Transcript Highlights:

• Many of us are former students of the various school districts we now serve.
• Create a road map for us and each one of us is carrying bills that speaks to this reparation task force
• Fentron executive director of computer director of computer using you .
• vetoed and, you know, it's not what any of us want to see.
• Bonta I just again just want to kind of walk us through what in practice some of this just like I'm hyper

Committee: House Education

Transcript Highlights:

• of artificial for the responsible, secure and ethical use of artificial intelligence.
• Thank you very much for having us here to each of you.
• The general, if you look for 18 of us, we've got that down to less than 10 where we are is all of us
• And so and that's true of all of us. I have the advantage of being in a college town.
• So it actually is a useful use that position. And that was my understanding of that.

Transcript Highlights:

• They came in and redid a road for us recently. Tens of thousands of dollars they've given to us.
• Tens of redid a road for us recently.
• </c><00:18:57.760><c> us</c> special place and I think both of us special place and I think both of us
• Specifically, we use this definition of an adult.
• So we look at all four of those pieces to say that this person meets that definition of adult for us

Summary: The Interim Joint Committee on Families and Children opened its first meeting with roll call and a reminder about the number of children in out-of-home care with active placements, which the chair said was 8,641 as of June 1, 2025. The committee then heard a presentation from the Center for Courageous Kids, a donor-funded camp in Scottville that serves children with lifelong illnesses and disabilities at no charge. Representatives described the camp’s year-round family retreats and summer sessions, its medically safe and inclusive model, and examples of campers gaining confidence and independence. They said the camp has served more than 43,000 campers from Kentucky, other states, and other countries, and that it is seeking legislative support for two capital projects: a new art barn and a medical lodge, with a combined request of $3.2 million. Members praised the program and asked about awareness, staffing, volunteer recruitment, accreditation, and how the projects would expand capacity; the camp said the medical lodge would help increase volunteer housing and allow future growth beyond its current summer cap of 128 campers per session. The committee then moved to adult protective services and state guardianship programs. Jessica Wayne, director of the Division of Guardianship, and Cliff Bryant of DCBS explained the legal framework for guardianship and conservatorship, including state guardianship as a last-resort option when no family member or private entity is available or appropriate. They outlined the court petition process, emergency appointments, and the distinction between full and limited guardianship or conservatorship. They emphasized that guardianship is based on legal incapacity to make decisions, not simply on a medical disability diagnosis, and noted that state guardianship can be arranged for some 17-year-olds aging out of youth services. The presenters said the state currently serves 4,645 individuals under guardianship, with most cases involving developmental intellectual disabilities, supported community living waiver participants, and people in nursing homes or long-term care facilities. They also described the division’s three branches: field services, which handles visits and day-to-day decisions in all 120 counties; a benefits branch that applies for public benefits; and a fiduciary branch that manages funds and pays bills. They reported 89 field workers statewide, an average caseload of 52, and said the agency is hiring to reduce that load. No votes or formal committee actions were taken during the meeting.

Transcript Highlights:

• I think all of us, amendment right.
• And none of us like call to change. And none of us like that. that. that.
• /c><00:37:40.240><c> of</c><00:37:40.320><c> us</c> horse until one of us dies or both of us horse until
• one of us dies or both of us dies. dies. dies.
• </c> forward with us in it, let's be aware of forward with us in it, let's be aware of the<00:45:41.599

Transcript Highlights:

• The Florida Legislature, we don't base our budget off of CPI. It's not required of us.
• And so the decision was made based on a lot of the input of the members, asks of many of us, and again
• And so the decision was made based on a lot of the input of the members, asks of many of us, and again
• It amends one of the metrics used by the Board of Governors in determining the allocation of university
• Many of us have benefited from your quiet leadership.

Transcript Highlights:

• to be telling us is that for every one of those more than 300 risk classes, you would want us to publish
• to be telling us is for every one of those more than 300 risk. telling us is for every one of those
• So it's not new information for us to develop. We're fully aware of all of this.
• This bill, won't it tell us when we're getting dangerously close to using too much of that reserve to
• The second is to protect the long-term health of the system; repeated use of investment earnings...

Summary: The committee first held a public hearing on Senate Bill 6136, which would require Labor and Industries to publish actuarial indicated workers’ compensation rates for each risk class and disclose when rate increases are capped below those indicated levels. The sponsor and supporters from the hospitality, retail, business, and construction sectors said the bill would improve transparency about how rates are set and how reserve funds and investment earnings are used to hold down premiums. L&I testified that the bill would require publication of a large amount of rate-setting information, but said it was already developed in the normal process and that the bill had no fiscal impact. Questions focused on reserve use, advisory committee involvement, and how the actuarial calculations interact with investment returns. The committee then moved to executive session and took action on several bills, adopting substitutes or amendments and advancing bills including SB 5292, 6014, 5972, 5869, 5874, 6058, 6039, 5944, and 6180, with most sent to Rules and SB 5292 sent to Ways and Means. The committee then heard Senate Bill 5847, which would expand injured workers’ access to medical care by allowing treatment outside the L&I provider network when no provider is available nearby, limiting employer steering to specific providers, shortening utilization review timelines, allowing provider deviation from L&I guidelines when medically appropriate, and expanding continued treatment and cancer monitoring. Labor and worker advocates argued the bill would better reflect the Murray decision and reduce delays in care, while L&I and employer groups said the current evidence-based guideline system works for most claims and warned the bill could weaken quality controls, create vague standards, and increase costs. Testimony also raised concerns about the 15-mile access rule, the employer communication restrictions, and the appeal process for provider removal. The sponsor said the goal was to improve individualized care and continue working with stakeholders. Finally, the committee heard Senate Bill 6067, which would change workers’ compensation time-loss calculations so that 100% of the employer-paid health insurance contribution is included in the benefit calculation instead of the current partial inclusion. Supporters said the bill would help injured workers keep health coverage during recovery and reduce pressure to choose between medical care and income, while opponents argued it would not guarantee the money is actually used for health insurance, could be diverted to other uses or attorney fees, and would significantly increase costs for employers and the accident fund. L&I said the bill would require IT and administrative changes and estimated substantial ongoing benefit costs. The hearing ended without further action on SB 6067, and the chair closed the session after public testimony concluded.

Transcript Highlights:

• I think that's an important point for us because of all of what You've presented, and because we know
• You know, I know that, you know, for when I used to work at the University of College of Engineering,
• So that was some of the reauthorization, justifying the Legitimacy of the reauthorization, but you have
• The unit doesn't know; they don't involve us in the process of that request.
• But some of our criteria when they come to us is that we're the kind of bigger funders in a way, a pool

Committee: House House Government, Elections & Indian Affairs

Transcript Highlights:

• brought all of us to this room today.
• TSU students and indeed of all Texas taxpayers are put to good use.
• The LAR that we submitted has a lot of helpful stuff for us.
• So Texas Department of Insurance has a policy of file and use.
• So Texas Department of Insurance has a policy of file and use.

Committee: Senate Nominations

Summary: The Senate Committee on Nominations met with a quorum and first took up pending nominations from an earlier agenda. Members severed Douglas McReecken, nominated to the Texas Tech University System Board of Regents, from the rest of the list and then voted to report the remaining nominees to the full Senate by a 7-0 vote. The committee then voted on the severed nomination itself and reported Douglas McReecken to the full Senate as well, by a 5-2 vote. The committee heard testimony from Brooke Pop, reappointed as chair of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, and later from Commissioner Katarina Gonzalez, also of TCEQ. Questions focused on whether TCEQ rules comply with state law, ex parte restrictions, public transparency, concrete batch plant permitting, MUD approvals, water availability, illegal dams, enforcement, and the agency’s role in local environmental disputes. Both nominees said they follow the law as written, described internal legal review of rules, and emphasized transparency, public outreach, and enforcement; Gonzalez said she had already sent back two rules she believed did not comply with legislation. Members also discussed TCEQ’s authority limits and the need for clearer public communication about what the agency can and cannot regulate. The committee also considered Alethea Sullivan, nominated to the Texas Southern University Board of Regents. Questions centered on TSU’s status as an independent institution, the role of HBCUs amid DEI-related legal changes, and student outcomes. Sullivan said she would focus on ensuring taxpayer and student resources produce valuable credentials and noted concerns from her review of graduation and bar passage rates. The committee then heard from Benjamin Barkley, appointed chief executive and public counsel of the Office of Public Utility Counsel. Barkley said OPUC’s main need is additional funding to recruit and retain attorneys and expert witnesses, reduce turnover, and continue representing residential and small commercial consumers in utility rate cases; he said the office was involved in 73 contested cases and saved Texans $2.2 billion in FY 2024. No final action was taken on the later nominees, and the committee recessed with nominations left pending.

Transcript Highlights:

• Madam Chair, members of the committee, I know all of us now live in the age of technology.
• by the use of force or coercion.
• Have perpetrated, one, by the use of force or coercion that results in personal injury to the victim;
• two, by the use of force or coercion when the perpetrator is aided or abetted by one or more persons
• , by use of force or coercion could mean if you had a boss that hugs you too, then that becomes...

Committee: House House Consumer & Public Affairs

Transcript Highlights:

• The second is for many of us who see these cases.
• used under Brady law to rule you kind of a mental defect.
• All of us Texans want, want us to keep guns out of the hands of those who are bent on evil and doing
• The use of the death penalty also diverts important financial resources that can be used to support law
• Um, our organization advocates against the use of extreme punishment.

Transcript Highlights:

• , what does you as the head of an office indicate to us as an association you would need.
• So it's... ...you as the head of an office indicate to us as an association you would need.
• bill that a lot of us weren't ready to move.
• You can still transact in this space without complying with any of us.
• What this does is it asks LED to use some of the 15 or so funds that they have and create this initiative

Committee: Senate Finance

Summary: The Finance Committee met on May 27, 2026, with six members present and took up a series of House bills, most of them dealing with education funding, criminal justice staffing, transportation, health care access, and economic development. HB 325 was reported favorably after testimony that it would expand TOPS eligibility by allowing dual-enrollment credits to satisfy eligibility criteria and by making part-time students eligible for TOPS Tech, with supporters saying the program has been underused and the change would help working students. HB 719 was amended and reported favorably to increase assistant district attorney positions in various judicial districts; the Louisiana District Attorneys Association said the changes were based on workload data and local input, and members discussed the need to coordinate any expansion with public defender funding. The committee also reported HB 749 favorably, which would move Louisiana’s 529 savings accounts to a more secure online platform after a cyber incident, and HB 1028 favorably, which concerns transportation reimbursement for providers and was described as already subject to appropriation. Several bills focused on food access and local economic development. HB 1222, the Grocery Initiative Act, was reported favorably to let LED use existing grant resources to map food deserts and develop a program, with members noting it could return for funding later if needed. HB 1194 was amended and reported favorably to define food deserts and direct the LSU AgCenter and the Department of Agriculture and Forestry to identify and map them, with authors emphasizing it was a study and not a government-run grocery program. HB 755, which would create IDIQ contracting for architects and engineers on smaller state projects, was reported favorably with no fiscal impact. HB 823, a local diversion pilot for Orleans Parish, was also reported favorably after the fiscal note was revised to remove state impact and reflect only local costs. The committee spent substantial time on HB 488, a proposal from Plaquemines Parish to use severance-tax revenue to help buy out a private toll concession on the parish’s bridge. The author and local officials described severe toll burdens, economic harm to local businesses, and what they called an unfair contract, but members noted the bill was not funded and ultimately deferred it without a motion. HB 797, the Bayou Gold/Louisiana Sound Money Act, was amended to make implementation subject to appropriation and then reported favorably. The committee also took up HB 198, which would raise Medicaid reimbursement for ambulatory surgery centers for certain outpatient procedures; after extensive discussion about fiscal notes, access to care, and potential long-term savings, the bill was amended to narrow its scope and make implementation subject to appropriation, then reported favorably as amended. The meeting ended with the chair noting it would be the committee’s last meeting and asking members to spread the word.

Transcript Highlights:

• IF YOU LIVE IN A BUILDING FOR A YEAR YOU HAVE ENJOYED ONE YEAR OF USEFUL LIFE OF ALL OF THE SYSTEMS OF
• ONE OF THE OTHER ISSUES ON THE SERS REPORT IS THE ADDITION TO THE CALCULATION USED.
• IN ASSOCIATIONS THAT USE THEM HAVE FEWER SPECIAL ASSESSMENTS, MORE PREDICTABILITY, ALL OF THAT.
• I THINK AS WE MENTIONED BEFORE WE THOUGHT THERE'S NO WAY THE 15 OF US WILL GET THIS DONE IN TIME BUT
• IF SOMETHING HAS A USEFUL LIFE OF 8 TO 10 YEARS THEN MAYBE THEY CAN SIT ON THAT ONE AND ADDRESS THE BIGGER

Transcript Highlights:

• ... ...combined reporting puts us at risk of masses of losses if things go south.
• None of us have beaches, none of us have amusement parks.
• The use of tax dollars for emergency reasons.
• These are issues many of us experienced growing up.
• So not all parents parent like many of us do.

Bills: HB 118 , HB 388 , HB 114 , HB 205 , HB 2789 , HB 2791 , HB 499 , HB 2960 , HB 3163 , HB 3135 , HB 2427 , HB 1618 , HB 1672 , HB 1722 , HB 1338 , HB 787 , HB 2618 , HB 879 , HB 1126 , HB 4134 , HB 3513 , HB 718 , HB 1536 , HB 1445 , HB 1640 , HB 1893 , HB 1734 , HB 3229 , HB 3306 , HB 1276 , HB 3272 , HB 3276 , HB 3516 , HB 4145 , HB 1585 , HB 4810 , HB 2989 , HB 2558 , HB 3014 , HB 2742 , HB 1695 , HB 29 , HB 125 , HB 145 , HB 171 , HB 255 , HB 50 , HB 363 , HB 116 , HB 491 , HB 1495 , HB 368 , HB 1285 , HB 1905 , HB 2002 , HB 917 , HB 2723 , HB 2067 , HB 1238 , HB 745 , HB 1188 , HB 1606 , HB 2003 , HB 2147 , HB 2355 , HB 2546 , HB 2495 , HB 2818 , HB 2249 , HB 3228 , HB 3240 , HB 1507 , HB 658 , HB 1748 , HB 1851 , HB 1922 , HB 2798 , HB 107 , HB 1587 , HB 3684 , HB 118 , HB 388 , HB 114 , HB 205 , HB 2789 , HB 2791 , HB 499 , HB 2960 , HB 3163 , HB 3135 , HB 2427 , HB 1618 , HB 1672 , HB 1722 , HB 1338 , HB 787 , HB 2618 , HB 879 , HB 1126 , HB 4134 , HB 3513 , HB 718 , HB 1536 , HB 1445 , HB 1640 , HB 1893 , HB 1734 , HB 3229 , HB 3306 , HB 1276 , HB 3272 , HB 3276 , HB 3516 , HB 4145 , HB 1585 , HB 4810 , HB 2989 , HB 2558 , HB 3014 , HB 2742 , HB 1695 , HB 609 , HB 630 , HB 420 , HB 767 , HB 1708 , HB 1404 , HB 2457 , HB 140 , HB 227 , HB 913 , HB 2198 , HB 2763 , HB 1261 , HB 1135 , HB 1318 , HB 2358 , HB 2765 , HB 2735 , HB 3307 , HB 1242 , HB 2842 , HB 333 , HB 201 , HB 694 , HB 2415 , HB 155 , HB 272 , HB 405 , HB 519 , HB 1136 , HB 1275 , HB 1437 , HB 1532 , HB 1675 , HB 1868 , HB 1888 , HB 1990 , HB 2286 , HB 2523 , HB 3129 , HB 3251 , HB 3354 , HB 3479 , HB 3803 , HB 3804 , HB 3805 , HB 3806 , HB 3887 , HB 4163 , HB 4238 , HB 1240 , HB 1842 , HB 2029 , HB 2622 , HB 3255 , HB 654 , HB 4643 , HB 4945 , HB 3611 , HB 3724 , HB 3623 , HB 3810 , HB 4127 , HCR 78 , HCR 12 , SB 767

Transcript Highlights:

• It used to be five days, where each creditor in the order of their priority comes in and makes their
• </c><00:34:17.359><c> you</c> of Labor regulation so it's a US you of Labor regulation so it's a US you
• In 2003, it was recommended that we return to the use of these fees as a funding source once again.
• </c><00:43:31.119><c> a</c> return to the use of these fees as a return to the use of these fees as a
• </c> other than those of us who should be other than those of us who should be supporting<00:51:30.880

Bills: HF1027 , HF101 , HF1021

Committee: House Judiciary Finance and Civil Law

Transcript Highlights:

• Help us to make our hearts receptive to you and our minds responsive to the leadings of your spirit as
• Ask the body allow us to go to conference on the Department of Social Services.
• Just from my perspective, using as an enforcement... ...mechanism the withholding of money from the assessment
• Gentlemen, as many times as we've read through all this material, all of us on the committee...
• Gentlemen, as many times as we've read through all this material, all of us on the committee, everybody

Transcript Highlights:

• , I too wanted to thank you and both of your consultants for the time you've given us on this.
• I think it helps us thread that needle of making sure the public has a voice, but while also trying to
• It maintains transparency while improving readability by allowing the use of standard abbreviations,
• Sydney Fong on behalf of Asian Americans and Pacific Islander Empowerment, APA Force, in support.
• Once the chain of custody is broken, they can no longer be used for future litigation or challenges.

Committee: House Elections

Transcript Highlights:

• Senate File 4511 deals with a type of business that I don't think any of us had heard of a couple of
• c><00:48:26.520><c> it's</c> use some sort of risk, whether it's use some sort of risk, whether it's
• so many of us is that we have to view of so many of us is that we have to do<01:38:51.880><c> something
• </c> allow us as taxpayers, the state of allow us as taxpayers, the state of Minnesota,<02:59:08.960>
• </c> our laws of the US and Minnesota our laws of the US and Minnesota now<04:25:26.840><c> they</c><

Transcript Highlights:

• Um, how can we justify forcing residents of Berlin to pay taxes on top of, you know, their own circumstance
• So, how can we justify forcing residents of Berlin to pay taxes on top of, you know, their own circumstance
• Um, how can we justify forcing residents of Berlin to pay taxes on top of, you know, their own circumstance
• ><c> that</c><00:47:27.280><c> districts</c> instead of us assuming that districts instead of us assuming
• </c> outcome of that ballot article for us. outcome of that ballot article for us.

Committee: House Education Funding

Transcript Highlights:

• 01:40.280><c> sustainability</c><00:01:40.960><c> of</c> force on long-term sustainability of force on
• </c> task force members during the course of task force members during the course of work<00:05:00.440
• So I hope the committee finds the recommendation of the task force useful.
• creation of this task force, and as a task force member I'm in strong support of the process and these
• of a freedom of choice than it used to be.

Committee: Senate Housing and Homelessness Prevention

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> us these costs of producing electricity. us these costs of producing electricity.
• County is not lost on any of us here.
• lost on any of us here.
• the use of these human lives perpetuated the use of these human lives and<03:29:05.439><c> workers</
• </c> question before us is the adoption of question before us is the adoption of House<03:40:04.319><