Transcript Highlights:

• concerning changes to health insurance concerning changes to health insurance benefits<00:47:49.520
• Kentucky, Texas and California Kentucky, Texas and California in<02:11:42.639> providing<02:11
• with workers compensation insurance. with workers compensation insurance.
• of homeowners insurance in the state. of homeowners insurance in the state.
• removes references to any insure removes references to any insure penalties.<02:34:26.080> We

Keywords: 981, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Second only to Texas Tech. Second only to Texas Tech and Lubbock.
• This is Texas, and when Texas leads, America follows.
• As Texas goes once again, so does the nation. We are Texas proud.
• You said Texas, but where in Texas? Yes, sir. So I was born and raised in Bridge City, Texas.
• Texas is not one of them.

Keywords: 1185, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• As in Texas, we safety standards.
• tragedies like what happened in Texas. tragedies like what happened in Texas.
• Nuremberg code. Nuremberg code.
• We talked about Texas.
• We talked about Texas. We talked about Texas.

Bills: SB174, SB39, SB40, SB206, SB200, HB169, HB345, HB381, HB25

Keywords: business taxes, annual reports, Alabama Tax Tribunal, tax appeals, local government, board governance, occupational licensing, Sunset Law, public accountability, training requirements, SB40, Houston/Hunter Act, firearm hold agreement, gun storage, temporary firearm storage, firearms dealer, federal firearms licensee, FFL, civil immunity, gun owner

Transcript Highlights:

• Further introductions of special guests, gentlemen from Texas. Mr.
• Maybe it's the largest county in the state of Missouri, Texas County, Sheriff Scott Lindsay.
• County in the state of Missouri, Texas County, Sheriff Scott Lindsay, and they are to your right, to
• Maybe it's the largest county in the state of Missouri, Texas County, Sheriff Scott Lindsay.
• I say let's do as good of a job as we can and insure and codify the standards.

Keywords: 959, house, all

Summary: The House convened with prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance, approved the House Journal for the previous day by a vote of 123-1, and then recognized a series of special guests, including a physician, several sheriffs, school groups, interns, and other visitors. The chamber then moved into third reading and perfection of bills, with some measures sent to the informal calendar before debate began on House Bill 1758, which would make daylight saving time permanent in Missouri. Supporters argued it would end the twice-yearly clock change and could improve productivity and convenience, while opponents raised concerns about dark winter commutes, safety, and health effects. The bill passed third reading by a vote of 107-31 with two present. The House next took up House Bill 3329, which repeals expired or unused tax credits to clean up the statutes and reduce Department of Revenue reporting work. Members from both parties generally supported the bill as a government-efficiency and accountability measure, though one member questioned whether removing credits from statute could make them harder to revive later. The bill was perfected and printed without opposition. The chamber then considered House Bill 3405, which clarifies that the state and local tax (SALT) pass-through entity provision is a deduction rather than a tax credit, with sponsors saying the change would streamline Department of Revenue processing and improve the accuracy of tax credit reporting. That bill was also perfected and printed after discussion about tax administration and fiscal note implications. Finally, the House debated House Bill 2426, a parental rights bill covering education, medical, privacy, and related decisions for children, and applying a strict-scrutiny standard to government actions affecting those rights. Debate focused heavily on whether the bill merely codified existing protections or expanded parental authority in ways that could affect school records, recordings, evaluations, truancy, medical consent, and district transparency requirements. The House adopted House Amendment 1 by a vote of 98-25 with six present, an amendment addressing IEP procedures and requiring parental consent for certain major changes unless due process requirements are met. Further debate continued on the underlying bill, with supporters emphasizing parental involvement and opponents warning about unintended consequences for schools, child welfare, and existing legal standards.

Transcript Highlights:

• They'll move to Texas or Oklahoma or whatever.
• They'll move to Texas or Oklahoma or whatever.
• They'll be in Texas or in Oklahoma or somewhere around us. So just keep that in mind.
• We send representatives of both unemployment insurance and our employment programs, including employment
• What if they end up over in Texas at Fort Bliss, which is, I guess, partly in New Mexico?

Bills: SB100

Keywords: burglary, aggravated burglary, dwelling, criminal law, property rights, 996, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Yeah, so Texas is in ERCOT. It's a different market.
• My concerns are that we don't end up like Texas, and I have a lot of real estate in Texas, and I do a
• lot of things in Texas, and Texas started their spiral effect, and now they're almost 22% reliable on
• Texas by any means.
• I'll tell you, working with the Texas commissioners, part of the challenge in Texas is that ERCOT doesn't

Summary: The House Committee on Commerce met on May 11, 2026, with a quorum present and took up a series of Senate bills, a resolution, and one House bill. The committee reported favorably Senate Bill 79 to recreate Louisiana Economic Development, Senate Concurrent Resolution 5 to establish the Louisiana-Ireland Trade Commission, Senate Bill 375 on firefighting foam with amendments clarifying use in declared emergencies, Senate Bill 398 moving manufactured and modular housing oversight under the Contractors Licensing Board with technical and substantive amendments, Senate Bill 163 on virtual currency business licensing with an amendment providing for federal preemption if Congress enacts a national licensing regime, and Senate Bill 287 on virtual currency kiosks with consumer-protection provisions and technical amendments. The committee also reported favorably House Resolution 197, as amended, urging the Public Service Commission to study distributed energy generation and storage resources with LSU involvement, and Senate Bill 54, which would allow estheticians to blow-dry hair after certain services; that bill drew extensive testimony from supporters and opponents in the cosmetology and aesthetics industries before being reported favorably. Several bills prompted detailed discussion and testimony. On Senate Bill 398, the sponsor and Contractors Licensing Board representatives said the change would improve enforcement and consumer safety for manufactured-home installation, especially tie-downs, leveling, and foundation blocking, while not affecting HUD-regulated construction. On the virtual currency bills, OFI said it currently licenses 37 virtual currency businesses with 33 pending applications, and supporters described the kiosk bill as a response to fraud complaints by requiring clearer disclosures, refund procedures, live customer support, and reporting to OFI. For House Resolution 197, the sponsor, PSC officials, and energy stakeholders said the study would examine the value of distributed energy resources, including rooftop solar and battery storage, in light of rising demand and grid reliability concerns; PSC staff and LSU energy experts described the study as focused on market value and avoided-cost benefits. House Bill 744, which would have shifted regulation of certain New Orleans utilities from the city council to the PSC, generated discussion about constitutional history, rate impacts, and utility consolidation. PSC officials and the sponsor said the current city-council regulation is a constitutional exception dating back to 1921, and they argued that PSC regulation could reduce costs and simplify oversight, but the sponsor ultimately moved to defer the bill rather than force a floor fight, and the committee agreed. The committee then began consideration of Senate Bill 386, the Louisiana Data Privacy Act, adopting technical amendments and then a larger amendment package that revised definitions and compliance provisions; the transcript ends while that bill’s amendment process is still underway, with no final action shown in the excerpt.

Transcript Highlights:

• This bill mirrors local government code 147.
• This is a statewide rural Texas issue. Everybody has it.
• Homeless, homelessness is a rampant problem in Texas.
• homelessness in Texas.
• We are one of the largest continuum of care in the state of Texas.

Transcript Highlights:

• The cost of insurance for many homeowners has risen rapidly in recent years and at the same time, some
• homeowners have found it increasingly difficult to obtain insurance at all.
• Specifically the legislature could consider changes to the regulatory and policy landscape and insurance
• Our mortgage rates have increased, our insurance costs have increased, utility costs have increased,
• California's unique in that we're split up into regions everywhere, but Texas happens to be split up

Keywords: 988, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• architectural firm in Lubbock, Texas.
• Um, according to the Texas Council on Family Violence's Honoring Texas Victims Report, in 2023, 205 Texans
• And right here in Texas, Texas, I've worked with survivors who first found courage when their hairstylist
• With hundreds of people moving to Texas daily and many businesses relocating to Texas, the need for CPA
• These are individuals who are coming to Texas because they want to be in Texas and they want to continue

Transcript Highlights:

• Texas is the unabashed leader in oil and gas.
• It is a Texas issue.
• , and then also water conservation codes.
• , Texas Hydrogen Alliance, Mr.
• Uh, the Texas Geothermal Energy Alliance is a Texas-based, Texas-led advocacy organization, obviously

Transcript Highlights:

• We contract with two incubators, one out of University of Texas and the other out of Texas A&M University
• They're all in East Texas. They're all in East Texas. There's a lot.
• So, Texas, we're military state USA, right?
• You represent Texas Oil and Gas Association.
• The Texas Geothermal Energy Alliance is a Texas-based, Texas-led advocacy organization. of advancing

Keywords: 1184, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• has insurance.
• They do not take insurance, or they do not take certain types of insurance.
• By adding section 20-376.11, relating to health insurance.
• SB 158, firearms transactions, merchant codes prohibition.
• SB 1058, firearms transactions, merchant codes prohibition.

Keywords: 1182, all

Transcript Highlights:

• State, Temple College, Texas A&M, and UT Austin.
• State, Temple College, Texas A&M, and UT Austin.
• It is post-secondary and higher ed, especially in the state of Texas now with the investment of the Texas
• In Chapter 21 of the Education Code.
• Right now, it's one best suited to Texas institutions.

Summary: The Senate Education K-16 Committee heard Senate Bill 1961, which would expand reporting on post-secondary outcomes and workforce data, including employment, earnings, regional labor demand, and credentials of value. Senator Bettencourt said the bill is intended to close data gaps and improve alignment between education programs and workforce needs. Witnesses from Opportunity Austin, Texas 2036, Samsung Austin Semiconductor, and the Fort Worth workforce community testified in support, saying better data would help students, parents, schools, employers, and regional economic development efforts. After questions from members about regional workforce pipelines and semiconductor talent needs, public testimony closed and SB 1961 was left pending. The committee then took up several pending bills and reported them favorably, including SB 1325, SB 604, SB 1832, SB 747, SB 2185, and SB 2395, with committee substitutes adopted where needed. SB 1325 was amended to remove the DSHS commissioner’s authority to issue standing orders for respiratory distress medication in schools. SB 1832, relating to school transfer or private-school funding options for students victimized by a public school employee, and SB 747, relating to intimate visual material policies, were both advanced on recorded votes. SB 2185, on the bilingual education allotment, was initially moved to a local calendar but was later backed up and reported to the full Senate after a fiscal note was noted. SB 2395, on school district general obligation bonds, was also reported favorably and then moved to the local and uncontested calendar. The committee also heard SB 646, which would expand the Mental Health Professional Loan Repayment Program to additional professions, increase award amounts, and add stipends for rural and bilingual service. Senator West said the bill responds to mental health workforce shortages and inflation. The Texas Counseling Association supported the measure, and a Hogg Foundation representative said participation has grown sharply since prior changes. SB 646 was left pending. The committee also heard SB 2647, which would create a Texas state accrediting agency and interim oversight system for higher education accreditors; supporters from the Texas Public Policy Foundation and a massage school owner argued it would improve accountability and reduce accreditor overreach, while Senator Menendez raised concerns about effects on law and medical school accreditation and student opportunities. SB 2647 was left pending. Finally, the committee heard SB 2786, which would exempt first responders from the Texas Success Initiative entrance exam, and SB 2615, which would standardize remote-work policies across public higher education institutions. The Texas State Association of Firefighters supported SB 2786, saying it would remove an extra step for career advancement; the bill was left pending because the committee substitute had not yet been adopted. SB 2615 was presented as a way to ensure more consistent in-person staffing expectations while preserving exceptions for illness, disability, and some non-teaching roles; it too was left pending. The committee then recessed subject to the call of the chair.

Transcript Highlights:

• This threatens to cascade from insurance markets to mortgage markets to home property values, and then
• First Street Foundation— has found that the climate-driven insurance crisis will erase $1.5 trillion
• Insurance has simultaneously pulled out due to this climate risk.
• If the EPA were to grant Texas alone primacy, 35% of those applications would go to the state of Texas
• There are a lot of projects in Texas.

Transcript Highlights:

• I'm an insurance guy; I have a property-casualty firm in Franklin, so that's pretty much about me.
• Army at Fort Hood, Texas, working with the First Cavalry Division.
• <01:50:34.679> QR someplace on a website is there a QR someplace on a website is there a QR code
• that I can perhaps look at how do I code that I can perhaps look at how do I follow<01:50:37.920>
• We’ve only got six full-time employees, and so... professional LIC insure and professional LIC insure

Keywords: 1189, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Yeah, so Texas is in ERCOT. It's a different market.
• My concerns are that we don't end up like Texas.
• My concerns are that we don't end up like Texas, and I have a lot of real estate in Texas, and I do a
• lot of things in Texas.
• I'll tell you, working with the Texas commissioners, part of the challenge in Texas is that ERCOT doesn't

Bills: HB744, HR197, SB54, SB79, SB163, SB287, SB375, SB386, SB398, SB469, SCR5

Keywords: public utility, common carrier, regulation, Public Service Commission, New Orleans, constitutional amendment, distributed energy, energy storage, electricity demand, virtual power plants, reliability, hurricane resilience, esthetics, cosmetology, hair services, beauty industry, Louisiana regulation, Louisiana Economic Development, sunset law, legislative authority

Summary: The House Committee on Commerce met on May 11, 2026, and first advanced several Senate measures with little or no opposition. It reported favorably Senate Bill 79 recreating Louisiana Economic Development, Senate Concurrent Resolution 5 establishing the Louisiana-Ireland Trade Commission, and Senate Bill 375 on Class B firefighting foam, after adopting a technical amendment clarifying use in declared emergency firefighting operations. The committee also advanced Senate Bill 398, which moves manufactured and modular housing regulation under the Louisiana Contractors Licensing Board and expands inspection and enforcement provisions, after adopting two sets of mostly technical amendments and hearing testimony that the change would improve consumer safety and increase inspection coverage without adding net cost to locals. It then reported favorably Senate Bill 163 on virtual currency business licensing, after adopting an amendment providing that any future federal licensing law would preempt the state act, and Senate Bill 287 on virtual currency kiosks, which adds refund timelines, disclosure requirements, customer support, and reporting duties; witnesses from the banking and law enforcement community said the bill responds to common fraud complaints and improves consumer protection. The committee also reported favorably Senate Bill 54, which allows estheticians to blow-dry hair after certain services, despite strong opposition from cosmetology board representatives and industry witnesses who argued the service is outside esthetics training, could create scope-of-practice and facility issues, and should instead be addressed by lowering or revising separate blow-dry licensing requirements. The committee then considered House Resolution 197, which urges the Louisiana Public Service Commission to study the feasibility and value of distributed energy generation and storage resources. After adopting technical amendments and a second amendment changing mandatory language to requests and urging the PSC to coordinate with the LSU Energy Institute, the resolution was reported favorably. Testimony from solar and energy industry representatives, the PSC, and LSU focused on how distributed resources, batteries, rooftop solar, and virtual power plants could improve reliability, reduce costs, and help meet rising demand; members also discussed how the study would evaluate market value, avoided costs, and capacity benefits. Questions centered on methodology, grid impacts, and comparisons to Texas’s ERCOT system and Winter Storm Uri, with PSC officials emphasizing that the study would help determine whether such resources benefit ratepayers. Representative Wright presented House Bill 744, a proposed constitutional amendment to transfer regulation of certain New Orleans utilities from the city council to the Public Service Commission. He argued the change could reduce rates through consolidation and eliminate duplicative regulatory costs, while PSC officials explained the city’s authority is a constitutional exception dating back to 1921 and that Entergy New Orleans and Entergy Louisiana operate as separate companies with different regulatory environments. After discussion of rate impacts, utility structure, and whether the proposal should instead become a study, the bill was deferred. The committee then began Senate Bill 386, the Louisiana Data Privacy Act, which would give consumers rights to access, correct, delete, and opt out of certain uses of personal data; the sponsor introduced the bill and the committee started considering technical and substantive amendments, but the transcript ends before final action on that measure.

Transcript Highlights:

• Kentucky utilize barcodes or QR codes Kentucky utilize barcodes or QR codes for<00:59:35.280>
• in Austin, Texas. in Austin, Texas.
• They do that in Austin, Texas.
• code to the public for public scrutiny. code to the public for public scrutiny.
• that source code. that source code.

Keywords: Discussion of BR 25 (2026 RS) 04:15 Presentation on voting systems by ES&S 48:14 Presentation on voting systems by Hart InterCivic and Harp Enterprises 01:13:07, 958, all

Summary: The committee met to approve the October 21 minutes and then took up BR 25 for the 2026 regular session, a proposal relating to prohibited uses of tax dollars and public resources. The sponsors said the bill is intended to strengthen existing law by adding civil and criminal penalties for taxpayer-funded advocacy on ballot questions, especially in light of controversies during the 2024 election over school officials and districts using public resources to oppose a constitutional amendment. They also described related concerns about school districts hiring third-party lobbyists and public relations firms, particularly in Fayette County, and said the proposal was meant to keep tax dollars focused on public services rather than political persuasion. Committee members raised several concerns about scope and drafting. Some asked whether the bill should specifically mention schools, school boards, and school employees, and the sponsors said they would add that language. Others questioned whether the measure would also affect local government lobbying through groups like KLC and KCO, and the sponsors said they intended to focus narrowly on schools while exempting certain advocacy organizations and internal government lobbyists. Members also asked whether public employees could still speak as private individuals, and the sponsors said yes. Several members suggested splitting the lobbying and ballot-advocacy issues into separate bills, and the sponsors said they would consider that. Members also pressed for clarification on how the bill would apply in practice, including whether it would cover legal challenges to petition drives or only advocacy after a question is on the ballot. Counsel for the sponsors said the bill would not cover some petition-related litigation as drafted, though they believed it should. The sponsors and supporters argued the proposal was needed to give the existing prohibition real enforcement, while some members warned that the language could unintentionally limit legitimate public representation or be too broad if not carefully drafted. No final vote was taken during the discussion.

Transcript Highlights:

• For example, what's the difference between Texas military department, Texas military forces in the Texas
• of Texas and beyond.
• Texas State Guard is your Texas Patriots. It's 1,700, over 1,700.
• Texas leads the way.
• And in Texas, we have that.

Keywords: 1184, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• There's clearly an effort in the state of Texas to expand gambling, which I strongly oppose.
• in Texas for fiscal year 2024.
• Currently, the minimum term of confinement for a Class A misdemeanor in Texas is zero days.
• Texas public transit. Thank you, sir. Questions? Thank you. Chair calls Brigido Almanza.
• But in Texas, we don't have a bright line rule.

Keywords: 1184, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• I mean, is there somewhere else in another code that requires a certain number of staff, or how do we
• This isn't just about Harris County, but it's about Texas and making sure that everyone has justice.
• So members, in closing, I urge this committee to favorably consider having a study so that the Texas
• Brandon Wood, executive director, Texas Commission on Jail Standards.
• They're very important to the state of Texas.