Transcript Highlights:

• House committee on elections will come to order. The clerk will call the roll. Chair Shaheen here.
• Article 3, Section 10 and 11, um, addresses it. Section 10 actually talks about the quorum.
• Sure, I, I don't disagree that there's a section on punishments.
• 30.003 of the Civil Practices and remedy codes that doesn't apply.
• Hearing none, the House Committee on Elections stand adjourned, subject to the call of the chair.

Bills: HB18

Keywords: HB 18, Texas Legislature, quorum break, quorum-busting, legislative walkout, absent legislators, political contributions, campaign finance, political expenditures, legislative caucus, specific-purpose committee, Texas Ethics Commission, civil penalty, show cause order, district court, Fifteenth Court of Appeals, session fundraising, travel lodging food expenses, legislative session, compelled attendance

Transcript Highlights:

• I didn't have time to do code red, I shouldn't have done a code red, so I want to give you the chance
• No, there was a code red issued.
• But who issues the code red?
• The code red went out at 5.
• So going forward, under the Helping Him Search Code I believe it is safety codes.

Keywords: 997, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Last week, House committees moved the last sections of President Trump's one big, beautiful bill out
• , to amend Title 38, United States Code, to amend Title 38, United States Code, to<04:28:39.359><
• <05:50:09.840> Code.
• Section 4B of Executive United States.
• <07:25:10.558> to would weaponize the tax code to would weaponize the tax code to exacerbate

Keywords: U.S. House of Representatives Floor Proceedings on Monday, May 19, 2025, 1012, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• House Bill 278 adds in a new section.
• It's actually a..." "...higher reimbursement code. It's actually an average of the three codes.
• "Madam Chair, Representative, but you're adding a code into the G codes.
• Madam Chair, so these codes are general codes. Any laboratory is able to bill this code.
• It's a set CPT code.

Keywords: 996, all

Transcript Highlights:

• January 1, 2027, and by inserting in lieu of the phrase January 5, 2028. ...and page 17, Section 1,
• Minority Leader elect Provenzano. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
• Chair, I'll enter—oh, the representative minority leader elect. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
• So what you have is it's kind of like a code enforcement officer for a city.
• So what you have is it's kind of like a code enforcement officer for a city.

Summary: The committee took up a long series of Senate bills, beginning with SB 44, which extends a sales tax exemption to contractors working for nonprofits. It was presented briefly and reported out 24-0. The committee then considered SB 237, with a PCS and a written amendment that delayed the effective date and phased out the manufacturing exemption for solar and battery energy storage systems; members discussed the impact on ongoing projects, the treatment of solar and storage like prior wind and data center exemptions, and concerns from the renewable industry before the bill was advanced. Several other measures were heard and passed, including SB 248 on reinvesting proceeds from any sale of tourism real property back into state park maintenance and capital improvements; SB 1360 on the Pro Tem’s numeracy bill for the Department of Education; SB 985 codifying the local food for schools program; SB 1204 requiring three days of paid bereavement leave for school district employees; SB 1239 extending the bridge funding formula and moving certain motorcycle and moped fees to Service Oklahoma; SB 1307 cleaning up statutory language related to the ARCS Council, J.M. Davis Arms Museum, and Historical Society; and SB 2143 allowing county assessors to use aerial imagery, but not drones, to identify property changes. The aerial imagery bill drew the most debate, with questions about privacy, assessors’ authority, and whether the measure would save counties money; it passed 13-11. The committee also advanced SB 1428 creating an Alzheimer’s and related dementia services coordinator in the Health Department; SB 1390 extending a gross production tax sunset for tourism and water-related entities; SB 1400 combining sales tax exemptions for aircraft maintenance facilities; SB 1405 renewing the wildlife diversity check-off; SB 1732 raising fees for the construction industries board; SB 1832 adding voluntary ODVA checkboxes to licenses and hunting forms; SB 1859 creating a revolving fund for the OSBI cybercrimes and fraud unit; SB 1989 allowing electronic payment methods such as Cash App and Venmo for 529 accounts; SB 2018 changing valuation rules for new multifamily housing; and SB 1427, a bipartisan diabetes prevention and health bill. Most bills were reported out with overwhelming support, with a few receiving one or two no votes, and the committee adjourned after completing the agenda.

Transcript Highlights:

• There's obviously a lot here, and a lot of it is probably repetitious from where it was in code before
• I also remember when we put this section of code together, some of you were on GVA back then, I think
• Chairman, that was my really quick perusal of a couple sections.
• So you're going to go for a, and then line 17, multi-candidate... ...and take out that entire section
• Secretary of State, can't you just ask the vendor to program that section? Change the framework?

Keywords: 908, all

Summary: The committee resumed discussion of a campaign finance reporting bill and related amendments, focusing on whether the new reporting system should require beginning and ending fund balances for candidate committees and other entities. Representative Koppelman said he supported the modernization and software improvements, such as auto-populating donor information and aggregating contributions, but opposed making running balances mandatory because he viewed them as unnecessary for reporting and potentially burdensome. He also raised questions about language on contributions and expenditures, including whether certain uses of property or deposits were being classified correctly. Secretary of State Mike Lau responded that the questioned language on pages 5 and 6 was existing law, but said the beginning and ending fund balance on page 13 was important to the new system because it would allow amended reports to populate correctly across years. He said removing that requirement would effectively create two separate systems, and that the vendor could implement changes only if required by law. Members discussed whether the balance information could be hidden from the public, whether a zero-start approach would work, and whether an opt-in checkbox could avoid requiring all filers to use the same format. The committee did not take a final vote. Instead, the chair said the bill would go back to the subcommittee, with Representative Steiner and the Secretary of State’s office to continue working on the issue, and Representative Koppelman included in further discussions. The chair indicated the group would meet again later in the week to try to move the bill forward.

Transcript Highlights:

• If the legislature does elect to fund these programs in future years, the department will...
• I've been invited to appear to discuss the department's rulemaking process for Section 381...
• to discuss the department's rulemaking process for Section 381.147, Florida Statutes.
• Section 120.534 authorizes an agency to adopt an emergency rule for any rule pending ratification by
• Section 120.534 authorizes an agency to adopt an emergency rule for any rule pending ratification by

Summary: The Joint Administrative Procedures Committee heard a presentation from Representative Esposito on a proposal to strengthen oversight of agency rulemaking under Chapter 120. The bill would require cost-benefit analysis at the front end and after implementation, create an eight-year sunset and review process for rules, and require express legislative authority for agency rulemaking. Members questioned the lack of concrete examples of burdensome rules, the effect on already slow rulemaking, the choice of an eight-year sunset, and the bill’s origin; Esposito said she was working with stakeholders and cited her chamber-of-commerce background and research with the Cicero Institute. No vote was taken on the bill itself. Staff then reported on legislatively mandated rulemaking from 2023 and 2024, noting that most required rules had been adopted, proposed, noticed, or scheduled, with a few agencies still outstanding. The Department of Financial Services explained a delayed notice of rule development for the MySafe Florida Home condominium pilot program as an oversight that has since been corrected, and the Department of Education said it did not proceed with rulemaking for the Fostering Prosperity grants because the program received no funding in the 2025 budget. The Department of Health described delayed rulemaking for the sickle cell disease and trait registry, saying the registry and opt-out forms were being implemented and that notices of rule development had now been filed. Members pressed the department on why rules took so long and discussed the need for statutory deadlines. The Department of Children and Families reported on two 2023 human-trafficking-related rules: signage requirements for residential treatment facilities and children’s safe homes, and a new certification process for adult safe homes. DCF said the signage rule is now moving forward and the adult safe home certification rule has been submitted for final review after workshops and stakeholder feedback. Senators questioned the lengthy timeline and the lack of oversight during the interim, while the chair emphasized the need for time-certain deadlines in legislation and for JAPAC oversight hearings. The committee also considered staff-proposed amendments to Chapter 120 addressing emergency rules pending legislative ratification and the process for initiating ratification, including a one-year limit and notice to JAPAC. After discussion, the committee voted to forward the proposed amendments to the Senate President and House Speaker. Finally, members discussed a proposed amendment to the administrative law judge appointment and retention process under Section 120.65. DOAH’s interim director opposed the change, saying ALJs and workers’ compensation judges have different functions and warning against shifting appointment power to cabinet officers whose agencies appear before DOAH. Members raised concerns about timeliness, consistency, and accountability in DOAH decisions. The committee voted to forward this proposal as well, with Senator Smith voting no on that motion.

Transcript Highlights:

• SB 1393 is an omnibus update to California's Fish and Game Code with several key provisions covering
• The Australian Code of Practice was... The most humane wildlife management standards in the world.
• California has been adding species to Section 6530 of the Penal Code, including seven species, which
• But what they didn't realize at the very, very end of the chapter, like sections and sections and sections
• But what they didn't realize at the very, very end of the chapter, like sections and sections and sections

Keywords: 987, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• When we allow multinational corporations to exploit the tax code, that's exactly what they're doing,
• By restoring our tax code to the federal approach, we could reclaim these lost revenues and reinvest
• tax codes work in fundamentally different ways.
• What we're talking about is, in the vast majority of companies, they don't choose that election.
• Every state's tax code is full of loopholes, including the Commonwealth.

Keywords: 995, all

Summary: The Joint Committee on Revenue, chaired by Senator James Eldridge and Representative Adrian Madaro, opened its hearing with a moment of silence for the late Lowell State Senator Ed Kennedy and reviewed hearing procedures and deadlines. The committee then took testimony on several corporate tax bills, including S. 2033/H. 3110 on offshore tax avoidance, H. 3248 on a manufacturing tax exemption, H. 3057 on a tiered corporate minimum tax, and S. 2041 on a corporate tax haven blacklist, along with a separate business interest deduction bill. No votes were taken during the hearing. Supporters of S. 2033/H. 3110, including labor unions, health care workers, educators, public health advocates, seniors, and several legislators, argued that Massachusetts needs new revenue to offset federal cuts to Medicaid, SNAP, health care, education, and other services. They said the bill would raise roughly $400 million annually by increasing the share of offshore profits included in the state tax base from 5% to 50%, and they framed it as a fairness measure that would require large multinational corporations to pay more while leaving most local businesses and workers unaffected. Testimony emphasized risks to MassHealth, PCA services, adult dental care, hospitals, schools, and public health programs if new revenue is not raised. Opponents, including the Mass Taxpayers Foundation and the Council on State Taxation, argued the proposal is poor tax policy and likely unconstitutional because it would tax foreign-source income without allowing foreign tax credits or a comparable apportionment method. They said Massachusetts should take a broader, coordinated approach to federal tax changes rather than a standalone bill, and warned of litigation risk and possible double taxation. Supporters such as MassBudget and former tax counsel Don Griswold countered that the bill is a reasonable rough-justice approach, consistent with federal and neighboring-state treatment, and that it would primarily affect a small number of very large multinationals. On S. 2041, the Global Business Alliance opposed the proposed tax haven blacklist, while supporting a separate bill allowing business interest deductibility.

Transcript Highlights:

• Counties adjacent to those counties can also adopt fire codes.
• State state law allows for counties to contract with cities to enforce a fire code.
• The development process in areas where there's multiple codes.
• Travis County adopted and began enforcing a fire code in 2005.
• Uh, a well fought over and, and, and versed, uh, section of the law.

Transcript Highlights:

• Amendment is coded A5. I recognize the author of the amendment, Representative Freiberg.
• The bill is in the education section of the statute, so is the school vaccination.
• As elected leaders here today, at this moment in time, we have a choice.
• Predatory men who brag about sexual assault and yet get elected to president.
• And then there are two more sections under this statute.

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• In fact, Texas Penal Code Section 38.11 prohibits such things as alcohol, deadly weapons, cell phones
• Under Texas Penal Code Section 38.115, it is an offense to operate a drone below 400 feet on a correctional
• the Transportation Code, they have no authority to enforce that code outside of a county in which their
• I'm a elected sheriff of Chambers County.
• I think the difference is the penal code is statewide. The transportation code is countywide.

Keywords: 1185, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• We have elected to not have a lead witness. You know, support.
• You madam chair members 8930 is before you to ensure that all vote-by-mail ballots postmarked by election
• day and received within seven days would be counted the bill Updates California's elections code to
• section than we're even addressing.
• So the code for ADUs can be confusing depending on the city. simple policy that recognizes that that

Keywords: 988, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Go to tell you that this section in this bill that this section in this bill that this section in this bill is a
• >> Sections 10 11 talked about first strike
• for >> Sections 10 11 talked about damage