Bills: HB6 , HB27 , HB 123 , HB210 , HB213 , HB222 , HB610 , HB 1085 , HB1481 , HB6 , HB27 , HB123 , HB210 , HB213 , HB222

Committee: House Public Education

Keywords: mental health, telehealth, public schools, discipline management, behavioral interventions, financial literacy, high school education, curriculum requirements, economics, personal finance, HB 123, kindergarten readiness, early literacy, early numeracy, reading screening, math screening, foundational literacy, foundational numeracy, dyslexia screening, reading intervention

Transcript Highlights:

• Flood. Evacuate. Wildfire. Really? Wildfire? Flood.
• Flash flooding and river flooding are identified in the plans as hazards for Mason County, with impact
• So some of it was river flooding. Some of it was flash flooding.
• So some of it was river flooding. Some of it was flash flooding.
• Flood.

Summary: The joint Senate and House disaster preparedness and flooding hearing opened with quorum calls, prayer, testimony time limits, and remarks from legislative leaders emphasizing decorum, respect, and the goal of learning from the July 4 flood to prevent future loss of life. Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick and Speaker Dustin Burrows said the special session and hearings were intended to hear directly from local officials and residents, and that the state would pursue immediate and longer-term legislation and continue working beyond the current session. The committee then heard invited testimony from Kerr County, Kerrville, Kendall County, Real County, and the Upper Guadalupe River Authority, followed by member questions. Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly, Sheriff Larry Leitha, and emergency management coordinator William B. Thomas described the flood as a sudden, unprecedented event that overwhelmed local systems before many officials or residents understood the danger. They said the county received multiple National Weather Service and IPAWS alerts, but the rain fell in remote upstream areas with limited gauges, and the flood rose too quickly for normal response. They detailed the emergency response, including dispatchers handling heavy call volumes, deputies and volunteer firefighters conducting rescues, and state and federal partners assisting. County officials said 108 people died, including 37 children, and two remained missing. They called for better real-time flood detection, stronger rural emergency management resources, improved broadband and cell coverage, and more funding for swift-water rescue and warning systems. Kerrville Mayor Joe Herring and City Manager Dalton Rice said the city had floodplain rules, emergency plans, and prior preparedness efforts, but the event exposed gaps in communications and regional warning capacity. They urged the Legislature to fund a flood warning system, whether sirens, automated alerts, or a hybrid, and asked for support for predictive weather modeling, broadband expansion, a hazard mitigation fund, and disaster recovery resources. The Upper Guadalupe River Authority said it had long funded gauges and pursued flood-warning and mitigation projects, including a new software-based flood prediction system and possible retention dams, and planned to dedicate reserve funds to feasibility studies and infrastructure improvements. Kendall County Judge Shane Stolarczyk said his county’s emergency action plan and early alerts helped prevent deaths there, and he recommended easier access to alerting tools, a river-wide warning system, simpler grant applications, and regional coordination. Real County Judge Bella Rubio said rural counties face major challenges because of limited cell service, broadband, staffing, and funding, especially for camps and visitors along the Frio and Nueces rivers, and argued that reliable alert systems should be treated as a necessity, not a luxury. Members asked about the timeline of the flood, low-water crossings, communications failures, sirens, bridges, and funding, and several witnesses said the key lessons were better communications, better warning systems, and more investment in rural flood mitigation and emergency response.

Transcript Highlights:

• And these are not in the Ice Age flood deposits.
• are only moderately hazardous.
• These products are still hazardous.
• Household hazardous waste is not a...
• At the end of the day, hazardous waste is often hazardous because of its function, like fuels, fireworks

Committee: House Environment & Energy

Keywords: 904, all

Transcript Highlights:

• We're having flooding back to back.
• Um and um because of that floods.
• Um so we thinking about flood debris.
• </c><01:57:32.000><c> and</c> cleaning up um after a flood and cleaning up um after a flood and sometimes
• </c> getting worse flooding downstream. getting worse flooding downstream.

Keywords: 958, all

Summary: The meeting began with roll call, adoption of the minutes, and brief remarks, including birthday recognition for Representative Maseroni and a moment of reflection for a soldier who died during training at Fort Knox. The committee then heard a presentation from Tony Hatton, commissioner of the Department for Environmental Protection and acting director of the Kentucky Division of Water, with Amanda Lefer, deputy commissioner, on the state’s water and wastewater programs and planning. Hatton described Kentucky’s water resources and the Division of Water’s responsibilities, including watershed and nonpoint source work, KPDES discharge permitting, PFAS response, engineering review of water infrastructure, inspections, public outreach, and sampling. He said Kentucky has 428 public water systems, 263 water treatment plants, about 1.9 million service connections, and nearly 97% of the population has access to municipally treated water. He also noted that the state has 43 systems receiving awards for EPA areawide optimization and emphasized operator training, regionalization, and use of GIS mapping and Kentucky Infrastructure Authority data to support planning and funding decisions. Members raised concerns about aging infrastructure, water loss, staffing shortages, and wastewater problems in local systems. Representative Blandon described severe failures in a city system, including major water loss and sewer backups, and asked whether the state could intervene; Hatton said the division inspects treatment facilities and provides compliance assistance but is not authorized to manage delivery systems, though third-party help and emergency funding can be used in some cases. Senator Smith and others shared similar experiences with line loss and system failures, while Hatton pointed to regionalization and funding support as the main tools available. The discussion also highlighted PFAS as an emerging issue, with Hatton saying the department is working with systems to meet anticipated federal requirements by 2029.

Transcript Highlights:

• NOT ONLY IS THERE A FIRE HAZARD IN OUR BIG PILES BUT THESE BATTERIES GET INTO THE STREAM AND IT WILL
• BUT WE ALSO WERE ABLE TO IDENTIFY SOME KEY AREAS WHERE THE FLOODING COMPOUNDED THE SITUATION AND ONE
• THE INTENT IS EXACTLY WHAT I WENT FOR, WE ARE NOT AGAINST FLOODING AT ALL. FLOODING IS VERY BAD.
• THE FLOODING IS REALLY ONE OF THE BIGGEST IMPACTS AND I CAN TELL YOU AS INTERESTINGLY ENOUGH TODAY IS
• NATIONAL GUARD DAY AND FLOODING IS SOMETHING WE DO AND SOMETHING WE HAVE TO CERTAINLY PERFECT IF NOT

Keywords: 999, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• In Whatcom County, many of the people whose homes were damaged in those floods...
• Many of the people whose homes were damaged in those floods had only recently recovered from flooding
• Many of the people whose homes were damaged in those floods had only recently recovered from flooding
• have gone through with floods.
• My brother-in-law and sister-in-law got hit in a flood one year.

Bills: SB5994 , SB6244

Committee: House Finance

Keywords: timber tax, school funding, levy failure, tax distribution, education funding, tax exemption, agriculture, hazardous substances, crop protection, warehousing, 904, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Every additional degree of warming will intensify and multiply concurrent hazards.
• And I would actually argue that every tenth of a degree matters in terms of hazards.
• They've adopted climate-resilient plans because they are already dealing with flooding.
• The water, natural flow to our basin, flooded our neighborhood when those are emptied out.
• And that's when you run into some flooding issue. I'm going to defer my time.

Committee: Senate Environment and Natural Resources

Keywords: 999, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• ALL HAZARD MANAGEMENT TEAMS ARE GEARED TO HANDLE WHATEVER YOUR PROBLEM SET IS.
• TODAY HAVE INDIVIDUALS DEPLOYED IN ARIZONA FOR A FLOODING EVENT WHERE THEY ASKED FOR THREE SPECIFIC
• KENTUCKY FLOODING WE DID THREE MISSIONS THERE AND DEPLOYED PERSONNEL.
• TEXAS FLOODING AS I MENTIONED WE JUST GOT BACK FROM THERE, WE FINISHED UP THAT MISSION.
• AT NEARLY THE SAME TIME AS THE TEXAS FLOODING WE HAD TWO MISSIONS THERE WITH AN ESTIMATED 11 PEOPLE

Transcript Highlights:

• . ...rebuilding and infrastructure repair in areas with ongoing flooding.
• going to have floods, but the effect of the floods should be mitigated.
• how do you acquire that property for the pre-flood value?
• Chairman, we will be valuing properties of pre-flood condition.
• I was a fire chief in 2008 when we had the Dolly flood.

Committee: House House Energy, Environment & Natural Resources

Keywords: 996, all

Transcript Highlights:

• dam, significant, low-hazard.
• Goose Pond is a high-hazard dam.
• Milton Three Ponds is another high-hazard dam. Merrymeeting, Jones, and Alton are high-hazard dams.
• Lake Winnipesaukee is a high-hazard dam or soon to be a high-hazard dam once it gets reclassified.
• That is a low-hazard dam.

Keywords: 928, house, all

Summary: The hearing reconvened with testimony from several agencies on their capital budget requests. The Department of Environmental Services requested a little over $38 million, with major emphasis on dam repairs and design work for aging state-owned dams, including a $5.25 million match for possible FEMA BRIC funding at Pawtuckaway/Tuckaway and other projects such as Milton Three Ponds, Murphy Dam, and Lakeport Gates. DES also requested funding for state revolving loan fund matches, a Superfund match for the Savage Well site, IT and air-monitoring upgrades, and a new $750,000 cybersecurity request for water and wastewater systems. Committee members asked about FEMA eligibility, the distinction between design and construction money, and the timing and risk of banking funds if federal grants do not materialize. The University System of New Hampshire requested $20 million in state support, primarily $15 million for a major Diamond Library renovation at UNH to create a student support hub and reduce/repurpose collection space, plus $2.5 million each for deferred maintenance at Plymouth State and Keene State. The Community College System requested about $16.6 million across seven projects, led by critical maintenance, campus safety/security upgrades, IT infrastructure, parking and site improvements, HVAC replacement at White Mountains Community College in Littleton, a building management/energy system, and modernization of NHTI’s dental clinic and radiology spaces. The Department of Education requested $29.5 million, including a $4.9 million internal management platform to replace paper-based and siloed systems, plus career and technical education capital projects; Milford’s CTE project was described as being revised after repeated failed bond votes, while ConVal said its revised project would focus on modernizing existing CTE space and adding a security vestibule. Fish and Game requested $1.075 million for three facilities: Sewall Falls in Concord, the Lancaster Armory, and the Bunker Lane Barn in Durham, focusing on structural repairs, security, reconfiguration, and in one case replacement of a failing barn with a new 40-by-60 building. The department also said hatchery work is ongoing but that it is taking a cautious approach because of the planned New Hampton Hatchery and future capital needs. The Department of Natural and Cultural Resources requested $9.26 million for eight projects, including campground electrical upgrades at Ellacoya and Lake Francis, White Lake water system replacement, Mount Washington fuel tank and safety work, Odiorne Point visitor center work funded through parks revenue, roofing and parking lot repairs, Fox Forest office safety upgrades, and historic site repairs at White Island and Fort Constitution. Members asked about revenue-based capital, the stability of the parks fund, and flexibility in choosing projects as bids come in. The Department of Transportation began its presentation at the end of the transcript, but its detailed requests were not yet discussed.

Transcript Highlights:

• And this is something that is typical in high-hazard industries, the nuclear industry, offshore oil,
• You know, maybe it's not earthquakes, maybe it's fires, maybe it's not fires, maybe it's floods, but
• You may not have the earthquake, but you may have the flood.
• You may not have the earthquake, but you may have the flood.
• But I will say most of these organizations that deal with climate hazards are all facing...

Committee: Senate Energy, Utilities and Communications

Keywords: 987, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• The governor's plan includes $10 million for dam safety repair and $9 million for flood hazard mitigation
• ,</c><00:23:56.159><c> dam</c> flood head, you know, dam flood head, you know, dam roads<00:23:58.640
• One is a project's happening and so you're interacting with hazardous materials.
• One is a project's happening and so you're interacting with hazardous materials.
• </c> interacting with um hazardous materials. interacting with um hazardous materials.

Committee: House Capital Investment

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• Um, as we've seen with the floods, as we've seen with the fires, as we've seen with tornadoes, as we've
• Um, as we've seen with the<00:04:43.040><c> floods,</c><00:04:44.160><c> as</c><00:04:44.400><c> we've
• I appreciate the bill being brought by the sponsor, but had a question in the aftermath of the flood
• </c> hires them because um hazardous hires them because um hazardous hazardous<00:19:45.600><c> duty<
• duty retirement is about 35% hazardous duty retirement is about 35% of<00:19:48.960><c> pay.

Committee: Senate Veterans, Military Affairs, & Public Protection

Keywords: 958, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Resources asset preservation, $33 million for improving accessibility to state parks; $1 million for flood
• hazard program; $9 million for reforestation; $1 million. columns.
• hazard program, $9 million; for reforestation, $1 million.
• </c><00:02:02.960><c> hazard</c><00:02:03.439><c> program,</c><00:02:04.079><c> 9</c><00:02:04.520><c
• > million</c><00:02:05.520><c> for</c> for flood hazard program, 9 million for for flood hazard program

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> storage tanks, landfills, and hazardous storage tanks, landfills, and hazardous waste<01:02:36.640
• So, maybe I should have said coal had done this flood to get them in there.
• </c><01:07:39.640><c> to</c> have said coal had done this flood to have said coal had done this flood
• </c><01:07:45.960><c> We</c> We saw what happened in the flood.
• We We saw what happened in the flood.

Keywords: Meeting Start 00:00:00 Attendance Roll Call 00:01:28 Introduction of Guests 00:02:08 American Electric Power and Kentucky Power Presentation 00:03:31 SB 89 Discussion 00:53:55 SB 89 Roll Call Vote 01:07:46, 958, all

Summary: The committee met for an initial natural resources hearing with a quorum present and introductory housekeeping, including prayer, roll call, and recognition of guests. Chair Smith outlined ground rules for questions and then invited Kentucky Power and American Electric Power representatives to the table to discuss a proposed plan involving the Mitchell Power Plant and future generation needs in Eastern Kentucky. Witnesses Cindy Wiseman, Alex Vaughn, and AEP CEO Bill Fehrman said the company’s goals are to stabilize and lower rates, reduce rate volatility, and expand generation in the Commonwealth. They explained that Kentucky Power seeks legislative authority to securitize its 50% interest in the Mitchell coal plant, describing securitization as a refinancing mechanism that would lower annual plant costs by about $34 million and help offset roughly one-third of the expected cost of adding new generation in Kentucky. They emphasized that the proposal is not intended to close Mitchell, and said Kentucky Power currently has no plan to divest its interest; the company still needs the plant to serve customers while it pursues additional dispatchable generation in Kentucky. Members pressed the witnesses on the plant’s book value versus fair market value, whether the Mitchell interest had ever been assigned a nominal value, how any divestiture proceeds would be handled, whether Kentucky Power owns Wheeling Power, and how long Mitchell can continue operating. The company said it values Mitchell at net book value for accounting purposes, not fair market value, and explained that Wheeling Power is a separate AEP affiliate and that West Virginia affiliates have already proposed securitization of their share. Witnesses said Kentucky Power’s interest cannot technically operate past 2028 without additional environmental control investment, while the West Virginia side is depreciating through 2040. They also described the financing timeline, saying securitization would require enactment of legislation, a PSC financing order, bond issuance, and then parallel work to acquire or build new generation, with any reinvestment terms to be addressed through the regulatory process.

Transcript Highlights:

• The atmospheric river-driven flooding at the end of last year devastated a lot of communities around
• In Whatcom County, many of the people whose homes were damaged in those floods...
• Many of the people whose homes were damaged in those floods had only recently recovered from flooding
• have gone through with floods.
• My brother-in-law and sister-in-law got hit in a flood one year.

Summary: House Finance met in executive session on March 2 and reviewed a series of tax and property-tax bills. Staff described measures including removing acreage limits for nonprofit public assembly hall property tax exemptions (ESSB 5252), extending timber tax distributions to certain school districts (SB 5994), expanding housing-related local sales tax uses (SB 6027), updating Department of Revenue tax administration provisions (ESSB 6113), consolidating the state property tax levy and expanding senior/disabled exemptions (ESSB 6162), extending disaster-related property tax relief (SB 6343), rolling back 2025 estate tax changes (SB 6347), adding tribes to the Conservation Futures Program (SB 6097), and extending a hazardous substance tax exemption for agricultural crop protection products (SB 6244). Members also discussed several amendments, including changes to rental assistance, library and school tax treatment, veterans’ income definitions and application assistance, estate-tax exemption and CPI language, and reporting requirements for conservation futures land acquisitions. The committee adopted some amendments and rejected others. HRA 440 was adopted to allow rental assistance as an eligible use of the local sales tax revenue for all jurisdictions rather than only Snohomish County. On ESSB 6113, the committee adopted the striking amendment H-3718.2 but rejected amendments to exempt investigative services, live presentations for schools and nonprofits, and library-related exemptions. On ESSB 6162, amendments to modernize veterans’ benefit language, require DOR application assistance, and lower the levy rate were all rejected. On SB 6347, the committee adopted an amendment restoring the estate tax exclusion amount to 2.193 million and changing the CPI reference, while the broader bill was later reported out as amended. On SB 6097, an amendment requiring county reporting on conservation futures acquisitions was rejected. The committee then voted to report several bills out with do pass recommendations: ESSB 5252, SB 5994, ESSB 6027 as amended, ESSB 6113 as amended, ESSB 6162, SB 6343, SB 6097, and SB 6244. SB 6347 was reported out with a do pass as amended recommendation after the adopted amendment. Members generally framed the bills as providing tax relief, clarifying tax administration, supporting housing and schools, or extending existing exemptions, while some members raised concerns about fiscal impact, tax burden shifts, and the need for more accountability or broader policy changes. The meeting concluded with thanks to staff and adjournment.

Transcript Highlights:

• What is the purpose of floodplain that is perpetually flooded?
• It is not me or the proponents saying this dam is a high hazard, it is the feds, the US Army Corps of
• They have designated it as a high hazard dam. When built it had a 50-year lifespan.
• It doesn't operate to do any flood control, it doesn't generate electricity.
• There is no alarm system to warn downstream communities in the event of a flood, and if it fails, your

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> between fixing roads or building flood between fixing roads or building flood defenses. defenses
• </c> cold, and flooding. cold, and flooding.
• </c><00:09:22.920><c> will</c> We know that every year flooding will We know that every year flooding
• Parks and roads flood, forcing temporary closure of our public infrastructure.
• </c><00:18:00.840><c> and</c> storms that are causing floods and storms that are causing floods and expensive

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Summary: Rep. Athena Hollins and Sen. Ann Johnson Stewart introduced Minnesota’s proposed climate superfund bill, describing it as a way to make major historical greenhouse gas polluters help pay for climate adaptation and infrastructure repair. They said the bill would target large fossil fuel corporations with significant emissions and use the revenue for projects such as stormwater upgrades, bridge and roof protection, erosion control, drinking water protection, cooling cities, and other resilience work. Both lawmakers framed the proposal as a matter of accountability and fairness, arguing that Minnesotans should not keep paying for damage caused by companies that profited from fossil fuel pollution. Several supporters testified in favor of the bill, including St. Paul City Council Vice President Nyang Kheimey, former legislator and medical student Hunter Cantrell, Unidos Minnesota volunteer Bonnie Becol, and 100% Minnesota’s Aurora Vautrin. They emphasized local climate impacts such as flooding, wildfire smoke, extreme heat, emerald ash borer damage, asthma, and infrastructure failures, and said the costs are increasingly falling on taxpayers, local governments, and vulnerable communities. Kheimey highlighted municipal needs and St. Paul’s own climate investments, while Cantrell focused on environmental racism and health harms, and Becol and Vautrin stressed species loss, community recovery costs, and the burden on residents. In the question-and-answer portion, Hollins and Johnson Stewart explained that the bill would apply to fossil fuel corporations with at least 1 billion metric tons of carbon emissions and a nexus to Minnesota, not local utilities. They said the State Auditor’s office would determine the assessments owed by companies, while the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency would hold the fund and administer grants. They also said they were looking to models in Vermont and New York and hoped the proposal could attract bipartisan support because it is tied to affordability and shifting costs away from taxpayers and onto polluters. No vote or formal committee action was taken in the transcript, and the event ended with the sponsors opening the bill to questions.

Transcript Highlights:

• As you know, Californians live with floods, fires, earthquakes, atmospheric storms, and more natural
• There are three zones based on increasing fire hazard, medium, high, and very high.
• It said earthquakes, floods, all sorts of things, but no one says landslides.
• You know the list the other items include things like air pollution, fire, flood, storm. Yeah, so.
• These things are already eroding and now it's tied to a flood made it, sped up the process.

Committee: House Emergency Management

Keywords: 988, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• People buy flood insurance because they have to buy flood insurance.
• People buy flood insurance because they have to buy flood insurance.
• zones actually are not; they underpredict hazard in very significant ways.
• For those that are on the coast, against sea level rise, coastal flooding, inland flooding.
• If you look at South L.A., that's prime for the next massive flood, right?

Committee: Senate Insurance

Keywords: 987, senate, all