Transcript Highlights:

• They are both risky, but the cost is higher to discourage... but the cost is higher to discourage reckless
• Studies show that higher tobacco taxes are one of the most effective tools in reducing youth tobacco
• A lot of the evidence shows that higher taxes keep tobacco products out of the hands of youth.
• Cures for it, which includes research, and then access to care.
• or... higher than that of non-combusted or smoke-free products.

Bills: HB30, HB263, HB357, HB359, SB60, SB102, HB30

Keywords: elections, post-election audit, election audit, risk-limiting audit, ballot audit, election integrity, voter confidence, Secretary of State, judge of probate, canvassing board, poll watchers, ballot containers, manual tally, recount, county election, statewide election, general election, absentee ballots, provisional ballots, election transparency

Transcript Highlights:

• compliance with um the USDA program. compliance with um the USDA program.
• more flexibility in the program. more flexibility in the program.
• school program?
• choice to direct their own learning. choice to direct their own learning.
• But what sticks is learning how to question, learning how to do the research to understand, learning

Keywords: 1191, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• > in learning program service providers in learning program service providers in the<00:43:34.800
• And so to be able to have this program, to be able to be in the classroom learning on the job, learning
• approved early learning apprenticeship program. >> Yes.
• approved early learning apprenticeship program. >> Yes.
• early learning program approved early learning apprenticeship<00:52:47.359> program.

Bills: SB2024, SB896, SB2613, SB494, SB2391, SB2125, SB2614, SB2615, SB3262, SB3325, SB3118

Keywords: charter schools, public-private partnership, school facilities, education funding, community need, education, capital improvement, reporting, transparency, technical expertise, public school land transfer, Department of Education, DOE, land conveyance, fee simple title, tax map key, TMK, Act 307, Session Laws of Hawaii 2022, Act 139

Bills: HB36, HB52, HB56, HB68, HB92, HB119, HB140, HB147, HB160, HB171, HB289, HB351, HB552, HB784

Keywords: HB 36, Act 780, Acadiana Regional Juvenile Justice District, juvenile justice, juveniles, Evangeline Parish, regional district, board of commissioners, commission membership, Louisiana juvenile law, R.S. 15:1109, R.S. 15:1109.1, parish governance, district boundaries, local government, HB 52, Act 192, Louisiana criminal procedure, misdemeanor jury trial, six-person jury

Transcript Highlights:

• Our program has proven especially valuable in addressing Arizona's access-to-care challenges.
• Madam Chair and Member, Senate Bill 1164 requires access and its program.
• Madam Chair and Member, Senate Bill 1164 requires access and its program providers when there is a change
• integrity, Access must properly vet these new owners that ...to ensure program integrity, Access must
• to to ensure program integrity access must properly vet these new owners that are receiving any Medicaid

Bills: SB1021, SB1144, SB1164, SB1178, SB1181, SB1241, SB1247, SB1286, SB1415, SCR1011

Keywords: health profession, regulatory boards, criminal activity, notification, auditor general, investigations, veterinary technicians, certification, education alternative, Arizona Revised Statutes, veterinary education, ALTCS, providers, ownership change, healthcare, Arizona Long Term Care System, naturopathic physician, naturopathic medicine, naturopathic doctor, naturopathic physicians medical board

Summary: The committee approved the minutes and held Senate Bill 1241 for a later hearing because a witness was unavailable. It then took up Senate Bill 1144, which would create an alternative pathway for veterinary technician certification through supervised on-the-job training instead of only a two-year curriculum. Supporters, including the Arizona Humane Society, a high school student in a veterinary program, and a veterinary technician employer, argued the bill would help address a veterinary technician shortage, reduce student debt, and expand access to care. Opponents, including the Arizona Veterinary Technician Association and some veterinarians, said Arizona already has an existing pathway, warned the bill could weaken competency standards and patient safety, and argued the shortage is more about retention and utilization than entry requirements. The committee adopted a Bolick amendment tightening supervision and documentation requirements, then passed SB 1144 as amended on a 6-1 vote. The committee next approved Senate Bill 1247 unanimously. That bill would allow an individual who does not need services to live with a resident in an assisted living center or other unit in the facility, and would bar the Department of Health Services from imposing care requirements on that individual. The sponsor and a lobbyist said the bill was intended to fix a recent statutory interpretation that could force spouses or other companions to separate or pay for services they do not use; a floor amendment was mentioned to extend the same treatment to assisted living homes. Senate Bill 1286, which would extend from 14 days to 60 days the period for veterinary prescriptions and renewals issued through telemedicine, drew extensive testimony and was ultimately held for a possible amendment next week. Supporters, including the sponsor, the Arizona Humane Society, and Animal Policy Group, said telemedicine has expanded access in rural and underserved areas and that longer prescription windows would improve convenience and continuity of care while still excluding controlled substances. Opponents, including the Arizona Veterinary Medical Association and several veterinarians, argued the current 14-day limit is a compromise that protects animal safety, that telemedicine without an in-person exam can lead to misdiagnosis and delayed diagnostics, and that the bill could function like a “pill mill.” The committee then passed Senate Bill 1164, which would let Medicaid billing continue under the prior owner’s certification number during a change of ownership for skilled nursing and assisted living facilities. Supporters said the current process can delay reimbursement for 6 to 18 months and strain providers; Access said it had legal concerns about possible conflict with federal law but was working on fixes. The committee also heard Senate Bill 1181, which would expand CPA certification pathways by adding degree-and-experience options and updating reciprocity rules, and a supporter from the Arizona Society of CPAs said it would address workforce shortages and improve mobility.

Transcript Highlights:

• that protects access to the identification.
• She's very supportive of this program.
• We'll see, but all the money still goes to the same program.
• This kind of road does not provide access for them at all. It just runs along the back.
• I've learned that that is important to him.

Bills: SB215, SB1104, SB1351, SB1931, SB2245, SB2589, SB2707, SB2807, SB1423, SB1568

Keywords: education, funding, school districts, local control, equity, digital identification, identity verification, Department of Public Safety, Texas legislature, wireless communication, Texas, technology, identification program, fee structure, wireless devices, public safety, hunting license, handgun license, fingerprinting, dealer license

Transcript Highlights:

• program, allowing them to put in the...
• SHARS, or the School Health and Related Services Program, is a program we've monitored and engaged in
• That they feel they need through the program.
• CEPRD is a fledgling program.
• Fluoride is widely and easily accessible.

Bills: SB623, SB1266, SB1310, SB1373, SB1580, SB1952, SB2032, SB2269, SB2544, SB2653, SB2796

Keywords: pharmacist, vaccine administration, COVID-19, exclusive authority, healthcare, Medicaid, provider enrollment, credentialing, administrative burden, Texas Health and Human Services, senior retirement communities, emergency response, residential safety, contract provisions, health and safety regulations, medical staff privileges, hospital administration, healthcare regulation, Texas Health and Safety Code, consistency in privileges

Transcript Highlights:

• In our case, we learned the following: while we were trying to save Colton, the truck driver received
• After everything that I've learned, the case is ongoing.
• In fact, I believe the standards should actually be higher than they are now. Thank you very much.
• Good safety protocols and safety programs ensure that they're not afraid of the truth.
• They had no kind of safety program.

Bills: SB39, SB2129, SB2141, SB2246, SB2323, SB2439, SB2722, SB 39

Keywords: commercial motor vehicle, truck liability, motor carrier, trucking, civil liability, respondeat superior, negligent entrustment, negligent maintenance, negligent loading, negligent repair, bifurcated trial, exemplary damages, punitive damages, personal injury, collision, employer liability, vicarious liability, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, Texas tort reform, commercial truck accident

Transcript Highlights:

• It may not cover access roads that feed onto the toll roads.
• Back around, we'll get you that data from the constables because I don't have access to their data.
• You can't get on the toll road for the City of Houston without accessing the City of Houston service
• We need some real help here because we don't have access.
• The limited number of available instructors statewide calls into question the need for this program.

Bills: SB39, SB2129, SB2141, SB2246, SB2323, SB2439, SB2722, SB 39

Keywords: commercial motor vehicle, truck liability, motor carrier, trucking, civil liability, respondeat superior, negligent entrustment, negligent maintenance, negligent loading, negligent repair, bifurcated trial, exemplary damages, punitive damages, personal injury, collision, employer liability, vicarious liability, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, Texas tort reform, commercial truck accident

Transcript Highlights:

• Passage of the anticipated committee substitute bill allows taxpayers to also learn the percentage of
• Right, and what I've learned from talking to the tax assessor collectors, there are more... multiple
• increase in the properties appraised value due to the border security infrastructure will not result in higher
• patriotism, landowners who step up to support their state and their nation should not be punished through higher
• that land owners who allow border security infrastructure on their property are not penalized with higher

Bills: HB195, HB247, HB255, HJR2, HJR4, HJR6, HJR31, HJR34, HB195, HB247, HB255, HJR6, HJR31, HJR34

Keywords: school district, ad valorem tax, local revenue, tax collection, education funding, border security, tax exemption, ad valorem, real property, infrastructure, Texas-Mexico border, ad valorem taxation, farm products, livestock, timber, death tax, inheritance tax, estate tax, property transfer, constitutional amendment

Transcript Highlights:

• Without these reforms, local governments will undo the relief provided by this bill through higher taxes
• And so, Barring a program that does that, I don't know that the amount that we're talking about.
• to simultaneously increase that $22,500 this is too small for us to worry about threshold to some higher
• , and the voter approval tax rate will be higher.
• tax rate, and then all of the real property on the roll pays a higher tax rate.

Bills: HB8, HB9, HJR1, HB 22

Keywords: HB 8, Texas public school accountability, school accountability, public school transparency, STAAR, state assessments, instructionally supportive assessment program, Student Success Tool, Texas Education Agency, TEA, accountability ratings, A-F ratings, through-year assessment, benchmark testing, norm-referenced assessment, college career military readiness, CCMR, local accountability plan, school district performance, campus turnaround

Transcript Highlights:

• And we'll learn from it.
• And we'll learn from it.
• ground, shelter in higher ground.
• So we went up to higher ground.
• A training center is needed for public officials and first responders to learn how to get direct access

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:

• Community violence intervention programs save lives.
• We are very aggressive at youth outreach programs.
• at the sheriff's program.
• that you read in here, and there are some great-sounding programs—after-school programs—so kids on the
• After-school programs? Absolutely!

Transcript Highlights:

• To address this, the 87th legislature created the two programs, the Small Business Disaster Loan Program
• This way expand access to business with 100 or fewer employees.
• We have other disaster relief programs.
• to join your MLS to get that access.
• So I cannot access that unless I am a member.

Transcript Highlights:

• But then, you know, I dig deeper and I found out about Oklahoma, um, projects that they was working on
• But then, you know, I dig deeper and I found out about Oklahoma, um, projects that they was working on
• And so for me, that’s what I’ve learned so far, and I know I have a lot to learn as a commissioner.
• <00:10:29.880> so<00:10:30.079> far learned so far learned so far and<00:10:32.120>
• That's something that's not just academic; it's not something you learn on paper.

Keywords: 912, senate, all

Summary: The Committee on Hawaiian Affairs heard Governor’s Message 590, the nomination of Archie Kappa Kappa Kappa to the Hawaiian Homes Commission, and received extensive testimony in support from Department of Hawaiian Home Lands staff, labor representatives, and community members. Supporters emphasized his leadership during the Maui wildfire response, his cultural standing, his long community service, and his experience with the Polynesian Voyaging Society. In his own remarks, Kappa described his background as a lifelong Lahaina resident, former lifeguard supervisor, and community organizer, and said he would prioritize commission duties while balancing his voyaging commitments. Members questioned Kappa about attendance, his understanding of the Hawaiian Homes Commission’s responsibilities, and his views on commercialization and revenue generation. He said commission meetings would be his priority, acknowledged he could not guarantee attendance at every meeting, and explained that commercialization meant using commercial properties and leases to generate revenue for Hawaiian Homes communities. He also said he supported using land assets to reduce reliance on legislative appropriations. A senator raised Act 279 and the need to focus spending on reducing the waitlist; Kappa said the act was complex and that he did not yet know enough to speak confidently beyond what he had read. The committee did not vote on the nomination in the portion provided and said it would return to voting later. The committee then took up Governor’s Message 591, the nomination of Lawrence Luua to the Hawaiian Homes Commission. Testimony described his background in banking, military service, Maui County planning, and long involvement with Molokaʻi homestead matters. Luua told the committee he had lived the challenges of homestead life, including housing and road issues, and said he wanted to continue the work of Prince Kūhiō by helping Native Hawaiians return to and live on the land. In response to questions, he said he began attending DHHL meetings regularly in July 2024, discussed concerns about county road obligations versus homestead responsibilities, and said he had struggled with Act 279 because he was concerned about moving funds away from other projects even though he supported its goal of reducing the waitlist. The committee then moved on to the next governor’s message and testimony for another nominee, with a SHPD representative briefly introducing the background of that nominee, but no action was taken in the excerpt provided.

Transcript Highlights:

• To address this, the 87th Legislature created two programs: the Small Business Disaster Loan Program
• We have other disaster relief programs.
• join your MLS to get that access.
• The Texas Realtor Panel judging me had no access to it either.
• So I cannot access... That unless I am a member.

Bills: SB1361, SB2105, SB2690, SB2713, SCR38, SB2637, SB2881

Keywords: SB 1361, Texas disaster recovery loan, small business loan, micro-business loan, community development financial institution, CDFI, economic disaster assistance, post-disaster financing, business recovery fund, Texas Economic Development Bank, zero-interest loan, working capital, payroll support, health benefits, job retention, declared disaster, small business relief, microenterprise, franchise exclusion, private equity-backed business

Transcript Highlights:

• If you don't have that, don't have access to it, okay, we're going to get that to you in the next, well
• We want to make sure this is based on I believe it's Article IV of the Oklahoma and Article I of the

Keywords: 914, all

Transcript Highlights:

• public defender programs in the state. public defender programs in the state.
• somewhere that only you have access to. somewhere that only you have access to.
• safe access and use of firearms. safe access and use of firearms.
• I had access to mental health care, and I did not have access to a firearm.
• correlates with higher ownership correlates with higher homicide<04:24:27.040> rates.

Keywords: 1191, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• have access to the programs<00:39:59.680> that<00:40:00.000> we<00:40:00.320> allocate
• programs that we allocate funding for. programs that we allocate funding for.
• They should have access. They need access so that they can do the referrals.
• <00:44:10.560> they<00:44:10.720> need access they should have access they need access
• Oklahoma has instituted a program as well, but we probably don't need to build our roofs to hurricane

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• So my question to you is, do you think I was dinosaurs learned how to do the handles dinosaurs learned
• What we're talking about is criminal justice programs, and they have a criminal justice program.
• they have a criminal justice program they have a criminal justice program thank<05:13:10.558>
• <05:20:08.958> that not quite like an nhti program that not quite like an nhti program that
• programs for education in that program programs for education in that program you<05:20:38.040><

Keywords: 1189, house, all