all

Transcript Highlights:

• <01:10:26.440> by expedite claims through the process by expedite claims through the process
• the process.
• the process.
• the process.
• the process.

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• We are working with the chairman on as we go forward through the process.
• That process can be time-consuming and is oftentimes financially burdensome.
• Members, in closing, the eviction process is inherently...
• Other states have made expedited filings and charge a fee for this specialized service.
• for expedited filings and services, aligning Texas with other competitive states.

Keywords: 1184, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• And then it goes into the expedited process, and then over on page 27 it's Section 31 that's at line
• All of those processes, and many more potentially, could be considered expedited and advanced for the
• And, Chair, with your indulgence, one follow-up: the expedited process in Section 30 on page 26 gives
• And, Chair, with your indulgence, one follow-up: the expedited process in Section 30 on page 26 gives
• The expedited process kind of gives us some broad guidelines, but does not have a lot of specificity.

Keywords: 909, all

Transcript Highlights:

• So what we can do is I can research and see how those processes have been affected over the last couple
• This process is time consuming, must be done. done in person relies on a paper-based system.
• In 2021, the PUC adopted adopted a SIC rule to implement that process with a Truro mechanism.
• Our members would like a SIC processes more like the.
• Process the PC uses for the for decisions in expedited electric utility rate matters known as DC RF or

Bills: SB 384, SB 503, SB 565, SB 616, SB 740

Keywords: hunting license, fishing license, donation, operation game thief fund, wildlife conservation, livestock, electronic registry, marks and brands, Texas Animal Health Commission, animal identification, SB 565, Texas Water Code, TCEQ, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, compliance agreement, enforcement suspension, utility consolidation, regionalization, water supply, sewer

Summary: The Senate Committee on Water and Agriculture and Rural Affairs convened under the leadership of Chairman Kelly Hancock, who opened the meeting with a prayer in remembrance of Chairman Perry, who was absent due to a personal loss. The session focused on the discussions surrounding SB384, which aims to support the longstanding initiative known as Operation Game Thief. Senator Flores presented the bill, emphasizing its essential role in the fight against poaching through public support. The operation has a successful track record of convictions but is currently dependent on donations and merchandise sales for funding. The committee aimed to vote on multiple bills during this session, contingent on achieving a quorum. Notably, discussions also revolved around fiscal notes on two bills that were set aside for later consideration, indicating the committee's intention to carefully manage their legislative decisions. The meeting showcased a productive atmosphere, with committee members actively engaged in the review and potential advancement of key legislative measures.

Transcript Highlights:

• Not affording all applicants due process.
• They're not affording applicants that process.
• that free the hiring process for that particular position?
• that free the hiring process for that particular position?
• that free the hiring process for that particular position?

Keywords: 910, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• in this area to make it a more expedient process.
• We engaged in tribal consultation throughout that process.
• The process of organ donation is incredibly complex.
• We expedite triaging them based on the diagnosis and acuity.
• So how long does the process take? Thank you. Thank you. So how long does the process take?

Summary: The committee met to hear introductory briefings from the Department of Health and the Health Care Authority on agency priorities, federal changes, and implementation challenges. Secretary of Health Dennis Worsham said his department’s listening tour is focused on strengthening governmental public health, improving health care quality and access, and responding to federal funding disruptions and the shutdown’s effects on programs such as WIC. HCA Director Ryan Moran said the agency is prioritizing coverage preservation, oversight of major contracts, affordability, behavioral health integration, rural health transformation, and internal agency operations. Members asked about licensure delays; Worsham said the backlog had been reduced from about four months to six weeks and should be caught up by January 1, with possible further process changes if needed. A major portion of the meeting focused on H.R. 1 and its Medicaid-related implementation. Governor’s health policy advisor Caitlin Stafford, HCA staff, and interim Medicaid Director Trinity Wilson said the state is working with DSHS, the Health Benefit Exchange, tribes, and other partners to prepare for eligibility changes, work requirements, and six-month redeterminations. They said the state expects up to 30,000 Apple Health enrollees could lose coverage under the law’s non-citizen eligibility changes, and that the work requirement/redetermination provisions could affect about 620,000 adults, with roughly 80,000 also enrolled in SNAP. HCA said it hopes to automate most verification, but about 15% to 20% of cases may require manual review, with technology costs estimated at up to $30 million. Staff also said they are trying to keep H.R. 1 implementation mostly in budget language rather than statute, and that communication and navigator support will be important to minimize confusion and coverage loss. The committee also received an update on the Rural Health Transformation Program created in H.R. 1. HCA said Washington submitted its application to CMS on November 5 after extensive stakeholder engagement, including more than 310 written comments, webinars, and tribal consultation. The application centers on six initiatives: rural hospital innovation, community care and prevention, tribal investments, technology and data, workforce development, and rural behavioral health. HCA said the state is likely to receive less than the full $200 million annual amount assumed in the federal program, and that an advisory committee may be created to help guide spending over the five-year program. Members asked about palliative care, small business impacts, and communication with enrollees; HCA said it expects to share outreach toolkits and that no 2026 statutory changes are currently anticipated, though that could change. The final panels covered organ donation and transplant services. Department of Health staff explained the 2023 “Lights and Sirens” law for organ transport vehicles, including licensing, driver qualifications, insurance requirements, and use of emergency lanes and traffic preemption; the department said one company is currently licensed and there have been no complaints. LifeCenter Northwest described the organ procurement process, the legal framework under the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act, and the rarity and complexity of deceased donation, noting Washington has seen strong growth in donation and transplants over the past decade. University of Washington Medical Center staff then outlined its transplant programs for kidney, liver, heart, lung, pancreas, and multi-organ transplants, describing the multidisciplinary evaluation and waitlist process and the coordination required with donor organizations and hospitals.

Transcript Highlights:

• Second, it would upend the state's water planning process.
• The Texas Water Development Board's process is successful.
• There can be other sub-processes involved.
• The way the process works is the agency and the process is agnostic to the type of strategy because each
• Not because there's an issue with the application process.

Bills: HB1523, HB2109, HB2694, HB3525, HB3898, HB4646, HB5188, HB5219, HB5320, HB5651, HB5655, HB5659, HB5662, HB5672

Keywords: aquifer conservation, Class V injection well, environmental regulation, groundwater protection, municipal water supply, temporary prohibition, water management, reservoir construction, state water plan, Texas Water Code, environmental impact, Brazoria Drainage District, commissioners, elections, vacancies, resignation, HB 3525, North Texas Groundwater Conservation District, groundwater permit, permit amendment

Transcript Highlights:

• Um, we do have some bills about expediting military processing.
• <01:31:12.159> Uh<01:31:12.880> in expediting military processing.
• Uh in expediting military processing.
• We actually do PTSB in processing.
• Because I I do think that process?

Bills: SF0035, SF0090, SF0072

Keywords: education, cell phones, smart devices, school policy, student conduct, school property, rental fees, youth activities, education policy, Wyoming legislature, teacher licensure, teacher mobility, interstate compact, education compact, licensure reciprocity, reciprocal certification, teacher certification, professional teaching standards board, out-of-state teachers, military spouse

Transcript Highlights:

• this inspiring process.
• this inspiring process.
• Because the release process can take up to six months, SB 986 is intended to expedite information requests
• Sets up a new process.
• And I hope this will unjam the process because the process is jammed up beyond belief. And I...

Summary: The Senate convened with a quorum present, heard an invocation, adopted the prior day’s journal, received House messages, and adopted several resolutions and recognitions, including Senate Resolution 496 honoring Leadership Garland and resolutions 503 and 504. The chamber also recognized guests, including a North Dakota senator and the Doctor of the Day, and received gubernatorial nominations for the Texas Economic Development Corporation Board and the Nueces River Authority Board. The Senate then took up and passed a series of bills, often by suspending the regular order and the constitutional three-day rule. Measures approved included SB 614 on Texas Forensic Science Commission referrals to the Office of Capital and Forensic Writs; SB 250 on municipal annexation across railroad rights-of-way; SB 1660 on toxicological evidence retention and destruction procedures; SB 2586 requiring property owners associations to file governing documents with the Texas Real Estate Commission; SB 1588 increasing penalties for certain failures to report child sexual abuse; HB 912 on compensation for distributed renewable generation outside ERCOT; SB 1957 setting eligibility standards for civilian oversight boards; HB 2525 clarifying a charitable property tax exemption; SB 1525 limiting repeated prior authorization for neurodegenerative disease drugs; SB 865 requiring CPR/AED training and cardiac emergency response planning in schools; SB 1212 elevating human trafficking penalties; SB 2690 on solicitations for Secretary of State documents; SB 1802 on landlord repair duties for ramps, elevators, and handrails; SB 905 on licensing rules for speech-language pathologists and audiologists; SB 2929 allowing removal of disruptive spectators at school athletic events; SB 2675 creating a narrow McAllen-specific parkland conveyance exception; SB 872 increasing punishment for burglary of a vehicle involving firearm theft; and SB 1113 clarifying sales rules for certain converter-license holders. Several bills drew extended debate. SB 2487, dealing with crisis and mental health services for homelessness, was amended to make the county model permissive rather than mandatory and to remove state funding/assistance requirements before passing 28-3. SB 2138, barring higher education funds from contracting with firms that boycott fossil fuels through ESG policies, also passed after questions about fiscal effects and First Amendment concerns. SB 2615, restricting remote work at public institutions of higher education, advanced 22-9. The Senate also began consideration of SB 3016, which would expand enforcement tools against local governments that fail to comply with state law, but the transcript cuts off before action on that bill is completed.

Transcript Highlights:

• It provides an expedited, if you could call it that, 6-month expedited approval process through the PRC
• Senate Bill 170 will help expedite the process.
• This will expedite the process to attract and retain commercial and industrial businesses capable of
• This is simply on the approval process. Thank you.
• I'm very familiar with the FEMA process.

Transcript Highlights:

• If the county still has not acted 60 business days later, the applicant may request expedited processing
• The applicant simply cannot invoke the expedited path until the 60-day threshold has passed.
• Counties may also define what constitutes a 60-day period and set fees for expedited permits.
• , while the bill doesn't specify process, while the bill doesn't specify that<00:13:37.040> the
• ,<00:13:40.399> the period, in the rulemaking process, the period, in the rulemaking process

Keywords: 912, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• So CRISPR just allows us to expedite that breeding process. And so we're very excited about that.
• So this expedited audit expedited propagation program has been essential for us to get that, but would
• We've got processing plants. We've got packing houses. We've got citrus nurseries.
• Likewise, when processing plants in packing houses go away.
• There are those rules and processes come from the water management district.

Keywords: 999, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• , facilitate, and coordinate state and intergovernmental permitting processes.
• allows for facilitated permanent process allows for facilitated permanent process but<00:05:20.560
• some of the permits and the process.
• some of the permits and the process.
• If it is linked to the facilitated permitting process under DBED. Not to our knowledge.

Keywords: 912, senate, all

Summary: The Committee on Energy and Intergovernmental Affairs heard two concurrent resolutions. HCR 33 proposed asking the U.S. Postmaster General to relocate the Pearl City Post Office from Kamehameha Highway and Acacia Road to Navy property on the Pearl City Peninsula. Testifiers, including Pearl City Neighborhood Board chair Larry Verrett and resident Lena Ala Baiton, supported the move, citing severe congestion, narrow access, safety concerns, and the potential to improve traffic flow and support transit-oriented development. Members noted a similar Senate measure had already passed, and HCR 33 was recommended to pass unamended. The committee then considered HCR 157, which would establish a task force to simplify permitting for enhanced economic development and coordinate state and intergovernmental permitting processes. Testimony in support was submitted by representatives connected to DBED/HHFDC and others. In discussion, members questioned whether such a task force was necessary, what projects it would address, how often it would meet, whether it could include housing and local-level projects, and what the cost might be; the response was that the resolution would provide more structure, no similar project had been executed before, and costs were not yet known but could be addressed later. The committee ultimately recommended HCR 157 pass unamended, and the recommendation was adopted without objection.

Transcript Highlights:

• Debris removal was critical to expediting the arduous process of returning homeowners to their properties
• We knew we needed to invest in people, technology, and processes, streamline the processes.
• Let me, um, be clear: um, this conversation I'm having with you as far as trying to expedite the process
• <01:09:33.440> and just somebody working the process and just somebody working the process
• fundamental question is the process fundamental question is the process hindering<01:10:29.760><

Keywords: 912, senate, all