Transcript Highlights:

• . state. state.
• created in this state.
• These funds should cancel back, and we should be reappropriating it to aid the entire state, to aid every
• <00:48:43.200> aid<00:48:43.480> every aid the entire state, to aid every aid the entire
• state, to aid every Minnesota<00:48:44.280> family Minnesota family Minnesota family that<00:

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• and the charter school facilities aid.
• and the charter school facilities aid.
• and the charter school facilities aid.
• We're hoping for higher education, environment, and state government.
• We're hoping for higher education, environment, and state government.

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• Please remember to state your name when you come up.
• This is going to be 50% state and 50% federal funds.
• We have tried to enhance our first aid training... ...to enhance our first aid training.
• Um, and this isn't just normal first aid.
• We call this Wilderness First Aid.

Keywords: 924, joint, all

Transcript Highlights:

• tracking system so that the state tracking system so that the state complaints<00:18:33.440>
• So having for the half day state.
• And EpiPen is part of that first aid.
• And EpiPen is part of that first aid.
• And EpiPen is part of that first aid.

Keywords: 1191, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• /c> significant differences from state to significant differences from state to state. state. state.
• they do differ from state to state. >> Yep.
• going to differ from state to state. going to differ from state to state. if<00:38:51.680> I<00
• All 50 states as available to states.
• We've heard, when we've been talking about special education aid, that there are some states, such as

Keywords: 1189, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• parts of the state.
• state.
• The bill refers to head of state.
• the state.
• They have reduced the priority set from 65% state median income and 55% state median income to 50% state

Summary: The Senate convened with a quorum, opened with prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance, and heard several member introductions before taking up the special order calendar. The chamber first postponed CS/SB 80 on state land management, then moved through a series of bills, often substituting House companions when identical or nearly identical. Early actions included unanimous passage of HB 295 on a comprehensive waste reduction and recycling plan, which directs DEP to develop a recycling and waste-diversion roadmap, and passage of CS/CS/SB 492 on land development and mitigation banking after amendments addressing out-of-service credits and former phosphate mine lands; that bill passed 35-3 after debate over possible constitutional concerns. The Senate also passed HB 255 on aggravated animal cruelty, adding a sentencing multiplier and a searchable FDLE database of convicted animal abusers, and HB 711 establishing the Spectrum Alert for missing children with autism, with $190,000 in nonrecurring implementation funds and a July 1, 2026 implementation date. The chamber then approved HB 1089 to add Duchenne muscular dystrophy to newborn screening, and HB 393 revising the My Safe Florida Condominium Pilot Program to expand eligible mitigation projects, lower the approval threshold, and clarify ownership and reimbursement issues. Members discussed funding levels and whether insurance premium credits would be required, but the bill passed unanimously. The Senate also passed HB 1145 on workforce education, HB 827 on a statewide study of automation and workforce impact, and HB 181 on parole guidelines, all without recorded opposition. CS/CS/SB 976 on court-appointed psychologists also passed unanimously, as did HB 1451 on sexual cyber harassment, which broadened protections against non-consensual and digitally forged intimate images. Later, the Senate approved HB 1156 creating the Home Health Aid for Medically Fragile Children Program, after clarifying training requirements and hearing support that the measure would help families keep medically fragile children at home while compensating trained parents. The chamber also passed HB 1091 on substance abuse and mental health care, with an amendment allowing designated facilities to retain stabilized patients who still meet involuntary examination criteria. Throughout the day, senators used questions and debate to probe charter school governance in CS/CS/SB 822, which was substituted with HB 443 and amended to expand charter autonomy over conduct codes, enrollment, reporting, and facility use while maintaining sponsor oversight; that bill was placed on the calendar for third reading rather than voted on in the excerpt. Several other measures, including SB 716, SB 76, and the final SB 1252 item, were postponed or not reached before the transcript ended.

Transcript Highlights:

• out of the education trust fund for school building aid, and we as a state had made a contract, a promise
• trust fund for school building aid, and we as a state had made a contract, a promise to provide school
• And the state of New Hampshire backed off on building aid for almost a decade, and we have just recently
• Aid and we as a state had made a Aid and we as a state had made a contract<00:38:46.280> a<00:
• And the state of New Hampshire backed off on building aid for almost a decade, and we have just recently

Keywords: 1191, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• state in the United States and its overseas territories is California.
• Because Arizona State University, North Carolina State, and every other institution, proprietary and
• state approval processes.
• Both in state and nationally.
• The other states of the United States, they don't have it right.

Summary: The committee heard several higher education bills. It first approved the consent calendar, which included SB 67 and SB 619. The main discussion centered on SB 437, which would direct the CSU system to develop a fair, evidence-based process for verifying whether someone is a descendant of a person enslaved in the United States, as part of the state’s reparations work. Supporters said the bill fills a gap left by the Reparations Task Force and would create a transparent, credible lineage-verification process; opponents argued genealogy methods already exist, the bill would waste money and delay action, and some raised constitutional concerns. The committee took a vote on SB 437, but the roll was left open after the initial tally showed three ayes and three noes. The committee then heard SB 790, which would allow California to join the interstate reciprocity agreement for online postsecondary education. The author and supporters said the bill would improve consumer protections for California students taking out-of-state online courses and help California institutions compete more effectively by reducing the burden of seeking separate state approvals. Opponents, including University of Phoenix and other groups, argued the bill conflicted with the existing reciprocity framework, could exclude some institutions, and might not actually secure California’s entry into the agreement. The committee voted 3-1 to pass SB 790 as amended to the Business and Professions Committee, with the roll left open. The committee also heard SB 391, which would authorize the Community College Chancellor’s Office to charge fees for research partners seeking access to data. Supporters said the office is absorbing significant unfunded workload from data requests and that fees would help recover costs; opponents, including the California Teachers Association community college association, warned the fees could create barriers for faculty and smaller researchers. Members discussed possible exemptions and implementation details. The committee voted 5-1 to pass SB 391 as amended to the Appropriations Committee, with the roll left open. Finally, the committee heard SB 685, a pilot program to provide cost-of-attendance assistance at four CSU campuses for students who experienced homelessness in high school. Supporters said it would help students cover housing, food, and transportation costs and reduce dropout risk; members asked about eligibility and implementation, and the author explained the bill would use McKinney-Vento homelessness designations and target students at risk of “summer melt” and college homelessness.

Transcript Highlights:

• Others were actively cheering on the dismantling of our nation's administrative state.
• Aid is frozen and then it's not. Tariffs are imposed and then they're lifted.
• What would that mean for MDE and Minnesota here at the state level?
• Does the 10% of the state budget, does that funding come directly from the U.S.
• <00:21:52.159> budget case does the 10% of the state budget case does the 10% of the state

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Summary: Minnesota Senate Democrats held an education finance press conference focused on concerns that the Trump administration may dismantle the U.S. Department of Education and freeze or reduce federal education funding. Speakers said such actions could jeopardize Title I, special education, English learner, school meal, transportation, and other programs, and noted that federal education aid is often reimbursed after districts have already spent the money. They argued that even a 10% cut would amount to roughly $1 billion and could leave districts unable to cover costs they have already incurred. Several speakers also raised concerns about broader federal actions, including school vouchers, curriculum restrictions, and access to student and Treasury data by Elon Musk and others, warning about privacy and the possible targeting of DEI, ethnic studies, truth-and-history curriculum, and efforts to recruit and retain teachers of color. They said the instability makes it impossible for districts to plan budgets and maintain staffing, and that the harm is already being felt through frozen aid and other disruptions. The speakers criticized Republican colleagues for downplaying the threat and said Republicans were inconsistent because they had recently highlighted teacher shortages and school infrastructure needs while now minimizing potential cuts. No votes or formal committee actions were taken in the press conference; the event was a call for public pressure on Republican lawmakers to oppose the federal changes and protect Minnesota schools and students.

Transcript Highlights:

• Brian McCall: life and other states.
• Funding for financial aid programs and Texas grants.
• Texas State is working to close that gap.
• hail from 230 counties across our state, and 86% of our 230,000 alumni remain in the state after graduation
• At Texas State, we're determined to help the state achieve its goal to build a talent-strong Texas in

Transcript Highlights:

• Funding for financial aid programs and Texas grants.
• Texas State is working to close that gap.
• remain in the state after graduation.
• At Texas State, we're determined to... to help the state achieve its goal to build a talent-strong Texas
• and Sul Ross State University Rio Grande College.

Keywords: 1184, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• off-highway motorcycle grant-in-aid off-highway motorcycle grant-in-aid program<00:15:26.120>
• parks. support for state parks.
• <00:37:08.040> law assessment worksheet where state law assessment worksheet where state law
• Section 6 on page 166 is an intent state Section 6 on page 166 is an intent state statement<00:37
• <00:42:16.880> process, grant and aid process, grant and aid process, do<00:42:19.120>

Keywords: 919, house, all

Summary: The working group on the Omnibus Environment Bill opened with remarks from House and Senate co-chairs describing the agreement as a compromise with wins and tradeoffs for both sides, and thanking nonpartisan staff and administration agencies for helping negotiate the package. Staff then walked through the finance spreadsheet, explaining that the agreement met the group’s general fund target by combining new spending with cancellations and fund shifts across the Pollution Control Agency, DNR, BWSR, Metro Parks, the Zoo, the Science Museum, and other entities. Major fiscal items included PCA operating and permitting-efficiency funding, PFAS-related and mercury-related provisions, county feedlot reductions, closed landfill and remediation fund changes, groundwater and aquatic invasive species fee increases, DNR groundwater and AIS spending, ATV trail grants, watercraft enforcement, and several one-time appropriations and extensions for specific water quality and conservation projects. The policy walk-through covered Article 3’s community grants changes, including a requirement that grants benefit all regions of the state, permission to use some funds for trail maintenance and AIS management, prohibitions on awards to certain entities, and a DNR reporting requirement. Article 4 contained a range of natural resources and environmental policy provisions, including abandoned watercraft seizure and forfeiture authority, higher watercraft AIS surcharges, disabled veterans license fee reductions, a county-based replacement for the shotgun zone, a one-year crossbow extension, a continuous bass season, increased water use permit fees, PFAS sales exemptions for certain products, creation of the Sustainable Foraging Task Force, and a moratorium on DNR foraging rules shortened to July 1, 2026. Article 5 addressed state lands, including an additional Cass County land sale authority. Article 6 focused on PCA permitting reform, requiring more emphasis on complex Tier 2 permits in annual reporting, giving applicants five business days to fix deficiencies, allowing the PCA to decline expedited permitting when it lacks capacity, and letting the agency retain certain fees if expedited permits are completed early. It also included changes to environmental review procedures, feedlot permitting, and EQB rules. During member questions, Senator McEwen asked about the $952,000 ATV trail appropriation and whether projects must have permits before receiving funds; DNR Assistant Commissioner Bob Myers said no project list had been finalized and that grants would go through the existing process, with environmental review and readiness considered, but he said he would need to verify the exact permitting policy and follow up with the committee.

Transcript Highlights:

• State gets 10.
• building aid, court-ordered placements, state testing, charter school building lease aid, and the public
• building aid, court-ordered placements, state testing, charter school building lease aid, and the public
• building aid, court-ordered placements, state testing, charter school building lease aid, and the public
• , state testing, charter school building lease aid, and the public school infrastructure fund.

Keywords: 928, house, all

Summary: The committee met with Lottery Director Charlie McIntyre and Charitable Gaming Chief Compliance Officer Kulie Aoyo to review proposed changes in HB 2 and related amendments affecting video lottery terminals, historic horse racing, charitable gaming, and scratch tickets. McIntyre said the late-arriving amendment made revenue estimates difficult, especially because the bill would allow operators to decide when to convert from HHR to VLTs and would change the floor-space rules. He explained that the existing 70/30 floor-space split between machines and table games was negotiated to protect charity revenue, and warned that moving to a 90/10 split could reduce charity revenue, potentially by as much as $17 million, while also changing the character of the facilities. Committee members discussed whether to keep the 70/30 split, and McIntyre said he could provide updated estimates later that day, including net impacts after any offsetting gains or losses under current law. Members also asked about the governor’s proposed operator share versus the Sweeney amendment’s higher operator share. McIntyre said the governor’s 45% figure was based on his own estimate and on comparable rates in other states, and he supported it as a way to maximize revenue for the state and charities. He also described a change to high-stakes tournaments: after speaking with Rep. Sweeney, he said the amendment was clarified to apply only to those tournaments and would lower the house take from 10% to 5% to encourage participation in rare, high-buy-in events. The committee also discussed a separate proposal to raise the maximum scratch ticket price from $30 to $50; McIntyre said the change would take time to implement, would likely increase net state revenue by about $1 million in year two, and was consistent with pricing in neighboring states such as Massachusetts and Connecticut. Additional questions covered sports betting and a separate Kino-related estimate. McIntyre said March Madness is the busiest period for sports betting and that the state’s sports betting revenue has exceeded initial expectations. He also said he had estimated that removing a municipal-vote restriction for Kino could cost about $12 million total, with $2 million in the first year and $10 million thereafter. No formal votes were taken during the discussion; the chair indicated the committee would revisit the VLT amendment and other sections later, and McIntyre agreed to send updated revenue estimates to committee members.

Transcript Highlights:

• The state of California was the first in the nation to recognize Lunar New Year as an official state
• So if someone doesn't like what the state is doing, they can't sue the state.
• We need to look at our home and community and fix our state. We need to fireproof our state.
• This is not going to look favorable upon us when we're asking for aid for our state. Mr.
• Berman state your point.

Keywords: 988, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• <02:12:35.840> And number of students in the state. And number of students in the state.
• modifying the state average expense. modifying the state average expense.
• , services provided in a specific state, services provided in a specific state, maybe<02:27:58.720
• uh special education differentiated aid uh special education differentiated aid component.<02:34
• Uh, across the state to all the state reps and take it forward from there.

Keywords: 1189, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• a half times, the state pays nothing. a half times, the state pays nothing.
• state picks up uh 15%. state picks up uh 15%.
• approval for catastrophic aid. approval for catastrophic aid.
• And they surely, when it comes up to them requesting catastrophic aid from the state, from the department
• <01:41:16.880> um<01:41:17.080> to the state at the state level um to the state at

Keywords: 1189, house, all

Summary: The committee took up HB 1563, a special education aid formula bill, after a brief recess. Members reviewed a replace-all amendment that would keep the current reimbursement lag structure but make the bill effective July 1, 2028, with districts beginning to collect the new data in the next biennium. The amendment changes the reimbursement tiers from a dollar-based system to one tied to average per-pupil spending: districts would pay 100% below 2.5 times average per-pupil spending, 85% from 2.5 to 3.5 times, 20% from 3.5 to 10 times, and 10% above 10 times, with the state covering the remainder. Speakers emphasized that the bill is intended as an incremental step to gather better data before any larger expansion of state participation. A major new section would create a risk-based monitoring program for reimbursement claims. Instead of reviewing every claim individually, the department would review at least 20% of districts each year so every district is reviewed at least once every five years, with additional random or targeted reviews based on risk indicators, anomalies, prior findings, or other department criteria. Members discussed whether the audit sample should be district-based or student-based, and whether the bill should more specifically define the type of audit and the meaning of “other” criteria. Department witnesses said the current process already involves confidential information and that the new approach would not worsen privacy concerns; they also said the department would follow federal and state privacy laws and adopt rules to implement the process. Several members supported the bill as a practical first step to improve data collection and eventually expand aid, noting that districts currently do not track lower-cost special education students well. Others raised concerns about the lack of a fiscal note, possible local costs, and whether the new monitoring language gives the department too much discretion. The discussion ended with no vote taken in the excerpt, and members indicated they may need more time to review the final amendment before proceeding.

Transcript Highlights:

• in the State Senate now.
• We support state and local partners and literary programs, and I want support state and local partners
• some outside of the state.
• The state puts in another $15 million.
• We also use that money to help a variety of states or cities within our state, and I'll give you a great

Keywords: 987, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• state to the other and seven uh state state to the other and seven uh state universities<00:13:38.800
• appropriation state investment or state appropriation state investment or state appropriation increased
• state but also um into the financial aid state but also um into the financial aid programs<01:04
• The majority of that is financial aid from federal, state, and private grants, and that amount is settling
• The majority of that is financial aid from federal, state, and private grants, and that amount is settling

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• state, our state. state, our state.
• school year in which they're receiving their adequacy aid that, um, the state is going to be sending
• school year in which they're receiving their adequacy aid that, um, the state is going to be sending
• <02:23:55.040> is their adequacy aid that um the state is their adequacy aid that um the state
• So the state has calculated it's going to start with adequacy aid without knowing how much it's going

Keywords: 1189, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• I also heard from Minnesotans across the state who said we want to ban assault weapons.
• <00:17:14.959> So the state including our children. So the state including our children.
• <00:19:09.040> And<00:19:10.040> so the state of Minnesota.
• And so the state of Minnesota.
• safety aid, we will conference it. safety aid, we will conference it.

Keywords: 918, senate, all

Summary: Senate leaders and bill authors held a post-debate press availability after completing floor debate and passage of a comprehensive gun violence package developed in response to the Annunciation school shooting and other recent violence. They described the package as combining mental health funding, school safety aid, and gun restrictions, including an assault-weapons ban, and said it reflected months of work with families, advocates, law enforcement groups, and members from both parties. They emphasized that the approach was intended to address both access to firearms and the people involved in violence, along with prevention, intervention, and consequences. The speakers said the bill reached 34 Senate votes after extensive conversations with colleagues, including some who had personal connections to Annunciation or concerns about their districts. They framed the vote as historic and said it showed Minnesotans where lawmakers stand. They also urged the House to take up the measure, warning that avoiding a vote would signal that politics were being placed ahead of public safety. They said they would continue lobbying House members and expected negotiations with House and gubernatorial leaders in the coming weeks. Mike Moyski, a family member of an Annunciation victim, praised the Senate action as meaningful and lasting for children and communities, while also criticizing a floor speech he said repeated the shooter’s name and platformed the attacker. In response to questions, senators said they remained open to further talks with House Republicans and Democrats, but stressed that the families wanted a comprehensive package. They said if the House sends over separate school safety legislation, the chambers would conference the bills to resolve differences.