Transcript Highlights:

• Eisenberg, who has the experience with national security and foreign relations law necessary to serve
• Kent, you have been nominated to lead the agency most central to our fight against foreign terrorists
• Specifically, you and I talked about FISA 702, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act 702.
• But we have, as you may know, the Fight China Act, the Foreign Investment Guardrails.
• Influence Task Force, and it's also stopped U.S. enforcement of the Foreign...

Keywords: national security, intelligence community, Aaron Lucas, Joe Kent, John Eisenberg, China threat, terrorism, collaboration, oversight, intelligence capabilities

Summary: The committee meeting centered around significant discussions regarding national security and intelligence community leadership. Notably, nominees Aaron Lucas for Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence, Joe Kent for Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, and John Eisenberg for Assistant Attorney General for National Security were introduced. Concerns were raised about the current state of U.S. intelligence capabilities, particularly in relation to threats posed by foreign adversaries such as China and ongoing risks from terrorism. The dialogue emphasized the necessity for robust oversight and the importance of collaboration within the intelligence community, as well as with international allies, to ensure effective security measures are in place.

Transcript Highlights:

• Members, the Foreign Service pension system is a federal pension system for retired Foreign Service officers
• Members, the Foreign Service pension system is a federal pension system for retired Foreign Service officers
• Members, the Foreign Service pension system is a federal pension system for retired Foreign Service officers
• Members, the Foreign Service pension system is a federal pension system for retired Foreign Service officers
• Members, the Foreign Service pension system is a federal pension system for retired Foreign Service officers

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Summary: The committee first approved the prior day’s minutes, then heard Senate File 255, which would exempt American Legion and VFW buildings from property tax. The bill’s author and the American Legion Department of Minnesota testified that many posts are struggling financially, that the tax burden can threaten building ownership, and that the posts provide important community services such as charitable gambling support, youth sports, food insecurity assistance, suicide prevention training, and meeting space for veterans and local residents. Several members voiced support, and the bill was laid over for possible inclusion. The committee then took up Senate File 30, a proposal to allow Minnesota estate tax portability for married couples, so a deceased spouse’s unused $3 million exclusion could transfer to the surviving spouse, similar to federal law. The author said Minnesota is an outlier compared with other estate-tax states and that the bill would simplify planning and reduce tax burdens, especially for family farms and other illiquid assets. A CPA and a Minnesota Farm Bureau representative testified that the order of death should not determine tax liability and that portability would help keep family farms intact. The bill was laid over for possible inclusion. Next, the committee adopted an A1 amendment to Senate File 211 and heard the bill, which would create a Minnesota subtraction for Foreign Service pension income, treating it more like military pension income. The author said the change would cover a small number of retirees and would have a minimal fiscal impact, while the testifier described Foreign Service work and said the benefit would recognize their service. The bill, as amended, was laid over for possible inclusion. Finally, the committee heard Senate File 132, which would revise property tax language related to electric power systems by replacing references to attachments and impertinences with broader system-based language. The author said the bill would clarify tax treatment for power co-ops, restore the original intent of the law, and provide stability for Greater Minnesota, with an estimated property tax shift of a little over $700,000. Testimony was beginning when the transcript ended, and no vote on the bill was recorded in the excerpt.

Transcript Highlights:

• This also makes facilities targets for bad actors and foreign adversaries looking to disrupt essential
• Having the public disclosure of energy and water use puts a target on data centers' backs for foreign
• The approval of the VPP and Excel's resource plan is a good first step. step towards increasing deployment
• On supporting the deployment of 100 gigawatts of renewable energy and electric transmission on the grid

Bills: HF2928, HF2912, HF2297

Keywords: water appropriation, data centers, environmental review, energy conservation, permit application, carbon-free energy, geothermal energy, renewable energy, Macalester College, appropriation, sustainability, solar energy, pollinator programs, license plates, agrivoltaics, environmental sustainability

Transcript Highlights:

• We do need to recognize other groups of people that have helped our veterans in foreign theaters, and
• We do need to recognize other groups of people that have helped our veterans in foreign theaters, and
• <00:40:46.560> uh our our veterans uh in foreign uh our our veterans uh in foreign uh theaters
• Um, it ended up being a<00:42:24.800> very<00:42:25.119> tough<00:42:25.440> deployment
• where 25 of my a very tough deployment where 25 of my brothers<00:42:27.440> ended<00:42:27.680

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• And then the last thing I wanted to highlight was our foreign credential crosswalk program.
• So, this is really a benefit to both employers and foreign-trained individuals.
• There are services that will crosswalk your foreign degree with the skillset that an employer in the
• SB 170, this is the utility pre-deployment bill.
• She also has a full slate of new staff to support the effective deployment of these funds, that those

Transcript Highlights:

• A lot of times, these are foreign actors that aren't from Russia or other nations.

Bills: SB1936, SB1612, SB1543, SB1260, SB1988, SB1859, SB2041, SB1257, HB4272, HB3277, HB3148, HB3651, HB3323, HB4287, HB4105, HB3304, HB3345

Keywords: forfeiture, criminal offenses, law enforcement, Class D1 offenses, property seizure, SB1612, mandatory reporting, violent injury reporting, gunshot wound, stab wound, poisoning, burn injury, explosive injury, medical reporting, healthcare providers, law enforcement notification, evidence preservation, patient video records, confidentiality waiver, misdemeanor penalty

Transcript Highlights:

• 00:29:37.360> a those who owe primary allegiance to a those who owe primary allegiance to a foreign
• It revoked its prior approvals of all state electric vehicle infrastructure deployment plans and decided
• plans uh and infrastructure deployment plans uh and decided<00:44:58.640> that<00:44:58.880><
• that may be implicated by executive orders, including but not limited to financial assistance for foreign
• <00:51:22.559> aid, assistance for foreign aid, assistance for foreign aid, non-governmental

Keywords: 912, senate, all

Summary: The Judiciary Committee held an informational briefing on the State of Hawaii’s affirmative litigation against the federal administration, with no public testimony. Attorney General Lopez and deputies said the office’s goal is to enforce the rule of law, not make partisan points, and noted that Hawaii is involved in 27 ongoing cases. They grouped the cases into four broad areas: immigration, funding freezes and grant terminations, federal agency dismantling/reductions in force, and protecting elections, health, and safety. Several immigration-related cases were discussed in detail. These included a challenge to the federal sharing of Medicaid data with DHS for immigration enforcement, a similar challenge to USDA’s demand for SNAP applicant and recipient data, and litigation over immigration-enforcement conditions attached to federal grants. The office also described the birthright citizenship executive order, saying it conflicts with the 14th Amendment and Supreme Court precedent; lower courts granted preliminary relief, and the U.S. Supreme Court later addressed only the scope of nationwide injunctions, not the merits. In the Department of Transportation case, the court granted a preliminary injunction against the “Duffy directive,” finding the immigration conditions lacked statutory authority, were arbitrary and capricious, and violated the Spending Clause and APA. The briefing also covered multiple funding disputes. In the education funding freeze case, the Department of Education and OMB withheld about $6 billion in formula funds, including roughly $33 million for Hawaii; after suit was filed, the funds were released. Other cases included the termination of over $11 billion in public health grants, which affected Hawaii Department of Health grants, the NIH indirect cost cap case, and NIH grant terminations tied to DEI, transgender issues, and vaccine hesitancy. The speakers said some cases have already resulted in preliminary or permanent injunctions, while others remain on appeal or are still being litigated.

Transcript Highlights:

• I have over 20 years of service in Special Forces and numerous overseas deployments throughout my career
• Those deployments include tours to Iraq, Bosnia, Kosovo, and all the way back to the liberation of Grenada
• And the qualifier was that each had to have at least two combat deployments after 9/11 and a diagnosis
• Because we want to make sure that this is something to many people that is foreign, that they've not

Keywords: 1182, all

Summary: The Senate Ad Hoc Committee on Access to Breakthrough Mental Health Therapies met to discuss psychedelic-assisted treatments for serious mental health conditions, with a focus on psilocybin, ibogaine, MDMA, and related compounds. The chair framed the issue as a clinical and access problem for veterans, first responders, and others with PTSD, depression, TBI, addiction, and suicidal ideation, emphasizing that these therapies are intended for supervised medical settings rather than take-home use. Members reviewed research claims and policy trends, including FDA breakthrough therapy designations, state-level psychedelic legislation, and the role of Arizona’s right-to-try law in expanding access once federal approval is in place. Testimony came from Alan Mullen, a retired Army Special Forces veteran, who described his PTSD/TBI history and said ibogaine treatment helped him confront trauma and showed promise in reducing symptoms under strict medical monitoring. Dr. Sue Cisley of Scottsdale Research Institute described ongoing FDA-controlled trials in Arizona, said current medications often fail high-need patients, and urged removal of research barriers and preparation for right-to-try and expanded access. Dan Freiberg of the Professional Firefighters of Arizona said firefighters face chronic exposure to trauma, often rely on alcohol or other coping mechanisms, and need effective alternatives beyond traditional therapy. Dr. Chung Trin discussed late-stage psychedelic trials, the FDA breakthrough pathway, safety oversight, and the need for state readiness when approvals occur. Committee members asked about how the treatments work, whether they require psychotherapy support, safety concerns including suicidality and black-market abuse, patenting and synthetic versus natural versions, and costs compared with ketamine and other treatments. Witnesses said the therapies are administered with extensive screening, monitoring, and integration support, and argued that addiction potential appears low under medical supervision. The discussion ended with interest in sending correspondence to federal officials to support right-to-try cooperation and in continuing the research and policy work; no formal vote or action was taken in the portion provided.

Transcript Highlights:

• This demonstrates the growing need for community resilience solutions, including the strategic deployment
• The microgrid project deployment still remains limited, and state agencies continue to identify interconnection
• That was intended to facilitate the development and deployment of microgrids.
• critical natural resources that we could provide here, providing domestic security, not relying on foreign
• First, it expands the authority of the consortia to support all aspects of broadband, from deployment

Keywords: 987, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• rely on specialized, flexible, and rapidly deployable care teams to respond to unpredictable and often
• to natural disasters or emergencies or assigned to extensive training in preparation for future deployment
• Our service members face unique challenges that go beyond foreign deployments.
• The goal of AB 2656 really is to promote a thoughtful and transparent approach to the use and deployment
• This is the AI Deployment and Workforce Development Assessment bill.

Keywords: 987, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• We have led in R&D for decades, but we don't do the commercialization; we don't do the deployment here
• It's not just quantum and advanced energy; there are 6G deployment capabilities.
• Line 16: basically this is to put money for research, development, and deployment.
• One is the international work that we're doing on foreign direct investment into New Mexico, and we're
• So I've already approved six different sites or expedited PRC review for utility pre-deployment since

Keywords: 996, all

Transcript Highlights:

• So the commercial deployment this legislation does not speak to. The research deployment, it does.
• The research deployment, it does speak to.
• most important preemption cases in the past 50 years came 25 years ago in Crosby versus National Foreign
• an issue that indeed needed coordinated activity by the federal government, including coordinated foreign
• I disagree that that's a similar example, especially since that case involves the conduct of foreign

Keywords: 995, all

Summary: The committee hearing focused on a broad set of climate, energy, and environmental justice proposals. Early testimony strongly supported the Climate Change Superfund or “Polluter Pays” bill (H.1014/S.58), which would assess the largest fossil fuel emitters for a one-time fee based on historic emissions to fund climate adaptation. Sponsors argued the bill is modeled on Superfund cleanup principles, would target only the largest multinational polluters, would not be passed on to consumers, and would direct a significant share of funds to environmental justice communities. Committee members asked about the number of companies covered, consumer impacts, and whether the bill would address other forms of environmental destruction; sponsors said it was limited to major fossil fuel companies with a Massachusetts footprint and did not cover other pollution sources. The committee also heard testimony on a fusion energy compact proposal (S.673) that would direct the administration to develop a framework for a New England regional compact to accelerate fusion research, workforce development, and supply-chain growth. Supporters from MIT and the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities said fusion could become a major clean-energy and economic opportunity, but acknowledged the technology is not yet commercially viable and still has unresolved technical, cost, and waste-management questions. Members pressed on environmental impacts, siting, waste, costs, and whether the bill would create a compact or only a framework; sponsors said it would only create the framework and that the administration would need to negotiate with other states. Another major topic was a pilot program for nature-based climate solutions (H.971/S.??), backed by legislators, Boston Harbor Now, and UMass Boston’s Stone Living Lab. Witnesses said the bill would help speed permits for research and demonstration projects such as living shorelines, marsh restoration, and hybrid “green-to-gray” flood protections, while maintaining safeguards and protecting Indigenous and historic resources. Committee members asked how the proposal would interact with other permitting reforms and whether it could conflict with housing or wetland-related streamlining; supporters said it was complementary and aimed at making projects faster, more affordable, and more data-driven. The hearing also covered climate-safe buildings and climate adaptation funding bills. Supporters of H.1004/S.583 said current building codes do not adequately account for future flooding, heat, and wind, and the bill would add climate expertise to the building board, allow stretch resilience codes, expand floodplain standards, and create a retrofit program. Related testimony backed H.938/S.572, which would create a dedicated climate and community resilience fund financed by a small fee on property insurance premiums; advocates said it would provide stable long-term revenue for adaptation, especially in environmental justice communities, and help replace unreliable federal funding. One witness from CLF supported the climate-safe buildings and funding bills but opposed S.560/H.939 as too broad. The committee also heard testimony on airport air-quality legislation (H.997) calling for more monitoring and mitigation of ultra-fine particulate pollution around Logan Airport and Massport communities. No votes were taken during the hearing.

Transcript Highlights:

• My co-chair, Major Velis, is on deployment.
• My co-chair, Major Velis, is on deployment, so he will not be here.
• He's on a deployment, but we have Senator Mike Rush.
• snatched off the streets by unknown masked law enforcement officers and shipped off to prisons in foreign
• Senate concurring, that it is the sense of Congress that it should be the fundamental objective of the foreign

Keywords: 995, all

Summary: The hearing of the Joint Committee on Veterans and Federal Affairs was opened by Chair Joe McGonagle and Vice Chair Senator Mike Rush, who noted that Chair John Velis was deployed with the Massachusetts National Guard. The chairs explained the hybrid format, three-minute testimony limit, live streaming, and filing deadlines, and said the committee would hear 11 House bills and eight Senate bills dealing with federal and overseas issues. Much of the hearing centered on competing resolutions about Article 5 constitutional conventions, along with related resolutions on D.C. statehood, child labor, Citizens United, and Cambodia. Supporters of H. 4692 and S. 284, a joint resolution to rescind all prior Massachusetts Article 5 convention applications, argued that old resolutions from the 1930s and 1970s could be used to count Massachusetts toward the 34-state threshold for calling a federal constitutional convention. Testifiers from Common Cause, the League of Women Voters, the ACLU, Reproductive Equity Now, labor groups, and others warned that a convention would have no clear rules, could not be reliably limited to specific topics, and could put civil rights, reproductive rights, labor protections, and other constitutional protections at risk. Several speakers also cited a recent federal lawsuit and said the safest course was to remove outdated applications from the books. A large opposing panel testified in support of H. 3888, a resolution calling for a Convention of States to propose amendments limiting federal power, imposing fiscal restraints, and establishing term limits. Supporters argued that Article 5 provides a lawful way to address federal overreach, debt, and congressional stagnation, and said the process would be limited by state applications and ratification by 38 states. Some committee members and witnesses raised concerns about a runaway convention, broad language in the resolution, and whether Congress could or should set rules for such a convention. Representative Gentile also testified in support of several related resolutions on overturning Citizens United, D.C. statehood, and the child labor amendment, while Representative Howard and Representative Tongue supported a Cambodia resolution condemning political oppression and urging free and fair elections. No votes or final actions were taken during the hearing.

Transcript Highlights:

• Speaker, Colonel Shaw, who was given the very, very best weapons to defend us on foreign soil, lost his
• the fact that we armed him as a nation with the very best weapons of war to defend our nation on foreign
• Speaker, we very intentionally in chambers such as this one... ...on foreign soil, and then, Mr.
• this body that would allow people like Colonel Shaw, who had two Bronze Stars and three combat deployments
• It does not always arrive with a foreign fleet.

Keywords: March 14, 2026 - Regular Session, 976, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• This debt can be issued in forms of bonds or loans and is often held by foreign and US investors, banks
• changes are specifically for this unique form of lending involving foreign debt, sovereign debt.
• External debt issued by foreign nations or sovereign debt is typically governed by New York law.
• Thank you, Madam Chair, and again, just no pun intended, but I know it's foreign to most of us about
• Prior to that, as US Army officer, did 9 deployments, worked with local populations in a total of 27

Bills: HB74, HB175

Keywords: environmental project, public money, political subdivision, greenhouse gas emissions, federal law compliance, renewable energy, water conservation, retroactive child support, child conception, paternity, family law, health care expenses

Transcript Highlights:

• The industry is still at a maturity level where we're seeing capital costs for first-of-a-kind deployments
• And as well, we also have the deployment potentially ranging from microreactors all the way up to large
• That's changing, and deployment structures are changing.
• So what's the status of the deployment?
• We're targeting deployment in Idaho Falls.

Summary: The Advanced Nuclear Energy Committee met to hear a series of presentations on the economics, financing, workforce, and community impacts of advanced nuclear deployment in North Dakota. William Bridge of Nucleon Energy presented the committee’s economic impacts and private-sector financing report, estimating construction and operating job impacts, local spending, and state/local tax effects for hypothetical SMR projects. He said the report assumes first-of-a-kind costs are still high, used a $6 million per megawatt nth-of-a-kind proxy, and estimated peak construction workforces of about 500 for a 200-MW plant and 1,000 for a larger facility, with roughly 100 operating jobs for a 200-MW plant. Committee members questioned security costs, capital cost assumptions, water and transmission siting constraints, and whether the model included fuel and waste; Bridge said the report included initial fuel in capital cost and that waste disposal is funded through existing federal mechanisms. Lori Brady of the Nuclear Energy Institute then outlined national nuclear workforce needs and NEI’s strategic workforce planning efforts. She described declining labor-force participation, retirements, and the need for a much larger future workforce, and said NEI has organized recommendations around career awareness, pipelines, training and qualification, policy support, retention, and nontraditional recruitment. She highlighted tools such as the Nuclear Works career website, the Nuclear Energy Academic Roadmap, the new federal Energy and Natural Resources career cluster, and the Nuclear Uniform Curriculum Program for community colleges. Members asked about AI, timing for training relative to plant development, and whether advanced manufacturing would reduce staffing needs; Brady said AI is not expected to replace workers and that training timelines depend on the specific project and staffing plan. The committee also heard from Gary Yaco, mayor of Red Wing, Minnesota, who described Prairie Island’s role in his community. He said the plant provides a large share of local property tax revenue, supports well-paid jobs, contributes to emergency preparedness funding and training, and is broadly supported by the city despite periodic protests and public concerns. He emphasized the plant’s security, regular drills with local and federal responders, and the absence of problems with dry cask storage. Later, Benton Arnett of NEI discussed the current financing landscape for advanced nuclear, explaining how tax credits, federal loan support, off-take agreements, and new business models are helping projects move forward. He said early projects face high upfront costs and long lead-time procurement, but that investor confidence is improving as federal policy and regulatory streamlining continue. The committee asked about waste funding, comparisons with natural gas, the effect of political shifts on investor confidence, and whether the market will narrow to a few winning technologies; Arnett said the industry is still sorting that out, but expects clearer winners in the late 2020s and early 2030s. The meeting concluded with an introductory presentation from Julie Kazeraki of DOE’s Office of Energy Dominance Financing, who said the office is focused on accelerating nuclear deployment through financing support.

Transcript Highlights:

• The green line is clean energy deployment in the United States, and the red line is dirty energy deployment
• The green line is clean energy deployment in the United States, and the red line is dirty energy deployment
• So the deployment of solar and wind and geothermal are all the key to building resilience in Hawaiʻi.
• So the deployment of solar and wind and geothermal are all the key to building resilience in Hawaiʻi.
• of solar and wind and so the deployment of solar and wind and<00:26:05.480> geothermal<00:26:

Keywords: 912, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• collecting robust data on our expensive collecting robust data on our expensive fossil<00:20:27.960> foreign
• <00:20:28.360> fossil<00:20:28.720> fuel fossil foreign fossil fuel fossil foreign
• an act relating to sustainable data an act relating to sustainable data center<01:18:45.880> deployment
• 47.120> H<01:18:47.320> 740<01:18:48.000> an<01:18:48.120> act center deployment
• , and H 740 an act center deployment, and H 740 an act relating<01:18:48.720> to<01:18:48.800>

Keywords: 927, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• And, as was mentioned, we import most of that from foreign nations that don't share our environmental
• And so is it your belief that, you know, bringing in foreign oil or other sources of oil is going to
• and foreign-supplied tanker, coming into a California port to deliver oil.
• and foreign-supplied tanker, you know, coming into a California port to deliver oil.
• So it is, by nature, going to decrease the 75% number of reliance on foreign oil.

Summary: The committee heard several climate, environmental, and housing bills. AB 1425, dealing with pit dewatering near the San Joaquin River Parkway, drew extensive testimony. The author and supporters argued the bill was needed to protect the river, groundwater, floodplain conditions, tribal and cultural resources, and public access from a proposed mining project near the river. Opponents, including Cemex, labor representatives, and industry groups, said the bill would bypass the CEQA process before it was complete, threaten jobs, and create uncertainty for an existing operation. Members questioned both sides about hydrology, blasting, dewatering, and the adequacy of the ongoing environmental review. The bill was moved, but several members expressed concern about preempting CEQA and some did not vote or voted no. AB 881, which would allow California to move forward with carbon capture and sequestration pipelines, was presented as a way to advance state climate goals and capture federal funding. Supporters, including SMUD, labor, and industry groups, said the bill would help deploy carbon capture safely and preserve jobs. Environmental justice opponents supported stronger safety direction and warned that CO2 pipelines pose serious risks and that the state should not move ahead without clearer standards. The bill received a due-pass recommendation to Appropriations. AB 1207, on the cap-and-trade allowance price ceiling and the social cost of carbon, was presented as a science-based update to California’s climate policy. The author and EDF said the bill would keep the program aligned with current economic and climate data and protect it from federal political interference. It received broad support and a due-pass recommendation. AB 1106, creating a coordinated network of air quality incident response centers, was also approved after testimony about wildfire smoke, toxic emissions, and the need for better real-time monitoring during disasters. AB 28, the Landfill Fire Safety Act, focused on the Chiquita Canyon landfill fire and related health impacts in Castaic and Val Verde; residents described serious illnesses and contamination concerns, while landfill and county representatives warned about costs and asked for more study. The committee nonetheless advanced the bill with a due-pass recommendation. The committee also heard AB 357, which would speed Coastal Commission review of student and faculty housing projects, with supporters citing student homelessness and opponents urging caution but acknowledging the need for more housing; the bill was presented and discussed, with the committee emphasizing the need to balance housing production and coastal oversight.

Transcript Highlights:

• the premise that America will always maintain a monopolistic dominance over AI development and deployment
• ourselves into our partisan and ideological tribes, I don't know how we could view the world as better if foreign
• the premise that America will always maintain a monopolistic dominance over AI development and deployment
• . a monopolistic dominance over AI development and deployment.
• But the Internet is also filled with noise from bots, foreign bots, and conspiracy theorists meant to

Summary: The committee met in Grand Forks, approved the February 26 minutes by voice vote, and recessed for a tour of the Mincota Power Cooperative headquarters before returning for presentations on large energy consumers, especially data centers. The first presentations focused on how North Dakota should respond to rapid growth in energy-intensive projects, with speakers emphasizing the need for reliable transmission, local decision-making tools, and factual information for county and township officials who are being asked to weigh major projects with limited staff and technical support. The North Dakota Transmission Authority director said local governments are being asked to make high-impact decisions on pipelines, transmission lines, large agriculture, wind, solar, carbon dioxide pipelines, direct-air capture, and data centers, and urged development of simple statewide decision tools and support from the League of Cities and Association of Counties. The Department of Environmental Quality’s air division director said North Dakota’s air remains among the cleanest in the nation, but large data centers can create air-quality concerns because of diesel backup generation; he said the department is requiring air monitors at some facilities and expects grid power and, potentially, cleaner natural gas backup to reduce emissions. Members asked about emissions standards, misinformation, monitoring costs, and staffing succession at DEQ. The Department of Water Resources director said North Dakota’s water law is based on common ownership and prior appropriation, and that data centers generally use relatively small amounts of water, often in closed-loop systems. He said the Missouri River and groundwater supplies are ample for projected needs, that the department’s permitting process protects senior water rights, and that even a worst-case data center scenario would use a very small share of Missouri River flow. Members asked about downstream impacts and compared data center water use with fracking. Later, McLean County State’s Attorney Ladd Erickson urged the committee to study how other states regulate data centers, warned against litigation-driven delays and overly broad local ordinances, argued reclamation bonding should be handled at the state level if at all, and said data centers can bring jobs and tax base but should remain subject to local zoning. The committee ended the morning session for lunch and later heard an EERC update from CEO Charles Gorecki on the center’s 75 years of work in energy and environmental technologies, especially oil and gas development and related research.