Transcript Highlights:

• And then for the RDA, it's $36 million of spending, and then $4 million of lost revenue.
• And then for the RDA, it's $36 million of spending, and then $4 million of lost revenue.
• So, the level of spending targets.
• And on the General Fund spending, open to the debate that we have.
• And on the General Fund spending, open to the debate that we have.

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• The spending is not linear.
• the construction. out more and um the spending in this out more and um the spending in this program<
• <00:29:35.679> We<00:29:35.919> spend<00:29:36.559> a spending is not um linear
• We spend a spending is not um linear.
• So, because the committee's heard that report, I won't spend a lot of time on that.

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• One would be profligate government spending.
• <00:26:18.559> and preco levels of government spending and preco levels of government spending
• <00:35:54.400> three women while we continue to spend three women while we continue to spend
• <00:47:40.720> a sure that when the government spends a sure that when the government spends
• cancelling wasteful government spending cancelling wasteful government spending before<00:47:54.559

Keywords: U.S. House of Representatives Floor Proceedings on Wednesday, March 5, 2025, 1012, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• The focus was on departments with larger general fund spending, including the California Department of
• Okay, so by spending $20 million, we anticipate saving $75 million within a budget year. amount sort
• It almost feels like they're incentivizing that if you're right there on the line, spend money.
• We continued to spend but still didn't really spend up all the money that was previously done before.
• So we increased the allocation, but still never actually finished spending the allocation.

Keywords: 988, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• It also requires geographically balanced spending.
• It also requires geographically balanced spending.
• It also requires geographically balanced spending.
• the morning uh got a chance to spend the morning uh working<00:26:48.000> on<00:26:48.640>
• <00:56:21.760> hours<00:56:22.200> on their work instead of spending hours on their

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• She spends a lot of time in the desert, but she doesn't pay for one of those trees.
• Well, I've spent my first four months spending a lot of time listening to external partners, spending
• As a former colleague at Audubon California, spending almost nine years with her, she's undoubtedly the
• As a former colleague at Audubon California, spending almost nine years with her, she's undoubtedly the
• As a former colleague at Audubon California, spending almost nine years with her, she's undoubtedly the

Keywords: 987, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• The direction is for infrastructure, specifically things of that nature, so they couldn't spend it on
• The direction is for infrastructure, specifically dines of that, so they couldn't spend it on an art
• and what we can better spend it with.
• But right now, if you look at this, The money and what can we better spend it with.
• This is not the time to take off and spend, and it's time to correct it.

Summary: The committee first considered House Resolution 1016, presented by Rep. Marcus Richmond, which sought permission to file a bill aimed at consumer protection in certain housing arrangements where buyers purchase an interest in an entity rather than the property itself. Richmond said the measure was intended to improve transparency, prevent deceptive real estate practices, and ensure disputes would be handled in Arkansas or federal courts rather than private tribunals. Members raised concerns about overlap with existing law, possible effects on homeowners associations, arbitration clauses, hunting clubs, religious organizations, and the bill’s 25-acre exemption. After discussion, the committee voted down the resolution. House Resolution 1006, by Rep. Bart Schultz, proposed increasing the homestead tax credit by $75, from $600 to $675, using a fund created for property tax relief. Schultz argued the increase was supported by the annual report on the fund and was timely because of higher costs for gas and groceries. Members asked about using special language instead, whether the increase could be made retroactive later, and whether the governor had included it on the call. The committee approved the resolution. The committee then heard House Resolution 1007, presented by Sen. Brian King and Rep. James Eaton, which would have changed how turnback sales tax revenue is distributed to counties, with the first $150 million of sales tax revenue going into a fund for county infrastructure and each county receiving an equal share. Supporters said it would help counties with roads, jails, water, sewer, and other critical needs, while opponents questioned whether taking revenue off the top would harm other state services and whether the issue was urgent enough for a fiscal session. The resolution failed. House Resolution 1008, by Rep. Jim Wooten and Sen. King, sought changes to the LEARNS Act and school choice funding, including performance-based eligibility and reporting requirements. Wooten argued the program was financially unsustainable and that accountability was needed; members questioned whether the proposal would create a larger emergency and whether it should instead be handled through budget language. The resolution failed after a point of order interrupted the closing remarks. Finally, House Resolution 1009, presented by Rep. Ron McNair and Sen. King, aimed to restore local control over crypto mines and data centers, citing concerns about water use, electricity demand, Chinese ownership, and litigation tied to prior legislation. Members questioned whether the issue was truly emergent and whether the resolution was the right vehicle. The resolution failed. House Resolution 1015, by Rep. Howard Beatty, proposed amending the prior IDA bill to address concerns raised by constituents, including board accountability and removing eminent domain authority. Supporters said it would improve the bill before next session, but the resolution also failed. The committee then adjourned.

Transcript Highlights:

• We're spending millions of dollars in some of our projects around the state to try to control these carp
• People would spend hundreds of thousands of dollars at a chance to catch a fish like that.
• People<00:10:23.600> would<00:10:23.839> spend<00:10:24.240> hundreds<00:10:24.640
• > of<00:10:24.720> thousands People would spend hundreds of thousands People would spend
• Anyone who spends six figures building a private lake in Kentucky is probably going to stock Florida

Keywords: Meeting start: 00:00 Roll Call: 00:37 SB 39 discussion: 04:10 SB 39 vote: 26:35, 958, all

Summary: The Senate Standing Committee on Economic Development, Tourism, and Labor met with a quorum and first heard a brief presentation from Vice Chair Frommeyer on a resolution recognizing January as Kentucky Mentoring Month. She highlighted mentoring as important for personal, academic, and professional development and cited partnerships such as Northern Kentucky University’s Norse Network Hub and local community mentoring efforts. The committee then took up Senate Bill 39, sponsored by Senator Gary Boswell, which would treat fish in private lakes and ponds as the property of the landowner and allow landowners to extend fishing rights by written or electronic permission. Boswell and supporter Jason Kenner argued the bill would strengthen property rights, reduce burdensome regulation, support selective harvest and stocking decisions, and could boost tourism, local economies, and aquaculture. Kenner also described bass fishing’s economic impact, youth fishing growth, and examples of tournaments and habitat projects in Kentucky. Boswell said the bill does not change fishing license requirements and does not alter invasive species rules except to clarify that largemouth bass, including F1 Florida bass, are not invasive. Commissioner Rich Storm and other members raised concerns that the bill’s language could affect the Department of Fish and Wildlife’s fee-based funding, federal grant eligibility, enforcement authority, and creel-limit cases, especially if written permission on private waters were interpreted broadly. Senator Webb said she supported the idea of bass stocking but wanted more guardrails and a pilot approach. Senator Howell asked whether Boswell would consider further work on the language, but Boswell declined to accept a committee substitute or amendment at that time. The committee then voted 8-1 with one pass to report the bill favorably, and the chair announced the bill would be reported with favorable expression that it should pass.

Transcript Highlights:

• If you want to make sure that you're, you know, spending on infrastructure, you're spending on subsidies
• So the transportation dollars you will be spending probably need to get spent a little differently, and
• maybe a little more flexibility in things like mode in terms of how you spend the money so you can get
• Before you actually spend real money on anything, make sure you're working with the local government.
• In the minute or so I have left, I wanted to just spend a quick moment talking about the partners and

Summary: The Senate Housing Committee heard a series of work-session presentations focused on transit-oriented development, commercial-to-residential redevelopment, building code implementation, housing market trends, and the Covenant Homeownership Program. The first presentation, from the Urban Institute, reviewed research on HB 1491 and TOD feasibility, arguing that Washington has made major progress but faces diverging conditions across transit areas. The presenter said rising construction costs, higher interest rates, and lower rents in some markets have made many projects less feasible, and recommended targeted infrastructure funding for lower-market communities, adjustments to MFTE and affordability requirements by local market conditions, more support for very low-income housing in high-market transit areas, minimum density standards near stations, expanded public land/joint development tools, and better tracking of TOD outcomes over time. Committee members asked about AMI calculations, immigration’s effect on construction labor, developer input, and whether a tracking mechanism had been removed from the bill. The Department of Commerce then outlined implementation of HB 1491 and demonstrated the new Washington Zoning Atlas, which is live and intended to help visualize zoning, overlays, and station-area conditions. Commerce said local governments will designate station areas, update zoning and MFTE policies, and handle anti-displacement measures, with Vancouver and Spokane first to implement and Puget Sound following later. Staff described a timeline for updated MFTE guidance, station-area implementation guidance, a TOD model ordinance, and later rulemaking on variances. The committee also heard from the Lieutenant Governor’s office on a report about converting commercial properties to housing, which found substantial potential for redevelopment on vacant or underused commercial land, especially near transit, but noted barriers such as ground-floor retail mandates, affordability requirements, infrastructure costs, private covenants, and slow implementation. The office urged by-right residential use on commercial land and faster rollout of new housing laws. The State Building Code Council updated the committee on its three-year code cycle and several legislatively directed actions, including minimum dwelling size, emergency shelters, and especially single-exit stairs and multiplex housing. Council staff said those code changes are nearing completion and will provide prescriptive solutions, while noting that elevator size and requirements were not changed and would require separate legislative direction if the committee wanted to revisit them. Members discussed the cost impacts of building and energy codes and the council said it is required to consider economic impacts and is increasingly looking at performance-based approaches. Later, the Washington Center for Real Estate Research presented its annual housing report, showing that higher mortgage rates have sharply reduced affordability, flattened house prices in many cities, and slowed single-family permitting and completions, while multifamily construction has recently cooled after a prior surge. Finally, the Washington State Housing Finance Commission reported strong first-year results for the Covenant Homeownership Program, which provides zero-interest down payment assistance to eligible first-time buyers with family ties to Washington before 1968; the program assisted 547 homebuyers in its first fiscal year, with more than $60 million loaned, and the agency said participation has continued to grow after income-limit changes enacted in 2025.

Transcript Highlights:

• And if we reduce spending this biennium to keep the account solvent, that's all it does: get the account
• We've taken an adaptive and responsive approach to identifying and reducing spending, and will determine
• As I said, we're a dedicated account, so we are responsible for every dollar we spend to answer to our
• We have to actually address those upland sources of pollution to make sure that the dollars we spend
• How much are you spending on wildfire mitigation for both of you, actually, Chelan and PSE?

Summary: The committee first heard updates on the Model Toxics Control Act (MTCA) and related funding. Department of Ecology staff explained how MTCA and the hazardous substance tax support cleanup, prevention, stormwater, and local assistance programs, but said forecasted revenues have declined while appropriations and transfers have outpaced incoming funds. Ecology said the operating account will require underspending to stay balanced this biennium and that the problem is ongoing, with further reductions possible if forecasts worsen. Ecology also reviewed the state cleanup program, noting there are more than 14,500 cleanup sites in Washington and that new sites continue to be discovered faster than they are cleaned up. A question from Representative Lee raised the long-term issue of declining fossil-fuel-based revenue, and Ecology agreed that this is a future structural concern even though the current shortfall is driven more by forecasts and transfers than by fuel-use decline. The Pollution Liability Insurance Agency described its underground storage tank and heating oil programs, saying it has modernized from a reinsurance model to a financial assurance model with stronger state oversight and cleanup milestones. Russ Olson said the agency’s dedicated petroleum tax account is in strong financial condition, but emphasized the importance of preserving that funding source. He also discussed the loan and grant program for historic commercial releases and a new heating oil loan/grant program, while noting the agency is working on equity concerns where liens can be disproportionate to property values in smaller communities. Practitioners and advocates then offered differing views on MTCA’s performance: one attorney urged a collaborative review process to make cleanups faster, less expensive, and more certain, while another consultant argued the program is too conservative and process-heavy and should focus more narrowly on actual exposure and realistic cleanup standards. Environmental and community groups countered that MTCA is essential for cleanup, pollution prevention, stormwater control, and public participation, and that it is especially important for environmental justice communities such as the Duwamish Valley. Port and city representatives stressed that MTCA grants and cleanup funding are critical for large redevelopment projects, but said long timelines, permitting delays, and funding uncertainty can slow projects and jeopardize commitments. The committee then shifted to utility wildfire risk. Staff summarized recent legislation, including requirements for utility wildfire mitigation plans, creation of a wildfire mitigation standards work group, authorization for captive insurance by local governments and PUDs, securitization authority for disaster costs, and the existing wildfire response and resilience account. Chelan County PUD and Puget Sound Energy described extensive mitigation efforts such as vegetation management, grid hardening, undergrounding, AI smoke cameras, weather stations, enhanced operating settings, public safety power shutoffs, and community outreach. Both said wildfire risk is rising and insurance costs are increasing, and Chelan PUD asked the Legislature to restore funding to the wildfire response and resilience account. The Office of the Insurance Commissioner said a 2022 utility liability market study found insurance availability is tightening as perceived risk rises, and reported that a 2025 work group recommended restoring community resilience funding, requiring insurers to share wildfire risk scores and mitigation steps with property owners, and creating a grant program based on insurance industry wildfire standards. A PNNL scientist added that wildfire probability is increasing in parts of Washington and that mitigation requires long-term, landscape-scale coordination. The final speaker began describing California’s approach to wildfire risk, but the transcript cuts off before that presentation concluded.

Transcript Highlights:

• So moving on to slide 10, to address this first point, the clinicians we spoke with mentioned they spend
• So that's, again, an underestimate and they likely actually spend a lot more time.
• But ultimately, I want to boil down the big takeaways of this study as follows: Clinicians are spending
• Having to do all the things that you talk about in this study, he was spending weekends.
• That just increases spending.

Transcript Highlights:

• We heard from the auditor that the Department of State Hospitals is currently spending about $2,800 a
• Basically, I think the perception is Liberty... ...has a blank check here to go spend as much time as
• as much time as they need to spend to find these placements and then once the placement is the lease
• There's tracking of all their spending.
• So I'm trying to understand: it seems like we're spending $11 million or so per year. Is 56 the...

Summary: The Joint Legislative Audit Committee held an oversight hearing on the state auditor’s October 2024 report on California’s Forensic Conditional Release Program (CONREP) for sexually violent predators. Members and witnesses discussed public safety, the long delays in finding community housing, the role of local housing committees, and the Department of State Hospitals’ oversight of Liberty Healthcare, which operates much of the program. Several legislators from rural and high-desert districts said their communities have been disproportionately affected by placements and questioned why many placements end up in remote areas. State Auditor Grant Parks said the audit found that CONREP participants were convicted of new offenses less often than sexually violent predators who were unconditionally released, but that 18 of 56 participants had been revoked and returned to state hospitals for noncompliance. He said it took an average of 17 months to place current participants in the community, with 20 additional people awaiting placement for an average of 20 months, and that the program incurred significant pre-placement costs. Parks also said local officials were often unclear about their role, DSH had not given clear guidance at the time of the audit, and California lacks a transitional housing option used in some other states. He reported that DSH had implemented four of the five audit recommendations, while declining the recommendation to explore state-owned transitional housing. DSH Director Stephanie Clendendon and Liberty representative Ken Carabello defended the program as a court-ordered, highly supervised treatment model intended to reduce reoffending and support reintegration. They said DSH is actively involved in placement review, that Liberty searches countywide under statutory restrictions, and that community feedback and court approval are part of the process. DSH said it has now implemented guidance for housing committee designees, formal program reviews, an outcome tracker, and an analysis of whether to separate some Liberty services into different contracts. DSH continued to oppose transitional housing, arguing it would not solve the core siting and statutory problems and would add cost. Several members remained critical, arguing the program is broken, costly, and unfairly concentrated in certain communities, and some called for major statutory changes or suspension of the program.

Transcript Highlights:

• It continues unsustainable spending levels and provides insufficient funding for Prop. 36.
• hundreds of millions of dollars that we could be spending on the people of Los Angeles.
• How about you spend a day with me in my clinic? Open in Care.
• How about you spend a day with me in my clinic?
• I'm spending my weekends providing health care. One thing that is not going to change.

Summary: The Assembly met on June 4, 2025, first establishing a quorum and then moving through a long budget and concurrence session. After procedural motions, the house took up several budget trailer bills and related measures presented by Assembly Member Gabriel. SB 103, a technical budget cleanup bill addressing the Public School System Stabilization Account, a CDCR shortfall, and Middle Class Scholarship funding, passed 52-16. SB 120 on child care and preschool funding passed 65-1; SB 124 on natural resources and wildfire response passed 69-1; SB 127 on climate change and zero-emission transportation passed 53-17; SB 128 on transportation and DMV/LA Olympics implementation passed 53-17; SB 132 on taxation, veterans, wildfire settlements, film tax credits, and housing passed 64-1; SB 141 on cannabis enforcement and illicit market suppression passed 71-1; and SB 142 extending the Deaf and Disabled Telecommunications Program passed 68-1 on both urgency and the measure. The Assembly also approved a motion to re-refer several bills to committees and later suspended rules to take up Senate-amended bills without reference to file. The chamber then considered AB 102, the main budget bill reflecting the final three-party agreement with the Governor. Supporters said it balanced compassion and fiscal responsibility while preserving housing, health care, child care, education, wildfire resilience, and public safety funding. Opponents criticized it for unsustainable spending, insufficient Prop. 36 funding, and other omissions. After extended debate, the Assembly concurred in the Senate amendments by a 55-16 vote and sent the bill to the Governor. The Assembly then concurred in Senate amendments to AB 116 on health care, AB 118 on human services, AB 121 on TK-12 education, AB 123 on higher education, AB 134 on public safety, AB 136 on courts, AB 137 on general government, and AB 143 on developmental services, with each bill passing on largely party-line or broad bipartisan votes. Debate on AB 116 focused on Medi-Cal, HIV program backfills, pharmacy benefit managers, and health care cuts; opponents objected to funding for undocumented immigrants and to hospice prior authorization. AB 118 drew support for child welfare, CalFresh disaster readiness, and CalWORKs simplification. AB 121 emphasized record K-12 funding and a $1.7 billion block grant. AB 123 extended the Golden State Teacher Grant Program and supported higher education and fire-impacted career technical education. AB 134 updated CDCR and tribal policing provisions, AB 136 streamlined court reporting and funded courthouse facilities, AB 137 made technical budget adjustments and fee changes, and AB 143 made developmental services reforms while preserving the state’s entitlement commitment. The final item shown was AB 470 on telecommunications, which was presented and discussed as a transition away from copper landlines toward fiber and modern networks, with supporters emphasizing public benefits and labor concerns, but the transcript cuts off before a final vote is shown.

Transcript Highlights:

• Film tourism attracts travelers to places they might not otherwise visit and encourages them to spend
• Some projects spend years in post-production.
• I spend a lot of time in here, so yes. HCR113 is really important to El Paso.
• I grew up by the bay and try to spend every weekend somewhere on the bay.
• Department staff spend endless hours engaging stakeholders before, during, and after.

Bills: HB4568, HB5458, HB4543, HB2703, HB3728, HCR113, HCR126

Keywords: film industry, incentives, grants, Texas, moving image, economic development, production companies, content standards, HB 5458, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, TPWD, chronic wasting disease, CWD, cervids, deer, elk, moose, wildlife management, game animals, disease management

Transcript Highlights:

• In order for that therapeutic to make it to market, they'll spend, someone will spend; investors will
• spend.
• You know, for every dollar that's... is spending on prevention, we are avoiding $27 in treatment costs
• I spend a lot of my nights reading about this and digging into it, and I'm looking forward to SECPRD
• We're spending all this money to wash our clothes and water our grass. ...wash our dishes.

Bills: SB623, SB1266, SB1310, SB1373, SB1580, SB1952, SB2032, SB2269, SB2544, SB2653, SB2796

Keywords: pharmacist, vaccine administration, COVID-19, exclusive authority, healthcare, Medicaid, provider enrollment, credentialing, administrative burden, Texas Health and Human Services, senior retirement communities, emergency response, residential safety, contract provisions, health and safety regulations, medical staff privileges, hospital administration, healthcare regulation, Texas Health and Safety Code, consistency in privileges

Transcript Highlights:

• you know, if there are things that are not value added, that we are eliminating those so they can spend
• you know, if there are things that are not value added, that we are eliminating those so they can spend
• you know, if there are things that are not value added, that we are eliminating those so they can spend
• Doctors spend money in the communities where they live.
• Doctors spend money in the communities.

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• And over time, because we do this in a budget-neutral way, when we update annually, we are spending the
• but when we invest in the money to spend but when we invest in the health<01:20:17.199> of<01
• So if we spend $10 million, then another $10 million from the feds will come in, or we're going to spend
• Uh, if we spend $10 million, then another $10 million from the feds will come in, or we're going to spend
• ><01:25:57.920> an<01:25:58.080> additional spending so we would spend an additional spending

Bills: HF1005

Keywords: health insurance, medical assistance, behavioral health, reimbursement rates, primary care services, physician fee schedule, managed care, residential services, 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• that, what the dollar amount is, and what we've been spending on the most of it is for contracting for
• that, what the dollar amount is, and what we've been spending on the most of it is for contracting for
• that, what the dollar amount is, and what we've been spending on the most of it is for contracting for
• <00:35:59.480> time account uh you know and and spend time account uh you know and and spend
• Be very careful that we don't be spending money that we don't have at the department, in my mind.

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Senator Klein, we don't need to spend too much time on the policy here.
• Senator Klein, we don't need to spend Senator Klein, we don't need to spend too<00:04:13.200>
• So, here you'll see savings and then re-spending of $801,000 to follow our budget rules.
• <02:13:39.840> from Um this is the only new spending from Um this is the only new spending
• So, no new spending for the University of Minnesota there.

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Do you want to just spend a couple of moments explaining?
• Do you want to just spend a couple of moments explaining?
• Do you want to just spend a couple of moments explaining?
• Do you want to just spend a couple of moments explaining? Madam Chair, sure.
• a couple of moments want to just spend a couple of moments explaining<00:35:11.560> Madam<00:

Keywords: 1183, house