Transcript Highlights:

• and our language.
• in Act 192.
• Techniques is integral for our learning, youth, and our future economy.
• And our Hawaiʻi in support. Chair, Vice Chair, we stand on our written testimony.
• , our constituents?

Bills: HCR93 , HCR14 , HR85

Committee: House Finance

Transcript Highlights:

• We are owned by our members. customers. We are owned by our members.
• ><c> and</c><01:05:24.720><c> our</c><01:05:24.880><c> cities</c><01:05:25.599><c> uh</c> keeps our our
• counties and our cities uh keeps our our counties and our cities uh from<01:05:25.920><c> from</c><01
• in our state.
• And I hope that in our in our state.

Bills: SF0099 , SF0116 , SJ0006

Committee: Senate Judiciary

Transcript Highlights:

• in some of those in our wildland, rural, urban areas.
• The bill has passed subject to signatures and with that we will move back into our schedule of our public
• in our communities.
• They help our elected officials support these housing and...
• I can our process like the prior speaker.

Summary: The Senate Housing Committee heard several housing-related bills and gubernatorial appointments. SB 6201 would create property tax and REET exemptions for property used as affordable housing by social housing agencies, with testimony from the sponsor and supporters from Seattle Social Housing and House Our Neighbors emphasizing lower development costs and deeper affordability. Senator Gildon questioned how the 50% occupancy requirement would work at purchase, and staff explained the covenant and compliance requirements. The committee also heard SB 6205, which would add conflict-of-interest restrictions and reporting requirements for the Community Reinvestment Account, Affordable Housing Program, and Covenant Homeownership Program; Senator Braun said the bill responds to reports of misuse and is intended to improve transparency and trust. The committee heard gubernatorial appointments Pedro Espinoza and Diana H. Perez to the Housing Finance Commission, both of whom described their construction, local government, and housing experience and were supported by committee members. In executive session, the committee adopted a substitute and passed SB 6001 on scissors stairs, SB 6026 on allowing residential uses in commercial and mixed-use zones, and SB 6054 on fire-hardened building materials. SB 6026 drew the most debate, with amendments added and others rejected; supporters said it would expand housing supply, while opponents and local governments raised concerns about historic districts, main street areas, and limits on local planning authority. SB 6054 was amended to remove the 10% cap on fire-hardened materials, with members saying it would help homeowners protect against wildfire risk. The committee then moved to public hearings on SB 6069, which would require cities and counties to allow emergency shelters, transitional housing, indoor emergency housing, and permanent supportive housing in more zones and limit local restrictions to objective standards and administrative review. Supporters, including housing providers, the Attorney General’s Office, King County, and Disability Rights Washington, said local barriers are delaying needed housing, while cities and the Association of Washington Cities argued the bill is too broad and would limit operational agreements and local flexibility. The committee also heard SB 6167, which would bar homebuyers from receiving multiple state-funded down payment assistance loans or grants. The sponsor said the bill is meant to maximize limited assistance dollars for more households, but opponents from housing nonprofits, advocates, and a homeless veteran said it would reduce access to homeownership, especially for Black households and families needing layered assistance in high-cost markets. Finally, the committee returned to SB 6205 testimony, where supporters said the bill would prevent self-dealing and misuse of grant funds, while one testifier urged more investigation and oversight resources. No final action was taken on the public hearing bills during the transcript.

Transcript Highlights:

• We are not our military our department.
• </c> by line all of our entry fees and our by line all of our entry fees and our proposal<01:50:24.239
• > health at one of our at one of our health at one of our at one of our meetings,<03:22:13.920><c> probably
• </c> and then our our process. and then our our process. Further<04:16:40.560><c> questions?
• our our organization's scholarship made our our organization's scholarship $500,<04:59:58.718><c> no

Summary: The committee reviewed a handout comparing House Bill 2 to current retirement law and walked through the bill section by section with staff from the retirement system. The discussion focused on vesting, earnable compensation, average final compensation, compensation-over-base limits, special duty pay, normal retirement age, re-retirement, and maximum benefit rules for Group 2/Tier B members. Staff explained that some provisions would restore pre-2011 rules, including counting certain end-of-career payments such as unused sick and vacation time in earnable compensation and reducing the AFC averaging period from five years back to three. They also described how the bill would eliminate the current cap on compensation over base, which mainly affects overtime, and noted that the actuarial cost of the AFC-related changes is interrelated rather than easily broken out by feature. A separate discussion covered the special duty pay limitation, which currently applies to Tier A and would be removed under the governor’s bill for both Tier A and Tier B members after their vested buy date. Staff said the actuary estimated that removing the special duty limitation would increase costs by about $13.9 million. Members also asked about the practical difference between overtime and special duty, with staff explaining that special duty generally involves work for a private third party, often police detail work, while overtime depends more on staffing and scheduling. The committee also reviewed the normal retirement age changes for Tier B and the possibility that some members would need to work longer to reach the new vested buy date. Members raised concerns about an ambiguity in the bill that could allow already-retired Tier B members to return to work, then re-retire and claim the higher benefits, or allow vested deferred members to stop working and wait for the new vested buy date. Staff said the governor’s office did not intend to allow that result and requested clarifying language, noting that the bill as drafted does not expressly prohibit it. The committee also discussed part-time and seasonal work after retirement, with staff explaining that such work generally does not restore membership unless the person takes a full-time position requiring enrollment. Finally, the committee reviewed the maximum benefit provisions and noted that HB 2 in the current year does not change the maximum benefit date or include the 1.5% annual escalator that had been part of the 2023 proposal, making the current bill more costly than the earlier version.

Transcript Highlights:

• and our leaders uh of our state and our community.<00:27:29.200><c> Thank</c><00:27:29.440><c> you</
• coming out of our our high school. school. school.
• </c> declared our ambassador. declared our ambassador.
• , our our health care children, you know, our our health care providers<06:25:05.040><c> are</c><06:25
• </c> of a lot of our friends uh and and our of a lot of our friends uh and and our colleagues<06:29:00.478

Summary: The Senate first recognized the Montgomery Academy boys basketball team for winning the 2026 Class 3A state championship, their second straight title. Senator Barfoot introduced the team and read a resolution commending the players, coaches, and school community for the 66-39 win over Southside Selma, noting standout performances by Braden Gordon, Mason Ellis, and Jarrett Friendley. Coach Jeremy Aant and school head John Williams thanked the Senate and emphasized the team’s selflessness, teamwork, academic standards, service, and leadership development. The Senate applauded the team, added all senators to the resolution, and arranged for a picture and challenge coins for the players. After the recognition, the Senate came to order, established a quorum, excused absent senators, and adopted the previous day’s journal. Committee reports followed. The Committee on State Government Affairs reported House Bill 541 favorably with one amendment; the bill would create the Safeguard Alabama Voter Engagement Act, requiring party registration for primary voting, restricting crossover voting, retaining voter history as a public record, revising voter registration forms, and requiring parties to publish candidate qualifications. The bill was ordered to a second reading and placed on the calendar. The Committee on Local Legislation reported House Bills 630, 631, and 632 favorably, all relating to Etowah County, including changes to tax exemptions and personnel board membership. These bills were also sent to second reading and the calendar. The Senate then took up Senate Joint Resolution 117, commending Dylan Nut for winning the 2026 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic, and added all members as co-sponsors. During discussion, one senator used the opportunity to speak at length about a separate concern involving alleged unlicensed real estate solicitation and the need for legislation to protect citizens from property-related scams; he also discussed the calendar process and other bills. The floor later included extended informal remarks about fishing and a separate discussion of a proposal to designate Miss America as an official state ambassador, with support expressed for a possible stipend amendment.

Transcript Highlights:

• And with our...
• So when we plan our budgets going forward, that plays into our budget planning, knowing that our revenues
• Our next update for you is on our water development plan.
• high, our medium, our low priority process.
• our, our, our, our, our, our, our, our, our, our use that as an example as to why our our cost shares

Committee: Joint Water Topics Overview Committee

Transcript Highlights:

• That is also our interpretation and also our key concern.
• c><00:12:52.040><c> our</c><00:12:52.160><c> key</c> our interpretation and also our key our interpretation
• </c> our driveway. our driveway.
• Our solutions. hole. Our solutions.
• And coming around is a letter of testimony from Wagner Forest Management, one of our members, in opposition

Committee: Senate Election Law and Municipal Affairs

Transcript Highlights:

• of our state.
• We take a chance on losing 20% of our funding if we don't act on something.
• You know, we want our our be healthy?
• You know, we want our our people,<02:55:27.840><c> all</c><02:55:28.000><c> of</c><02:55:28.160><c> our
• And how will it affect our retailers, our grocery stores?

Transcript Highlights:

• our 260 corridor.
• Forest Service.
• families in our rural areas and even in our urban areas.
• Our children should be our first and most important investment.
• Unhoused veterans off our streets and out of our shelters.

Committees: House Government , House House Government Committee of Reference

Transcript Highlights:

• </c><00:15:07.000><c> act</c><00:15:07.320><c> actuary</c> love your thoughts on our act actuary love
• your thoughts on our act actuary recommendation<00:15:08.440><c> let's</c><00:15:08.600><c> go</c><00
• We have a 1.5% fixed cost-of-living adjustment for all of our retirement plans for all of our retirees
• We were able to decrease our risk by moving from equity into fixed income by about 10 percentage points
• We were able to decrease our risk by moving from equity into fixed income by about 10 percentage points

Transcript Highlights:

• our many of our we have an issue with our many of our 276 276 276 dams<00:04:16.640><c> in</c><00:04
• <c> the</c> those in our our constituents in the those in our our constituents in the lake<00:29:45.440
• > surface</c> all of our monitoring of our surface all of our monitoring of our surface waters<00:33:
• Our family was in financial our house.
• </c> our members. our members.

Committee: Senate Ways and Means

Transcript Highlights:

• All right, so today we're going to begin our hearing with new bills on our agenda.
• Information Act.
• As a state legislature and staff, you all are our members and free to use our survey.
• How does our, you know, just our random. constituent, how do they know about your office?
• And so our our review happens on the same timeline as everyone else's.

Bills: HB512 , HB2248 , HB2679 , HB2832 , HB3112 , HB3368 , HB3490 , HB3512 , HB3623 , HB3666 , HB3700 , HB3711 , HB3770 , HB3963

Committee: House Delivery of Government Efficiency

Keywords: grievance procedures, state agency, employee rights, workplace regulations, employment law, employees, employment actions, appeal, state employees, workplace rights, disciplinary actions, employment conditions, employment disputes, job protections, public information, transparency, government accountability, information access, notification requirements, federal funding

Transcript Highlights:

• There is nothing controversial in expecting our elected leaders to protect us from having our rights
• Um, and I'd like for our a state.
• What law protects our a simple question. What law protects our daughters?
• state and in our country.
• </c> represented in our state and in our represented in our state and in our country.<03:16:00.800><c

Committee: House Judiciary

Transcript Highlights:

• the Polluter's Pay Act.
• and our businesses.
• our door.
• Our waterfront resiliency plan and historic nature of our waterfront.
• What is our What is our plan to fulfill all of the needs we have?

Committee: Joint Joint Committee on Environment and Natural Resources

Summary: The committee hearing focused on a broad set of climate, energy, and environmental justice proposals. Early testimony strongly supported the Climate Change Superfund or “Polluter Pays” bill (H.1014/S.58), which would assess the largest fossil fuel emitters for a one-time fee based on historic emissions to fund climate adaptation. Sponsors argued the bill is modeled on Superfund cleanup principles, would target only the largest multinational polluters, would not be passed on to consumers, and would direct a significant share of funds to environmental justice communities. Committee members asked about the number of companies covered, consumer impacts, and whether the bill would address other forms of environmental destruction; sponsors said it was limited to major fossil fuel companies with a Massachusetts footprint and did not cover other pollution sources. The committee also heard testimony on a fusion energy compact proposal (S.673) that would direct the administration to develop a framework for a New England regional compact to accelerate fusion research, workforce development, and supply-chain growth. Supporters from MIT and the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities said fusion could become a major clean-energy and economic opportunity, but acknowledged the technology is not yet commercially viable and still has unresolved technical, cost, and waste-management questions. Members pressed on environmental impacts, siting, waste, costs, and whether the bill would create a compact or only a framework; sponsors said it would only create the framework and that the administration would need to negotiate with other states. Another major topic was a pilot program for nature-based climate solutions (H.971/S.??), backed by legislators, Boston Harbor Now, and UMass Boston’s Stone Living Lab. Witnesses said the bill would help speed permits for research and demonstration projects such as living shorelines, marsh restoration, and hybrid “green-to-gray” flood protections, while maintaining safeguards and protecting Indigenous and historic resources. Committee members asked how the proposal would interact with other permitting reforms and whether it could conflict with housing or wetland-related streamlining; supporters said it was complementary and aimed at making projects faster, more affordable, and more data-driven. The hearing also covered climate-safe buildings and climate adaptation funding bills. Supporters of H.1004/S.583 said current building codes do not adequately account for future flooding, heat, and wind, and the bill would add climate expertise to the building board, allow stretch resilience codes, expand floodplain standards, and create a retrofit program. Related testimony backed H.938/S.572, which would create a dedicated climate and community resilience fund financed by a small fee on property insurance premiums; advocates said it would provide stable long-term revenue for adaptation, especially in environmental justice communities, and help replace unreliable federal funding. One witness from CLF supported the climate-safe buildings and funding bills but opposed S.560/H.939 as too broad. The committee also heard testimony on airport air-quality legislation (H.997) calling for more monitoring and mitigation of ultra-fine particulate pollution around Logan Airport and Massport communities. No votes were taken during the hearing.

Transcript Highlights:

• Nasa's our friend.
• So we're going to get this out through ifas across the state in our our college hit our colleges and
• our technical centers and also our school districts.
• We're just our own animal where our own institution.
• It was one of our our our residents has a historical properties, for example, and he wants to give them

Transcript Highlights:

• It matters because our economy changes. Our approach needs to be thoughtful.
• So the state can look forward to building our community and our economies, providing the opportunity
• Our work at OEDC focuses on enabling and spurring economic development.
• I think you've answered all of our questions. Really appreciate it.
• In my opinion, there are too many of our service members.

Summary: The committee heard testimony on Substitute Senate Bill 6289, which would direct the Department of Commerce to develop a statewide economic development and competitiveness strategic plan by June 30, 2027, with updates every five years. Senator Kaufman said the bill is intended to create a more intentional, coordinated, data-driven statewide strategy to support businesses of all sizes and sectors. Supporters from the Washington Economic Development Association and the Department of Commerce said the plan is needed to align regional and local efforts, improve competitiveness, and address challenges such as capital access, infrastructure gaps, tariffs, and AI-related disruption. Both Commerce and WEDA supported moving the update cycle from two years to five years, and Commerce said the change would save money and help reduce the fiscal impact. The committee also heard Substitute Senate Bill 6149, which would expand the definition of a rural county for public facilities funding and related programs to include counties with population density of 100 or more people per square mile if they have no city larger than 45,000 people. Senator Wilson said the bill is meant to preserve rural eligibility for counties like Cowlitz as cities grow, so they do not lose access to grants and loans that support economic development. Members raised questions about how the new definition would affect counties and whether it would better capture rural areas within larger counties, but no testimony opposed the bill. In executive session, the committee considered three bills. For Senate Bill 5420, concerning access to state benefits and opportunities for veterans, the committee adopted a striking amendment that broadened some eligibility language, including changing a reference from physical to medical discharge and updating employment preference provisions, then advanced the bill by a 12-0 vote with one excused. For Senate Bill 5649, creating a Supply Chain Competitiveness Infrastructure Program, members began debate on amendments that would add WSDOT scoring criteria favoring Washington-made or Washington-grown goods and limit grants and loans to projects not already eligible for Freight Mobility Strategic Investment Board funding. The committee also reviewed several amendments to the AI companion chatbot bill, including narrowing educational and gaming exclusions, adding protections around age inference and manipulative engagement techniques, and limiting data collection; one amendment was withdrawn before further action.

Transcript Highlights:

• most of our mentally ill are now, in our jails and prisons.
• our behavior.
• We expect our law enforcement officers and our officials in our prisons across this state to know what
• It will be in partnership with our state college systems, our technical centers, and our school districts
• We plan ahead and we know what our future purchases, our needs are.

Summary: The Senate opened with prayer, the Pledge of Allegiance, doctor and guest introductions, and then took up Committee Substitute for Senate Bill 168, the Tristan Murphy Act, on mental health. Senator Bradley described the bill as a major criminal justice and behavioral health reform measure that would expand pretrial mental health diversion, strengthen treatment-based probation conditions, broaden grant uses for mental health and substance abuse programs, add Hillsborough County to a forensic hospital diversion pilot, require certain DOC mental health evaluations, and create a Florida Behavioral Health Data Repository. Senators from both parties spoke in strong support, emphasizing treatment over incarceration, public safety, data collection, and the Murphy family’s role in advancing the bill. The Senate passed the bill 37-0 and then approved 37 co-sponsors. The chamber then received the Senate’s 2025-26 General Appropriations Bill, SB 2500, with Chair Hooper outlining a $117.4 billion budget that he said reduces spending, preserves reserves, and includes major investments in water quality, transportation, education infrastructure, and reporting requirements. Committee chairs summarized their portions: K-12 funding at $34.7 billion with increases for FEFP, scholarships, VPK, school hardening, and school safety; higher education at $11.5 billion with workforce, nursing, reading, autism, and student aid investments; health and human services with a $1.8 billion increase for Medicaid, mental health, opioid response, disability services, and veterans programs; criminal and civil justice at $7.6 billion for corrections, juvenile justice, law enforcement, courts, and judgeships; transportation/tourism/economic development at about $18 billion including roads, housing, Visit Florida, and cultural grants; and agriculture/environment/general government with major Everglades, water quality, citrus, food bank, and agency IT funding. Members then questioned several budget items, especially education funding formulas, the shift of scholarship dollars below the line, the impact on public school districts, AP/IB and other accelerated program funding, the APD wait list, opioid settlement spending, arts grants, and the My Safe Florida Home and condo pilot programs. Chairs generally said scholarship and accelerated-program dollars were being restructured for transparency and flexibility rather than cut, that school districts would still receive funding based on enrollment, and that APD and other human services issues would continue to be worked out in conference. The budget discussion concluded with remarks praising staff and noting a 4% across-the-board pay raise for state employees and targeted increases for law enforcement and firefighters, followed by a recognition for FAMU Day at the Capitol.

Transcript Highlights:

• Heavenly Father, we thank you for your mercy and grace in our lives.
• We pray for your mercy on our state and our country as we enter this new year with so many hopes and
• communities and our state in this position, at this place, and at this time.
• We pray in the strong name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
• I'd love for our committee to stand if... if our... y'all saw most of the committee members.

Transcript Highlights:

• teachers, but our classified employees, our essential school staff, that it takes to run our schools
• And part of that is because of our housing stock, our housing supply not meeting the demand of our state
• The inability to act on these threats erodes trust in public institutions in our sense of community.
• This is about, yes, supporting our small businesses, supporting our economy, supporting our revenue,
• This is our opportunity to make sure an environment of federal deregulation in our CRA, of our financial

Transcript Highlights:

• that drives our economy and scales our businesses.
• Yet many of our systems, our housing system, our social service system, our employment system are really
• , our system, our social service system, our our<02:02:12.880><c> um</c><02:02:13.199><c> employment<
• </c> to this in our state? to this in our state?
• of our training and our that is because of our training and our dedication<03:22:45.520><c> to</c><03

Committee: Senate Finance