Transcript Highlights:

• Mobility Authority.
• That's a predominantly Latino neighborhood, a very working-class neighborhood.
• And if I could ask you, the author to representative senator.
• It's 3 sessions we've been working on this legislation. Patience is a virtue legislation.
• All right, members, we're going to kind of start at the top and work our way down.

Summary: The Senate Transportation Committee heard a series of mostly local transportation and memorial designation bills. Several measures would rename highway segments in honor of fallen service members or public servants, including HB 2026 (Gary C. Johnston memorial highways in Archer County), HB 4429 (McIlroy Family Memorial Highway in Blanco and Burnet counties), SB 3062 (Hamby-Webb Memorial Highway in Panola County), HB 3510 (Sergeant Mark Butler Memorial Highway in Brazos County), and HB 3986 (Corporal Speedy Espiriueta Memorial Highway in Mission). The committee also heard HB 2560, which would create an optional county-road “adopt-a-road” style program allowing donations for county road repair and maintenance. Two bills drew more substantive policy discussion. HB 2427 and HB 2455 concerned oversized/overweight freight corridors and permit authority in Hidalgo County tied to cross-border trade near the FARR International Bridge. Supporters, including the bridge director, said the measures would correct prior road descriptions, put existing TxDOT actions into statute, improve truck routing, and support trade and bridge expansion. The committee substitute for HB 2427 also removed Roma permit language, barred certain hazardous-material permits, raised permit fees, required local cost responsibility for road maintenance, and made the bill contingent on SB 2949. HB 5436 would allow licensed automotive recyclers to buy certain older, long-unregistered vehicles for dismantling or scrap without a title, with reporting, lienholder notice, and anti-theft safeguards; recyclers and dealers supported it as a way to curb illegal untitled-vehicle sales and VIN cloning. HB 3966, authored by Sen. Alvarado, was the most contested bill. It would require commercial passenger bus companies to mail advance notice to residents within one mile before opening a new stop or terminal. Alvarado said the bill responded to the relocation of a Greyhound terminal into a Houston neighborhood without notice and to resulting crime and nuisance concerns. Greyhound opposed the bill, arguing the notice requirement would be burdensome and could delay emergency relocations during hurricanes, flooding, or lease changes. After testimony, the committee voted to report most bills favorably, with HB 3966 passing on a 5-2 vote; the other reported bills passed unanimously. Several bills were also placed on the local and uncontested calendar, and the committee recessed to the call of the chair.

Transcript Highlights:

• We received 78 new funded authorized FTEs, so we're working on filling those.
• We are working closely.
• and the hard work of all the people that work at CYFD.
• work, and then they come and work for CYFD for two years.
• work that you do.

Keywords: 996, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Work has already begun.
• Unfortunately, even our very own employees are working in work zones and a lot of the incidents, a lot
• Are working in work zones and, you know, a lot of the incidents, a lot of the injuries, and many of the
• Anytime there's an incident within a work zone that is caused by behavior of workers in that work zone
• So it’s done by work package.

Summary: The Committee on Transportation received a presentation from the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles on Florida’s camera-based traffic enforcement programs: red light cameras, school bus stop-arm cameras, and school zone speed cameras. The department explained how each program works, the distinction between a civil notice of violation and a uniform traffic citation, and the fee distribution for each type of violation. It also reported preliminary data showing 42 jurisdictions operating red light cameras, with 496 cameras at 302 intersections and 923,133 notices of violation in fiscal year 2024-2025; for the newer school bus and school zone programs, the department said preliminary figures showed five active school bus programs and 40 active school zone programs, with prior-year totals of 61,150 school bus notices and 26,300 school zone notices. Senators asked about camera placement, school zone requirements, review procedures, and whether law enforcement or third parties are involved in reviewing violations. The committee then received an update from FDOT Secretary Jared Perdue on the Moving Florida Forward Infrastructure Initiative, which used $4 billion in general revenue to advance a $7 billion package of 20 major congestion-relief projects. He said the department has used innovative delivery methods, including modified phased design-build, voluntary acceleration, and structured acceleration, to move projects forward faster and control costs. He highlighted progress on projects including I-4 congestion relief lanes, the Golden Glades Interchange, I-95 at US-1, I-75 auxiliary lanes, I-75 at Pine Ridge Road, and I-275 in Tampa, and said 80% of the plan is expected to be underway by the end of 2026, with four projects remaining in 2027. Members asked about temporary traffic patterns at Golden Glades, subcontractor opportunities, public transportation planning, contractor safety and OSHA issues, bridge strikes, logistics hubs near airports and seaports, aggregate and material supply, local government coordination, and federal transportation funding. Secretary Perdue said FDOT continuously reevaluates traffic management plans, works with small businesses and local subs, and monitors contractor safety closely, including corrective action plans after incidents. He emphasized that Florida’s transportation revenues are flat, that the state remains largely state-funded, and that additional resources are the main thing the Legislature can provide to support future infrastructure delivery. The committee adjourned after the chair requested FDOT staff provide senators with district-specific project updates.

Transcript Highlights:

• In my district, we do the work.
• We have very hard working state employees that have been working very productively and that are going
• And let us work together.
• I had a question for the author.
• So now he wants to take credit for our work.

Keywords: 988, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• I RECEIVED MY MASTER OF SOCIAL WORK FROM FSU.
• WE LOOK FORWARD TO WORKING WITH YOU.
• SHE HAS WORKED WITH US IT IS ABOVE HER PAYGRADE.
• WORKING WITH THE COURTS SYSTEM THIS SESSION. >> THANK YOU.
• REOCCURRING IN ORDER TO LOCATE A SITE AND DO THE RELATED WORK TO PURCHASE A WE HAVE BEEN WORKING VERY

Transcript Highlights:

• Hawaii Polling Authority. Hawaii Polling Authority.
• <00:43:19.040> already<00:43:19.440> works<00:43:19.680> with Parrolling Authority
• already works with Parrolling Authority already works with faith-based<00:43:20.560> organizations
• Having worked for AO's example.
• to work with offenders? to work with offenders?

Bills: HB1769

Keywords: criminal justice reform, rehabilitation, private prisons, racial equity, Native Hawaiians, community well-being, mass incarceration, 910, house, all

Summary: The committee heard House Bill 1769, which would require the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to incrementally reduce the number of people incarcerated in private out-of-state correctional institutions. The DCR director opposed the bill, saying the department does not control overall prison population levels because courts determine admissions, and arguing that Hawaiʻi’s in-state facilities are already over capacity, especially Halawa, which he said is 165% over design capacity. He said only a small portion of the population is under departmental control through furlough programs and argued that bringing people home would require building a new medium-security prison. Supporters, including the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, the Hawaii Correctional System Oversight Commission, the Public Defender’s office, and several individuals, argued the bill creates a phased, accountable path to reduce reliance on mainland prisons and bring people home. Supporters emphasized the harms of separating incarcerated people from ʻohana and culture, the disproportionate impact on Native Hawaiians, and the need for diversion, treatment, re-entry support, and fair sentencing. Several testifiers also said the department has more control than it claimed, pointing to underused furlough options, reclassification, and empty beds at some in-state facilities, while others urged clearer statutory language and guardrails. Members questioned the director about whether people could be reclassified or moved to available beds at facilities such as Kulani and Waiawa, and about whether the department could do more through staffing and contract changes. The director said some proposals had been sent to the Department of Human Resource Development, but that major facility changes would be costly and that minimum-security facilities would need substantial upgrades to house medium-security inmates. After discussion, the chair said the committee would defer HB 1769 to Wednesday, February 18, 2026, at 11:30 a.m. for decision-making and adjourned the meeting.

Transcript Highlights:

• It needs more committee work.
• This is hard work.
• long days of absolutely monotonous work long days of absolutely monotonous work that that that would
• We have other important work to do.
• This is have other important work to do.

Keywords: 919, house, all

Summary: The House debated Representative Hicks’ motion to place Senate File 3210 first on the calendar for the next day. Hicks said the bill, which concerns disability accommodations, had been on the general register since March 9 and had passed the Senate 46-18. Supporters argued it would strengthen the process for requesting accommodations and should be heard on the floor without further delay. Representative Niska opposed the motion, arguing the bill was poorly drafted, had not received enough committee work, and could create ambiguity in the Minnesota Human Rights Act. He focused on the bill’s use of “may” in describing failure to engage in the accommodation process and questioned how the proposal would affect existing law in employment, housing, public accommodations, and education. Hicks responded that the bill addresses the process for reasonable accommodations, not the underlying accommodation standards, and said disability advocates and the Department of Human Rights supported the language. Several members spoke in favor of calendaring the bill, emphasizing that it was bipartisan, had already moved through committee, and was important to people with disabilities. Some supporters described the accommodation process as difficult and said the bill would help ensure good-faith engagement between employers and individuals seeking accommodations. The exchange ended with the motion still under debate, with members indicating the bill would likely be taken up on the floor the following day.

Transcript Highlights:

• **SB 456** **SB 456** only applies to authorized works of fine art and does not waive any safety regulations
• that was construction work.
• It's all construction work, and it needs to be, how do you say, overseen.
• Sense legislation by the author.
• to permit this work."

Keywords: 988, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Authors, or we'll go to the authors and then let the author wrap up. Chair Youakim, thank you, Mr.
• It doesn't always work to give them jobs. It doesn't always work to find new jobs.
• It doesn't always work to give them jobs. It doesn't always work to find new jobs.
• that I worked with.
• Let's go to the author of the H104981 amendment. ...jobs rather than try to find ways for me not to work

Bills: HF1049

Keywords: school library aid, education finance, school districts, charter schools, funding eligibility, 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• I think that works really well and New Mexico Finance Authority went into that a few years back.
• It's working well.
• That's one of the things that work - early warning systems work.
• We do provide guidance through rule, through policy, we have more authority and working with our schools
• They do hard work. They do good work.

Transcript Highlights:

• At that point, we work very diligently as fast as we can.
• So HHSC does, and it goes through the local mental health authority.
• authorities selected several different partners.
• **Local Mental Health Authorities** - These authorities also had contracts that could conflict with their
• and children, that the work done at adoption agencies helps women and children, and that the work done

Bills: SB670, SB1388, SB627, SB912, SB269, SB528, HB2711, HB4819, HB5248, HB4175

Keywords: SB 670, investigational sun protection products, sun protection, sunscreen, FDA approval, clinical trial, phase one trial, patient access, informed consent, physician prescription, Texas Health and Safety Code, Texas Medical Board, compassionate use, experimental treatment, medical freedom, patient autonomy, healthcare regulation, dietitian, dietitians, licensed dietitian

Transcript Highlights:

• We'd be happy to work with you or the bill author on some specific language if you'd like to go that
• You could, yeah, I mean, you're welcome to pull me in, but I think working with the author is the important
• I think that's something you probably need to work on with the bill author, on because she's here as
• I think what we can do is, if you want to work with the bill author on that specific concern, there might
• It's finding them, and it's removing them, and it's working. Working.

Bills: HB2442, HB3697, HB4288, HB5256, HB5337, HB5362, HJR161

Keywords: HB 2442, Texas Election Code, Election Code Section 84.001, early voting, ballot by mail, mail ballot, absentee voting, runoff election, primary runoff, general runoff, voter application, election administration, county election officials, opt-out, voter choice, mail voting, ballot application, voting by mail, Election Code, size requirements

Transcript Highlights:

• It works; it works for consumers, and we ask that you... Vote no on this. Thank you.
• on is to work on that definition.
• They have a pharmacist that works for them to do their prior authorizations to help make them adherent
• So here’s how it works.
• The copays, this is how it works.

Bills: HB712, HB722, HB946, HB1687, HB1809, HB1899, HB2528, HB2583, HB2741, HB2750, HB3021, HB3150, HB3265, HB3658, HB3812, HB3960, HB4392, HB4432

Keywords: prostate cancer, health benefit plans, insurance coverage, cost sharing, preventive health care, auto insurance, total loss evaluation, disclosure, insurance materials, vehicle appraisal, HB 946, Texas Insurance Code, automobile insurance claims, oral release, written release, settlement agreement, claim release, property damage, bodily injury, psychological injury

Transcript Highlights:

• > health<01:00:54.799> to authorizes state board of health to authorizes state board of
• Don't create an entitlement program that has spending authority, overspending authority.
• continuously appropriated authority. continuously appropriated authority.
• We will have to grant it authority.
• > authority.

Keywords: 981, all

Summary: The Senate convened with a quorum, approved the February 3, 2026 journal, and received committee reports on several bills, appointments, and resolutions. Finance reported Senate Bills 9 and 39 favorably, with SB 39 recommended for the consent calendar, and the State, Veterans, and Military Affairs Committee reported Senate Bills 27 and 29 postponed indefinitely. The chamber also received and later adopted Senate Joint Resolution 9, recognizing Missing Persons Day, after extensive remarks from Senator Danielson and Senator Cattellin (spelling as transcribed) and recognition of families, law enforcement, CBI staff, and Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives office staff in attendance. SJR 9 passed 33-0. The Senate then took up Senate Bill 1 on third reading and final passage, a housing measure authorizing county commissioners to support certain housing and expanding the middle-income housing tax credit to certain transferees. The bill passed 26-7. The chamber also heard a personal privilege recognizing School Nutrition Day and the Colorado School Nutrition Association, highlighting their work providing meals to students and implementing the Healthy School Meals Act. In Committee of the Whole, the Senate began second reading of Senate Bill 32 on immunization access. The bill would expand use of the state immunization schedule alongside ACIP recommendations, allow pharmacists to independently prescribe, dispense, order, and administer vaccines, update liability provisions, authorize rulemaking for infant immunization programs, and remove a prohibition on using state money for those programs if federal funds are unavailable. Senators Mullica and supporters argued the bill protects access to vaccines and insulates Colorado from federal dysfunction, while Senators Bright and Frisell raised budget concerns and supported Amendment L004 to restore the state-funding prohibition. Senator Ba opposed the amendment, saying the bill merely removes a funding restriction and does not mandate spending. The transcript ends during continued debate on Amendment L004, with no final vote on SB 32 shown.

Transcript Highlights:

• And is there more work to do?
• Um, I'm hoping that somehow we can create working conditions where people are not afraid to work and
• , what's not working.
• Certainly the Attorney General has authority in that area, but we do take it seriously to work in partnership
• Authority. I want to be able to sue. I want subpoena authority.

Transcript Highlights:

• concerns that members were benefiting financially while preventing the legislature from conducting its work
• The bill authorizes civil civil penalties of up to $5000 per violation with enforcement through district
• The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.
• This bill's been acted as an exercise of the legislature's rulemaking authority.
• Senator, any other questions, uh, for the author or anything on the bill before we, before we vote?

Bills: HB18

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

Transcript Highlights:

• What we need to do is give back to the department the authority really to have this oversight, to work
• <02:02:11.280> authorizes<02:02:11.920> the authorizes is the author authorizes the
• authorizes is the author authorizes the state<02:02:12.320> board<02:02:12.560> to<02:
• authority to be running that district. authority to be running that district.
• worked out with the treasurer? worked out with the treasurer?

Keywords: 1189, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• I'm a pediatrician who works at St.
• And Sabrina Taylor, I happen to love the work that she does and work with her all the time, and the things
• to do this work.
• It needs some work.
• They don't have the time to implement more work. They don't have the time to implement more work.

Keywords: 1182, all

Summary: The committee heard House Bill 2433, which would require insurers offering Medicare supplement policies to people 65 and older to also offer them to Medicare beneficiaries under 65 with ALS or end-stage renal disease, with enrollment periods and premium protections tied to 65-year-old rates. Supporters, including dialysis and ALS advocates, said the bill would help a small population facing high out-of-pocket costs and could improve access to transplants and care; opponents argued it would shift costs onto older seniors and raise Medigap premiums. The committee recommended the bill do pass on a 12-0 vote. The committee also heard House Bill 2593, appropriating $1.5 million to the University of Arizona for the Arizona Perinatal Psychiatry Access Line. The sponsor and physicians testified that the line helps obstetric and pediatric providers quickly consult on perinatal depression, postpartum psychosis, suicidality, and other mental health crises, improving outcomes for mothers, children, and families and reducing costly emergency and crisis care. The bill received a do pass recommendation on a 10-1 vote. House Concurrent Resolution 2013, proclaiming June 2026 as Celebrate Life Month, drew emotional testimony from a young woman with spina bifida and another speaker supporting the sanctity of life. Some members objected that the state should focus on practical supports such as paid leave, child care, and health care access, while others supported the resolution as a statement of human dignity. The resolution passed the committee 7-5. The committee then approved House Bill 4010, creating a Board of Genetic Counselors and licensure standards, after testimony from genetic counselors and a patient advocate about the need for qualified counseling and better access; it passed 11-1. Later, the committee approved House Bill 2196, which would require pharmacy benefit managers to reimburse non-affiliated pharmacies at least their acquisition cost and pay a dispensing fee, and establish an appeals process. Independent pharmacists and their coalition said PBM practices are driving closures and unfairly favor affiliated pharmacies, while PBM and employer representatives warned of major cost increases and said the bill would interfere with private contracts; the bill passed 11-1. The committee also adopted a strike-everything amendment to House Bill 2182 requiring insurers and health plans to report claims denial and prior authorization data to DIFI, and then gave the amended bill a 12-0 do pass recommendation. Finally, the committee approved House Bill 2189, directing the Board of Nursing to update rules for licensed health aides and collect annual data, with the sponsor and board staff saying it would help implement routine ventilator care in the home; it passed 12-0. The committee then began hearing House Bill 2404, a strike-everything amendment on inter-facility transports for behavioral health patients, but the transcript cuts off before action on that bill.

Transcript Highlights:

• But we can work toward peace, and we can work toward those things that God has asked us to do.
• Again, because of the tireless work of our firefighters.
• That matter for working people in Texas.
• Bipartisan, bicameral, and we want to work together for solutions for working people in Texas.
• On public property, authorizing a civil penalty.

Keywords: 1184, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• It just gives the governing authority two bills, Rapides Parish, for the governing authority to make
• Members, House Bill number five by Speaker Pro Tem Johnson authorizes parish governing authorities and
• Members, House Bill 6 by Speaker Pro Tem Johnson authorizes the governing authority of Rapides Parish
• House Bill 497 by Representative Schammerhorn authorizes the governing authority of Vernon Parish to
• Authorizes the governing authority of Sabine Parish to determine whether carbon dioxide sequestration

Summary: The committee took up public comment on a package of similar local-option bills related to carbon capture and sequestration, including House Bills 5, 6, 497, 498, 501, and 504. The bills would let parishes, or in some cases specific parishes such as Rapides and Livingston, decide by local vote whether Class VI wells, CO2 sequestration, and related pipeline infrastructure could be permitted. The chair grouped the bills together for testimony, adopted a three-minute public comment rule, and noted that the bills were not yet under consideration for a vote during the public-comment portion. Supporters, including Speaker Pro Tem Mike Johnson, parish officials, local activists, and residents, argued that communities affected by carbon capture projects should have a direct voice through local option elections. They said the bills were about self-determination, local control, and allowing residents to decide whether the risks are worth the benefits. Several speakers said their parishes had passed resolutions opposing carbon capture or asking for local choice, while others emphasized concerns about eminent domain, aquifer protection, lack of public understanding, and the need for more information about project impacts and financial benefits. Some supporters also said a local vote would force industry to engage more directly with communities and could improve transparency. Opponents, including representatives of the Department of Conservation and Energy, the Louisiana Chemistry Association, the Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association, and the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry, warned that the bills would create uncertainty, undermine Louisiana’s primacy over Class VI permitting, and invite litigation under federal preemption and the Supremacy Clause. They said the state already has a strict permitting process with public input and technical review, and that allowing parish-by-parish approval could delay or block billions of dollars in investment, jobs, and export-related projects. The department testified that if the state adopted a local-option referendum system, EPA could determine Louisiana was not implementing the program consistently and could move to remove primacy. No committee vote was taken in the portion provided.