Transcript Highlights:

• And then, lastly, we continue to perform claim audits to make sure that if new schools become eligible
• We're able to see on the spot when a new school might be eligible through those audits and then help
• to perform claim audits to make sure<00:06:59.360> that<00:06:59.720> if<00:06:59.879>
• and then help them uh join into C Audits and then help them uh join into C in<00:07:15.639> order
• so it really is a the process so it really is a winwin<00:24:05.360> in<00:24:05.720> my

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• was left over after the claims process was left over after the claims process was<00:15:14.720><
• $117,000 annually we're in the process $117,000 annually we're in the process right<00:18:54.080
• <00:30:58.840> to make that a standard ardized process to make that a standard ardized process
• through that but there there's a process through that but there there's a process to<00:41:32.119
• acquiring the services of an auditing acquiring the services of an auditing firm<01:32:39.880>

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• It should be part of the processes that we use as teachers are figuring out where their kids are in their
• and the reporting communication with parents is all lined up and not two separate processes that are
• This is part of the process for how we help our young kiddos in school that need extra assistance and
• So these monthly reports will be coming on their literacy process.
• But that's unfortunately part of how the legislative process works.

Bills: SB29, SB64

Keywords: SB29, math requirements for teaching license, teacher licensure, teacher endorsement, mathematics methods, elementary education, secondary education, special education, early childhood education, reciprocity, Public Education Department, Mathematics and Science Education Act, mathematics instructional leadership framework, professional learning plan, K-3 screening, mathematics screening assessment, mathematics difficulty, support plan, multilevel support, intervention

Transcript Highlights:

• where are where bills go to get better as we move through the process.
• I think as we continue through the legislative process and understanding where we're going to land on
• I I grateful for the feedback on the presidential application applicants at the end of the process.
• And now senators, if we can turn to tab 4, we're going to continue with our process of confirmations.
• And we're going through a process of replacing our chief executive auditor.

Keywords: 999, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• So we invite you all to participate in that process as well.
• We are in the middle of this process now.
• we do we need to call for an audit in order to get to that?
• And now, again, though, it's still the process of amping up to get ready.
• Well, we started by going to all the different... ...the education process.

Summary: The hearing focused on youth mental health and treatment access in California, with opening remarks emphasizing that youth distress, self-harm-related emergency visits, and difficulty obtaining care remain elevated, while workforce shortages and reliance on one-time funding continue to limit access. Assemblymember Lori Davies echoed concerns about unstable funding and said lawmakers need to hear directly from providers and families as they prepare for the budget and legislation. The chair framed the hearing as a chance to hear from county, school, provider, and student perspectives, especially in San Diego County, where needs are high and investments have not always matched demand. County and school officials described the current system and recent state initiatives, including the Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative, school-linked fee schedules, payment reform, and the Behavioral Health Services Act transition. San Diego County Behavioral Health said it serves Medi-Cal youth with specialty mental health needs through a broad continuum of care, including outpatient clinics, school-based services, crisis response, residential treatment, and new crisis and residential facilities. San Diego County Office of Education and San Marcos Unified School District described efforts to expand school-based services and reimbursement through CYBHI, but said implementation is slowed by complex billing rules, insurance-data collection concerns from families, administrative burden, and uncertainty about sustaining staff positions funded by grants or soft money. School counselor testimony highlighted reduced stigma through campus outreach and clubs, but also noted that counselor-to-student ratios remain well above national standards and that budget cuts threaten supports. Provider testimony stressed that the system remains fragmented and that youth often move between emergency rooms, inpatient care, outpatient therapy, schools, and county programs without smooth handoffs. A child psychiatrist described crisis cases in which the main choices are brief hospitalization or discharge with limited follow-up, and argued for stronger warm handoffs, more outpatient and intensive outpatient options, better school-clinic coordination, and broader use of mobile crisis and 988. Rady Children’s Hospital and Aurora Behavioral Health described large increases in behavioral health demand, expansion of integrated care, and major barriers tied to low reimbursement rates, delayed payments, and administrative complexity. Across the panel, witnesses called for more stable funding, clearer reimbursement rules, better parent education on warning signs, and stronger collaboration among schools, counties, hospitals, and community providers to reduce stigma and improve timely care for youth.

Transcript Highlights:

• I also sit on taxes and the Legislative Audit Commission, and now the new fraud committee.
• I also sit on taxes and the Legislative Audit Commission, and now the new fraud committee.
• <00:04:55.600> commission and uh the legislative audit commission and uh the legislative audit
• Otherwise, we're here to get the work done and to get the process going.
• Otherwise, we're here to get the work done and to get the process going.

Keywords: 1183, house

Summary: The Transportation Working Group met on January 15, 2025, with Chair John Kosnik opening by saying the committee expected to pass a transportation bill this year and emphasizing efficient use of transportation revenues, maintenance of roads and transit, and safety. Members and staff introduced themselves, and several representatives noted their interest in roads, bridges, and regional transportation needs. Kosnik also said he had spoken with Representative Kel about leadership arrangements and stressed that bipartisan support would be needed for a transportation bill. House Fiscal Staff’s Andrew Lee and House Research’s Matt Burus then gave an overview of transportation finance, focusing mainly on highways and transit. Burus explained Minnesota’s highway funding structure, including the constitutional Highway User Tax Distribution Fund and the related Trunk Highway Fund, County State-Aid Highway Fund, and Municipal State-Aid Street Fund. He reviewed the main revenue sources: the motor fuels tax, motor vehicle registration tax, motor vehicle sales tax, portions of the general sales tax tied to auto parts, vehicle rentals and leases, and the retail delivery fee. He noted several changes from 2023 legislation, including indexing of the gas tax, creation of the Transportation Advancement Account, and the retail delivery fee, which began in July 2024 and therefore would affect fiscal year 2025 rather than the fiscal 2024 data shown. The presentation also covered how highway dollars flow through constitutional formulas, including the 95/5 split from the Highway User Tax Distribution Fund, with the 5 percent set-aside used for town roads, town bridges, and flexible highway purposes such as turnbacks. Burus distinguished trunk highway bonds from general obligation bonds and explained that both are debt-financing tools for transportation projects, but with different repayment sources and uses. No votes or formal actions were taken at this informational meeting.

Transcript Highlights:

• It would require online publication of financial audits, monthly expenditures, and budgets of counties
• Uh, one of the things we've seen through the sunset process is there's a need for that becoming more
• Under the new public records law that passed last year, public record requests must be processed and
• responded to in a... ...be processed and responded to in a timely manner according to state law.

Keywords: 923, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• You all go through the adequacy process and set that amount.
• You all go through the adequacy process and set that amount.
• It will go through an appropriation process. He'll come here for the funds to be appropriated.
• The subcommittee reviewed the Office of Property Risk RFQ for financial auditing services.
• It's got to go through the approval process. Thank you, gentlemen.

Summary: The Arkansas Legislative Council meeting began with approval of the December 2025 minutes and a presentation from the Bureau of Legislative Research on the December revenue report. Dr. Carlos Silva said gross collections were about $4.02 billion, up slightly from the prior year, and net available for distribution was also above last year but down modestly from the previous month because of higher-than-expected corporate income tax refunds. Members asked about corporate tax trends, tariffs, and inflation, and Silva said it was too early to call the corporate decline a trend and that tariff effects would likely show up mainly in sales tax collections. The council then adopted several subcommittee reports, including the Executive Committee Subcommittee, Administrative Rules, Hospital/Medicaid/Developmental Disabilities, Occupational Licensing Review, PEER, Review, State Insurance Program Oversight, and Personnel. The PEER report drew the most debate because of a Department of Agriculture grant tied to Perry County and Central Arkansas Water; members discussed whether removing the Perry County portion would affect the grant’s competitiveness, and the report was ultimately adopted with the item included. The Review Subcommittee also heard questions about a BDO contract for the rural health transformation program, with DFA explaining that the contractor would manage the program while state agencies would make funding decisions consistent with the state’s application. A major portion of the meeting focused on the Education Freedom Account appropriation tied to LEARNS. Senators and representatives debated whether the program helps families or diverts money from public schools, with supporters arguing it funds students and choice and opponents arguing it is costly, vulnerable to fraud, and harms public school funding. Department of Education officials said roughly 28,000 private school students and 17,500 homeschool students were participating, that EFA students must submit standardized tests annually, and that the requested $32 million was to cover existing participants. After multiple substitute motions and extended debate, the body rejected a motion to strip out the $32 million and then adopted the report and related motions. The meeting ended after routine approvals of additional agency items and adjournment.

Transcript Highlights:

• So I just want to make sure that we're not limiting care in this process. You're recognized.
• We're going to have annual financial audits.
• that we gathered in my last committee stop that the disclaimers, the accountability, the financial audit
• Family members that are doing the program currently, we have 109 people in the onboarding process going
• We need to stick with some of these policies through their rulemaking process and monitor them and make

Summary: The Health Care Facilities and Systems Subcommittee met with a quorum present and took up five bills. The first, CS/HB 1119 on pediatric readiness in hospital emergency departments, would require hospitals with ERs to adopt evidence-based pediatric care policies, train staff, designate a pediatric emergency care coordinator, complete the National Pediatric Readiness Assessment, and meet minimum equipment and planning standards. Members discussed transport to the closest appropriate facility and implementation concerns, but the bill passed 16-0. The committee then approved HB 677, which would add standard fertility preservation services to the state group insurance program for employees undergoing chemotherapy, and CSHB 497, which would authorize nonprofit agricultural organization medical benefit plans for Florida Farm Bureau members, aimed at improving affordable coverage for farmers and ranchers. HB 677 passed 16-0, and CSHB 497 passed 18-0 after questions about membership, regulation, disclosures, and how the plan would compare with ACA coverage. The subcommittee also approved PCS/HB 791 on surrendered newborn infants, allowing infant safety devices at hospitals, EMS stations, and fire stations as an alternative safe-haven option. Members discussed alarms, unmanned stations, and whether churches should be included; the bill passed 18-0. Finally, HB 1529 on home health aides for medically fragile children was amended and passed 18-0. The bill seeks a federal waiver so compensation for parents serving as home health aides does not count against Medicaid eligibility, and the amendments added reporting of adverse incidents, set work-hour limits, and protected certain other benefits. The chair closed by emphasizing the committee’s role in implementation oversight and fixing problems after enactment.

Transcript Highlights:

• process.
• process.
• process.
• process.
• process.

Keywords: 923, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• I mean, I’m assuming that there’s some process, um, in proving that they knowingly defraud versus that
• According to a DEED audit, an estimated 22% of employers subject to a random unemployment insurance audit
• It's saying in a random audit 22% of employers may have misclassified one or more employees.
• a random unemployment insurance audit mclassified<00:35:10.560> at<00:35:10.640> least
• 22% of employers may have a random audit 22% of employers may have mclassified<00:35:22.480> one<

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• We have human resources, internal audit, and our occupational health and safety section, focused on the
• 43.960> human<00:35:44.720> resources<00:35:45.720> internal<00:35:46.440> audit
• <00:35:47.400> our have human resources internal audit our have human resources internal audit
• A little bit on the 10-year plan process: that’s how we plan our capital projects for the future.
• that's how we plan our capital process that's how we plan our capital projects<00:46:36.119> for<

Keywords: 928, house, all

Summary: The Public Works and Highways Committee held an orientation meeting focused on introducing members, outlining committee norms, and hearing an overview from the Department of Transportation. Chair David Mills emphasized the committee’s long-standing bipartisan working style, asked members to share contact information for short-notice scheduling, and noted that the committee would need to complete as much work as possible before the building is vacated later in the year. Members introduced themselves and described backgrounds in engineering, construction, planning, local government, military service, education, and business. Several members highlighted prior service on planning boards, school boards, zoning boards, or in transportation-related fields as relevant to the committee’s work. Members repeatedly described the committee as collegial and nonpartisan, with most bills going to the consent calendar. The chair also noted that the committee’s work centers on state infrastructure, including roads, bridges, highways, and buildings. Representative Cluder, the ranking member, and others echoed that the committee is effective because it talks issues through and resolves disagreements collaboratively. One member mentioned a recent trip that reinforced the importance of infrastructure resilience after storms and rebuilding efforts in other states. Department of Transportation officials, led by Assistant Commissioner and Chief Engineer David Rodrig, gave a detailed organizational and operational overview. They described DOT’s structure, mission of “transportation excellence,” and major responsibilities across highways, bridges, rail, transit, aeronautics, maintenance, and administration. Rodrig reported 1,651 permanent positions and 404 vacancies, 2,160 state bridges with 115 on the Red List, 4,600 centerline miles of roadway, 25 public airports, 11 transit systems, and 194 active state-owned rail lines. He also outlined FY 2024 spending, project development activity, highway maintenance operations, fleet and fuel systems, and the distinction between the highway fund and DOT’s budget, including the role of federal funds and the turnpike enterprise fund. No votes were taken and no bills were acted on during this orientation meeting.

Transcript Highlights:

• And we would be happy to be a part of that discussion and that process.
• And we would be happy to be a part of that discussion and that process.
• We audit those programs. We just did recently an audit this fall.
• There’s a long process. There’s a curricular process. There’s a process with graduate school.
• It is a long process to request another faculty member in a department.

Bills: SB234, SB210, SB243, SB244, SM16, HB8

Keywords: foster children, school transportation, education funding, public education, child welfare, New Mexico Highlands University, soccer field, women's sports, infrastructure improvement, funding allocation, student athletes, appropriation, New Mexico State University, nutrition, travel support, funding, education, university support, financial assistance, parenting students

Transcript Highlights:

• that whole section out about the Department of Human Services shall respond so it feels less like an audit
• And because this is the first time we're doing an evaluation, we've processed how we would do that, and
• And because we've never done either of them, this is a learning process. Okay, cool.

Bills: HB1119

Keywords: child care, childcare, day care, daycare, early childhood education, child care licensing, provider licensing, child care regulations, administrative rules, Department of Health and Human Services, HHS, licensing advisory committee, child care providers, group child care, preschool programs, child to provider ratios, square footage requirements, staff training, certification requirements, child care funding

Summary: The Workforce Development Committee reconvened to consider House Bill 1119 with amendment version 02005. Senator Hogan explained that the amendment removed a section requiring the Department of Human Services to respond to legislative management, in order to make the bill feel more like a program evaluation than an audit and to avoid placing an unreasonable burden on the executive branch. The amendment also clarified that the Child Care Advisory Committee would provide an update and that the committee would dissolve after the rewrite of licensing standards, making it a time-limited body. Committee members discussed the bill as a novel approach to forming a group to study an issue and then disbanding after reporting back. Senator Larson noted the concept was similar to broader performance-review ideas, and Senator Hogan said the Legislative Council program evaluation effort was parallel to, but separate from, other performance-review proposals. The committee then voted 4-0-1 to adopt the amendment. Afterward, the committee moved to give House Bill 1119, as amended, a do pass recommendation. That motion also passed on a roll call vote, and the committee adjourned.

Transcript Highlights:

• We're going through the same process that Greg is.
• I wanted to audit. Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm just teasing.
• It was a competitive process that forced Coalition to be built, and now there's a campus being developed
• Specifically, he suggested audit teams.
• But it is easy to create audit teams to gauge.

Transcript Highlights:

• <00:09:44.320> our and it is not part of processing our and it is not part of processing our
• processes. I'll pause. Any questions? processes. I'll pause. Any questions? Questions.
• This is an incredibly deliberative process that already uses the rulemaking process in rule.
• This is an incredibly deliberative process that already uses the rulemaking process in rule.
• <03:26:59.520> that comprehensive admissions process that comprehensive admissions process

Keywords: 1191, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• You're talking about administrative process.
• And in this process for the past two months, we have operated that way.
• membership or opt out, or what was the piece about the electronic process?
• Who's going to audit it? That's the purpose when I'm hearing.
• How that process works, we don't know.

Summary: The House Committee on Labor and Industrial Relations met for its final meeting of the session and took up SB 312 by Senator Talbot, a bill concerning labor organizations, employee dues and fees, withdrawal from unions, collective bargaining agreements, and related notice and reporting requirements. The author explained the bill would require annual notice to employees of their right to join or refrain from joining a labor organization, allow dues deductions to be authorized and revoked electronically, and require stoppage of deductions at the nearest possible payroll period after notice. The committee first adopted a technical amendment set, then considered a larger amendment set that shifted the withdrawal request to the employer, required the employer to notify the labor organization, placed the burden of proving notice compliance on the labor organization, and made the labor organization responsible for certain administrative costs. Supporters said the bill protected employee choice and could reduce taxpayer-funded administrative burdens; opponents argued the amendments created confusion, unnecessary bureaucracy, and unclear invoicing and cost-shifting procedures. Testimony came from business and labor representatives on both sides. Jim Patterson of the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry supported the cost-shifting language as a way to protect taxpayers and public employers. Matt Wood, Peter Robbins-Brown, and Larry Carter, representing labor groups, said they had worked for months to reach a simpler opt-in/opt-out framework and objected to the new amendments as adding complexity and uncertainty. Several members questioned why police, firefighters, and later mass transit employees were exempted; the author and others said those exclusions were tied to federal law or because those groups had not requested inclusion. After debate, the committee adopted the large amendment set and then adopted a separate technical amendment adding mass transit employees to the exemption list. On the bill itself, members continued debating whether the measure was necessary if unions already allow members to opt out and whether the bill should apply only to public employees such as teachers and school workers. The committee ultimately voted to report SB 312 with amendments. The motion passed on a roll call vote, with several members voting no, and the meeting adjourned afterward.

Transcript Highlights:

• Those funds are based upon that application process.
• Their responsibilities include processing reimbursements, monitoring compliance, and providing training
• But is there any recommendation to try to streamline processes to, I know we have requirements 50% or
• We're also working with them to conduct food waste audits.
• Congress is now going through its annual appropriations process.

Transcript Highlights:

• OF AN AUDIT GOES AWAY AND WE MOVE ON. >> Chair Anderson: YOU ORGANIZE FOR A FOLLOW-UP. >> THE FLORIDA
• THE VENDOR THAT THEY PROCURED TO MANAGE ALL OF THIS, I'M IMAGINING THERE IS SOME SORT OF A ACTUAL PROCESS
• BUSINESS MODELS IN THIS SPACE ESSENTIALLY YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO PUT OUT A RFP FOR A PROCUREMENT PROCESS
• WHEN ACHA FINALIZES THE RULE WE WILL ADJUST THE EXISTING PROCESS TO USE THESE QUESTIONS ADOPTED TO SUBMIT
• HE IS CURRENTLY IN THE PROCESS OF OBTAINING CERTIFICATION AND HAS COMPLETED 35 CONTACT HOURS OUT OF THE

Transcript Highlights:

• are a few that have Have base funding that were legislatively appointed versus a competitive grant process
• It is my hope that next year we can all figure out together a process in which nonprofits and school
• districts can apply to MDE through a competitive grant process.
• Section 25 requires PELSB's final reading audit to include the rubric used to conduct the audit of teacher
• Thank you for keeping them a priority as you move into the next phase of the negotiation process, and

Bills: HF1388

Keywords: BARR Center, Building Assets, Reducing Risks, education finance, school funding, grant appropriation, evidence-based program, student achievement, social and emotional learning, school climate, teacher effectiveness, high school graduation, students in poverty, students of color, BIPOC, equity in education, Minnesota Department of Education, urban schools, suburban schools, rural schools, school coaching