Transcript Highlights:

• discussion regarding the updates to some of the adequacy standards as well as the square footage calculator
• before to now, it's been beneficial regarding the adequacy standards change and the square footage calculator
• It's better because ultimately we're giving square footage based on the calculator and design professionals
• So the gross square footage calculator increase was big for us, not only us but other school districts
• members, I would have to look to see what they got awarded. when they got awarded and if the new calculator

Committee: House Public School Capital Outlay Oversight Task Force

Transcript Highlights:

• , Susan Pson, Picking County Revenue, Susan Pson, Picking County Revenue, Susan Pson, Picking County
• , it costs about Department of Revenue, it costs about Department of Revenue, it costs about $182 to
• we still have to and and do calculations we still have to and and do calculations we still have to use
• , Department of Revenue.
• So, who revenue, Department of Revenue. So, who revenue, Department of Revenue.

Bills: HJR 4 , HJR 6 , HB 195 , HB 13 , HB 143 , HB 135

Transcript Highlights:

• If we applied the same savings<00:36:32.000><c> calculation</c><00:36:32.640><c> to</c><00:36:32.800>
• <c> the</c><00:36:33.079><c> approximately</c> savings calculation to the approximately savings calculation
• Fines collected shall be deposited in a dedicated special revenue account on an annual basis.
• </c> deposited in a dedicated special revenue deposited in a dedicated special revenue account<03:01:
• But this is special revenue account is.

Committee: Senate Human Services

Transcript Highlights:

• We also get more revenue as well from the food.
• We also get more revenue as well from the federal government.
• And approximately 15% of the state budget are nearly $9 billion in state tax revenue.
• And approximately 15% of the state budget are nearly $9 billion in state tax revenue.
• Lastly, I will emphasize our concern regarding any threats to revenue, particularly excise tax revenues

Committee: Joint Joint Committee on Ways and Means

Summary: The hearing was a Joint Committee on Ways and Means budget session held in Lawrence focused on the governor’s proposed FY27 education and local aid budget, with remarks from legislative co-chairs, local officials, and education agency leaders. Acting Mayor Giovanni Rodriguez and Superintendent Ralph Carrero emphasized Lawrence’s high-need student population, the importance of Chapter 70 and Student Opportunity Act funding, and the impact of state aid on schools serving many English learners and low-income families. Carrero highlighted Lawrence High School programs such as early college, dual degrees, career pathways, and early childhood classrooms embedded in the high school, while lawmakers introduced themselves and noted the importance of the hearing to their districts. Acting Secretary of Education Amy Kershaw, Commissioner of Higher Education Noi Ortega, Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education Pedro Martinez, and Commissioner of Early Education and Care Amy Kershaw outlined the administration’s FY27 priorities. They described investments in literacy initiatives, universal school meals, student mental health, early college and career pathways, higher education affordability, community college and university student-success supports, preschool expansion, child care subsidies, and workforce supports for early educators. The commissioners also discussed federal funding threats, equity gaps, and the administration’s efforts to improve outcomes for Black and brown students, multilingual learners, students with disabilities, and low-income students. Members questioned the panel about the local contribution formula study, the final year of Student Opportunity Act implementation, and the need to revisit Chapter 70 funding to better address rising costs such as special education, transportation, and health care. Officials said the local contribution study report is expected by the end of June, with a draft to be shared after data analysis and public comment. Commissioner Martinez said the Student Opportunity Act narrowed funding gaps but more work is needed, and he pointed to a proposed Accelerating Achievement Initiative to support the highest-need schools. Senator Oliveira also raised concerns about Chapter 70 disparities and asked about partnerships with libraries to support literacy, prompting discussion of broader early literacy collaboration.

Transcript Highlights:

• I did jump in one and the slide was up, but back on the revenue...
• The top two are basically the buckets for postpaid revenue, which is your typical revenue from postpaid
• The top two are basically the buckets for postpaid revenue, which is your typical revenue from postpaid
• But the postpaid revenue is the typical phone bill.
• from that revenue to be able to sustain that."

Committee: Joint Information Technology Committee

Transcript Highlights:

• They can make mistakes about, or provide incorrect information about, the calculation of benefits, and
• But the discovery still has to be reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence
• But the discovery still has to be reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence
• I'm happy to talk with anybody. with revenue.

Bills: HB282 , HB293 , HB390 , HB456 , HB460 , HB561 , HB819 , HB1023 , HB1047 , HB1101

Committee: House Labor & Industrial

Keywords: employment discrimination, criminal history, rehabilitation, hiring process, human rights, gender identity, sexual orientation, workplace equality, labor rights, domestic abuse, unpaid leave, employee rights, workplace protection, mental health, survivor support, workers' compensation, employment benefits, claims process, fraud prevention, legal petition

Transcript Highlights:

• specify that the services provided by the parties participating under the IGA be proportionally calculated
• for a CTE IGA to specify that the services provided by the parties to the IGA be proportionally calculated
• And then you have to do this per-student calculation and cost allocations of what you're spending on
• They have their own revenue authority, their own taxing authority.

Bills: HB2093 , HB2370 , HB2376 , HB2380 , HB2381 , HB2383 , HB2423 , HB2481 , HB2621 , HB2895 , HB4005 , HB4043 , HB4109

Committees: Senate Education , Senate Senate Education Committee of Reference

Keywords: mental health, school curriculum, education policy, instruction requirements, statute repeal, charter schools, education, weapons detection, public safety, school administration, school districts, real estate transactions, school property, bond issuance, land use approval, capital improvements, school governance, board meetings, education funding, parental notification

Transcript Highlights:

• All these apps like if your kid is to calculate is on the phone, ask yourself, why would you need to
• calculate this?
• Sometimes the the calculator. It's something else.
• Re could result in the millions of dollars of lost revenue to the county.

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> hurt overtime, you know, calculations. hurt overtime, you know, calculations.
• So about $5 million is the correlated percentage of that total revenue.
• </c><01:58:39.360><c> streams,</c> private funding, new revenue streams, private funding, new revenue
• </c><01:59:23.440><c> in</c> looking at about 20% of your revenues in looking at about 20% of your revenues
• </c> percentage of that that total revenue. percentage of that that total revenue.

Transcript Highlights:

• And we receive offsetting revenues to make the solution a net.
• cost of backup power solutions down to near zero. for customers if we're stacking the offsetting revenues
• And if you do look, the last calculation.
• The calculation that we did, the average taxpayer works. three days a week just to pay their taxes.

Bills: HB741 , HB 1199 , HB2070 , HB2402 , HB2542 , HB2665 , HB2789 , HB3096 , HB3396 , HB3595 , HB3747 , HB4116 , HB4127

Committee: House Human Services

Keywords: child welfare, relative caregiver, monetary assistance, Department of Family and Protective Services, child custody, family law, emergency power, nursing facilities, assisted living, generator requirements, health and safety, emergency generators, power outage, emergency generator, assisted living facilities, power source, child abuse, neglect registry, court findings, Medicaid

Transcript Highlights:

• 01:10:15.040><c> Fanatics</c><01:10:16.159><c> Market</c> For Kawashi in 2025, 89% or 90% of their revenue
• </c><01:10:36.400><c> 90%</c><01:10:37.040><c> of</c><01:10:37.360><c> their</c><01:10:37.760><c> revenue
• </c> 89% or 90% of their revenue 89% or 90% of their revenue came<01:10:39.840><c> through</c><01:10:
• or don't manage them, or they look at our condos and how much deferred maintenance, and then they calculate
• , use all these data points to calculate how much risk we are.

Bills: HB2227 , HB1775 , HB1560 , HB1642 , HB1647 , HB2003 , HB1640 , HB2198

Committee: House Consumer Protection & Commerce

Summary: The committee on Consumer Protection and Commerce met on February 5, 2026, and heard testimony on several bills, beginning with HB 227 relating to eviction records. Supporters, including the Public First Law Center and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, argued the bill would help people who prevail in eviction cases avoid long-term housing harm from online court records, while the Public First Law Center said keeping records off eCourt Kokua would not violate the First Amendment because the records would still be available in person. Members discussed access-to-justice concerns, and a witness said legal aid attorneys could still access the records through the attorney-only Jeff’s system and the court’s access-to-justice room. The chair also asked about precedent, and a witness cited a Hawaii Supreme Court case as supporting removal from the online database rather than sealing records entirely. The committee then took up HP 1775 relating to foreclosures, but the transcript only shows in-person opposition comments from the Hawaii State Bar Association Collection Law Section, the Hawaii Credit Union League, and the Hawaii Bankers Association. The credit union and banking groups said they had concerns about broader negative impacts on mortgage lending and other requirements, but no detailed discussion or action was captured before the committee moved on. The next measure, HB 1560 relating to consumer protection, drew support from the Office of Consumer Protection and cryptocurrency companies including Coinflip and America Digital, which said they already use wallet-pinning and other safeguards to prevent fraud. AARP Hawaii did not take a formal position but said the bill addressed a real problem, noting that Hawaii residents, especially in Kona, had lost more than $920,000 in 2024 to cryptocurrency ATM scams and arguing that stronger oversight was needed. The committee also heard HB 1642, which would ban cryptocurrency kiosks. The Office of Consumer Protection supported the ban as the best way to protect consumers from fraud, while Coinflip, Bitcoin Depot, and America Digital opposed it, arguing kiosks provide cash-based access to crypto, especially for unbanked or underbanked consumers, and that targeted regulation would be better than an outright ban. AARP Hawaii took no formal position but strongly emphasized the harm caused by scams, saying victims are often frightened into acting quickly and that kiosk transactions currently lack enough friction or intervention. Finally, HB 1647, also on consumer protection, would impose liability on host businesses that provide space for crypto kiosks. The Office of Consumer Protection warned small businesses might not understand the liability, while Coinflip, Bitcoin Depot, and America Digital opposed the bill, saying it would unfairly shift enforcement duties to host stores and could discourage businesses from hosting kiosks, effectively creating a de facto ban. No votes or final committee actions were taken in the portion of the meeting provided.

Transcript Highlights:

• The earn-time calculation is the process. It would not change in any way under this bill.
• The earn-time calculation is the process. It would not change in any way under this bill.
• That calculates out to about a Washingtonian killed every two and a half days here in our state.
• The reason that the DOC calculates the earliest release date prior to the time.
• The reason that the DOC calculates the earliest release date prior to the time.

Summary: The committee heard staff briefings and sponsor testimony on four bills. House Bill 2310 would elevate fourth-degree assault with a finding of sexual motivation to a Class C felony after two prior qualifying convictions within 10 years, with discussion focused on when sex-offender registration would apply and whether the bill would capture repeat conduct that is often pled down. The sponsor said the bill responds to a constituent’s experience and is intended to increase accountability for repeat offenders. Testimony was split: prosecutors and law enforcement supported the bill as a practical way to address repetitive sexual-motivation assaults, while defense advocates warned it would trigger major sex-offense consequences, including registration, prison time, immigration consequences, and possible sentencing disproportionality. No vote was taken and the hearing was held open. House Bill 1239, the reentry readiness bill, would increase earned release time to up to 33.33% for eligible offenses committed on or after July 1, 2026, make certain enhancements eligible for earned release time, create a two-year peer-support pilot for incarcerated survivors of sexual violence and intimate partner violence at the Washington Corrections Center for Women, and require victim-notification materials about sentencing changes. The sponsor and supporters said it would improve reentry, reduce recidivism, and better prepare people for release, while the Sentencing Guidelines Commission said it aligns with prior recommendations for consistency in earned release. Prosecutors opposed the bill, arguing it mainly shortens sentences rather than improving reentry and could reduce accountability. The hearing remained open. House Bill 1228 would allow blood and breath toxicology testing to be considered valid if performed by a lab certified under ISO/IEC 17025, in addition to current state toxicologist methods. The sponsor and several local officials said Washington’s toxicology backlog is causing long delays, sometimes over 300 days, which slows charging decisions and can allow repeat DUI behavior before cases are filed. Supporters said private accredited labs could provide a local option and speed results, while defense advocates asked for discovery protections if outside labs are used. County and law enforcement representatives supported the concept but cautioned against shifting costs to counties and creating unequal access based on local resources. The sponsor indicated an amendment would remove out-of-state labs and add a five-year report-back. House Bill 2464 would require private detention facilities to report serious incidents such as abuse, neglect, deaths, suicides, injuries requiring hospitalization, and service disruptions to the Department of Health and local law enforcement within one business day, and would require annual reporting by law enforcement on calls and follow-up actions. The sponsor said the bill is aimed at transparency and ensuring that incidents in private detention facilities are not hidden. Testimony from advocates, journalists, and researchers described alleged abuse, suicides, hunger strikes, fires, and barriers to reporting at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, and said the bill would improve public access to information. Law enforcement representatives said the bill affects only two agencies and urged the committee to consider the cumulative burden of reporting mandates and the public-trust implications of involving local agencies in federal detention issues. The hearing on this bill was also held open.

Transcript Highlights:

• Fannie Mae's index rate, known as the required net yield, is the benchmark index used to calculate these
• Absent this, we are again unable to calculate these numbers.
• to respond to this we are calculate to respond to this we are replacing<00:03:43.319><c> it</c><00:03
• </c><00:03:51.640><c> these</c><00:03:52.640><c> these</c> again unable to calculate these these again
• </c> Commissioners group Capital calculation Commissioners group Capital calculation and<00:04:26.080

Bills: HF2601 , HF2607 , HF2027 , HF2608

Committee: House Commerce Finance and Policy

Transcript Highlights:

• This bill's $1 billion, or 9% cut, to the Internal Revenue Service below the fiscal year 2025 enacted
• </c><04:32:02.560><c> Service</c><04:32:03.359><c> below</c><04:32:03.760><c> the</c> Internal Revenue
• Service below the Internal Revenue Service below the fiscal<04:32:04.399><c> year</c><04:32:04.720><
• Who revenue in taxes owed but not paid.
• </c><08:20:49.280><c> from</c> on a system that you can calculate from on a system that you can calculate

Transcript Highlights:

• </c><00:04:37.520><c> they're</c> revenue, so the revenue that they're revenue, so the revenue that they're
• That's the general fund revenue tax.
• Jess's slide about own source revenue, right? Own source county revenue is 85% property taxes.
• </c> source revenue, right? source revenue, right?
• ><c> is</c><00:21:02.320><c> 85%</c> Own source county revenue is 85% Own source county revenue is 85%

Bills: HF3396

Committee: House Taxes

Transcript Highlights:

• growth, it presents new employment opportunities, expanded ancillary industries that lead to new tax revenue
• build out compute capacity for AI and cloud computing, with only $50 billion in current expected revenue
• That contributed to over $30 billion in tax revenue to pay for roads, schools, property tax relief, and
• That's another $30 billion in tax revenue at $70 a barrel. It's an enormous amount.
• That's another $30 billion in tax revenue at $70 a barrel. It's an enormous amount.

Committee: Joint Energy Development and Transmission Committee

Summary: The committee met in Grand Forks, approved the February 26 minutes by voice vote, and recessed for a tour of the Mincota Power Cooperative headquarters before returning for presentations on large energy consumers, especially data centers. The first presentations focused on how North Dakota should respond to rapid growth in energy-intensive projects, with speakers emphasizing the need for reliable transmission, local decision-making tools, and factual information for county and township officials who are being asked to weigh major projects with limited staff and technical support. The North Dakota Transmission Authority director said local governments are being asked to make high-impact decisions on pipelines, transmission lines, large agriculture, wind, solar, carbon dioxide pipelines, direct-air capture, and data centers, and urged development of simple statewide decision tools and support from the League of Cities and Association of Counties. The Department of Environmental Quality’s air division director said North Dakota’s air remains among the cleanest in the nation, but large data centers can create air-quality concerns because of diesel backup generation; he said the department is requiring air monitors at some facilities and expects grid power and, potentially, cleaner natural gas backup to reduce emissions. Members asked about emissions standards, misinformation, monitoring costs, and staffing succession at DEQ. The Department of Water Resources director said North Dakota’s water law is based on common ownership and prior appropriation, and that data centers generally use relatively small amounts of water, often in closed-loop systems. He said the Missouri River and groundwater supplies are ample for projected needs, that the department’s permitting process protects senior water rights, and that even a worst-case data center scenario would use a very small share of Missouri River flow. Members asked about downstream impacts and compared data center water use with fracking. Later, McLean County State’s Attorney Ladd Erickson urged the committee to study how other states regulate data centers, warned against litigation-driven delays and overly broad local ordinances, argued reclamation bonding should be handled at the state level if at all, and said data centers can bring jobs and tax base but should remain subject to local zoning. The committee ended the morning session for lunch and later heard an EERC update from CEO Charles Gorecki on the center’s 75 years of work in energy and environmental technologies, especially oil and gas development and related research.

Transcript Highlights:

• growth, it presents new employment opportunities, expanded ancillary industries that lead to new tax revenue
• Also, this box represents over $30 billion worth of tax revenue.
• This box represents over $30 billion worth of tax revenue to the people of North Dakota.
• That contributed to over $30 billion in tax revenue to pay for roads, schools, property tax relief, and
• That's another $30 billion in tax revenue at $70 a barrel. It's an enormous amount.

Summary: The committee met in Grand Forks, approved the February 26 minutes by voice vote, and recessed for a tour of Minnkota Power Cooperative before hearing presentations on large energy consumers and related infrastructure issues. The first presentation, from the North Dakota Transmission Authority, focused on the need for better local decision-making tools for counties, townships, and planning and zoning boards facing major projects such as transmission lines, pipelines, data centers, wind, solar, and large-scale agriculture. The speaker urged more objective, data-driven analysis, noted that local officials often have limited time and resources, and said the state should support training and tools through groups like the League of Cities and the Association of Counties. Members asked about proactive outreach, data center ordinances, and how to avoid subsidizing large loads or causing reliability problems. The Division of Air Quality then discussed environmental oversight of data centers, emphasizing that North Dakota’s air remains among the cleanest in the country and that the agency’s role is limited to air, water discharge, stormwater, and waste—not zoning or water use. The presentation explained that data centers generally have low direct emissions but may rely on diesel backup generators when the grid is unavailable, which creates air-quality concerns; the department said it is requiring air monitors at some projects to collect real-world data and guide future decisions. Members asked about generator emissions, misinformation, monitoring costs, and staffing succession, and the agency said permit applicants pay for the monitors while the state handles some QA work. The Department of Water Resources followed with an overview of North Dakota water law and data center water use. The director explained the state’s prior-appropriation system, the public-interest review for permits, and the large overall water supply available from groundwater and the Missouri River. He said most proposed data centers use closed-loop cooling systems and generally request relatively small amounts of water compared with other uses such as power plants, irrigation, and oilfield operations, and that even a worst-case data center scenario would use only a tiny fraction of Missouri River flow. Questions focused on downstream impacts and comparisons to fracking water use, and the director said the state’s use is too small to materially affect downstream users. Later, McLean County State’s Attorney Ladd-Erickson testified online about data center zoning and permitting. He asked the committee to have Legislative Council gather information on how other states handle data center permitting and to keep the topic on the interim agenda. He argued that local zoning should remain local, but said counties lack the technical and legal resources to manage complex reclamation or bonding requirements and that state-level enabling legislation may be more appropriate. He also recommended eliminating tax incentives for data centers. The committee chair said staff would prepare a document on other states’ zoning and permitting approaches. After a lunch recess, the committee reconvened at the EERC, where CEO Charles Gorecki gave an overview of the center’s 75 years of work and its role in oil and gas, carbon management, and other energy technologies, highlighting enhanced oil recovery and carbon dioxide utilization as major opportunities for future production and tax revenue.

Transcript Highlights:

• of our Medicaid budget and the sustainability long term, even with this ultimately $100 million of revenue
• And so that's one of the reasons why that math lines up the way that you are calculating it. Okay.
• Research brings in grants, it brings in revenue, indirects, and so forth.
• But this state appropriation does allow us to then go above what we can do with the clinical revenue
• But this state appropriation does allow us to then go above what we can do with the clinical revenue

Bills: SB4 , SB7 , SB9 , SB17

Committee: Senate Senate Health & Public Affairs

Keywords: Medicaid, healthcare, medical education, salaries, graduate education, clinician pay, health sciences, education funding, faculty salary, University of New Mexico, healthcare funding, general fund, state budget, New Mexico legislation, gun control, firearm safety, dealer regulation, illegal trade, background checks

Transcript Highlights:

• We are walking through the valuation, performing our own valuation, and doing our own calculations.
• We are walking through the valuation, performing our own valuation, and doing our own calculations.
• And the goal of that is to... ...our own valuation and doing our own calculations.
• We'll run through the contribution calculation following the actuary's report.
• We have calculated that because we're going to see for 2026, I'm sorry...

Summary: The Public Retirement System Actuarial Committee met on February 23, 2026, approved the December 18, 2025 minutes, and heard actuarial valuation reports and experience studies for several retirement systems. Presenters repeatedly noted strong investment performance, payroll growth, and generally improving funded ratios across the systems, with most plans showing lower minimum recommended employer contribution rates for fiscal 2027. The committee also received explanations of funding deposit accounts, frozen unfunded liabilities in some plans, and how recent legislative changes, including the move to five-year DROP periods in some systems, affected costs and assumptions. For the Clerk of Court, District Attorney, Firefighters, Municipal Employees (Plans A and B), Municipal Police, Registrars of Voters, and Sheriffs systems, the committee reviewed 2025 actuarial evaluations and, where applicable, 2025 experience studies. The actuarial reviewers reported no significant deficiencies and said the valuations were completed in accordance with applicable actuarial standards, generally accepted actuarial practice, and state statutes. The experience studies generally led to modest assumption changes, with some cost decreases from salary, mortality, withdrawal, and asset experience, while some plans saw offsetting increases from retirement or post-DROP behavior. The committee asked a brief question about mortality assumptions and was told the studies use separate male/female and safety/non-safety tables adjusted for Louisiana experience. The committee adopted each valuation and experience study without objection. Key fiscal 2027 minimum recommended employer contribution rates included 14.75% for Clerk of Court, 3.0% for District Attorneys, 25.5% for Firefighters, 20.75% for MERS Plan A, 8.75% for MERS Plan B, 26.5% for Municipal Police, 0% for Registrars of Voters with a $207,683 allocation to the Member Supplemental Savings Fund, and 7.75% for Sheriffs. The committee also recognized DROP crediting rates where applicable and adjourned after completing all agenda items.

Transcript Highlights:

• So, so Chairman Bosch, Senator Davison, that is our service fund revenue.
• The top two are basically the buckets for postpaid revenue, which is your typical revenue from postpaid
• But the postpaid revenue is the typical phone bill.
• We are getting $12.6 million from 911 fee revenue, actually $14.6.
• from that revenue to be able to sustain that."

Committee: Joint Information Technology Committee

Summary: The Information Technology Committee approved the March 26 minutes and received a series of reports from NDIT on major IT projects, the annual report, mainframe modernization, and cybersecurity services. The project portfolio was reported at 116 major projects with a baseline cost of $546 million, overall under budget but modestly behind schedule. Several projects that had been in variance status last quarter were said to have closed, including HHS bed management, vital records modernization, and DOT roadway capital planning. New startup reports were mostly HHS efforts tied to refugee data management, technical debt cleanup, and legacy application decommissioning, while closeouts included HHS, OMB, DPI, and DOT projects with mixed budget and schedule results. In the annual report discussion, NDIT described its service-fund financials, peer-state rate comparisons, records management reporting, and customer satisfaction efforts. Members asked about how revenues and grants flow through the service fund, how NDIT charges agencies for services, and whether customer satisfaction or CSAT scores are tracked and could be reported more regularly. NDIT said it does track service-team CSAT and survey data, and committee members encouraged more regular reporting of those metrics. The committee also discussed application portfolio management, statewide IT planning, and whether agencies should slow new system replacements while the state pursues an ERP system. The mainframe update focused on the state’s ongoing effort to retire legacy systems by about 2030. NDIT and HHS said the work is being managed as a tech-debt program, but progress is slowed by data cleanup, integration complexity, staff retirements, vendor capacity, and federal requirements. Members asked whether there is a coordinated commitment and whether additional vendor support or consultants are needed; NDIT said it is working jointly with HHS and is seeking an RFP to help accelerate modernization. The cybersecurity presentation then shifted to statewide maturity assessments and services. NDIT said it provides endpoint protection, vulnerability scanning, security awareness training, threat briefings, and penetration testing, and that assessments are based on CIS controls. Members raised concerns about low participation in the self-assessment process, the lack of mandatory reporting or audit authority, and whether insurance incentives through Enderf or possible State Auditor involvement could improve compliance. No formal votes were taken beyond approval of the minutes.