Transcript Highlights:

• and things related to driver search fees because of that timing issue.
• I’ve got a question on page six about the natural gas severance special fee. I get special fees.
• Are there any increases in our operational costs by doing this on an annual basis?
• It's inefficient the way it's operated today. It's ineffective the way it's operated today as well.
• “Our fiscal operation was centralized. They used to do their own fiscal operation; DSB did.

Summary: The meeting began with a prayer, approval of the prior minutes, and a February 2026 revenue report from Carlos Silva of the Bureau of Legislative Research. He reported gross revenues of $5.36 billion and net collections of $4.5 billion, both above the prior year, and said the updated forecast showed a larger expected surplus than before. Members asked about declines in some tax categories, natural gas severance fees, and possible effects of inflation and international conflict; Silva generally attributed the changes to timing issues, prior tax cuts, refund activity, and price fluctuations, and said he could not speculate on future impacts. The committee then heard and adopted several subcommittee reports, including the Executive Committee, Administrative Rules, Claims Review, Game and Fish State Police, Higher Education, Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, Hospital/Medicaid/Developmental Disabilities, Occupational Licensing Review, State Insurance Programs Oversight, and APER filings. Most reports were approved without objection. One budget classification transfer for the Commissioner of State Lands was reviewed and failed. The review report also led to discussion of several contracts, including DHS staffing contracts and a Department of Education security contract, with some items held or separated for individual votes. A major portion of the meeting focused on DHS and state staffing contracts for the Human Development Centers, Arkansas State Hospital, and related facilities. DHS officials said the contracts were on track against seven-year projections, but members expressed concern about heavy reliance on contract labor, vacancy rates, and the need to move workers onto state payrolls. Officials said they were preparing a recruitment and retention plan and described staffing levels, vacancies, and turnover. Members also questioned contract projections and federal-state funding matches, and several urged faster action to reduce contract labor costs. The committee also discussed a Department of Commerce reduction-in-force affecting the Division of Services for the Blind and Employment and Training. Secretary Hugh McDonald said the cuts were driven by funding shortfalls, over-obligation of funds, and federal issues, and that 27 positions would be permanently eliminated while furloughed employees would be recalled. Members raised concerns about service impacts, board appointments, and the division’s fiscal management. The meeting ended after the personnel report was adopted and APER was filed as reviewed, followed by adjournment.

Transcript Highlights:

• What they presented was pretty heavy on what their operations were for the sheriff's office with very
• It was jail heavy versus 911 operations.
• I'll make a motion to approve the land area, population, and fees.
• Let's see, Amy has done hers, and now We are on the operations committee, as Stacy mentioned.
• Any questions or comments for the operations committee?

Keywords: 914, all

Transcript Highlights:

• To support what their operations are, I have a couple of other questions, Mr. Chairman.
• The PPL fee, Petroleum Delivery Fee, something like that.
• Good morning, John Romero, Highway Operations Division Director. Thank you, everyone.
• My name is Rick Padilla, and I'm the Executive Director for Highway Operations for the Office of the
• The last project would improve safety, traffic operations, and bridge condition.

Transcript Highlights:

• Welcome back to the Adventures in Government Operations with your committee here.
• Welcome back to the Committee on Government Operations.
• Welcome back to the Committee on Government Operations.
• All right, welcome back to the Committee on Government Operations.
• funds from positions to operating funds from positions to operating expenses<00:39:49.200> except

Keywords: 912, senate, all

Summary: The committee met on February 4, 2025, for decision making on previously heard measures, then later held hearings on additional bills. Early action focused on several measures that were amended and advanced, including SB 161 on state project exemptions from county permitting, which was heavily revised to allow programmatic or project-specific agreements with counties, require public reporting of exempted projects, and create a working group to study broader permitting and construction coordination issues. The committee also advanced SB 635 on energy efficiency with changes shifting survey leadership to the Hawaii State Energy Office, SB 700 on resilience hubs after narrowing it to focus on emergency-service-capable hubs and removing distributed energy language, SB 869 on community outreach boards with a technical amendment, SB 1081 on a legislative budget office by converting it to a feasibility study, SB 711 on gubernatorial appointments with a salary threshold change, SB 405 on neighborhood board agendas with a committee-report note about OIP concerns, SB 381 with privacy issues deferred to Judiciary, SB 2 as a two-year pilot for fruit tree planting in selected districts, SB 239 on disaster preparedness with sheltering revisions, and SB 998 as introduced with a cost estimate for site selection work. Several measures were deferred or not advanced, including SB 615, which was deferred indefinitely, SB 1132, which the chair said would be set aside in favor of another childcare bill, and SB 111, which was not taken up further because of confusion during an earlier hearing. During the later hearing portion, SB 1175 on procurement drew testimony from the State Procurement Office, which supported the bill but corrected its estimated database revision cost from $7,500 to $30,000; the Department of Transportation also appeared, while the General Contractors Association submitted opposition. Committee members questioned whether the past-performance database should include more detailed quality information and whether a one-year post-completion review would be useful, but no amendment was adopted at that time. SB 1587 on retainage received written support from the Subcontractors Association of Hawaii and no opposition in the room. SB 1543 on government accountability, which would require justification for outside consultants and cap consultant spending, drew opposition from the American Council of Engineering Companies of Hawaii, which argued it could slow procurement, reduce flexibility, and worsen delays given existing vacancies and limited in-house expertise. The Public First Law Center supported the related transparency bill discussed in the hearing, arguing it would close a loophole by making contractor-created records used in government functions subject to disclosure under UIPA, while the Attorney General’s office opposed it. The transcript ends with that testimony still underway, and no final vote is shown for the later hearing bills.

Transcript Highlights:

• and are certified by the operate and are certified by the department<00:24:31.080> every<00:24
• However, if the parent wins, tax should pay the attorney fees and what have you.
• and what have you but look at it fees and what have you but look at it from<00:42:21.040> way
• Yeah, so the attorney recouping attorney fees, I disagree with that. I understand your argument.
• I don't agree with the recouping of attorney fees on one side.

Keywords: 1191, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• It allows child care operators and at-home child care facilities to provide assistance or to provide
• So that essentially, there are no additional fees for operating a child care facility.
• On page two, line one, strike "the service" and insert in lieu thereof "such operation."
• small hospital that has a private equity partnership that just charges a flat monthly fee.
• That is how the Commission operates with their staff.

Bills: HB303, SB96, HM6

Keywords: public utility, certificate of public convenience and necessity, certificate of need, Public Regulation Commission, PRC, utility regulation, ratemaking, energy storage, battery storage, grid reliability, renewable energy, transmission, distribution, generation plant, utility expansion, service territory, mutual domestic water consumer association, economic development department, clean energy, fossil fuel reduction

Transcript Highlights:

• So you're still in operation? We are still operating today, and we would prefer to be operating.
• Lottery courier services currently operate in at least... ...17 states, and jackpot.com operates in all
• Jackpocket has operated legally. compliantly in Texas since 2019.
• Line and Class A misdemeanor to operate a courier service.
• Lottery couriers have never been authorized to operate in the state.

Bills: SB650, HB3667, SB28, HB3201, SB1184, HB1800, SB 28

Keywords: permit issuance, regulatory framework, business operations, efficiency, application process, lottery, gambling, internet gaming, mobile application, criminal offenses, lottery regulations, occupational licensing, fraud prevention, criminal background checks, lottery couriers, SB 1184, Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code, wine collection seller, collectible wine, vintage wine

Transcript Highlights:

• And that means that the result of their finances really operates at that level. Okay.
• But they have to hold a certain amount to be a CCO and operate in our program.
• And in addition, there is now a 90-day notice on any fee-for-service rate changes.
• So CCOs are aware in advance of what's coming down the pike for fee for service.
• Their fee schedule is fairly not as varied as in physical health.

Keywords: 907, all

Summary: The committee held an informational hearing focused first on Oregon Medicaid coordinated care organization (CCO) finances and rate setting. Oregon Health Authority staff explained how 2025 CCO financial results will inform 2027 capitation rates, including reserve requirements, subcapitation arrangements, and major cost drivers such as behavioral health, pharmacy, rural hospital costs, and dental directed payments. They said the Legislature’s added 2025 funding materially improved CCO margins and that, without it, the program would have been negative overall. Members asked about retained earnings, subcapitation, behavioral health utilization, ABA therapy, and whether outcomes are being evaluated; OHA said rate setting is actuarial and that CCOs, OHA, and other partners all play roles in monitoring efficacy and access. OHA also reviewed House Bill 4039 changes intended to increase transparency and give CCOs earlier access to rate information and reconciliation exhibits. CCO representatives then testified that the system is under significant financial pressure and that behavioral health state-directed payments, benefit changes, and federal uncertainty from H.R. 1 are reducing flexibility. CareOregon said it has lost more than $500 million over the last couple of years and is now making provider terminations and other network changes to align spending with available funding, while emphasizing that CCOs must make hard decisions about which services and providers can be sustained. Eastern Oregon CCO said rural and frontier factors, cost-based hospitals, air ambulance needs, and statewide efficiency adjustments are not fully reflected in rates, and that dental funding is especially strained. Trillium similarly warned that state-directed payments and benefit expansion pressures are constraining the global budget model and that H.R. 1 could worsen acuity and volatility. Members pressed the witnesses on who is responsible for evaluating treatment effectiveness, especially for ABA and psychotherapy, and on how utilization limits and reimbursement changes are being used to control costs. The committee then shifted to an overview of the Affordable Care Act and Oregon’s commercial insurance market. Department of Consumer and Business Services staff explained actuarial value, metal tiers, premium tax credits, medical loss ratio rules, and the main drivers of premium rates: cost trend, utilization trend, and administrative costs. They said mandates have likely added only a limited amount to premiums over the past decade, though the exact effect is difficult to isolate, and they gave examples of how high-cost, low-volume services versus broad, high-utilization services can affect rates differently. Staff also noted that Providence Health Plan and PacificSource Health Plans are withdrawing from the individual market, though consumers should still have at least three insurer options in every county and may have four in many counties. The division said it is in the middle of reviewing proposed 2027 rates and will continue its public rate review process, including hearings and written comment.

Transcript Highlights:

• There's a registration fee that's paid for each unit to the state.
• The fee has to be paid regardless.
• We're simply stabilizing that fee at $17.
• We're simply stabilizing that fee bill. We're simply stabilizing that fee at<01:04:23.839> $17.
• from serving as a coroner that operates from serving as a coroner that operates in<01:19:12.960>

Keywords: 981, all

Transcript Highlights:

• I would also like to address the tuition and fee cap in this bill.
• Also, some history on the tuition and fee cap.
• Uh, were we to simply put a very small fee, uh, not tax, excuse me, uh, require a very small fee for
• You said tax and then changed it to fee, but it's a tax.
• It is actually a fee because it's optional.

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• <00:31:31.039> Enduring overseas during Operation Enduring overseas during Operation Enduring
• We are going to operate this right.
• >> pesticide registration fee increase. >> pesticide registration fee increase.
• It is a fee. It's not a tax. Wyoming. It is a fee. It's not a tax.
• Currently, Wyoming's fee is real cost. Currently, Wyoming's fee is $140. $140. $140.

Keywords: 916, all

Transcript Highlights:

• insurance insurers operate. insurance insurers operate.
• and then also the project manager charging a fee and then the public adjuster charging a fee, and all
• project manager charging a fee also the project manager charging a fee and<01:29:01.600> then
• on housing development and operations on housing development and operations and<01:32:00.560>
• and continue to insurers want to operate and continue to operate<01:38:46.639> uh<01:38:46.800

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• Senate Bill 1935 relates to the composition and operation of a Property Owners Association Board.
• These boards can operate with minimal oversight and little community engagement.
• Vice President for Operations.
• There are certain fixed costs that go with these developments: attorney fees, architectural fees, engineering
• fees, sewer taps, and water lines.

Bills: SB434, SB844, SB898, SB1177, SB1214, SB1454, SB1920, SB1927, SB1935, SB1965, SB2010, SB2046, SB2068, SB2073, SB2183, SB2260, SB3034, SB907

Keywords: SB 434, Harris County Hospital District, hospital district police, peace officers, commissioned officers, law enforcement authority, Health and Safety Code, Code of Criminal Procedure, public safety, hospital security, county hospital district, local government, Texas criminal procedure, district police, armed security, SB 898, low income housing tax credits, LIHTC, affordable housing, Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs

Transcript Highlights:

• <00:05:36.160> funds general fund General operational funds general fund General operational
• Just one question: you folks collect admin fees and you collect penalties and fees.
• some operational stuff.
• <01:01:27.880> and the council and how it operates and the council and how it operates and
• You're operating at the level.

Keywords: 912, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• that fee, or you are increasing that fee, from $20,000 to $40,000?
• I am a bus operator in Miami-Dade County Transit.
• I am a bus operator in Miami-Dade County Transit.
• I am a school bus operator, and I'm also a transit bus operator.
• Sometimes as a bus driver, as a bus operator, they are the first responder.

Summary: The committee took up several bills and confirmations. It reported favorably SB 332, as amended, on a narrow public-meetings/public-records exemption for legal strategy and settlement communications during the pre-suit period in Burt Harris claims; SB 464, requiring K-12 schools to formally observe Veterans Day; SB 984, clarifying firefighter cancer/death-benefit provisions and related prevention language; SB 576, expanding and codifying the local government cybersecurity protection program under Florida Digital Service; SB 964, revising how certain gifts and honoraria are reported to the Commission on Ethics; SB 1612, requiring local governments to accept electronic payments with exceptions and a delayed effective date; SB 830, creating public-records exemptions for certain local government administrators and their families; SB 1096, clarifying the filing deadline for Florida Civil Rights Act complaints; and SB 1656, designating the SS American Victory as Florida’s official state flagship. The committee also considered a large confirmation package. Jeffrey Aaron’s appointment to the Public Employees Relations Commission was discussed separately after Senator Polsky raised concerns about his political connections and prior work; the committee still recommended him favorably. The remaining appointees on tabs 12 through 30 were also recommended favorably in one vote. The longest and most contentious item was SB 1296, with a committee substitute, on the Public Employees Relations Commission and public-sector unions. The PCS would change union certification/recertification rules, require a recent showing-of-interest form, create different voting thresholds for public safety and non-public safety employee organizations, limit paid union leave for non-public safety unions unless reimbursed, require equal access to certain employer communication spaces, and speed up impasse procedures for legislatively funded salary increases. Senators raised constitutional concerns, especially about the single-subject rule and collective-bargaining rights, and many speakers opposed the bill as union-busting and harmful to teachers, bus drivers, nurses, utility workers, and other public employees. Supporters argued it would improve accountability, ensure genuine member support, and prevent taxpayer-funded union activity. The committee continued debate on SB 1296 after extensive testimony, but the transcript ends before a final vote on that bill.

Transcript Highlights:

• be published on the local government's fee schedule.
• The nonprofit is operating it? I'm sorry, I apologize.
• The fee owner may use a private provider.
• And your answer to that question was, this is not an operation.
• And your answer to that question was, this is not an operation.

Summary: The committee first confirmed six appointees in a single vote, then took up a series of bills, most of them reported favorably. The early debate centered on SB 208, a land-use bill by Sen. McLean that would require development fees to reflect review costs and create more objective compatibility standards for residential development denials. An amendment adding housing-related provisions, including an OPAGA study of urban development boundaries, drew extended discussion over the Everglades and local control; it was adopted, while a late-filed amendment on rural boundaries was withdrawn. The bill was then reported favorably after supporters and opponents, including Miami-Dade and housing groups, weighed in. The committee also favorably reported SB 686 on agricultural enclaves after amendments adding conservation, wildlife corridor, and Everglades-related protections, with one amendment specifically preserving stronger protections in counties covered by the Northern Everglades/Indian River Lagoon plan. Several criminal justice and public records measures also advanced. SB 436 would add resisting an officer with violence as a qualifying prior offense for battery enhancement and include certain felony battery offenses in prison release reoffender status. SB 830 would extend public-records protections to county and city administrators and related family information. SB 990 would authorize protected cell captive insurers in Florida. SB 600, on bail bonds, drew the most debate: an amendment by Sen. Rouson preserved the current treatment of charitable bail organizations’ deposits, with supporters arguing nonprofits help low-income defendants and critics saying the bill should distinguish commercial and nonprofit bonding; the amendment was adopted and the bill reported favorably. SB 914 on dry needling and SB 1434 on infill redevelopment also passed, the latter with an amendment removing a 10% markup requirement for buyback provisions. The committee then moved through a large education and health agenda. SB 1504 would let high school students who complete an insurance/personal finance elective qualify later for a customer service representative license. SB 1718 would expand educator preparation and temporary certification options. SB 7038 was a broad education package covering tuition waivers for Florida State Guard members, residency rules, consumer protections, dual enrollment, grading, and college funding; amendments clarified workforce licensure and exempted certain dental training from new licensure rules. SB 1092 on podiatric medicine added definitions and restrictions for cellular/tissue-based products. SB 1138 on qualified contractors created a pre-application review program for certain local governments, with historic-preservation carveouts. SB 186 on student health and safety required seizure-training and action plans in schools, and SB 560 on child welfare streamlined psychotropic-medication procedures for children in state care while adding youth advisory meetings and insurance-data review. SB 902, a broad Department of Health bill, addressed medical marijuana facility setbacks, practitioner discipline, autism microcredentials, marriage and family therapy licensure, a neurofibromatosis grant program, and family home health aide delegation; it passed after two amendments. Finally, SB 218 on land-use regulations limited hurricane-recovery restrictions to affected counties, SB 1002 expanded child-neglect definitions tied to parental drug abuse, SB 1474 tightened biosolids land-application rules, SB 1708 eased out-of-state veterinary licensure by endorsement, and SB 314 established a Florida regulatory framework for payment stablecoins aligned with federal law. Most measures were reported favorably by committee vote after brief testimony or no debate.

Transcript Highlights:

• I mean, if I'm a pharmacist today, can I begin to operate under this bill once it's passed?
• Third, If its operating reserve balance exceeds 10% of its annual revenue.
• And the 2% really is an operating expense. It doesn’t go to capital improvements. Yes. Okay.
• That was a bill eliminating what we reference as a junk fee, the fee for what we call loss of use.
• I think it puts people at risk of having to pay these fees when they...

Keywords: 1064, all

Transcript Highlights:

• a user fee.
• the consumer, making it a user fee. the consumer, making it a user fee.
• It is not a fee on every can that is simply recycled.
• It is not a it is not a fee purchased.
• for the rainy day fund or our operating for the rainy day fund or our operating class<01:54:53.840

Keywords: 1191, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• He continued to serve our country throughout his career, working in cyber operations at the Department
• pilot killed in 1993 in operations pilot killed in 1993 in Somalia.
• And that cost doubles when the veteran has to pay interest on that fee increase.
• Fees had much less of an impact on veterans' ability to lower their housing costs.
• Coming from a party that says they're against fee and tax increases, this is pretty shocking.

Keywords: U.S. House of Representatives Floor Proceedings on Thursday, May 21, 2026, 1012, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• by Xcel Energy, our largest operated by Xcel Energy, our largest utility,<00:10:05.640> and<00
• into their payment over time so they can finance the closing costs and lender fees.
• into<00:18:01.480> their<00:18:01.640> payment<00:18:02.080> over certain fees
• into their payment over certain fees into their payment over time<00:18:03.080> so<00:18:03.160
• And so, it's just costs and lender fees.

Keywords: 918, senate, all

Summary: The program focused first on Minnesota’s energy and affordability agenda, with Senator Nick Frentz discussing the state’s clean-energy leadership, rising electricity demand, and the Senate’s 100% clean energy framework. He said Minnesota’s clean energy growth supports jobs, lowers costs for ratepayers, and includes recent wins such as sustainable aviation fuel tax treatment in the supplemental budget. Frentz also said the Senate passed an energy omnibus bill that continues clean-energy permitting reforms, promotes conservation and demand response, and includes a nuclear study rather than lifting the nuclear moratorium. Frentz spent much of the interview defending data centers as both a challenge and an opportunity. He said large hyperscale projects can create major construction jobs and substantial local property-tax revenue, while a 2025 law requires data-center companies to contribute to low-income energy assistance and report water use. He pointed to the Google data center planned for Pine Island as an example, saying it is air-cooled, will pay $5 million a year, and will fund 1,600 MW of clean energy at its own expense, which he argued could save Xcel ratepayers money over time. He also said climate change is already driving higher costs through homeowners insurance and storm damage. The second segment highlighted Senator Zach Duckworth’s housing and banking bills. Duckworth said Senate File 4168 would make it easier to finance investment properties by giving buyers more flexibility to roll closing costs and lender fees into payments, while keeping strong protections in place for primary residences. He emphasized that the bill is not about predatory lending and is intended to expand options for informed investors. He also described Senate File 4652 as an anti-fraud, no-cost measure that lets bank customers name a trusted contact so banks can alert someone if suspicious activity is detected. Duckworth said both bills passed unanimously in both chambers, and he credited quick action and good working relationships across the aisle for their success. The program closed with a broader reflection on the end of session and the Senate’s political climate. It noted that 15 senators are retiring and two are leaving for higher office, and that final floor votes often split along party lines, including one bill passing 34-33. Several retiring senators used farewell speeches to urge civility, compromise, and putting people first, while the segment emphasized that despite partisan conflict, quiet bipartisan cooperation still produced much of the session’s enacted legislation.