Transcript Highlights:

• And then also we have some professional services dollars and those type of things for resources moving
• having it have a home at DOTD at the OMC with Andrew, I think, I think it will give us a lot more resource
• Toomey has been an incredible resource to work with and to foster this through, to bounce things off,
• You've got a multi-diversity of commodities, products, resources, tools, and capabilities to be able
• And certainly there's discussions around governance and resourcing.

Keywords: 965, house, all

Summary: The Louisiana Ports and Waterways Investment Commission met on May 14, 2026, with a quorum present to reopen the commission’s work after a long gap. Members approved the July minutes and heard an update that a bill was moving in the Legislature to transfer the commission’s administrative home to the Office of Multimodal Commerce, with the strategic plan expected to be restarted and a consultant likely considered at a future meeting. The chair and vice chair emphasized that the commission now has stronger staffing and a clearer home for its work. The commission then repealed its July resolution that had requested a new ports and waterways infrastructure fund and identified priority projects. Members said the earlier resolution was well-intentioned but premature because the projects had not been fully vetted, LED had not been sufficiently involved, and there was no clear funding structure. They said the projects would still be considered in the broader strategic planning process, but in a more thorough and coordinated form. A major portion of the meeting focused on the collaborative marketing strategy for the five Lower Mississippi River ports, presented by Joe Toomey and Ken Erickson of Polaris, with LED’s Paige Carter confirming LED will serve as the administrative home for the plan. The presenters described a data-driven regional effort built around unity, not uniformity, to promote the ports’ combined strengths, increase trade, attract foreign direct investment, support economic growth, and strengthen funding requests. Members praised the effort as a pilot for statewide coordination, noted that the plan will live at LED, and said it should help the state present a more unified message to investors and policymakers. The commission also received an update from the navigation and safety task force. Members observed a moment of silence for the late Captain Toby Waddingney, and Steve Wall, the new NOBER president, said he would continue the work using Waddingney’s notes. Commissioners reported that several recommendations from the task force are already being implemented, including bridge air-gap sensors, GIS tools, and dredging project coordination. The meeting ended with no public comment, plans for another meeting in the next quarter, and adjournment by motion.

Transcript Highlights:

• I will be making the amendments outlined on page 7 of the analysis.
• Given the risk to workers, the State Natural Resources Agency, the Department of Water Resources, and
• database of certified fabrication shops to help the supply chain control process, and supplemental resources
• to ensure that DIR has adequate and appropriate resources to actually implement the program.
• to ensure that DIR has adequate and appropriate resources to actually implement the program.

Summary: The Assembly Labor and Employment Committee heard and advanced several bills focused on worker protections, training access, wage enforcement, outreach, and workplace safety. SB 513 would require employees to have access to their training and certification records; supporters, including laid-off refinery workers and labor organizations, said employers sometimes withhold records during layoffs, while committee members called the practice unacceptable. The bill passed 5-0 and was re-referred to Appropriations. SB 809 addressed misclassification of construction truck owner-drivers by offering employers amnesty if they reclassify workers as employees and adopt a two-check payment system; labor and construction trades groups supported it, and it passed 5-0 to Judiciary. SB 578 would codify the California Workplace Outreach Program, which funds trusted community organizations to educate workers about their rights. Supporters described the program as a proven way to reach low-wage, immigrant, and hard-to-reach workers, especially amid wage theft, retaliation, and immigration enforcement concerns. The bill passed 5-0 to Appropriations. SB 261 would strengthen collection of wage theft judgments by creating a public list of nonpaying employers and adding penalties after six months of nonpayment; county enforcement officials and labor advocates said it would help workers recover unpaid wages. It passed 6-0 to Judiciary. The committee also approved SB 369, which would require skilled and trained workforce standards for Salton Sea restoration projects, with supporters saying the work is hazardous and should use trained labor; it passed 6-0 to Appropriations. Finally, SB 20 sought to address silicosis in stone countertop fabrication by requiring training and certification protections for workers; supporters said the disease has caused deaths among mostly Latino workers, while industry groups supported the bill with amendments and requested implementation resources. It passed 6-0 to Appropriations. The committee also adopted a consent calendar of four additional bills and adjourned after all listed measures were moved forward.

Transcript Highlights:

• This measure provides the Fair Plan additional resources to ensure they have adequate claims.
• It's due to a lot of our fluctuating workloads and resource constraints at local building departments
• The committee's fiscal analysis indicates that the cost associated with this legislation are minor and
• For example, the California Air Resources Board continues to try to push a very costly mandate to ban
• Or that committee, or natural resources, that we're having to draft laws to help put in check regulatory

Keywords: 988, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• the legacy programs, it is essential that these modernization efforts be prioritized and properly resourced
• national security. and result in significant costs as various DOD equities are forced to invest the resources
• And what do we need in the way of resources in order to get there?
• We get lost in counting tanks or airplanes or Navy ships, but the whole idea of all of these resources
• would like to thank this committee and Congress for its continued support in providing us with the resources

Keywords: military strategy, nuclear triad, deterrence, STRATCOM, SPACECOM, SLICOM, B-21, hypersonic defense, spectrum auction

Summary: The meeting focused on the strategic posture of U.S. military capabilities with an emphasis on deterrence amid growing global threats. General Cotton from STRATCOM and General Whiting from SPACECOM provided insights into the modernization efforts of the nuclear triad. Key discussions involved the importance of maintaining control over specific frequency spectrums critical for military operations and the implications of potential auctioning of these bands. Members expressed concerns regarding the evolving landscape with adversaries like China and Russia, emphasizing that swift action is needed to adapt and preserve U.S. national security. Various proposals and existing programs, including the B-21 bomber and the nuclear-armed sea-launched cruise missile (SLICOM), were debated, alongside the necessity of increasing military investment in hypersonic defense systems.

Transcript Highlights:

• So hopefully we can get more consistency and safeguard Texas' most precious resource: our families.
• I got denied because my vehicle, which was six years old and was paid off, counted as a resource.
• So I got turned down because of my resources.
• This is a good step toward providing foster families with the resources that they need, especially kinship
• I am here as a resource.

Bills: SB387, SB1650, SB1838, SB1839, SB1923, SB1940, SB2052

Keywords: judicial bond, guardianship, probate law, county judge, statutory county court, attorney general, criminal prosecution, public order, law enforcement, jurisdiction, attorney ad litem, parent-child relationship, compensation, legal representation, government entity, probate, court proceedings, record delivery, wills, legal documentation

Summary: The Senate Committee on Jurisprudence heard several family-law and probate bills. Senate Bill 2052 would codify a rebuttable presumption that a parent acts in the best interest of a child and require clear and convincing evidence to overcome that presumption in disputes involving non-parents; the author and several witnesses supported the bill as a clarification of existing case law, while one witness suggested refining the modification language. Public testimony was closed and the bill was left pending. The committee also heard Senate Bill 1923, which would allow child support to follow a child placed temporarily with kin or fictive kin under a parental child safety placement or authorization agreement; the bill’s author and a grandparent caregiver testified in support, while one witness suggested the Attorney General could handle the change administratively. That bill was also left pending. Senate Bill 1838 would standardize fee schedules and compensation rules for attorneys ad litem and related court-appointed counsel in DFPS child-protection cases. The author said the bill would clarify unclear current law, and witnesses from the Texas Indigent Defense Commission and family-defense bar supported it, though one asked that expert-witness expenses be expressly included. Senate Bill 387 would raise the bond requirement for county judges handling guardianship proceedings to at least $500,000; the author described it as a refiling of a prior bill that passed unanimously but was vetoed, and a statutory probate judge testified in support. Senate Bill 1839 would require original or paper wills to be delivered to the transferee court when probate proceedings are transferred; the committee substitute broadened the delivery methods, and the district clerk witness supported the change. All three bills were left pending. The committee also took up Senate Bill 1536, which had previously been voted out with the wrong committee substitute; members reconsidered the vote, adopted the corrected substitute, and then voted 3-0 to report the bill favorably to the full Senate, with local and contested calendar certification. Finally, Senate Bill 1940 would create a transfer-on-death mechanism for manufactured homes classified as personal property, similar to existing tools for real property and vehicles; the author and an estate-planning attorney testified that it would streamline transfers and reduce probate costs. A non-substantive committee substitute was still being prepared, and the bill was left pending.

Transcript Highlights:

• So I guess I'm just wondering, has there been an analysis of different sizes of cities and appropriate
• Resources we all know.
• Recognizing the Chairman's comments, I will serve as a resource.
• I assume that our auditor would need additional resources in order to do this.
• I look forward to the resource witness coming up here.

Bills: SB32, SB464, SB996, SB1163, SB1173, SB1277, SB1452, SB1453, SB1548, SB1882, SB1883, SB2016, SB 32

Keywords: ad valorem taxation, tax exemption, franchise tax credit, income production, personal property, SB 464, school buffer zone, tobacco retailer, vape shop, e-cigarette, vaping, nicotine, tobacco products, retail permit, comptroller, Class A misdemeanor, school proximity, youth access, public school, private school

Transcript Highlights:

• Has there been an analysis of different sizes of cities and appropriate numbers and things like that?
• Um, recognizing the chairman's comments, I will serve as a resource, but I am here in support of this
• And on top of that, I assume that our auditor would need additional resources in order to do this.
• I look forward to the resource witness coming up here. All right. Members, any more questions?
• Anyone else wish to testify on for or against Bill 2016, uh, Senator Cook, since there's no resource

Bills: SB 32, SB 464, SB 996, SB 1163, SB 1173, SB 1277, SB 1452, SB 1453, SB 1548, SB 1882, SB 1883, SB 2016

Keywords: ad valorem taxation, tax exemption, franchise tax credit, income production, personal property, SB 464, school buffer zone, tobacco retailer, vape shop, e-cigarette, vaping, nicotine, tobacco products, retail permit, comptroller, Class A misdemeanor, school proximity, youth access, public school, private school

Transcript Highlights:

• of course, and other senators that have represented purview to make certain that we provided the resources
• Working with you doing this legislative session to provide the resources necessary for you to continue
• . and have morphed to 550 officers that serve all of our 254 counties to... protect our wildlife resources
• As peace officers Texas game wardens protect and conserve access natural resources, promote public safety
• hard to make this happen. make sure that we do protect our game, and our coast, and our natural resources

Bills: SJR1, SB9, SB40, SJR36, SJR1, SJR5, SB9, SB40

Keywords: bail denial, illegal aliens, felony offenses, constitutional amendment, law enforcement, bail reform, defendants, pretrial detention, public safety, criminal justice, charitable bail organizations, bail bonds, public funds, political subdivision, injunctive relief, taxpayer rights, bail, criminal justice reform, 1185, senate

Transcript Highlights:

• The Committee on Natural Resources is called to order. The secretary, please note the roll.
• The Natural Resources Committee minutes of March 24, 2026, stand approved without objection.
• I don't think extremism in any direction serves the public or our wildlife resources in any positive
• I like to see folks that genuinely care about these resources. Thank you. Excellent. All right.
• My hope is to be confirmed by the Senate Natural Resources Committee to serve on the CARB board.

Keywords: 1182, all

Transcript Highlights:

• I will call the meeting of the Environment and Natural Resources Finance and Policy Committee to order
• will remain sufficient and resources will remain sufficient and protected. protected. protected.
• . analysis. analysis.
• Minnesota, we have soil, we have water resources, we have things that other states don't. ...and vice
• For the record, Colonel Rodman Smith, Director of Enforcement, Department of Natural Resources.

Bills: HF4740, HF3940

Keywords: financial assurance, feedlot permits, manure storage, environmental compliance, agriculture regulation, abandoned infrastructure, pollution control, environmental impact, animal feedlot, livestock, regulations, Minnesota Rules

Summary: The committee approved the March 26, 2026 minutes and then heard House File 4740, authored by Rep. Hansen, which would require feedlots with at least 1,000 animal units to provide financial assurance for closure costs. Hansen argued the bill would shift cleanup responsibility from taxpayers to owners, citing abandoned feedlots, changing ownership structures, and the 2024 Pure Prairie Poultry bankruptcy as examples of why public funds should not be used for closures and cleanup. He also said the bill would apply to new or renewed permits and suggested a statutory definition of abandoned feedlot storage units may be needed. Farm and livestock groups testified in opposition. Minnesota Farmers Union, Minnesota Milk Producers Association, Minnesota Pork Producers Association, and Minnesota Farm Bureau Federation said existing MPCA and county permit rules already require closure planning and reporting, and that the bill would add unnecessary costs and barriers for family farms, beginning farmers, and expansion. They warned the financial assurance requirement could function like an animal-unit cap, encourage fragmentation or out-of-state relocation, and impose annual costs that would not improve environmental outcomes. Several testified that true abandonment is rare and that current permitting and closure processes already address it. MPCA staff said the agency has concerns with the bill, noted there is currently no formal fiscal note, and said the agency would need to ensure any appropriations cover ongoing staffing needs. MPCA officials explained that permitted feedlots already must notify the agency before closure, follow a checklist of closure requirements, and undergo follow-up inspection; they said abandonment notifications are uncommon and they are not aware of any currently permitted facilities in abandonment process. Members questioned whether the bill was needed, what form financial assurance would take, how other states handle similar requirements, and whether the proposal would unfairly burden smaller or family operations. No vote on HF 4740 was taken in the portion of the meeting provided.

Transcript Highlights:

• Um, the challenges that they do have is staffing and resources, and that's clear to us with the delays
• have 30 days from the time that the kit is collected to submit it to the forensic laboratory for analysis
• Um, obviously, that analysis and that process is probably simpler than this one because there's not like
• Uh, so it looks like that there are staffing issues, there's resource issues, uh, there's recurring fund
• Um, and so we're either not putting the resources, we're not acknowledging this, and so it seemed like

Transcript Highlights:

• state's ability to use the resources state's ability to use the resources that<01:39:20.960>
• to resources for those that need it.
• <01:57:06.199> in inclusion of problem gaming resources in inclusion of problem gaming resources
• <04:41:13.320> development Department of Human Resource development Department of Human Resource
• Department of Landon natural resources Department of Landon natural resources Statewide<05:09:18.600

Keywords: 910, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Yet communities like the AAPI business community are often overlooked in economic analysis.
• economic analysis. economic analysis.
• This has had a statewide impact, and many of our communities can't afford or don't have the resources
• the resources to do that kind of study. the resources to do that kind of study.
• This bill is a necessary step to ensure our local government resources and community values remain

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• They are just reassimilating and using their resources to help with the administrative function.
• <00:51:24.000> and by the board that has resources and by the board that has resources and
• So it's kind of a wash with the resources and the funds both. It's a wash.
• The resources and the funds both. It's a wash.
• on licensed assistance behavior analysis on licensed assistance behavior analysis to<01:09:11.279

Keywords: 1136, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• We’re having conversations around whether we can share risk management resources, whether we can share
• Both systems have to have insurance on their buildings, so maybe there’s a resource that we don’t need
• Systems asking them to do an Management Systems asking them to do an objective<01:00:26.839> analysis
• and our energy reallocate our resource and our energy to<01:02:53.319> support<01:02:53.799><
• We have been fortunate with the resources we have to attract very talented leadership to our colleges

Keywords: 1189, house, all

Summary: The Public Higher Education Study Committee held an organizational meeting and received an update from the university and community college systems on implementation of recommendations from the governor’s higher education task force. The systems said the task force report contained about 40 recommendations, and they have focused first on operational items while continuing to work on larger policy issues, including better alignment of public higher education with workforce and economic development needs. The committee also discussed reporting requirements under the amended law and whether quarterly reports are required or whether annual updates are sufficient unless the committee requests more. A major topic was expanding Early College and dual-enrollment opportunities. The chancellors reported strong growth in Early College participation, significant student and family savings, and state scholarship support that they described as producing a strong return on investment. They said the goal is to build clearer pathways so students can earn college credit, reduce debt, and stay in New Hampshire for postsecondary education. They also noted ongoing work to simplify admissions and transfer processes, including about 100 transfer pathways between the systems, direct-admit efforts for community college and university students, and continued development of transfer equivalency tools. Members pressed the systems and the Department of Education on direct outreach to high school students, especially juniors, so students would know they are eligible for direct admission and other opportunities. The main obstacle discussed was access to student contact information, with officials saying the issue may involve contract limits with the College Board and possibly statutory constraints on sharing data. Department of Education staff said they are meeting with the systems and vendors to determine what changes are needed. Committee members urged faster action so students and families can receive letters or other notices about in-state options, affordability programs such as Granite Guarantee, and pathways to community college and university enrollment.

Transcript Highlights:

• We need case management resources are.
• , approved billing who does that analysis, approved billing who does that analysis, right?
• that it might change the way resources that it might change the way resources are<01:32:53.760><
• address the lack of a permanent resource address the lack of a permanent resource for<01:39:39.440
• 42:27.520> for Increasing the resources available for Increasing the resources available for for

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• We do have resources here in Texas.
• We do have resources here in Texas.
• We do have a resource witness. Thank you.
• And I'm sorry, Cindy Wright is a resource. Senator Hancock, would you like a resource or not?
• They lack access to the right information and resources.

Bills: HB136, HB451, SB425, SB466, SB905, SB1986, SB2311, SB2450, SB2805, SB2826, SB2919, SB3001

Keywords: Medicaid, lactation, healthcare, consultation, reimbursement, maternal health, infant care, commercial sexual exploitation, child sex trafficking, human trafficking, child welfare, foster care, DFPS, Department of Family and Protective Services, juvenile probation, risk assessment, needs assessment, trauma screening, child abuse prevention, exploitation screening

Summary: The committee met with a quorum and announced it would vote on pending bills at 10:30, with public testimony limited to two minutes. It first took up Senate Bill 905, a TDLR cleanup bill on licensing regulation of speech-language pathologists and audiologists. Senator Zafferini said the committee substitute would streamline advisory board consultation, remove obsolete provisional licenses, and allow any licensed physician to authorize hearing instruments for minors; the substitute was adopted and the bill left pending. The committee then heard House Bill 451, which would require universal screening for commercial sexual exploitation risk for children in DFPS conservatorship and youth under TJJD jurisdiction. The author and witnesses from Children at Risk, the Fort Bend Anti-Trafficking Collective, and Texas CASA supported the bill as a prevention tool with existing infrastructure and training; the committee adopted the substitute and left the bill pending. The committee next considered Senate Bill 466, which would clarify that families may request a fetal death certificate at any gestational age, while keeping existing filing requirements for physicians. A constituent father testified about losing his 11-week-old daughter and being told he could not obtain a certificate, which he said prevented funeral arrangements; the substitute was adopted and the bill left pending. Senate Bill 2311 followed, requiring residential treatment centers to have a written agreement with the school that will educate resident children before becoming operational. The author cited a local dispute where an RTC and school district lacked communication, and witnesses from Texas CASA and Disability Rights Texas supported clearer educational planning while suggesting the Education Code may need conforming changes; the bill was left pending. The committee then heard Senate Bill 2826, known as Alyssa’s Law, which would create a statewide education program on medical child abuse for medical students, health care professionals, and CPS caseworkers. The author and Sheriff Bill Weyburn described Alyssa’s case as involving repeated unnecessary surgeries and argued the bill would improve awareness and early identification, while several witnesses and members raised concerns about false accusations, impacts on medically fragile children, and the need for scientific, peer-reviewed training and safeguards. After extensive discussion, the chair left the bill pending. The committee also heard House Bill 136, which would add certified lactation consultants as Medicaid providers to expand breastfeeding support; witnesses from lactation and nutrition fields said the bill would improve access, maternal and infant health, and long-term savings, and the bill was left pending. Finally, the committee took up Senate Bill 2805, a surprise-billing/arbitration measure that would clarify provider identifiers and shift arbitration costs to the losing party. The author said the substitute was a legislative counsel draft with no substantive difference, and witnesses from the Texas Medical Association, Texas Society of Anesthesiologists, and U.S. Anesthesia Partners supported the bill as a modest improvement that would reduce administrative confusion and make arbitration fairer without weakening patient protections. Members discussed how arbitration costs affect settlement behavior and how to define the “winner” in close cases. The bill was heard but not voted out during this segment.

Transcript Highlights:

• The Committee on Natural Resources will come to order. The clerk will call the roll.
• , resource availability while strengthening our state's economic prosperity.
• Do that and use water as a resource there if they can.
• So they wanna, they want to protect the water resources that they have in East Texas.
• It is a finite resource, but it is also a resource required for life and access to water is a human right

Transcript Highlights:

• We provide hundreds of trainings each year to community members and giving them the resources and the
• Members, we have a resource witness from TDLR if anyone's interested in asking questions.
• Speaker, TDLR, who is, uh, a resource witness on HP 1560.
• Seeing none, we have one resource witness from TDLR.
• And we have you registered and representing TDLR and you're here as a resource witness.

Transcript Highlights:

• that we've been able to provide with the funding model itself to show where the need for various resources
• So a lot of the resources... ...for various resources are in the different programs.
• So a lot of the resource gains that we see here are driven by policy decisions made by the Legislature
• and the Governor's Office to support additional base funding resources on the basis of this workload
• The FEFP 80% has to be spent directly on that and be demonstrated by the cost analysis.

Summary: The Appropriations Committee for Higher Education met to review Florida’s workforce and Florida College System funding models as part of budget planning. Chair Harrell opened by emphasizing the state’s growing focus on technical education and workforce pathways, and the committee first heard from Tara Goodman of the Department of Education on district workforce education. Goodman explained the programs funded through district workforce dollars, including career certificates, applied technology diplomas, registered apprenticeship, and adult general education, and described the model’s reliance on lagged enrollment, program cost weights, local tuition offsets, and supplemental factors such as disability services, GED testing, and minimum funding for small rural districts. She also noted federal support through Perkins and WIOA and said the model is used to determine unmet need and guide appropriations. In response to questions, she said health care programs are generally among the higher-cost offerings and may be supplemented by pipeline funds. The committee then heard from Kathy Hebda, Chancellor of the Florida College System, on the college system’s funding model. Hebda described the main funding sources, including the program fund, student success incentive funds, pipeline funds, tuition and fees, and performance-based incentives, and explained that the current model was developed by the 28 college presidents under legislative direction. She said the model uses a three-year average FTE, weights workforce enrollment more heavily than non-workforce enrollment, gives significant weight to completions, includes a small-college factor and regional cost differentials, and also provides targeted funding to bring colleges up to a floor based on per-FTE funding. Senators asked about colleges below the target, cost differences among programs, faculty salaries, and health insurance costs; Hebda said the model is meant to provide flexible operating dollars that colleges can use for those expenses, but specific salary and benefit decisions are left to the institutions. Seminole State College President Georgia Lorenz also testified in support of the college funding model, saying it holds institutions accountable for enrollment and completions, can be adjusted to reflect state priorities like workforce, and addresses differences in size and regional costs. No bills were voted on, and the committee adjourned after brief closing remarks thanking Seminole State College and the presenters.