Transcript Highlights:

• The regulation part for most of these systems that work for communities is on the water side, not on
• But the Department of Environmental Quality regulates in accordance with the Clean Water Act in this
• So instead of the problem we have with EPA and the clean water, So instead of the problem we have with
• But some of these companies own the water system and the sewer system.
• And so there's another situation that exists where they own the water, they're regulated on the water

Committee: House State Affairs

Keywords: 989, all

Transcript Highlights:

• And then $300 million in water investments. A lot of that we came in with.
• And then $300 million in water investments. A lot of that we came in with LFC on.
• The $2 million for water testing, which was a new special, $10 million for agriculture-related water
• Just one question, particularly related to the water quality, water testing, as I continue to go ahead
• So what is now the total for the water settlement? Mr.

Bills: HB2 , SB145 , SB143

Committee: Senate House Appropriations & Finance

Keywords: general appropriation, budget, Medicaid, education funding, public safety, auditing, financial reporting, state auditor, public agencies, capital outlay, compliance, federal audits, agriculture, New Mexico Department of Agriculture, fee update, regulatory fees, egg inspection, egg grading, egg dealer, pesticide control

Summary: The committee first heard Senate Bill 143, which would raise caps on certain agriculture fees so they can keep pace with inflation. Senator Woods explained that the bill only adjusts fee ceilings, not automatic increases, and an amendment was adopted to tie the caps to the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers published by the U.S. Department of Labor. There was no public support or opposition testimony, and the bill was then passed on an 8-0 do-pass vote, with several members excused. The committee then took up Senate Bill 145, which would change the state audit system by raising thresholds for smaller local public bodies and creating a statewide federal single audit for state agencies. The State Auditor and DFA said the bill was intended to streamline audits, reduce delays, and align New Mexico with federal rules and other states, but multiple CPA and audit witnesses opposed the statewide single-audit concept, warning it could reduce transparency, weaken accountability, and increase the risk of fraud, waste, and abuse. Committee members pressed for clarification on how the audit structure would work, which agencies would be covered, and whether DFA or independent auditors would conduct the work; the sponsors said amendments were needed to clarify the bill and remove problematic language, including the appropriation and references to gifts and donations. The committee adopted an amendment striking the appropriation language and then continued questioning without taking final action in the excerpt. The final portion of the meeting shifted to the House Bill 2 budget presentation. Committee members reviewed the Senate Finance version of the budget, which included about a 2.7% increase in recurring spending, 30% reserves, and major investments in health care affordability, early childhood, public education, housing, clean energy, water, and agriculture-related priorities. Members asked about water testing needs, water settlement funding, career technical education funding, and the contingency fund/disaster reserve structure. The presenters said some items still needed technical work and that additional adjustments would be made before final passage.

Transcript Highlights:

• wondering if you can talk about any research on the impact of ADUs on infrastructure, especially like water
• change on any one neighborhood, they generally don't make a big impact on these shared resources like water
• Our big... ...resources like water and sewer, but there certainly are cases where an ADU permit is tied
• to making improvements to the individual lot's sewer and water pipes, which might be reasonable in some
• That's a good topic for discussion, but determining what the capacity of the sewer system and the water

Summary: The Local Government and Taxation Committee met on January 22, 2026, to hear presentations on housing affordability and supply. Emily Hamilton of the Mercatus Center discussed how zoning and building code reforms in places like Minneapolis, Buffalo, Houston, Montana, and other cities have increased housing supply and moderated rent growth. She emphasized that reducing parking requirements, legalizing accessory dwelling units, allowing smaller lots and more flexible density, and revisiting building code rules such as single-stair apartment limits and residential code thresholds can lower construction costs. She also said ADU reforms tend to have gradual, neighborhood-level impacts and that new housing can be fiscally neutral or beneficial when local costs are properly matched to development. Committee members asked about local government concerns, including infrastructure, parking, neighborhood character, and the fiscal effects of density. Hamilton said permit fees should reflect actual service costs, that parking reform should be paired with street-parking management, and that infill development often shares existing infrastructure efficiently. She also said more housing supply would reduce scarcity that can attract large institutional investors. Members discussed Idaho’s housing shortage, with Hamilton citing a roughly six-to-one ratio of median home price to median income in Idaho, compared with about three-to-one in Houston. Chris Cargill and Maddie Clark of Mountain States Policy Center presented Idaho poll results and housing supply data. They reported strong public concern about affordability, broad support for allowing smaller homes and ADUs, and substantial support for permit “shot clock” deadlines, while support for duplexes, triplexes, and quadplexes was more mixed. Clark described housing as an “attainability” problem driven by both limited supply and incomes that have not kept pace, and argued for streamlining regulation, expanding land availability, avoiding policies that favor one housing type over another, and improving demand-side conditions through economic growth. No votes were taken, and the meeting ended after the chair noted that housing proposals would likely come before the committee later in the session.

Transcript Highlights:

• You go in and you need $150 million for water, sewer, whatever it is, OK, for infrastructure, and you
• To, uh, clean up the water and dump into Pecos River. So this is available, but they are testing.
• water.
• Then I asked the question, I say why, why don't you just pump into the drinking water for the city.
• On the House Bill 188 and will quickly and end the job creation and uh will help our water.

Bills: HB188 , HB 265 , HJR35

Committee: House Appropriations

Keywords: emergency preparedness, flood-prone communities, Texas Rural Emergency Preparedness Fund, disaster relief, funding, youth camp, safety regulations, advisory committee, child welfare, health standards, summer camp, camp safety, child abuse reporting, child neglect, mandatory reporting, background check, criminal history check, sex offender registry, CPR training, first aid

Transcript Highlights:

• Julia Hall with the Association of California Water Agencies.
• This is providing essential funding for habitat and water supply projects that are already helping with
• for the recommendation to reject the special fund position cuts, especially at CDFW and the State Water
• provide really important functions for the state, and they're also paid for by the fees paid by public water
• This is a project in state waters, and we have the unique opportunity to take forward California energy

Keywords: 987, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• NOW WE WILL GO TO THE WATER MANAGEMENT DISTRICT AND I WILL PASS THE GAVEL TO OUR VICE CHAIR SENATOR BERMAN
• AND SENATOR BRODEUR, YOU ARE RECOGNIZED TO EXPLAIN THE BILL. >> Chair Brodeur: MEMBERS, THIS IS THE WATER
• MANAGEMENT DISTRICT TO SUPPORT THEIR MISSION OF WATER AND FLOOD CONTROL COMMUNITIES ACROSS FLORIDA.
• IN MY DISTRICT AND IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN A HOT TOPIC IN TERMS OF RESTORATION AND PROTECTING FLORIDA'S WATER
• I WANT TO SAY THANK YOU FOR MAKING AN EFFORT TO STRENGTHEN OUR WATER SUPPLY WITH THIS AND SO WITH THAT

Keywords: 999, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• A healthy lawn that has a deep root system will require less watering, grow thick and lush, so there
• We'll start with the waters.
• So if you have 200 octopuses in one tank, all that eliminated waste is going to go in our waters.
• In Aggregata-infected octopuses, the parasite releases spores that pass into the feces in the water,
• Farms serve as natural buffers, improve water quality, and store carbon in soil.

Committee: Joint Joint Committee on Agriculture and Fisheries

Keywords: 995, all

Summary: The Joint Committee on Agriculture opened its first hearing by outlining procedures, including three-minute testimony limits, written testimony options, and the plan to hear 27 bills in docket order. The committee then took testimony on H.11/S.53, a resolve promoting equity in agriculture, with advocates from the Massachusetts Food System Collaborative, Southeastern Mass Agricultural Partnership, and urban farming organizations describing racial and economic disparities in farming, lack of data on BIPOC farmers, barriers to land and capital, and the need for a commission to collect information and recommend policy changes. Committee members asked questions about the importance of data collection and future policy development, and the bill was repeatedly urged to be reported favorably out of committee. Testimony also supported H.118, which would create a special commission to examine the strengths and sustainability of the Commonwealth’s emergency food network. The Amherst Survival Center described serving 1.6 million meals last year and explained that food pantries are now functioning as essential parts of the state’s food system while relying heavily on donations, volunteers, and unstable funding. Members discussed the need for a more holistic look at food security infrastructure. The committee then heard H.119/S.60 on climate change impacts on farms and fisheries, with regional planners and farm advocates describing flood damage, rising costs, canceled federal climate-smart funding, and the need for direct state support for adaptation, resilience, and infrastructure improvements. The committee also heard testimony on H.125/H.142/S.65, a healthy soils bill, from landscape professionals who said construction sites often leave poor or stripped soil and that the bill would require better post-construction soil standards to support healthier landscapes and reduce long-term maintenance and environmental problems. Finally, the committee took extensive testimony on H.127, which would prohibit aquaculture of octopus for human consumption. Supporters, including legislators, scientists, veterinarians, students, and animal welfare advocates, argued octopus are highly intelligent and sentient, cannot be farmed humanely, and that octopus aquaculture would create environmental harms such as waste runoff, pressure on wild fish stocks, and ecosystem disruption. No votes were taken during the hearing; the bills were heard and testimony was received.

Transcript Highlights:

• damage, and this is a humongous structure, a once- ...water damage.
• This is the water meter bill, making it explicitly clear as to how the water charges and sewer charges
• This is the water meter bill, making it explicitly clear as to how the water charges and sewer charges
• I understand a lot of these water districts do need to merge.
• and you won't be left without water.

Summary: The Missouri House convened with prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance, approved the prior day’s journal 117-1, and held several points of personal privilege and guest introductions. Members recognized Women Legislators of Missouri for raising $100,000 for scholarships, honored fallen officer James Anthony Mitchell, Sr. with a moment of silence, welcomed the Blair Oaks state championship football team, visiting students from Bakersfield, Kirbyville, and Raymondville, hospital representatives promoting healthy eating, a former member of the House, and several interns. The chamber then took up committee reports and a supplemental budget measure, House Bill 2014. The budget chairman explained the Senate substitute made limited changes, including removing funding for the capital commission and a D.C. promotional event, restoring $600,000 for an agriculture fee fund, and adding $14 million for tobacco settlement shortfalls. He also noted major funding for MoDOT, disaster relief, and rural health care. The House adopted the Senate substitute 135-14 and finally passed the bill 137-13. Members next debated and passed House Bill 2559, the Raines Act, which would require more legislative review of rules with fiscal impacts; supporters framed it as reining in bureaucracy, while opponents said it would add delay and another layer of government. It passed 103-44. The House also passed House Bill 2710 on school accountability and A-F report cards for schools and districts after extensive debate over transparency, local control, and whether the bill would unfairly label schools; it passed 96-53. Other bills passed included HB 2404/2172 on repurposing unused school buildings (91-54), HB 1797 on alternative CPA licensure pathways (142-0), HB 1786 increasing Highway Patrol vehicle revolving fund spending authority (139-4), HB 2105 on water/sewer billing transparency for tenants (129-9), HB 2397 giving water district boards flexibility on dissolution thresholds and ballot language (130-15), HB 2108 conveying land to address a Jefferson City viaduct/emergency access issue (143-1), HB 2818 allowing St. Joseph to annex an airport it has owned since 1942 (137-8), and HB 1980 expanding peer review protections to emergency medical professionals, which was introduced and discussed near the end of the transcript.

Transcript Highlights:

• The Water Reuse Project and Bull Testing Program at the Agricultural Experiment Station.
• In about 2009, the city of Tucumcari received a Water Trust Board grant loan to stop sending water to
• They took the water line to the north boundary and the east boundary so that adjacent property owners
• And then this is a question on the water resources using the wastewater irrigation.
• I guess alfalfa needs more water than some of these other crops.

Committee: House Science, Technology & Telecommunications Committee

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> Senator Waters, do you have a bill? Senator Waters, do you have a bill?
• Senator Waters, maybe we amendment.
• water systems in statute?
• </c> Senator Waters. Senator Waters.
• &gt;&gt; Senator<02:23:13.760><c> Waters.</c> &gt;&gt; Senator Waters. &gt;&gt; Senator Waters.

Committee: Senate Energy and Natural Resources

Keywords: 1191, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> Hampshire water Hampshire water bodies<05:04:18.000><c> the</c><05:04:18.240><c> question</c><05
• quality laws out on the water as well.
• quality laws out on the water as well.
• quality laws out on the water as well.
• quality laws out on the water as well.

Committee: House Criminal Justice and Public Safety

Keywords: 1189, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Henderson, the new water tax is related to the data centers.
• The proposal is to give fee-setting authority to the director of the Department of Water Resources.
• of water that data centers use is significant.
• This is not something where we readily are aware of the water use of data centers.
• Financing air conditioning typically doesn't, or water fountains and those types of things.

Keywords: 1182, all

Summary: The committee met to review the governor’s fiscal 2027 budget presentation, with the chair repeatedly asking members to keep questions brief and avoid speeches. The discussion focused first on the overall revenue and spending outlook, including concerns from members that the executive forecast was more optimistic than the JLBC baseline and that the budget appeared to front-load revenue and expenditure growth. The governor’s budget team said the forecast was close to JLBC’s, that the budget was structurally balanced, and that differences were roughly $100 million per year on ongoing revenue. Members asked for follow-up calculations in writing, including the total multi-year gap and the amount of revenue enhancements above base revenues. A major portion of the meeting centered on tax and fee proposals tied to data centers, water use, and sports betting. The governor’s team defended eliminating the existing data center tax incentive as the removal of a loophole rather than a new tax, arguing the incentive had already succeeded in attracting major investment. They also described a proposed Department of Water Resources fee-setting authority for data centers to support a new Colorado River Protection Fund, and said the proposal would apply to existing and future facilities without a grandfather clause. Members raised concerns about fairness, competitiveness, and whether the changes would require a supermajority vote. The team also discussed increased sports betting fees, saying the revenue forecast did not include dynamic behavioral effects. The committee then moved through major spending areas, including corrections, public safety, border security, cybersecurity, K-12 education, Medicaid, and developmental disabilities. The governor’s budget includes ongoing funding to prevent correctional officer pay cuts, money to comply with prison health care court orders, probation funding, body-worn cameras, law enforcement staffing, fentanyl task forces, and cyber readiness grants. Members questioned the lack of funding for a prison oversight committee and asked for corrections spending totals over the administration. On border security, the executive said it was seeking about $759.7 million in federal reimbursement for border-related costs and that the governor had met with federal officials, including Secretary Noem and Tom Homan, about the request. In education, the budget proposes renewing Prop. 123, adding K-12 base funding, and issuing $1.5 billion in school facilities bonds over three years; members debated whether the proposal was appropriate and whether Prop. 123 revenues could support the debt service. The meeting also covered AHCCCS cost growth and federal HR1 impacts, with the executive warning of major coverage losses and hospital funding reductions, and DDD funding, where the governor’s team said the budget fully funds services and includes about $120 million in supplemental needs. No votes were taken; the meeting was a presentation and question-and-answer session only.

Transcript Highlights:

• Henderson, the new water tax is related to the data centers.
• of water that data centers use is significant.
• This is not something where we readily are aware of the water use of data centers.
• This is not something where we readily are aware of the water use of data centers.
• Financing air conditioning typically doesn’t, or water fountains and those types of things.

Summary: The joint House-Senate appropriations committee met to review the governor’s fiscal 2027 budget presentation from Ben Henderson, director of the Office of Strategic Planning and Budgeting. Early discussion focused on the state economy and revenue outlook, with Henderson describing strong GDP growth and low unemployment but also fragility for working families. Members questioned the executive’s revenue assumptions, which were said to be about $100 million per year higher than the JLBC baseline, and the committee chair asked for a written comparison of the revenue differences. Henderson also said the governor’s budget is structurally balanced and includes both ongoing spending and proposed revenue changes. A major portion of the hearing centered on data centers, AI investment, and water policy. Henderson argued Arizona’s data center tax incentive should be eliminated because it had already succeeded in attracting investment, while lawmakers questioned whether repealing the incentive and imposing a new water-related fee would discourage future growth. The executive said the water proposal would create a Colorado River Protection Fund and give the Department of Water Resources fee-setting authority, with the aim of encouraging more modern air-cooled facilities. Members also raised concerns about whether the data center changes would require a supermajority vote and whether the fee was effectively a new tax. The committee then reviewed major “critical spending” items, including correctional officer pay, prison health care compliance, probation funding, body-worn cameras, law enforcement staffing, fentanyl enforcement, cyber readiness, and border-related costs. Henderson said the budget includes $24.4 million ongoing for correctional officer pay and $118.3 million one-time for prison health care staffing, plus other public safety and homeland security items. He also defended the governor’s assumption of $759.7 million in federal reimbursement for border expenses, saying the governor had met with federal officials and that the state would seek the full amount. Members expressed skepticism about relying on that reimbursement and asked what would be cut if it does not materialize. Education and health and human services were also discussed. The governor’s budget includes K-12 funding, Prop. 123-related school facility bonding, and a proposal to shift some school facilities funding to bond financing, which several members criticized as inappropriate for short-term maintenance needs. The committee also reviewed AHCCCS/Medicaid costs, Division of Developmental Disabilities funding, and the expected impacts of federal HR1 changes on eligibility, provider funding, and rural hospitals. No votes were taken during the hearing, and the chair repeatedly limited debate and directed members to keep questions brief while the presentation continued.

Transcript Highlights:

• If a camp is far away from any water, floodplains are a good place to start.
• You're implementing strategies that slow the water, spread the water, and allow it to sink into the ground
• . soaking up so much more of that water that it’s not all turning into a flood.
• These low water crossings.
• Of water. At some point, I've got to move that water again because it's not going to be used there.

Bills: HB2 , HB1 , HB18 , HB19 , HB20 , HB1 , HB 2 , HB18 , HB19 , HB20

Committee: House Disaster Preparedness & Flooding, Select

Keywords: emergency communication, interoperability, grant program, first responders, state council, disaster response, emergency management, mass fatality, justices of the peace, training programs, emergency manager license, volunteer management, justice of the peace training, criminal history checks, state health services, broadband, public safety, disaster preparedness, funding, flood disaster plan

Transcript Highlights:

• Like, is every city and county in a water district, is it free for them to have them?
• Their water system overflowed last year, and it wasn't a glitch.
• Dunmore... ...talked about the water system issues that happen in Waco.
• We have water compacts. Yes.
• The Rio Grande water compact. ...water comes from Colorado all the way down. We have agreements.

Bills: HB146 , HB150 , HB1500 , HB1545 , HB1562 , HB2067 , HB2520 , HB2818 , HB3214 , HB3250 , HB3466 , HB3512 , HB3623 , HB4063 , HB4395 , HB4464 , HB4668 , HB4690 , HB5331 , HB3833 , HB146 , HB150

Committee: Senate Business & Commerce

Keywords: HB 146, Texas Capitol, State Capitol, State Preservation Board, Congress Avenue, Travis County, traffic lanes, lane closure, road closure, municipal authority, local control, Capitol area, downtown Austin, special events, construction traffic plan, pedestrian safety, public works, transportation policy, government code chapter 443, cybersecurity

Transcript Highlights:

• BY RAISING PUT OTHERS AT RISK AND PROTECTS EVERYONE ON THE WATER BY RAISING THE STANDARD OR WHAT IT
• SYSTEM THAT DOES NOT RELATE TO WATER PURITY.
• IT IS A VIOLATION OF OUR MEDICAL FREEDOM TO FLOOR AT EIGHT THE WATER.
• WATER UTILITIES ARE NOT SOCIAL WELFARE, THEY ARE NOT SOCIAL MEDICAL WELFARE ENTITIES.
• ARE CALORIES THE NEW CULTURE WAR, IS YOUR WATER TOO WOKE?

Keywords: 999, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• these projects where the neighbors call us and they're in dire straits, so to speak, with some of the water
• I'm presuming it's related to fire hydrants that don't have water in them, but I don't know that for
• The remaining balance is held by DNREC, but must be directed toward nutrient management and water quality
• Section 76 says DNREC must provide waterway management of state waters, including design depths, channel
• Section 83 for the Clean Water Initiative stipulates that a portion of the Clean Water State Revolving

Committee: Joint Capital Improvement

Summary: The committee met for a fiscal year 2027 capital budget writing session with all 12 members present. It first reviewed and approved the DNREC Resource Conservation and Development drainage project list, which would add projects across New Castle, Kent, and Sussex counties and bring the total eligible projects to 1,561. Members offered personal remarks thanking retiring conservation district staff, especially Kevin Donnelly, for years of work on drainage and water issues. The committee then reviewed DelDOT Rule 12 changes, including annual date updates and a reduction in the inflation markup applied to older estimates, and approved the rule as amended. The committee next adopted DelDOT Appendix A and the FY27 paving and rehabilitation list, including the subdivision street management fund and various road resurfacing projects. DelDOT explained that paving projects are for state-of-good-repair work and that major changes from corridor studies would be handled separately. The committee also approved DelDOT epilogue changes, including updates to authorization amounts, a $25 million increase for toll infrastructure work, changes to subdivision street paving language, and an increase in the subdivision street paving management fund to $30 million. Several sections were placed on hold for later updates. The committee then moved through boilerplate epilogue sections in the bond bill, approving a wide range of provisions affecting conservation districts, housing, economic development, corrections, DNREC, public safety, transportation, agriculture, fire prevention, education, and other agencies. Many sections were adopted in groups, while some were held for later revisions or deleted as no longer needed. The session included updates to school capital rules, transportation restrictions and reporting requirements, DNREC conservation and land-use provisions, and funding and administrative authorities across multiple agencies. The committee broke for lunch after approving the education-related sections through 147, with additional sections still pending.

Transcript Highlights:

• pathway for so many students in the area and around the state, especially the nursing program, the water
• But also, I wanted to speak specifically about the water program.
• Well, as we all know, Florida is a peninsula surrounded by water.
• Besides the, you know, algae situation that comes and goes based on environmental issues, drinking water
• And if we can't supply clean drinking water and, you know, clean water for our recreational and our,

Committee: Senate Appropriations Committee on Higher Education

Summary: The Senate Appropriations Committee on Higher Education opened by noting it would not present its budget that day, explaining the budget rollout would be delayed until the following week to align with House partners and Senate notice requirements. After a roll call confirmed a quorum, the chair explained that because of the large number of gubernatorial appointments, the committee would hear only a subset individually and consider reappointments in a block unless members requested otherwise. The committee then heard testimony from appointees and reappointees to several university boards. Florida A&M University nominees Roderick Harris, Victor Young, and Rafael Vasquez emphasized service to their alma mater, support for leadership, student success, entrepreneurship, scholarships, and maintaining FAMU’s status as a leading HBCU. Florida Atlantic University appointees Linda Stock and Thomas Mersh highlighted FAU’s growth, R1 research designation, quantum computing, servant leadership, entrepreneurship, and expanded research opportunities. University of Central Florida reappointee Alex Martins focused on UCF’s preeminence, workforce needs, nursing and engineering, and keeping graduates in Florida. Florida Gulf Coast University nominees James Gris-Mall, Douglas Van Orte, Robert Rommel, Sarah Partial Perry, and reappointee Joseph Fogg discussed workforce development, affordability, student success, water and environmental programs, business and entrepreneurship, nursing outcomes, and FGCU’s regional role. University of South Florida reappointee Rogan Donnelly cited USF’s AAU status, research growth, and focus on student success, health care, cybersecurity, and AI. Committee members generally praised each nominee’s background and the universities’ achievements. At the end of the hearing, the committee approved all nominees in a single block vote for confirmation and then adjourned.

Transcript Highlights:

• IF I CAN TAKE THE TIME TO STUDY LEVELS OF FLUORIDE, THE OTHER CHEMICALS AND WATER AN IMPORTANT FLUORIDE
• AND VERY MUCH AGAINST THE MASSIVE PREEMPTION OF TAKING FLUORIDE OUT OF WATER WHEN CERTAIN COMMUNITIES
• THE SO FAR TOXIC DOSE WOULD DRINK 128 GALLONS OF WATER IN ONE SITTING WHICH IS A PHYSICAL IMPOSSIBILITY
• OUR WATER SYSTEM AND WHETHER IT'S RIGHT OR WRONG.
• USING FLUORIDE IN THE WATER SYSTEM MAY BE UNNECESSARY. WE ARE HERE TO HYDRATE, NOT MEDICATE.

Keywords: 998, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Recommendations include maintaining the $19.9 million in GR and general revenue-dedicated Water Resource
• commitment to the PUC and ensuring we have the resources to support Texas's growing electricity and water
• With the volume of electric and water cases OPUC is involved in, it would have to retain multiple experts
• You remember the troubled waters that these agencies or these boards came out of.
• I want to make sure we don't get back into those troubled waters again.

Bills: SB1

Committee: Senate Finance

Keywords: appropriations, budget, state funding, education, healthcare, infrastructure

Summary: The Senate Finance Committee met to review Article 8, regulatory agencies, and began Article 9, general provisions, before recessing for floor action. The committee first heard budget presentations from the Public Utility Commission (PUC) and the Office of Public Utility Counsel (OPUC). The PUC budget recommendation was about $5.07 billion in all funds, including an additional $5 billion for the Texas Energy Fund, plus funding for staffing and technology needs tied to contested cases, infrastructure resiliency, and outage mapping. PUC witnesses emphasized the agency’s growing workload, the need for more staff and modern systems, and oversight of the Texas Energy Fund. OPUC’s recommendation was about $6.9 million, with a reduction in authorized FTEs to better match actual staffing; the agency requested additional funding for salaries, expert witnesses, and budget flexibility, and members highlighted OPUC’s role representing residential and small commercial consumers in utility proceedings. The committee then heard from the Behavioral Health Executive Council (BHEC), whose recommendation was just over $11.2 million. BHEC’s main requests included funding to fill vacant positions, money for continuous National Practitioner Data Bank queries, and a proposed Texas-owned psychology licensing exam in response to concerns about changes to the national exam. Agency leaders also discussed a rider request that would shift responsibility for certain judgments or settlements to the comptroller. Members asked about prior complaint backlogs, and BHEC said those backlogs had been cleared. The Board of Chiropractic Examiners followed, with a recommendation of just under $2.4 million; the board sought support for staffing, training, broadband, and salary retention, and described its work regulating chiropractors and workers’ compensation-related doctors. The Board of Dental Examiners was the last agency heard before the committee recessed. Its recommendation was just under $10 million, and it requested a 10% salary increase for eligible staff, three additional licensing staff, one staff member to handle required background checks, an additional attorney, and an executive director salary adjustment. Dental board witnesses said licensure growth, increased complaints, and low salaries were straining licensing and enforcement operations, even though the agency reported strong performance and high case completion rates. The chair ended the hearing early because the Senate had to return to the floor, and the committee remained in recess.