Transcript Highlights:

• We just don't have enough flex capacity to accommodate those kinds of dramatic changes in trend, even
• We just don't have enough flex capacity to accommodate those kinds of dramatic changes in trend, even
• are, they're releasing from them, so to speak, and they've had to make a lot of adjustments to accommodate

Summary: The committee held a work session focused first on juvenile rehabilitation system capacity. DCYF officials said the juvenile rehabilitation population is older, includes more adult-sentenced youth, and has longer lengths of stay, especially for “post-25” youth who must remain in secure facilities and cannot go to community beds. They described overcrowding at Green Hill School, placement limits at Echo Glen and Harbor Heights, staffing turnover, mental health acuity, and the need for more medium-security and specialized mental health beds. DCYF said it is pursuing a Parkland facility proposal, a staffing model decision package, and a broader feasibility study and master plan update. No votes were taken; members were asked to follow up with questions later. The committee then heard on behavioral health system capacity from the Behavioral Health Administration and the Health Care Authority. DSHS described growth in forensic and civil bed need, expansion at Olympic Heritage, Maple Lane, and Brockman, and construction of a new 350-bed forensic hospital at Western State expected to open in 2028. HCA reported progress on long-term civil commitment beds, intensive behavioral health treatment facilities, PACT teams, and intensive residential treatment teams, saying the community-based system is being expanded to support step-down care and reduce hospital reliance. Members asked about whether capacity is right-sized, the difference between facility types, and federal match eligibility for services. A federal funding update followed, covering the effects of H.R. 1 and H.R. 5371 on SNAP, Medicaid, marketplace coverage, long-term services and supports, K-12, higher education, and hemp regulation. OFM and agency staff said H.R. 1 adds work requirements, changes non-citizen eligibility, increases state administrative and benefit costs, reduces Medicaid and marketplace subsidies for some groups, tightens redeterminations, and may significantly affect provider payments and state-directed payments. H.R. 5371 extended federal funding through January 30, 2026 and included some agency appropriations and other provisions, including changes affecting hemp producers. Members asked about SNAP error rates and special enrollment periods. Finally, budget coordinator Mary Monroe gave a 2026 supplemental budget preview. She reviewed the state’s near general fund outlook, noting revenue declines since the enacted budget, the effect of reversions, and a preliminary maintenance-level outlook showing a projected increase in NGFO spending over the four-year period. She said the supplemental will reflect updated caseload and cost forecasts and mandatory impacts from H.R. 1, but not policy proposals. No actions or votes were taken during the session.

Transcript Highlights:

• How are we getting to ensuring that we have the workforce to accommodate security, parking, and... ..
• .accommodate security, parking, those professionals that you mentioned here in the PowerPoint, but also
• will inform our leadership on what capital projects and what facility needs we need to be able to accommodate

Summary: The Transportation Committee met to consider two bills and then held a lengthy discussion on Florida airport infrastructure. SB 246, presented by Senator Rodriguez on behalf of Senator Gruters, would authorize a UFC specialty license plate, with proceeds supporting the UFC Foundation’s charitable work. A UFC Foundation representative described community beneficiaries and said the plate would help raise funds for local charities. With no questions or debate, the committee voted SB 246 favorably. The committee also took up SPB 7012, a Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles public-records exemption bill that would remove the October 1, 2026 repeal date for certain active investigatory records. Senator Avila moved to submit it as a committee bill, there was no objection, and it was reported favorably as a committee bill. The remainder of the meeting focused on the Comprehensive Airport Infrastructure Program. FDOT Secretary Jared Perdue outlined Florida’s aviation system, the department’s airport funding programs, and the state’s role as a financial partner in safety, capacity, preservation, and economic development projects. He said Florida has 128 public-use airports, 21 commercial-service airports, and four large-hub airports, and noted that airport funding is largely supported by gas-tax-related revenues, with additional support from documentary stamp revenue and other fees. He also discussed the new airport infrastructure planning requirements created last session and said all required airports had submitted plans. Committee members asked about the loss of aviation fuel tax revenue, workforce development, project timelines, and how FDOT prioritizes funding, with Perdue emphasizing safety, preservation, capacity, economic return, and matching funds. A panel from Miami, Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, and Tampa international airports then described major capital programs, passenger growth, and funding needs. The airports highlighted terminal expansions, parking, baggage systems, airfield rehabilitation, people movers, and other modernization projects, along with the importance of maintaining aging facilities while accommodating growth. They said FDOT and FAA grants are helpful but increasingly insufficient for runway and taxiway costs, and several panelists said passenger facility charges and other revenue tools are important to future self-sufficiency. Members also asked about workforce shortages, small-business participation, landing-fee negotiations, and non-aeronautical revenue. The panel said workforce challenges are most acute in trades and maintenance, small-business programs are active at each airport, and landing fees are negotiated with airlines to keep airports competitive while funding needed improvements.

Transcript Highlights:

• Do you ever, and to Senator Trunow's point earlier, want to make an accommodation that up to 50% of the
• Did you ever find in temporary fashion to accommodate some sudden surge that's trending, go ahead and
• We have been able to accommodate the city inspection load by some of these guys having 40, 50 inspections

Summary: The Joint Legislative Auditing Committee first heard a long-running audit finding involving Daytona Beach’s unexpended building permit funds, which have exceeded the statutory limit for several years and were reported at $10.8 million in the most recent audit. Mayor Derek Henry and city staff said the city has analyzed the fund, adopted a corrective action plan, waived more than $5.5 million in permit and inspection fees over several periods, and used some excess funds for a training facility rehabilitation and a proposed City Hall expansion. Committee members repeatedly questioned whether the city was simply trying to spend down the money, raised concerns about the legality and necessity of proposed expenditures, and asked about interest earnings, truck purchases, and the lack of detailed tracking for training-facility use. The city said an Attorney General opinion allows construction of a new building for building-code functions but not purchase of an existing building, and that if the city cannot comply through permissible construction it would have to return the funds. No vote was taken, but members expressed strong frustration and urged the city to resolve the issue quickly and lawfully. The committee then received the Auditor General’s presentation on the Town of Greenville, which found 31 findings and described pervasive control failures, possible fraud, waste, and abuse. The findings covered elections and quorum issues, conflicts of interest, late or missing financial disclosure forms, related-party transactions, poor meeting notices and minutes, council involvement in day-to-day operations, missing ethics training, budget and accounting deficiencies, weak bank reconciliations, improper utility billing and rates, grant compliance problems tied to a grocery store project, personnel and compensation issues involving the town manager, late vendor payments, weak procurement and P-card controls, vehicle-use and property-control problems, public records issues, and IT/fraud-policy weaknesses. The auditor said the review focused mainly on October 2022 through February 2024 but went back further for some grant-related matters. Greenville’s mayor and staff said the audit reflected actions of a previous administration and that the current council and staff have already adopted seven new policies to improve procurement, financial controls, inventory management, grant oversight, and ethics. They said the town has a new manager and clerk, that the former manager was terminated, and that the town referred matters to FDLE, which is investigating. Committee members asked about the manager’s salary increase, severance, P-card use, and whether the town should consider consolidation or dissolution. The mayor said the town is on a better path, that most of the prior leadership has been voted out, and that the town is working with auditors and an outside accounting firm to correct the problems.

Transcript Highlights:

• Renovations are necessary<00:21:38.559><c> to</c><00:21:38.799><c> accommodate</c><00:21:39.280><c> the
• </c><00:21:39.440><c> Secretary</c> necessary to accommodate the Secretary necessary to accommodate the

Keywords: 958, all

Summary: The committee first approved the February minutes and noted there had been no March meeting. Staff then provided a series of information items, including quarterly capital project status reports from state agencies and postsecondary institutions, a University of Kentucky equipment purchase report, notice that the committee took no action on certain March transactions, school district debt notices for Fayette and Jessamine counties, lease-space advertisements due to building conditions, a Kentucky Asset/Liability Commission report, and asset preservation project reports from KCTCS and Eastern Kentucky University. The committee then heard and unanimously approved Murray State University’s request for interim authorization to use institutional revenues for a $1.5 million roof replacement at the Curs Center student center. University of Kentucky also received unanimous approval for a $115 million public-private partnership project to expand Parking Structure 7 and the Johnson Center recreation space; testimony emphasized the loss of parking from hospital expansion, increased student enrollment, a planned $21 per semester recreation fee increase, and the goal of improving student retention and campus capacity. Next, the committee received a report on a Kentucky State Police Post 11 renovation in London funded at $1.138 million, with members asking how long the repairs would extend the building’s useful life; KSP said the work was a long-term investment and replacement was still many years away. The committee also approved multiple real property lease actions, including a new CHFS lease in Scott County, several lease renewals for the Commonwealth’s Attorney, CHFS, Transportation Cabinet, and a Secretary of State relocation lease tied to a capital renovation project. Members questioned one Jefferson County lease rate and the witness said it had been in place since 2007. Finally, the Kentucky Infrastructure Authority presented three water loan items, which were rolled and then approved: an $841,383 East Clark County Water District loan for waterline upgrades, a roughly $6.13 million Oldham County Water District loan for US 42 improvements, and a $619,180 increase for Canonsburg Water District’s Schopes Road project due to higher-than-expected bids. The committee then approved eight K-12 school facility issuances, including projects in Clinton, Franklin, Fulton, Lincoln, McLean, Paris, Somerset, and Spencer counties, covering early childhood, new school construction, HVAC, energy conservation, and renovations. The meeting ended with notice of the next meeting date and adjournment.

Transcript Highlights:

• to thank the chairman for his hard work and openness to our concepts and feedback, which we're accommodated
• Thank you. ...and which we're accommodated and we're very grateful for that. Thank you.
• However, the clerks have been so accommodating and started the conversation early and got us comfortable

Bills: SB438, SB512, SB647, SB648, SB1495, SB2121, SB2145, SB2154, SB2167, SB2184, SB2211, SB2268, SB2349, SB2443, SB2629, SB2702, SB2902

Keywords: SB 438, Texas, State Office of Administrative Hearings, SOAH, administrative law judge, ALJ, public information act, open records, confidentiality, privacy, home address, home telephone number, emergency contact information, social security number, family members, Government Code 552.117, Government Code 552.1175, Tax Code 25.025, public records, government transparency

Summary: The Senate Committee on Business and Commerce met with a quorum and took up several pending bills, voting favorably on SB 1612, SB 2717, SB 1468, SB 1642, and SB 1789. SB 1612 was reported favorably with objections to the local and contested calendar, while SB 2717, SB 1468, SB 1642, and SB 1789 were reported favorably, with SB 1642 and SB 1789 sent to the floor. SB 2717 would create the Texas Energy Efficiency Council; SB 1642 would add an executive director to the Texas Department of Insurance structure; and SB 1789 would establish pole standards and clarify PUC authority and remedies. The committee also heard an ERCOT update from CEO Pablo Vegas on the updated long-term load forecast, which showed a much higher unadjusted growth projection driven largely by data centers. ERCOT described an adjusted forecast using historical delays and lower realized build rates, and members discussed reliability, generation timelines, and the importance of SB 6 for demand response and flexibility. The committee then heard and left pending SB 2629, which would allow condominium and property owners’ association meetings and voting by electronic means; SB 2702, which would let nationally certified professionals test backflow prevention assemblies without a separate TCEQ license; SB 2167, which would let TDLR pause new license applications tied to human trafficking emergency orders or pending SOAH cases; SB 2349, which would exempt short-term leases and certain leasebacks from flood disclosure requirements; SB 2121, which would tighten the data broker registry law; and SB 2443, which would authorize TDLR electronic delivery of notices and other documents. Testimony generally supported these bills as cleanup, modernization, or workforce-streamlining measures, with some members expressing caution about electronic meetings and emphasizing in-person accountability. The committee also heard SB 2902 on coerced debt and identity theft, with testimony from a law professor and family violence advocates supporting stronger protections for survivors and suggesting a police report as an additional proof option. SB 512, a refiled bill restricting money transmission license holders from fining users for terms-of-service violations, also received supportive testimony and was left pending. Later, the committee heard SB 2145 on allowing certain TIF boards to meet virtually in narrow circumstances, SB 2268 on extending Texas Energy Fund loan deadlines in some cases, SB 1495 creating an EV supply equipment advisory board, SB 2154 regulating delivery network companies under a statewide framework, SB 2184 lowering the age for pyrotechnic operator and fireworks display permits from 21 to 18, SB 2211 on combining data centers, power generation, and produced-water desalination projects, and SB 647 on title theft protections and clerk authority to refuse fraudulent filings. Most of these bills were left pending after brief testimony and questions, with members focusing on reliability, regulation, and safeguards against fraud.

Transcript Highlights:

• to thank the chairman for his hard work and openness to our concepts and feedback, which we're accommodated
• filings since it's a notice and working around it on the back end; however, the clerks have been so accommodating
• filing since it's a notice and and working on it on the back end however the clerks have been so accommodating

Bills: SB438, SB512, SB647, SB648, SB1495, SB2121, SB2145, SB2154, SB2167, SB2184, SB2211, SB2268, SB2349, SB2443, SB2629, SB2702, SB2902

Keywords: SB 438, Texas, State Office of Administrative Hearings, SOAH, administrative law judge, ALJ, public information act, open records, confidentiality, privacy, home address, home telephone number, emergency contact information, social security number, family members, Government Code 552.117, Government Code 552.1175, Tax Code 25.025, public records, government transparency

Summary: The Senate Committee on Business and Commerce met with a quorum and first voted out several pending bills. Senate Bill 1612 was reported favorably to the full Senate with objections sent to the local and contested calendar. The committee then adopted committee substitutes and favorably reported Senate Bills 2717, 1468, 1642, and 1789, with 1642 and 1789 sent to the floor. SB 2717 would create the Texas Energy Efficiency Council and add agencies to it; SB 1468 and SB 1642 were discussed as changes affecting utility and insurance-related structures; and SB 1789 would establish pole standards, with the author saying it would clarify PUC authority and create more practical statewide standards. The committee also heard an ERCOT update from Pablo Vegas, who said Texas load growth remains strong but ERCOT is adjusting its large-load forecast downward using historical delays and realization rates for data centers and other large loads. He said the adjusted forecast is still very high, but more realistic for planning, and members discussed reliability, generation timelines, demand response, and the role of Senate Bill 6 in helping model large data centers as flexible load. The committee then took testimony on a series of bills and left most pending after public comment. SB 2629 would allow condominium and property owners associations to hold meetings and vote electronically; testimony supported it as a way to improve access, though some members expressed concern about overuse of virtual meetings. SB 2702 would let nationally certified professionals test backflow prevention assemblies instead of requiring a separate TCEQ license, and was supported as a workforce and public health measure. SB 2167 would let TDLR pause new massage-establishment license applications when an applicant is subject to a human trafficking emergency order or pending SOAH case. SB 2349 would exempt short-term residential leases and certain leasebacks from floodplain disclosure requirements while allowing the notice to be included in the lease packet. SB 2121 would tighten the data broker registry law from the prior session, and SB 2443 would allow TDLR to use electronic delivery for notices and contested-case documents. Additional bills focused on consumer protection, housing, and regulatory administration. SB 2902 would help victims of coerced debt and identity theft stop collection efforts by requiring proof such as a court order or FTC report; advocates said it would protect survivors while still preventing fraud. SB 512 would bar money transmission license holders from fining users for terms-of-service violations in a way that forfeits account funds, and supporters framed it as a protection against private financial penalties. SB 2145 would allow public improvement districts and tax increment finance districts to meet virtually with at least one member physically present, while SB 2268 would give the PUC flexibility to extend Texas Energy Fund loan deadlines in certain cases. SB 1495 would create an advisory board for electric vehicle supply equipment standards, SB 2154 would extend statewide regulation to delivery network companies, SB 2184 would lower the age for pyrotechnic operator and fireworks display licenses from 21 to 18, SB 438 would expand confidentiality protections for SOAH administrative law judges, SB 2211 would treat digital products and desalinated water as industrial products to support combined energy-water projects, and SB 647 would strengthen title-theft protections by improving notice and clerk authority to reject fraudulent filings. Most of these bills were left pending after testimony, and several drew support from industry, consumer, or advocacy witnesses along with some member concerns about electronic meetings, licensing, and data accuracy.

Transcript Highlights:

• conditions of employment of a teacher that are provided in a collective bargaining agreement to accommodate
• 05:24.400><c> to</c> collective bargaining agreement um to collective bargaining agreement um to accommodate
• <00:05:25.199><c> educational</c><00:05:25.759><c> experiences</c> ...accommodate educational experiences

Bills: HF1306

Keywords: education, school policy, teacher training, student health, emergency response, 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• been vacated by Stasson that have been vacated by revenue<00:59:19.920><c> to</c><00:59:20.160><c> accommodate
• </c><00:59:20.640><c> the</c><00:59:20.880><c> return</c><00:59:21.119><c> to</c> revenue to accommodate
• the return to revenue to accommodate the return to office.
• > new</c><01:00:08.640><c> tenants</c><01:00:09.040><c> in</c><01:00:09.280><c> the</c> feet to accommodate
• new tenants in the feet to accommodate new tenants in the transportation<01:00:10.160><c> building.

Bills: HF4912, HF4664

Keywords: electronic pull-tabs, pull-tabs, tipboards, gambling tax, Minnesota Racing Commission, Thoroughbred, horse racing, Minnesota-bred horses, breeders, owners, racing purses, industry subsidy, gambling revenue dedication, problem gambling, compulsive gambling treatment, general fund appropriation, state affiliate National Council on Problem Gambling, racing incentives, equine industry, public officers

Transcript Highlights:

• From a regional perspective, the site is the perfect size to accommodate a development of this scale.
• </c><00:46:44.000><c> a</c> perfect size to accommodate a perfect size to accommodate a development<00
• Uh, as the mayor stated, we are accommodating a future 494 interchange into the site layout and roadway
• c> a</c><00:48:26.960><c> future</c><00:48:27.280><c> 494</c><00:48:27.920><c> interchange</c> accommodating
• a future 494 interchange accommodating a future 494 interchange into<00:48:28.800><c> the</c><00:48:

Bills: HF3700, HF3982, HF3927, HF3933, HF3949, HF4238, HF4275, HF4476, HF4504

Keywords: Duluth, Lake Superior Zoo, capital improvements, funding, bonds, appropriations, capital investment, port development, grant caps, state assistance, navigation facilities, Dakota County, state bonds, park improvements, infrastructure, transportation, safety, congestion, water infrastructure, bond issuance

Transcript Highlights:

• this bill actually will be phased in last, so four years from now, that the market will grow to accommodate
• However, there's also a provision in this bill that if the market does not grow to accommodate them and
• </c><01:52:58.320><c> However,</c> will grow to accommodate them.
• However, will grow to accommodate them.
• them and if there is no accommodate them and if there is no appropriate<01:53:06.000><c> lead-free</

Keywords: House streaming session for Saturday, March 21, 2026, 957, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• It says they want to ensure that local boards implement consistent processes to accommodate and expedite
• </c><01:03:09.920><c> and</c> consistent processes to accommodate and consistent processes to accommodate
• Carolina, South Carolina, Vermont, New Hampshire, Arkansas, and the District of Columbia, with accommodations
• </c><01:09:31.920><c> for</c><01:09:32.159><c> seniors</c><01:09:32.560><c> and</c> with accommodations
• for seniors and with accommodations for seniors and disabilities<01:09:33.679><c> to</c><01:09:33.920

Keywords: Senate streaming session for Wednesday, March 4, 2026, 960, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• If accommodation is needed, communicate with the sergeant's staff, and those are the wonderful people
• Uh let me begin with a uh apology and uh a ask for accommodation by Lead Pinto.
• </c> a ask for accommodation by Lead Pinto. a ask for accommodation by Lead Pinto.
• attempt<01:37:36.360><c> to</c><01:37:36.480><c> try</c><01:37:36.720><c> to</c><01:37:37.160><c> accommodate
• </c><01:37:38.440><c> your</c> attempt to try to accommodate your attempt to try to accommodate your

Bills: HF3542

Keywords: data privacy, investigative data, welfare system, public funds, transparency, 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• better pay, better benefits, safety on the job, and their rightful seat at the table in their own workplaces
• their</c><00:54:52.319><c> own</c> seat at the table in their own seat at the table in their own workplaces
• </c> workplaces all across Colorado. workplaces all across Colorado.

Keywords: 981, all

Transcript Highlights:

• In fact, that’s usually why ICE raids workplaces, because that’s where you’re most likely to find undocumented
• immigrants at their workplaces.
• In fact, that’s usually why ICE raids workplaces, because that’s where you’re most likely to find undocumented
• immigrants at their workplaces.

Keywords: 1189, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• to the office of modernization, the department has an outstanding balance of about $38,000 to HSI Workplace
• outstanding balance of about 38,000<00:13:38.160><c> to</c><00:13:38.959><c> HSI</c><00:13:39.920><c> workplace
• </c><00:13:40.399><c> compliance</c> 38,000 to HSI workplace compliance 38,000 to HSI workplace compliance

Bills: SB1, SB4, SB6, SB9, SB16, SB17, SB20, SB22, SB28, SB29, SB36, SB41, SB45, SB77, SB85, SB87, SB96, SB98, SB110, SB126, SB139, SB143, SB164, SB167, SB171, SB186, SB188, SB195, SB197, SB198, SB204, SB205, SB206, SB207, SB209, SB210, SB211, SB217, SB219, SB220, SB225, SB231, SB237, SB238, SB241, SB244, SB246, SB247, SB272, SB294, SB315, SB346, SB364, SB366, SB367, SB386, SB392, SB403, SB415, SB427, SB431, SB437, SB457, SB459, SB469, SB471, SB478, SB484, SB489, SB502, SB503, SB507, SB508, SB510, SB516, SB517, SB518, SB519, SB521, SB535, SB543, SB550, SB564, SB568, SB570, SB575, SB577, SB578, SB590, SB607, SB616, SB621, SB634, SB644, SB647, SB649, SB652, SB655, SB656, SB663

Keywords: agricultural lands, foreign ownership, state agriculture policy, real estate regulation, land conservation, SB4, Royal Mausoleum, Mauna Ala, Office of Hawaiian Affairs, OHA, Department of Land and Natural Resources, DLNR, stewardship, Hawaiian affairs, cemetery, burial site, ancestral remains, cultural preservation, state land management, agency transfer

Transcript Highlights:

• But the good news is that with this new bill, there are incentives to get back into the workplace.
• into</c><00:29:22.480><c> the</c> incentives to get back into the incentives to get back into the workplace
• 23.600><c> the</c><00:29:23.760><c> latest</c><00:29:24.080><c> numbers</c><00:29:24.399><c> that</c> workplace
• And the latest numbers that workplace.

Keywords: U.S. House of Representatives Floor Proceedings on Tuesday, July 15, 2025, 1012, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Minnesotans, expand access to the overdose reversal drug naloxone, and create recovery-friendly workplaces
• recovery and rec and create recovery recovery and rec and create recovery friendly<02:08:50.800><c> workplaces
• </c><02:08:51.520><c> and</c><02:08:51.760><c> many</c><02:08:52.079><c> other</c> friendly workplaces
• and many other friendly workplaces and many other initiatives<02:08:52.880><c> across</c><02:08:53.360

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• . >> Uh, maybe we can accommodate that somewhere in the negotiations.
• U,<01:48:57.520><c> maybe</c><01:48:57.760><c> we</c><01:48:58.000><c> can</c><01:48:58.159><c> accommodate
• </c><01:48:58.800><c> that</c> &gt;&gt; U, maybe we can accommodate that &gt;&gt; U, maybe we can accommodate
• They deserve as safe a workplace as we can provide.

Keywords: 1136, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Not everyone can come during the day and testify, so we want to try and accommodate those hopeful exceptions
• </c><01:06:38.640><c> to</c><01:06:38.760><c> try</c><01:06:39.520><c> and</c><01:06:39.720><c> accommodate
• </c> we want to try and accommodate we want to try and accommodate those<01:06:41.840><c> uh</c><01:06
• that we have so many people that we need to expand testimonies to multiple days, but we'll try and accommodate
• 08.000><c> and</c> multiple days, but uh we'll try and multiple days, but uh we'll try and uh uh uh accommodate

Keywords: 1189, house, all

Summary: The Special Committee on COVID Response Efficacy for New Hampshire held its first organizational meeting. The chair read the committee’s updated mission statement, which says the bipartisan committee will fact-find on the state’s COVID-19 response and its impact on the healthcare system, with focus areas including federal guidance, federal funds, emergency use authorization vaccination efforts, long COVID, the Patient Bill of Rights, and vaccination policies. The chair also announced committee staffing changes: Linda McGrath stepped down as vice chair and Representative Gerard was named vice chair; Representative DeRoy was named clerk. The chair emphasized the committee’s work is intended to be science-based and fact-finding, not anti-vaccine, and noted that the committee may issue follow-up reports and recommendations. Members discussed a broad list of topics for future hearings, including long COVID treatment, ongoing vaccination policies, reporting of COVID deaths, standards of care and provider discretion, COVID-related funding such as ESSER/CARES Act money, and communication of treatment developments during the pandemic. Representative Pollina argued the committee should examine specific treatments and outcomes, including remdesivir, oxygen/intubation practices, and ivermectin, and raised concerns about whether some treatments were harmful or suppressed. He also focused on pediatric vaccination policy, saying the committee should review New Hampshire’s recommendations for children and medical students, and questioned the state’s reliance on federal guidance versus independent review. The chair responded that shifting federal positions may justify an independent New Hampshire evaluation and asked him to gather more information and potential witnesses. In open discussion, members suggested additional witnesses and topics, including local funeral directors, nursing homes, and emergency medical services, as well as how nursing homes were affected by positive tests and admission restrictions. Another member suggested the committee consider what products it should produce, such as a final report, possible bill recommendations, and better documentation or footnotes tying findings to testimony and scientific sources. The chair said the committee’s deliverables could include reports, letters to department heads or legislative leaders, and other actions, and noted that the committee’s 2024 report and supporting documents are available on the House committee page. No votes or formal actions beyond the organizational appointments were taken.

Transcript Highlights:

• We built a 1950 building at 18th and Dumanil, but it's time for us to build to accommodate the experience
• to<00:52:48.160><c> build</c><00:52:49.119><c> uh</c><00:52:49.280><c> to</c><00:52:49.520><c> accommodate
• u the uh the to build uh to accommodate u the uh the experience<00:52:53.599><c> and</c><00:52:53.839
• We want to accommodate them.
• We want to accommodate them. So, um, I thank you.

Keywords: This meeting is taking place on location at the Kentucky State University Cooperative Extension Building Room 238 using on site equipment., 958, all

Summary: The interim Commission on Race and Access to Opportunity met at Kentucky State University and heard a presentation from President Kofi Aapo and Vice President Michael Dorsy on the university’s role as an HBCU and its current priorities. They emphasized Kentucky State’s impact on Black student outcomes nationally, its focus on workforce development, civic leadership, innovation, and economic mobility, and its efforts to grow enrollment, expand dual-credit partnerships, and launch a prison education program. They also described House Bill 250’s role in prompting program review and the creation or expansion of market-aligned offerings, including manufacturing engineering, agricultural engineering, biological and agricultural engineering, social work, criminal justice, and expanded online programs through “Thoroughbred Global.” A major topic was Kentucky State’s move toward STEM and applied programs. President Aapo said the university is diversifying beyond liberal arts to meet workforce demand and cited plans for a PhD in agroecology, which he said would help farmers adapt to climate conditions and would be federally funded. He also discussed the nursing program as the fastest-growing on campus, partnerships with health systems that pay tuition and guarantee jobs, and the need for a new nursing facility. He said the current nursing space is inadequate and that a new building could double or triple enrollment in the program. He also described a mobile health initiative intended to bring preventive care and health education to underserved areas of the state. Members asked questions about the nursing building, STEM strategy, teacher preparation, dual credit, prison education, and student readiness. Senator Bledsoe asked about the shift toward STEM, and Aapo said the strategy is based on student demand and data from House Bill 250. Senator Berg requested a list of dual-credit partners and encouraged long-term tracking of prison education participants to study outcomes such as recidivism; Aapo said the university has not yet begun that research but intends to. Senator Tidner asked about remedial needs, and Aapo said KSU found more than 100 students with zero GPAs when he arrived and is using co-requisite support and tutoring to address English and math deficiencies. Representative Brown and others highlighted the historical and ongoing value of HBCUs, and no votes or formal actions were taken during the meeting.