Transcript Highlights:

• I don't have minutes in front of me, but we do have a quorum.
• county is paying for it; and if it's a state project, the state's paying for it.
• The county is paying for and the state project the state's paying for it. Is that correct?
• Do you believe that another community is going to be able to pay, or willing to pay?
• Do you believe that another community is going to be able to pay, or willing to pay?

Bills: HF4807

Keywords: overweight vehicles, aggregate mining, local ordinance restrictions, legislative audit, transportation, resource inventory

Transcript Highlights:

• Pay and benefits.
• , we would look at what's the government paying, what's the neighboring states paying versus what we
• Oh, that's what I can pay them.
• Does there will be co-pays now? There will be co-pays now that they haven't hit before.
• ; anything above that you pay for.

Keywords: 908, all

Summary: The State and Local Government Committee met to reconsider and amend House Bill 1165, which dealt with petition circulation requirements and ballot receipt rules. The committee walked through technical changes requested by the Secretary of State’s office, including moving petition-title language, adding a 15-business-day submission deadline for petition packets, and revising language related to mailed absentee ballots and the presidential executive order requiring ballots to be received by election day rather than merely postmarked. The State Election Director explained that the change was intended to provide clarity and consistency for voters and election officials, while Senator Braunberger objected that it was an unnecessary reaction to an executive order that could be challenged. The committee adopted the amendment 5-1 and then passed the bill as amended on a 5-1 vote, with Senator Braunberger voting no. The committee then took up House Bill 1307, which concerned election authority, home rule powers, and related city and county petition/signature provisions. After questions from members and clarification from the Deputy Secretary of State and a League of Cities representative, the committee agreed the amendment was intended to preserve city petition power and align the bill with changes made in another election bill, while also addressing park district language. The amendment was adopted 6-0, and the bill was passed as amended 6-0. Senator Castaneda was designated as the carrier. Finally, the committee discussed House Bill 1580, a study bill on state employee compensation. Members used language from an earlier draft tied to health plan changes and broadened it to study total rewards compensation, including pay grades, classifications, comparisons among state employees across departments and with similar private-sector jobs, equity funding and bonuses, prevailing wages on state projects, and the impact of changes to health plan benefits and premium structures. The committee agreed to make the language more generic and adopted the amendment 6-0, then passed the bill as amended 6-0. House Bill 1601 was not acted on and was held until after floor session so members could continue discussions and await additional input.

Transcript Highlights:

• <00:15:40.959> for on the calendar, um we we will pay for on the calendar, um we we will pay
• Minnesota, what the this is paying for. Minnesota, what the this is paying for.
• So, that’s where primarily the funding would be paying for.
• So, that’s where primarily the funding would be paying for.
• Um and we've earned it front of us.

Keywords: 919, house, all

Summary: The committee heard House File 107, a proposal by Representatives Norris and Witty to provide a $5 million grant through Explore Minnesota to help cover costs of hosting the 2026 World Junior Hockey Championship in St. Paul and Minneapolis. The authors and supporters described Minnesota’s hockey culture, the tournament’s international profile, and expected benefits, including about 250,000 spectators, a projected $75 million economic impact, and broader tourism and exposure for communities across the state. Testimony in support came from hockey legend Lou Nanne, St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter, and Wendy Blackshaw of Minnesota Sports and Events. Nanne called the tournament a major opportunity to showcase Minnesota and said it should be viewed as an income generator. Carter emphasized the event’s prestige and the chance to boost St. Paul’s economy and reputation as a hockey destination. Blackshaw said the funding would cover actual event expenses such as public safety, operations, venue costs, and transportation, and explained that without the grant, Minnesota Sports and Events would have to slow or pause bidding on future events such as gymnastics trials, NCAA wrestling, men’s basketball, the NFL draft, FIFA Women’s World Cup, and WWE events. Members asked questions about how much of the economic benefit would come from out-of-state visitors, how the $5 million figure was chosen, and what would happen if the grant were not approved. Blackshaw said the organization uses University of Minnesota economic studies and ticket-sales analysis to estimate visitor spending, and said the $5 million would pay for World Juniors expenses while ticket revenue would support future events. The chair noted the bill would be held over for further consideration, and no vote was taken during the meeting.

Transcript Highlights:

• If we pay on results, we pay on value, and if we can measure value, do you have the resources available
• If we pay on results, we pay on value, and if we can measure value, do you have the resources available
• And someone has to pay the price.
• front of you.
• To comment on dockets that are in front of you or dockets that might be in front of you.

Summary: The committee met to consider a large slate of appointments, with the main discussion centered on the confirmation of Chavon Harris as Secretary of the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA). Harris testified about her background in state service and outlined agency priorities including Medicaid financial accountability, transparency, managed care oversight, behavioral health redesign, rural health access, workforce recruitment, and use of technology and AI. Senators questioned her extensively about the Hope Florida/Medicaid settlement controversy, opioid settlement-funded advertising campaigns tied to marijuana prevention and the 2024 Amendment 3 election, public records compliance, abortion reporting and enforcement under the Heartbeat Protection Act, managed care denials, value-based purchasing, and Medicaid funding pressures. After debate, the committee voted to recommend her confirmation, with Senator Polsky voting no. The committee then considered Anna Ortega and Robert Payne for the Florida Public Service Commission. Ortega, a current PSC commissioner and former staff advisor, discussed utility regulation, data center load issues, ratepayer protections, transparency in PSC decisions, and lessons from other states. Payne, a former legislator and longtime utility co-op employee, emphasized his technical background and the need to balance utility returns with consumer affordability. Both nominees were confirmed by unanimous or near-unanimous votes and recommended favorably to the full Senate. Next, the committee heard from Jeffrey Aaron for reappointment to the Public Employees Relations Commission. Aaron described PERC’s role in public-sector labor disputes and said his work had been upheld in appellate courts without reversal. Senators questioned him about his law firm’s state contracts, his role as chairman of Attorney General James Uthmeier’s PAC, and his connection to the Hope Florida Foundation matter; he declined to discuss the pending investigation. Public testimony included opposition from Florida Voice for the Unborn. The committee nevertheless recommended his confirmation, with several no votes. Finally, the committee approved the remaining appointees on tabs 5 through 46 in a single vote, postponing Dr. John Littell and DCF Secretary Hatch, and then adjourned.

Transcript Highlights:

• It pays everybody. Pays the TSA agents as they should be.
• It pays everybody.
• Pays the TSA agents It pays everybody.
• pay, we pay<00:49:33.440> them.
• Not pay them. It's Democrats want to do? Not pay them.

Keywords: U.S. House of Representatives Floor Proceedings on Friday, March 27, 2026, 1012, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Jenny Holloway is here in the front.
• I've got an opportunity to speak in front of you.
• It's not; it's just the cap of who pays.
• And so, taxpayers are paying for it. Obviously, the school district has to pay for it.
• It's just the cap of who pays.

Keywords: 1185, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• You already pay for this, sir. But how much does it cost? You pay for Medicaid expansion in Texas.
• Not necessarily there's people that have never gone to the doctor that we still pay we still pay every
• We actually are already paying for that.
• That's what I'm saying, we pay for that, particularly, we pay through it directly to the hospitals, through
• You pay taxes every year. Your taxes already go to to pay for this program, your federal taxes.

Bills: SB1, HB500, SB1, HB1400, HB 1094, HB365, HB 1109, HB647, HB500

Keywords: appropriations, budget, state funding, education, healthcare, infrastructure, state budget, mental health funding, education funding, infrastructure improvements, public safety, groundwater, water conservation, financial assistance, Texas Water Development Board, innovation fund, local conservation districts, transportation protection agreement, funeral services, insurance exemption

Transcript Highlights:

• in front of students. Thank you. in front of students. Thank you.
• school is paid paying.
• school is paid paying.
• school is paid paying.
• actually paying $7,281. actually paying $7,281.

Bills: HF3790, HF3654, HF3371, HF3470, HF1099

Keywords: education finance, lease levy authority, graduation ceremonies, school districts, Minnesota Statutes, local revenue, funding increase, education, state appropriation, local control, HF3371, local optional revenue, school finance, general education aid, school district funding, referendum revenue, referendum market value, equalization aid, state aid, property tax levy

Transcript Highlights:

• In front of the Texas House and Senate and I don't know about you members.
• Judicial pay. That's what I said last week is our top priority.
• We are 48th out of 50 among states in terms of what we pay. district judges.
• You look at the pay gap, you think this would be such an amazing thing to do.
• When he got up at the front mic...

Keywords: 1184, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• I don't want to pay that tax'?
• Their employer would then also pay that ACR.
• off their home, then now they have to pay their property taxes and they have to pay this... ...if they
• pay off their home, then now they have to pay their property taxes and they have to pay this new taxing
• And some were concerned that we could be forcing districts to pay for financial advisors up front, even

Bills: HB2091, HB2140, HB2320, HB2384, HB2398, HB2502, HB2780, HB2918, HB2939, HB2950, HB2999, HB4020, HB4026, HB4029

Keywords: insurance, financial surveillance, regulations, assessments, Arizona Revised Statutes, investment, state treasurer, gold bullion, treasury management, financial regulations, school districts, bonds, financial advisors, elections, municipal advisors, cost of borrowing, lease agreements, school property, tax exemptions, impact aid revenue bonds

Summary: The Senate Finance Committee approved the minutes from March 16, 2026, then heard testimony on a series of bills, with the chair noting that testimony and votes would be handled in batches because members were coming and going. HB 2939 would raise the rural qualified facilities tax credit from $20,000 to $25,000 per job for certain projects with initial investment under $2 billion. Lucid Motors supported the change as a tool to attract manufacturing jobs to rural Arizona, while opponents questioned whether the higher credit would actually create new jobs and pointed to a fiscal note that could reach $48 million. The committee later passed the bill 5-2. HB 2950 would authorize municipalities and counties to form tourism improvement areas funded by lodging business assessments for marketing and tourism promotion. The Arizona Lodging and Tourism Association and Visit Phoenix supported the measure, describing TIAs as voluntary, locally controlled tools already used in other states and useful for rural destinations; senators pressed on whether the assessments were truly voluntary and how the districts would be formed and administered. The bill passed 5-2. HB 2780, a technical cleanup bill related to property tax lien foreclosure and excess proceeds sales, was described as conforming changes to a prior law creating a mechanism for delinquent taxpayers to recover equity; it passed 6-1. HB 2502 would allow certain ASRS members who are elected officials to retire at normal retirement age without resigning their elected office, with the employer paying the alternate contribution rate. ASRS said it was neutral, and the sponsor and a lobbyist argued the bill would create parity with non-elected members who can retire and return to work; the committee passed it 5-2. HB 2140, as amended by a striker, would let the state treasurer invest up to 10% of trust and treasury monies in physical gold or silver bullion held in secure U.S. depositories. The sponsor and Sound Money Defense League supported it as a diversification and inflation hedge, while opponents argued gold is volatile, costly to store, and not a better use of taxpayer funds; the committee adopted the striker and passed the bill 4-2. HB 2398 would require commercial liability insurance for watercraft rented or hired in Arizona, including peer-to-peer boat-sharing programs, while not affecting ordinary personal boat ownership. The sponsor, insurers, and rental operators said the bill responds to uninsured boats being rented through apps and to safety and liability problems; some members said training should also be addressed. The committee adopted an amendment and passed the bill 6-1. Finally, HB 2999 would create state affordable infrastructure districts to finance public infrastructure for housing through bonds, taxes, and assessments, with unanimous landowner consent and disclosure requirements. Home builders and contractors said the districts could lower upfront housing costs and improve financing, but contractors sought stronger payment protections and some senators worried the bill could add red tape and costs without guaranteeing savings to homebuyers. After adopting a large amendment, the committee passed HB 2999, though at least one member voted no and another passed on the vote.

Transcript Highlights:

• That number will be included on the front of a fiscal note.
• <00:07:43.720> head once you get through that front head once you get through that front head
• It's great to have you here in front of us. Again, you know the story.
• <00:53:16.440> uh the state's business on this front uh the state's business on this front
• <01:13:33.520> this the employees that will be paying this the employees that will be paying

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• And then our, um, assistant committee clerk, Michael Ramirez is down here in the front.
• Uh, so judicial pay. That's what I said last week is our top priority.
• Uh, we are 48th out of 50 among states in terms of what we pay district judges.
• At a rapidly alarming pace, judges leaving the bench for higher pay.
• Very easily pay them several times as much to go do something else.

Transcript Highlights:

• So we're very involved in all these things on the economic front.
• Our front-end beginning teachers got the bulk of the money.
• He has to pay his teachers if he even wants to have teachers.
• “Why am I paying $5,000 for the union to be recertified? Make the union pay that.
• You go into Georgia, it's a state pay scale...” “As I've seen.

Summary: The Senate Education Pre-K-12 Committee met to discuss the needs of rural school districts and the role of Florida’s three regional education consortia: the Panhandle Area Education Consortium, Northeast Florida Educational Consortium, and Heartland Educational Consortium. Executive directors and several rural superintendents described the consortia as member-led organizations that provide shared services, professional learning, leadership development, grant support, cooperative purchasing, risk management, IT/cybersecurity help, and back-office assistance that small districts could not afford to provide on their own. They emphasized that rural districts are often very small, have limited staff, and must still meet the same state reporting and compliance requirements as large urban systems. Testimony focused heavily on teacher recruitment and retention, alternative certification, and the difficulty of staffing specialized roles such as CFOs, MIS directors, IT staff, and content-area teachers. Superintendents said many new hires are career changers or alternatively certified teachers who need consortium-supported training, and several argued for more flexibility in funding so districts can raise salaries and compete with neighboring districts and nearby states. Members also asked about the impact of declining enrollment, homeschooling, and voucher-related school choice; superintendents said those trends are reducing FTE and creating budget instability, while also requiring districts to right-size staff and programs. Several speakers described the financial strain on rural districts, including rising insurance costs, transportation costs, and the challenge of forecasting budgets when enrollment changes after the school year begins. One superintendent recounted major hurricane damage and said consortium risk-management support was essential to recovery. Others said the consortia help districts pool resources for property and health insurance, payroll, student data systems, and procurement, and that this shared approach saves money and improves services. No votes or formal committee actions were taken during the meeting.

Transcript Highlights:

• No extra pay. No chair calls.
• And after two weeks, then we pay you through the board, we pay you for that care. in the middle of this
• This new system pays every two weeks.
• We pay a percentile of market rates.
• hour at best, and they're competing with Buc-ee's, it's paying $20, McDonald's is now... paying $15,

Keywords: 1184, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• In eligibility, at the front end, we have a fraud team dedicated to looking at At the front end, we have
• We would pay for airfare.
• There's the pay, and we're the chase.
• So this was around like $120, $130 an hour kind of thing, paying more than you pay a primary.
• So this was around like $120, $130 an hour kind of thing, paying more than you pay a primary care doctor

Keywords: 1184, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• front as well.
• we were just expected to pay in full. we were just expected to pay in full.
• in front of us with investigations? in front of us with investigations?
• constituents paying for this relief? constituents paying for this relief?
• to pay for this. to pay for this.

Bills: HF4477

Keywords: Minnesota business recovery loan program, small business loan, zero-interest loan, forgivable loan, business recovery, economic development, small business emergency loan account, Minnesota Initiative Foundations, nonprofit lenders, greater Minnesota, Twin Cities metro, seven-county metropolitan area, immigration enforcement, business interruption, revenue loss, job preservation, business stabilization, state appropriation, forward fund, loan forgiveness

Transcript Highlights:

• First, the financial reality that many families cannot afford to pay the upfront cost of the educational
• First, the financial reality that many families cannot afford to pay the upfront cost of the educational
• assignment program, which would no longer be needed if parents effectively have the cash in hand to pay
• The Upfront cost of the to pay The Upfront cost of the educational<00:01:44.079> benefits<00:
• <00:02:36.120> for have the cash in hand to pay for have the cash in hand to pay for legitimate

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• They're not paying insurance at all. And then they run the lights.
• And I'm paying insurance every... And then they meet, they beat way down there.
• I pay the fee.
• Good, because his testimony was they're not objecting to paying the 200.
• Whether it's the front license plate, whether it's whatever.

Keywords: 959, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• representative Mueller uh also in front representative Mueller uh also in front of<00:01:01.920>
• <00:05:04.560> very the new esst law we were paying very the new esst law we were paying very
• stemming from the new ESS law and pay stemming from the new ESS law and pay leave<00:15:40.880><
• We pay them on whether it's 24 or X number of pay dates, and their annual salary is spread out through
• > whether teachers all year we pay them on whether teachers all year we pay them on whether it's

Keywords: 1183, house

Summary: The committee opened by approving the January 16 and January 21 minutes. Members then heard testimony focused on the impact of Earned Sick and Safe Time (ESST) and the proposed paid family and medical leave program on Minnesota school districts, with the chair framing the hearing as an opportunity to hear from major employers and school leaders about costs and operational effects. Kimberly Lewis, speaking for the Minnesota School Boards Association and related school administrator groups, said districts generally already provide generous, locally negotiated sick leave and had initially adapted to ESST by separating vacation, sick time, and ESST into different buckets. She argued that a 2024 law effectively converted previously bargained sick leave into ESST, which she said undermines contracts, creates large unfunded costs, and may raise constitutional contract-clause concerns. Lewis cited large accumulated leave banks in some districts, increased sick leave use, and estimated significant costs from paid leave, including a reported $2.5 million impact for one large district. She urged flexibility such as prorating ESST for midyear hires and part-time staff and exempting coaches, short-term substitutes, and similar employees from ESST. Superintendent Anarie Fuco of St. Michael-Albertville said her district expects about $400,000 in added fiscal 2026 costs from ESST and paid leave, plus indirect costs from substitute coverage and increased absenteeism. She said schools already have generous bargaining agreements, but the new laws reduce verification and require districts to track leave for temporary staff, creating what she described as a need for “substitutes for our substitutes.” Fuco said the district would face more than $211,000 in direct payroll costs from paid leave alone and asked for flexibility or exceptions for districts already offering comparable benefits. Members asked follow-up questions about how substitute teachers accrue leave and how many districts may be cutting budgets; Lewis and Fuco said many districts are making cuts and that substitute and staffing burdens are growing. A third testifier began by Zoom, but the transcript cuts off before her full testimony.

Transcript Highlights:

• Pay cash than to pay your co-pay. You pay the cash. And the best senator in Texas. Senate...
• Every day, pharmacists stand on the front lines.
• She was expected to pay $141.
• Currently, insurance policies require policyholders to pay repair costs up front before receiving reimbursement
• Citizens ought to get their money's worth of insurance policies they pay for by providing money up front

Bills: HB854, HB 1052, HB1642, HB2076, HB3042, HB3695, HB3787, HB4062, HB4092, SB213, SB493, SB896, HB5519, HB4635

Keywords: insurance, replacement cost, homeowner's policy, renter's policy, condominium insurance, property damage, claims process, telemedicine, teledentistry, telehealth, health benefit plan, insurance coverage, out-of-state services, anxiety, pain management, contraceptive devices, women's health, medical procedures, healthcare, laboratory