Transcript Highlights:

• I represent the Texas Public Policy Foundation.
• I represent the Texas Public Policy Foundation.
• No matter where you live in Texas, this only applies to municipally owned utilities.
• I represent the Texas Public Policy Foundation.
• I represent the Texas Association of School Boards. I'm here to testify on the bill.

Bills: HB103

Summary: The Senate Committee on Local Government heard a series of local and special-purpose bills, mostly with brief sponsor explanations and little or no public opposition. Topics included fireworks sales near the Texas-Mexico border for Cinco de Mayo (HB 1629), allowing larger counties to use their own inspectors for county buildings (HB 3234), updating governance and financial rules for the Wood County Central Hospital District (HB 5664), clarifying firefighter collective bargaining and impasse procedures (HB 3171), and exempting certain Fort Worth ETJ properties from release rules to protect infrastructure investments (HB 2512). The committee also heard bills on border subdivision rules in Cameron County (HB 3680), extending a property tax exemption to surviving spouses of certain veterans affected by the PACT Act (HB 2508/HJR 133), drainage district election timing and procedures (HB 5693, HB 2694), utility transparency for municipally owned systems (HB 1991), and management district and hospital district election or appointment changes (HB 5698, HB 2293). Another major bill, HB 1449, would expand a food truck permitting pilot program to counties over one million population; witnesses supported the concept but asked the committee to coordinate it with related fee and standards bills, and the bill was left pending for further work. The committee also heard HB 3732, which would let fire departments obtain extensions to comply with new NFPA protective equipment standards, and HB 5431, which would clarify that mayors and at-large council members do not need new elections after reapportionment; both were left pending after questions about their scope. Several transparency and tax-related bills were also discussed, including HB 103, creating a statewide database of local bond and tax election information, and HB 851, requiring reporting on homestead tax ceiling properties; both drew support and were later voted out. After testimony, the committee reported multiple bills favorably, often unanimously, and recommended many for the local and uncontested calendar. The committee also used procedural swaps to substitute House companions for Senate bills on several measures, then recessed with plans to return later to process additional bills.

Transcript Highlights:

• of exclusions in our constitution would make it complicated to implement, as states have different penal
• codes.
• of exclusions in our constitution would make it complicated to implement, as states have different penal
• codes.

Keywords: Meeting Start: 00:05 Attendance Roll Call: 00:10 SB 70 Discussion: 00:58 SB 70 Vote: 04:36 SB 80 Discussion: 05:16 SB 80 Vote: 31:45 SB 127 Discussion: 32:30 SB 127 Vote: 39:38 SB 154 Discussion: 41:25 SB 154 Vote: Adjournment: 47:14, 958, all

Summary: The committee first considered Senate Bill 70, which would modify the Public Pension Oversight Board by adding one House member and one Senate member, automatically placing the House and Senate chairs of state and local government on the board, adding the state treasurer, broadening who the Speaker and Senate President may appoint, and reducing the governor’s board appointments from two to one. After a brief procedural correction about a committee substitute, the bill was explained and then passed by a 9-0 favorable vote. The committee then heard Senate Bill 80, a constitutional amendment to restore voting rights to people with felony convictions after they complete imprisonment, probation, and parole, while excluding certain offenses such as election fraud, violent felonies, sex offenses, and crimes against children. The sponsor and Senator Herron argued that Kentucky’s current system is confusing and leaves the state as one of the few with lifetime disenfranchisement, while witnesses from the Sentencing Project, the League of Women Voters of Kentucky, and an advocacy group for people with lived experience supported restoration but urged a simpler, broader, automatic approach without offense-based carveouts. Committee members raised questions about implementation, clerk guidance, and how the proposal interacts with expungement and gubernatorial pardons; one senator specifically asked whether serious offenders, including child rapists, would regain voting rights under a broader version, and the witness answered yes. The bill passed with a favorable expression by an 8-1 vote. The transcript then began discussion of Senate Bill 127, also sponsored by Senator Hickden, but the exchange was cut off before the bill was fully explained or any vote was taken.

Transcript Highlights:

• So I submitted a color, a color-coded chart that's probably very hard to digest just by glancing at it
• So I don't think we are under-penalizing felon in possession.
• The felon-in-possession statute and the penalty for it is not a gap in the law or is not under-penalizing
• So there's still about five or six huge contradictions in the code that we kind of left to the side the

Keywords: 996, all

Transcript Highlights:

• What we look at for issues of misconduct, we apply the rules of the code of judicial conduct and other
• And there's not a caveat in the code of judicial conduct That says, 'Oh, you're brand new, you get to
• Texas was Very clear, our labor market has to have more options.
• And sometimes Texas can overlook the kindness aspect of things with big business.
• We've gotten one in Texas.

Keywords: 914, all

Transcript Highlights:

• ... ...County, if you have the building code officials in the municipality, they set the wind code requirements
• Engineers go to the building code, follow the wood table stuff, and copy... ...code, and they copy this
• When we talk about building codes, they are produced by the International Code Council.
• So we have the International Building Code and the International Residential Code.
• So if I could use the building code as it's written, I would be more... ...code as it's written, I would

Bills: HB324, HB252, SB80, HB241

Keywords: sheriffs, term of office, Alabama law, local government, election, residential construction, architectural approval, engineering approval, home building, single family residences, 1136, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• anyone for that or >> Um, and to penalize anyone for that or and<00:26:12.559> the<00:26
• . um for underground fire code as well. um for underground storage<00:33:17.760> tanks.
• And I would hate for someone who just didn't know to be penalized. >> Correct. >> Um, so, um, having
• . penalized. penalized.
• that person to be penalized. that person to be penalized.

Keywords: 1189, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• And in order to know what those codes mean, we have to get code books from DOC.
• Placing a QR code on the back of a registered sex offender's driver's license.
• The QR code is simply going to be on the back.
• We got this idea from my neighboring state of Texas, which has been doing this since 2009.
• The Texas Lottery has contributed more than $296 million to veteran programs in the state of Texas.

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

Transcript Highlights:

• And then it is also the mechanism that we use to link up to federal tax code.
• When we look at the districts that will be penalized by the excess spending threshold, I'm wondering

Keywords: 926, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Texas school districts and charter schools offer diverse CTE programs designed to equip students with
• Additionally, we believe it is equally important that those becoming Texas teacher certified in areas
• We We show you registered as Robin Painovich on behalf of Career and Technical Association of Texas,
• I was just getting ready to try to look, bring, I didn't bring my code with me, so, um.
• How's this gonna affect the, the, the So I work for the Texas Education Agency.

Transcript Highlights:

• state of Texas.
• It has not reached Texas yet, but surveillance is needed and required to protect the Texas livestock.
• , South Texas, and Central.
• Uh, it's coming back to a huge impact Texas Texas cattle industry.
• TVMA along with Texas A&M, Texas Tech, and a coalition of agricultural groups including Texas Farm Bureau

Transcript Highlights:

• So, those systems—Texas Tech University system, Texas State University system, University of North Texas
• and move to Texas.
• Texas or spent they have already served in Texas.
• , Texas.
• , Texas.

Bills: SB1, SB 1

Keywords: appropriations, budget, state funding, education, healthcare, infrastructure, campground safety, youth camp regulations, flood safety, emergency evacuation, health and safety standards, 1185, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• how we actually define, you know, what gets the most severe penalties and maybe what doesn't get penalized
• severe penalties and maybe what doesn't severe penalties and maybe what doesn't get<00:41:08.240> penal
• <00:41:08.840> penalized<00:41:09.360> at<00:41:09.480> all.
• <00:41:10.160> There's<00:41:10.320> a get penal penalized at all.
• There's a get penal penalized at all.

Keywords: 1189, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• The passage of the school vouchers bill in Texas is not just a political decision.
• Today, Students Engaged in Advancing Texas congregates for its annual advocacy day.
• Across Texas, we're witnessing an alarming trend.
• And today, that is the Texas Capitol.
• We're at the Capitol today to hold them to this vision that we hold for our Texas.

Summary: Students Engaged in Advancing Texas (SEAT) held an advocacy day at the Texas Capitol with more than 300 young Texans and allies to press lawmakers on education policy. Speakers framed the event around student visibility in policymaking and criticized recent Texas actions on school vouchers, book bans, and legislation affecting LGBTQ students and classroom content. Representative Donna Howard briefly attended and voiced support for students having a seat at the table, citing a prior effort to add a student to a school board as an example of the kind of participation SEAT is seeking. Several student speakers described how voucher expansion threatens public schools and argued that public education is being underfunded and undermined rather than failing on its own. Others focused on LGBTQ inclusion, saying bills such as SB 12 and SB 13 would erase queer students’ experiences and make schools less safe and welcoming. One speaker also condemned book bans and censorship, arguing that students need access to diverse books and honest, inclusive education to think critically and feel represented. SEAT executive director Cameron Samuels closed by describing the group’s earlier organizing against book bans and internet restrictions and by connecting that work to broader demands for public schools, student rights, and safety. The event did not include any legislative vote or formal committee action; it was an advocacy press conference aimed at influencing lawmakers during the session.

Transcript Highlights:

• despite the fact that there are jurisdictions that have already implemented the specialized stretch code
• . ...that there are jurisdictions that have already implemented the specialized stretch code.
• Permit Power this year worked on successfully passing legislation in Florida and Texas, which is sort
• Texas and Florida typically aren't quality standards that Massachusetts cares to be guided by.
• Texas and Florida typically aren't quality standards that Massachusetts cares to be guided by.

Keywords: 995, all

Summary: The hearing focused on ways Massachusetts can accelerate solar deployment, lower costs, and preserve reliability as electricity demand rises and federal support for solar and other renewables changes. Chair Creem opened by emphasizing solar’s role in meeting climate mandates and peak demand, citing June heat-wave data showing behind-the-meter solar reduced wholesale prices and saved ratepayers money. Commissioner Elizabeth Mahoney of DOER said Massachusetts has grown from 3 MW of solar in 2008 to 3.5 GW today, highlighted SMART 3.0 as a flexible, evergreen incentive program, and said DOER is working on updated rates, interconnection reforms, flexible interconnection, net crediting, and a petition to the DPU to speed implementation. She also said Massachusetts joined the lawsuit over canceled federal Solar for All funding. Committee members and witnesses discussed several policy changes to speed projects before federal tax credits expire, including automated permitting, remote inspections, faster interconnection, and changes to caps on municipal and regional solar development. Senator Barrett pressed Mahoney on whether the 10 MW municipal cap and regional caps should be lifted, and on whether the state should increase its solar tax credit to offset the loss of the federal residential credit. Mahoney said the municipal cap should be revisited and that interconnection cost allocation and other market issues need to be worked out before lifting broader caps. She also said DOER is open to automated permitting and is already developing a permitting portal under the 2024 climate law. Industry and advocacy witnesses largely supported streamlining measures. Sunrun’s Bronte Payne urged removal of a proposed requirement that all net-metered facilities enroll in SMART, and recommended automated permitting, remote inspections, flexible interconnection, better hosting-capacity information, consumer protections, and continued support for Connected Solutions and virtual power plants. Permit Power’s Hannah Bernbaum and Solar App’s Matthew McAllister argued that smart permitting and remote inspections can significantly reduce soft costs and delays, with McAllister saying Solar App now operates in over 320 jurisdictions and saves about three weeks on average. They said remote inspections are already common and can be done safely with photos, video, and qualified third parties. Community solar and clean energy advocates, including CCSA’s Kate Daniel and Vote Solar’s Lindsay Griffin, supported a 10 GW solar target by 2035, a higher refundable state tax credit for low-income households, interconnection reforms, flexible interconnection, and preserving the option to build outside SMART so projects can retain renewable energy certificates. No votes were taken; the hearing was informational, and members requested follow-up materials and draft language from witnesses.

Transcript Highlights:

• What purpose does the gentleman from Texas seek recognition?
• Today, my district is Texas Gulf Coast.
• compliant and are meeting energy code standards.
• <01:03:55.920> really manufactured housing codes really manufactured housing codes really
• 3rd, 2025, the gentleman from Texas, Mr. 3rd, 2025, the gentleman from Texas, Mr.

Keywords: U.S. House of Representatives Floor Proceedings on Friday, January 9, 2026, 1012, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Policy of the federal tax code.
• that changed the tax code and tax policy.
• Tax rates in Texas, Arizona, Colorado, and Oklahoma.
• And then we were taking them out of the code.
• Volatility to the tax code is an important consideration.

Transcript Highlights:

• The bail unit is in Cleveland, Texas.
• It was a unit in North of Dallas, one in Dybal, Texas and one in Cleveland, Texas.
• Director for Texas Juvenile Justice Department.
• Exceptional item number four, the East Texas Regional Armory is a new concept that would move the Texas
• Government Code.

Keywords: 1184, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• :05.760> criminal is one that's common in the criminal is one that's common in the criminal code
• to marine patrol, this is what they say, is that they want to inform that it's not so much about penalizing
• 52:16.240> um inform that it's not so much about um inform that it's not so much about um penalizing
• <00:52:17.599> violators<00:52:18.240> it's<00:52:18.400> about penalizing violators
• it's about penalizing violators it's about informing<00:52:19.040> them<00:52:19.280> just

Keywords: 1191, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• to measures for ensuring public school safety, including the commissioning of peace officers by the Texas
• The composition of the Board of Directors of the Texas School Safety Center, public school safety and
• I heard from the witness for the Texas Council of Administrators. ...special education because they have
• As you’re referring to Section 261.101 of the Family Code? Yes, I am.
• substitute requires, and this is through working with our institutions and medical schools across Texas

Keywords: 1185, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Those who build intensively are not penalized with higher taxes as they are by our current property tax
• and the Minnesota tax code, and that I'm here to fight for working-class people, for working people,
• This is the single most progressive tax in our tax code.
• And this is the single most progressive tax in our tax code.
• and the Minnesota Internal Revenue code and the Minnesota tax tax tax code<01:09:23.679> and<

Keywords: 1183, house