Transcript Highlights:

• Senate Bill 1170 by Enos of Hidalgo, relating to international cooperation agreements between certain
• Birdwell, proposing a constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to designate subjects for legislation

Summary: The Senate met briefly to receive first-reading referrals of a large number of bills, resolutions, and joint resolutions. The measures covered a wide range of topics, including public education, health care, criminal justice, business regulation, transportation, water and natural resources, local government, taxation, elections, and public information. Many of the filings were by Senators Hughes, Perry, Alvarado, Creighton, Hancock, Parker, Zaffirini, Blanco, and others, and included proposals on school safety, health records and billing, election procedures, water planning, housing and rent issues, energy and environmental regulation, and criminal penalties. The chamber also read several concurrent and joint resolutions, including measures designating state symbols and local honors, a proposed constitutional amendment related to gaming by the Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas, a proposal concerning special-session subjects, and resolutions on fiscal restraints and retirement obligations. No debate, testimony, or substantive action on the merits of the measures occurred in this portion of the transcript; the items were simply read and referred to committees. At the close of the proceedings, the Senate adjourned pursuant to a previously adopted motion and announced it would reconvene at 11 a.m. Tuesday, March 4.

Transcript Highlights:

• inexpedient to legislate. Representative inexpedient to legislate.
• legislative prerogatives. legislative prerogatives.
• inexpedient to legislate. Representative inexpedient to legislate.
• Our job as legislators is not to legislate fear.
• is inexpedient to legislate. is inexpedient to legislate.

Keywords: 1189, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Um, and I recognize it's a legislative prerogative to how we deal with it, but I'm also cognizant of
• or was a suggested legislative or was a suggested legislative<00:27:46.760> change,<00:27:47.760
• And that is why that is the target of this legislation in the RSA and such like that.
• <00:39:44.720> in is the target of this um legislation in is the target of this um legislation
• they're cooperating with paint care. they're cooperating with paint care.

Keywords: 1191, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• So, you know, when we're working on legislation, we want to consider that.
• So with that, So, you know, when we're working on legislation, we want to consider that.
• We are working with our legislative delegation to help restore that funding.
• The ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles recently entered into a cooperative agreement with our local
• We've been looking for legislative champions to carry that forward.

Keywords: 987, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• So there is a legislative oversight committee for this organization, and there's other avenues which
• So there is a legislative oversight committee for this organization, and there's other avenues which
• <01:38:11.040> real We're going to see legislation real We're going to see legislation real
• They made that move and that's why they put what they did in the legislation.
• Part of the did in in the legislation.

Keywords: 1189, house, all

Summary: The commission to study the cost of special education met, confirmed a quorum, introduced members and guests, and approved the minutes from the October 29 meeting. Members noted the commission’s mandate under Senate Bill 57 and emphasized the need to focus on recommendations and findings by July 1, 2026. The chair also distributed additional handouts, including materials related to the Education Freedom Account (EFA) program and administrative rules tied to differentiated aid and disability determinations. The main discussion centered on how students qualify for differentiated aid under the EFA program. Matt Sutherton of the Children’s Scholarship Fund explained that the organization, which contracts with the state to administer EFAs, accepts either school-district/IEP documentation or a medical certification of disability (MCD) from a licensed medical professional. Members questioned how this process relates to the state’s special education rules and whether the school-district examiner standards in ED 107/1107.04 apply to EFAs. Sutherton said the MCD form, created with the department, requires the medical professional to sign that they are qualified to make the determination and to identify the disability. Several members expressed concern that the EFA process is less rigorous than the school-district IEP process and may be inflating disability counts. One member argued that the administrative rules cited are primarily for school districts, not EFAs, and said the Department of Education may not know how many of the roughly 890 EFA students receiving differentiated aid came through school-district documentation versus the MCD pathway. Another member said the EFA system appears more generous than the school system and raised concerns about oversight, auditing, and whether the program’s data are accurate. Sutherton said the organization reviews signed documentation, credentials, and diagnosis information, and may request additional records to help adjudicate expenses. No votes or formal actions were taken beyond approving the prior minutes.

Transcript Highlights:

• Last year, through legislative support for additional staff, Human Resources, in cooperation with the
• However, these positions were not legislatively authorized.
• committee and the rest of the legislator committee and the rest of the legislator saw<02:43:57.880
• <03:36:45.359> um already funded legislative um already funded legislative um project<03:36
• the top that immunization Cooperative the top that immunization Cooperative agreement<04:17:09.000

Keywords: 910, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Members of this committee may need to step away for other legislative duties, including presenting bills
• I greatly appreciate the cooperation.
• These are created with legislative authority to allow local jurisdictions to tailor the use of these
• It's been around, should there be any legislation, and if so, who should govern it?
• So during my first legislative session, I expanded the program to state employees.

Bills: HB334, HB583, HB605, HB1327, HB1646, HB2115, HB2379

Keywords: family leave, leave pool, county employee, sick leave, vacation leave, family care, pandemic, guardianship, fencing, reservoirs, local government, regulation, land use, conservation capacity, property regulation, fence regulation, reservoir safety, county authority, fencing regulations, counties

Transcript Highlights:

• So we seek to do our best and we pray for successful legislation in this house which upholds justice,
• character and integrity. who truly have the lives of their constituents in mind as they determine legislation
• other because that's who he was, a person who cared for people, a person who strived to make this legislator
• You know, as we look at this legislative session and we think about the work that we have to get done
• I know today many of the members and affiliates will be visiting offices to promote their legislative

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• This legislation is a starting point to ensure that waters across our state remain pure enough to support
• This<00:03:32.640> legislation<00:03:33.360> is<00:03:33.480> a<00:03:33.560>
• starting<00:03:34.000> point<00:03:34.360> to This legislation is a starting point
• to This legislation is a starting point to ensure<00:03:34.880> that<00:03:35.160> waters<
• We do not um currently, I believe White Earth has a cooperative agreement with the EPA, and they have

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• bills are FASTT tracked to legislative bills are FASTT tracked to appropriate<01:01:13.240> funds
• <01:01:59.599> should departments Industries legisl should departments Industries legisl should
• There are currently no octopus farms in Hawaiʻi, thus this legislation would have no financial impact
• There are currently no octopus farms in Hawaiʻi, thus this legislation would have no financial impact
• <01:39:11.880> studies of Hawaii Pacific Cooperative studies of Hawaii Pacific Cooperative

Keywords: 910, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• The Administrative Rules Subcommittee of the Arkansas Legislative Council will come to order.
• In addition to that change, In the section where we cover the reasons for good cause for not cooperating
• One of them came from a legislator, and I talked with them, and we found out what the problem was.
• We're just, I mean, they're all 2023 legislation, and we're just sitting over here discussing why we've

Summary: The Administrative Rules Subcommittee reviewed several agency rules and most were approved without objection. The Department of Agriculture repealed rules tied to the now-repealed Arkansas Catfish Processors Fair Practice Act. The Department of Human Services updated Medicaid policy to clarify child support enforcement treatment for pregnant women, remove the word “forcible” from rape/incest good-cause language, and eliminate a 90-day waiting period for ARKids B after loss of group coverage; members highlighted the significance of the language change and asked for a quick-reference eligibility chart. DHS Medical Services also received approval for a CMS cell and gene therapy model rule for sickle cell drugs and a technical Medicaid-assisted medication-assisted treatment update that was described as cost-neutral and non-substantive. The Department of Labor and Licensing presented several rules implementing recent acts and internal cleanup changes. These included procedures for local construction plan disputes under Act 591, Contractors Licensing Board amendments raising the restricted commercial license threshold from $750,000 to $1.5 million and allowing deferral of owner-complaint investigations during civil litigation, and a similar residential contractors change. The HVACR Licensing Board presented broader revisions under Act 746, including grammar and cleanup changes, elimination of the Class C license with transfer of existing holders to Class B, expansion of allowable work limits, a change to continuing education from four hours annually to eight hours per three-year code cycle, and clarification on training, child labor, and licensing issues. Several members questioned the practical impact of the HVAC changes, but the rule was approved. The committee also granted the Department of Inspector General’s request for exclusion from rulemaking reporting under Act 473, concluding that no rule was necessary because the act already defines the key terms and review process for foreign-adversary cultural exchange agreements. In addition, the Arkansas State Library’s report recommending continuation of its existing rules was accepted. During the status updates on outstanding 2023-session rulemaking, Education explained delays were due to overlapping 2025 amendments and the large volume of rules, while members expressed concern about the length of time since enactment; staff noted only a small number of 2023 rules remain outstanding. The meeting ended after written 2025-session updates were received with no further questions.

Transcript Highlights:

• We're in a brand new legislative session, and we bring bills back that were once amendments, bringing
• I guess my main question is just, do we have any idea how many bills this might be in a legislative session
• So this change would allow the nonprofit organization contracted by a school district, a cooperative
• Sure, for the record, I'm Dan Kitzberger, the legislative director of Minnesota Housing, and I just wanted

Transcript Highlights:

• We are really working, of course, with legislators because we know there's so much to be done.
• We hope to be taking action, but it's not a legislative issue, though.
• If things don't go well, we may have a legislative issue in the future, but for now, it's not.
• Ensure meaningful consultation and cooperation—collaboration, not just notification.
• With Indian Resource Development from New Mexico State and the Cooperative Extension.

Transcript Highlights:

• Do you need legislation to do that?
• to do that I think the need legislation to do that I think the legislation<00:59:01.760> is<00
• We’ve been working with legislators.
• <01:09:19.040> we we've been working with legislators we we've been working with legislators
• <01:35:35.320> would isn't perfect this legislation would isn't perfect this legislation would

Keywords: 910, house, all

Summary: The committee first took up SB 1494 on hearing aids. Testimony was generally supportive of expanding hearing-aid coverage, with the Insurance Division raising concern about possible federal defrayment issues, SHPDA supporting the goal of hearing augmentation, DCAB strongly supporting the bill as an important access issue, and health plans and insurers asking for amendments. Kaiser Permanente and the Hawaii Association of Health Plans requested changes to add a medical-necessity standard and clarify annual notice language, while HMSA suggested the proposal should be studied by the auditor. The chair noted concerns about federal preemption and the lack of an audit, and deferred the bill in favor of a related resolution calling for a study. The committee then heard SB 1448, an emergency appropriation for the Hawaii State Hospital. DAGS and the Department of Health supported the measure, with the hospital administrator saying the funding would improve the environment of care, support cleaning, and allow a third-party review of the building. Committee members questioned the size of the request and the status of litigation against the design-builder. Administration witnesses said they were pursuing a comprehensive study involving destructive testing, had made a demand on the design-builder to fund the study, and were using different processes than before. They also said the roof work would be handled through a separate CIP request. No final action was taken in the portion provided. The committee next heard SB 1432, relating to the future responsibilities of the Department of Health and land issues at Kalaupapa after the last patient dies. DOH supported the bill in part but said its long-term role would be limited mainly to environmental cleanup, with operations expected to continue under the National Park Service and land-use decisions left to DHHL and beneficiary consultation. DHHL asked that the measure reflect that any land-use or zoning changes on homeland lands require commission approval and beneficiary consultation. Testifiers from Kalaupapa and Maui County, including Degra Vanderbilt-Papa and Council Member Keani Rollins-Fernandez, supported deferring the bill, saying there had been no meaningful community discussion about provisions affecting Kalaupapa’s future management and possible transfer of responsibilities to Maui County. The committee also read into the record written testimony from Gloria Marks emphasizing that Kalaupapa stakeholders must be included in future discussions. Finally, the committee heard SB 955 on fitness-to-proceed examinations. The Judiciary and the Public Defender’s Office both supported raising pay and standardizing expectations for private examiners, but opposed reducing felony fitness evaluations from three examiners to one and opposed expanding use of expedited reports. They argued that a single examiner would reduce reliability, create a more adversarial process, and likely increase costs and contested hearings, while expedited reports do not contain enough information for a proper fitness determination. The Department of Health also supported the bill’s intent but asked to preserve a three-examiner framework and said the goal was to reduce the number of people sent to the State Hospital, where admissions have reportedly risen about 20% year over year since Act 26. The bill remained under discussion in the excerpt, with no final vote shown.

Transcript Highlights:

• clarifies the language from the governor's recommendation on online instruction sites at joint power cooperatives
• ><00:05:08.600> power instruction sites at joint power instruction sites at joint power cooperatives
• cooperatives and intermediate districts. cooperatives and intermediate districts.

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• see a need to change that legislation. see a need to change that legislation.
• which I've passed out here legislation which I've passed out here uh<00:36:02.400> under<00:36
• And it is trying to make this a cooperative venture because most of the charitable things benefit the
• > because<01:01:19.280> most<01:01:19.520> of a cooperative venture because most
• of a cooperative venture because most of the<01:01:19.920> charitable<01:01:20.559> things

Keywords: 1191, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• very cooperatively. Senator Duckworth. very cooperatively. Senator Duckworth.
• I'm on the work group with the tribes in looking at this legislation.
• <00:52:00.520> But uh in looking at this legislation.
• But uh in looking at this legislation.
• <01:44:29.920> Council, Joint Religious Legislative Council, Joint Religious Legislative Council

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Thank you for your cooperation and participation in the legislative process. hearing room.
• > in<00:02:49.360> the cooperation and participation in the cooperation and participation
• legislative process. legislative process.
• legislator, I was on the local chamber. legislator, I was on the local chamber.
• <01:37:41.280> goes look at um my mind as legislator goes look at um my mind as legislator

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• It is extremely important that we have the full attention and cooperation of the House.
• It is extremely important that we have the full attention and cooperation of the House as we continue

Summary: The House convened with prayer, recognized guests, and adopted consent-calendar resolutions before taking up House Resolution 1052 regarding Arkansas Girls State. Rep. Vaught explained that about 150 eligible girls were denied registration because a counselor missed the deadline, and said the House would instead host an “elite Girls State” program for them this summer. He then moved to withdraw the resolution, and the withdrawal was accepted. The chamber also presented a citation to Pastor Richard Hamlin for his service during the session. The House then considered several Senate appropriation bills. Senate Bills 3, 4, 7, 15, 21, and 31 all passed with broad support and emergency clauses. Senate Bill 77, an unfunded appropriation related to Arkansas Television Network/PBS matching funds, drew extended debate. Supporters said it would encourage private donations and could help with programming and infrastructure, while opponents argued the department had not requested the money and that the House should not force additional funding. The bill failed on the first vote, was brought back for a second vote after questions about the rules and the nature of the appropriation, and failed again. After the fiscal session business concluded, Rep. Meeks moved to adjourn sine die, and the House agreed. The House caucus then met to elect the Speaker-designate for the 96th General Assembly. The chamber suspended the formal election process by voice vote and unanimously elected Speaker Brian S. Evans as Speaker-designate. Evans thanked members, reflected on the 95th General Assembly, and pledged continued leadership and accountability.

Transcript Highlights:

• It is extremely important that we have the full attention and cooperation of the House.
• It is extremely important that we have the full attention and cooperation of the House as we continue

Keywords: 1204, all