Transcript Highlights:

• the folks who have been released have been released as a result of their lawsuits because of the claims
• He said they want to make sure people are aware of their claims benefits, the things that help support
• we're going to make any changes, we ought to just make them to the system we have in place and some adjustments
• perspective, they also are a tool to help support police departments respond to the public on meritless claims
• The bill analysis claims the purpose of the bill is to ensure that personally identifiable information

Bills: SB693 , SB781 , SB836 , SB860 , SB906 , SB993 , SB1101 , SB1321 , SB1370 , SB1537 , SB1563 , SB1610 , SB1637

Committee: Senate Criminal Justice

Keywords: notary public, notaries, acknowledgment, jurat, personal appearance, remote notarization, online notarization, e-notary, electronic notarization, fraud prevention, identity verification, real estate fraud, property transfer, state jail felony, Class A misdemeanor, secretary of state, continuing education, record retention, notarial act, Texas Government Code

Summary: The Senate Committee on Criminal Justice heard a series of bills focused on criminal procedure, public safety, victim protections, and law enforcement administration. SB 1537 would require criminal-proceeding interpreters to meet the same appointment standards used in the Government Code, and SB 993 would let the Comptroller’s Criminal Investigative Division seek mobile-tracking warrants directly in motor fuel theft and related tax-fraud investigations. SB 693, as substituted, would create a criminal offense for notaries who notarize documents without the signer personally appearing, with a higher penalty when real property is involved, and would add continuing education for notaries. SB 1610 would tighten rules for civilly committed sexually violent predators at the Texas Civil Commitment Office, including penalties for new crimes and assaults on staff, sex-offender registration requirements, and removal of certain provisions from the filed version; the substitute reduced some of the harsher penalties and preserved parole/community-supervision eligibility. SB 836 would expand privacy protections for sexual assault survivors by limiting livestreaming of certain trials, allowing pseudonyms earlier in the process, and protecting forensic exam evidence and invasive recordings under protective orders. SB 1563 would require county jailers to receive training on interacting with veterans, with testimony emphasizing suicide risk, PTSD, and the need for better identification and support in jails. SB 906 would give the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo authority similar to other Texas tribes to commission peace officers under state law to enforce Texas laws on tribal land. SB 781 would standardize confidentiality rules for peace officers’ personal information and create a confidential departmental file system modeled on Chapter 143 civil-service practices, though members raised concerns about whether the bill could affect disciplinary records and existing disclosure rules. Testimony was largely supportive for the bills, especially from prosecutors, law enforcement representatives, victim advocates, and agency officials. Supporters of SB 693 described widespread deed fraud tied to improper notarizations; supporters of SB 836 stressed survivor privacy and the harms of livestreamed sexual-assault proceedings; supporters of SB 1563 said jailer training could help prevent veteran suicides and improve treatment; and supporters of SB 906 said state commissioning would improve public safety and coordination on tribal lands. SB 781 drew support from police and TCOLE witnesses who said the bill would extend confidentiality protections already used in civil-service departments, while some members questioned whether the bill duplicated existing law or could be read to shield misconduct information. Public testimony included opposition to SB 1610 from a civil-rights advocate who urged waiting for Sunset review, and opposition to SB 781 from a family member of a person killed by police, who objected to expanding confidentiality for officers. Several bills were left pending after testimony because the committee lacked a quorum or chose to hold them for later action.

Transcript Highlights:

• </c><01:06:43.599><c> going</c> to especially on an older claim going to especially on an older claim
• </c> receive to respond to a claim. receive to respond to a claim.
• So, a wage claim, just to clarify, so I understand, is a claim for unpaid wages.
• Sometimes the claim itself resolves or the parties have communication and the claim itself resolves.
• </c> adjudicate that wage claim on average? adjudicate that wage claim on average?

Committee: Senate Commerce

Keywords: 1191, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Eversource's spending on asset condition projects in New Hampshire, the DOE, along with Eversource, claimed
• Eversource's spending on asset condition projects in New Hampshire, the DOE, along with Eversource, claimed
• for inflation transmission when adjusted for inflation transmission spending<00:20:37.440><c> has</c
• ,</c><01:23:26.159><c> direct</c> nature, or magnitude of claims, direct nature, or magnitude of claims
• would even rise to that that claim would even rise to standing. standing. standing.

Committee: Senate Energy and Natural Resources

Keywords: 1191, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Because it was a cash crop, and their farmers need to adjust. It affected their economy.
• But the claim that 23 North Dakota deaths is factually correct per state data.
• I'm not going to claim I was some war hero... All brought on from my time and service.
• I'm not going to claim I was a war hero, but it sucks.
• I think we should prohibit unsubstantiated medical claims, including claims that kratom treats anxiety

Summary: The Kratom Working Group met to hear public testimony and expert presentations on whether North Dakota should prohibit or regulate kratom and 7-OH products. Early testimony split sharply between speakers who described natural kratom as a helpful, lower-risk alternative for chronic pain, opioid withdrawal, PTSD, and recovery, and speakers who urged prohibition because of dependence, overdose risk, and the growth of concentrated or synthetic 7-OH products sold in gas stations, smoke shops, and online. Several witnesses, including consumers and shop owners, argued that banning kratom would push people to more dangerous drugs or unregulated internet sources, while public health and medical witnesses said the marketplace is confusing and inadequately controlled. A number of witnesses, including representatives of the North Dakota Public Health Association, the state crime lab, and addiction-treatment and pediatric clinicians, emphasized risks from adulterated or concentrated products, lack of labeling and age restrictions, contamination concerns, and harms to adolescents, pregnant patients, and newborns. The crime lab described recent cases involving mitragynine, 7-OH, and pseudoindoxyl, and said products purchased in a smoke shop were inaccurately labeled. A Sanford pediatric hospitalist testified that kratom exposure in pregnancy can cause severe neonatal withdrawal and that adolescents are using the product. By contrast, American Kratom Association representatives and other advocates argued that natural leaf kratom should be distinguished from synthetic 7-OH, that deaths usually involve other substances, and that a regulatory framework with testing, labeling, age limits, and product registration would better protect consumers than a blanket ban. No formal bill was debated or voted on in this transcript. The working group heard testimony, asked questions, and took no final action before breaking for lunch and later resuming with additional presentations.

Transcript Highlights:

• Chairman, in fiscal year 24, the USDA reports 10,000 stolen benefits claims from SNAP in Texas.
• Texas ranks fourth in the country for the number of stolen benefits claims.
• But I may have to make an adjustment to fix that, depending on what the answer is I get.
• Enforcement is ambiguous, it's unclear how claims will be verified.
• There is no empirical evidence to prove this claim. In fact, the opposite is truer.

Bills: SB240 , SB1183 , SB1184 , SB1577 , SB2043 , SB2051 , SCR42 , SJR68

Committee: Senate State Affairs

Keywords: biological sex, gender identity, public facilities, civil penalties, local government, EBT, electronic benefits transfer, food stamps, SNAP, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, TANF, temporary assistance for needy families, welfare benefits, benefit card fraud, fraud hotline, card replacement, photo ID, recipient photograph, HHSC, Health and Human Services Commission

Transcript Highlights:

• Um, I mean, maybe some kind of minor adjustment, but I would think that updating this software, adding
• c><00:21:00.000><c> minor</c> I mean, maybe some kind of minor I mean, maybe some kind of minor adjustment
• , but I would think that adjustment, but I would think that updating<00:21:02.559><c> this</c><00:21:
• So, we have to adjust and clean that up to say...
• to live at one voting at uh claiming to live at one particular<01:49:45.040><c> address.

Committee: Senate Election Law and Municipal Affairs

Keywords: 1191, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• And so that's a thing that the industry needs to keep adjusting and growing toward.
• </c> adjusting and growing toward towards. adjusting and growing toward towards.
• the canopies fairly may not um, adjust the canopies fairly when<00:51:44.880><c> they</c><00:51:45.119
• And like I was just saying, I'm not claiming to be an expert, and so I was just prefacing it with my
• to be an expert and so I was claiming to be an expert and so I was just<01:28:14.159><c> prefacing</

Committee: House Ways and Means

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• And I don't feel like it's out of bounds to require the MDE to make the necessary cuts and adjustments
• And I don't feel like it's out of bounds to require the MDE to make the necessary cuts and adjustments
• And I don't feel like it's out of bounds to require the MDE to make the necessary cuts and adjustments
• And I don't feel like it's out of bounds to require the MDE to make the necessary cuts and adjustments
• And I don't feel like it's out of bounds to require the MDE to make the necessary cuts and adjustments

Bills: HF751 , HF3550 , HF3764 , HF1490

Committee: House Education Policy

Keywords: parental notification, school safety, bullying, harassment, violence, prohibited conduct, student discipline, charter school, school district, data practices, student privacy, parent rights, guardian notification, school incident reporting, cyberbullying, restraint, reasonable force, anti-bullying policy, school administration, student conduct

Transcript Highlights:

• And so the charge should be different when that gets adjusted. property owner goes before the select
• </c> be different when that gets adjusted. be different when that gets adjusted.
• </c><01:00:04.880><c> the</c><01:00:05.119><c> number</c> in my model you could adjust the number in
• my model you could adjust the number of<01:00:05.599><c> the</c><01:00:05.760><c> exemption</c><01:00
• with any other says this can be claimed with any other homestead<01:30:17.360><c> exemptions.

Committee: House Ways and Means

Keywords: 1189, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• At this point, sometimes minor adjustments are allowed by DHS without the process review, but there's
• to it, but at the end of time to adjust to it, but at the end of the<01:36:30.560><c> day,</c><01:36
• If you want<02:05:30.080><c> to</c><02:05:30.159><c> claim</c><02:05:30.400><c> it</c><02:05:30.480><
• c> as</c><02:05:30.719><c> workforce</c><02:05:31.119><c> housing,</c> want to claim it as workforce
• housing, want to claim it as workforce housing, there<02:05:31.840><c> is</c><02:05:32.000><c> a</c>

Committee: Senate Commerce

Keywords: 1191, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• easily what it is that they're going to get paid for a particular service without actually submitting a claim
• actually a particular service without actually submitting<00:03:33.560><c> a</c><00:03:33.720><c> claim
• so</c><00:03:34.599><c> those</c><00:03:34.720><c> were</c><00:03:34.879><c> the</c> submitting a claim
• um saw some decreases so about adjusted um saw some decreases so about 11%<00:15:40.639><c> of</c><00
• </c><00:40:18.280><c> accordingly</c><00:40:19.200><c> and</c> uh payments be adjusted accordingly and

Bills: HF1005

Committee: House Human Services Finance and Policy

Keywords: health insurance, medical assistance, behavioral health, reimbursement rates, primary care services, physician fee schedule, managed care, residential services, 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• And then, lastly, we continue to perform claim audits to make sure that if new schools become eligible
• audits to make continue to perform claim audits to make sure<00:06:59.360><c> that</c><00:06:59.720>
• Private schools and public schools can just adjust what's nice is that this has been going on now for
• </c><00:20:31.799><c> what's</c> um and schools can just adjust what's um and schools can just adjust
• </c> and schools can make those adjustments and schools can make those adjustments to<00:20:38.559><c

Committee: Senate Education Finance

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• We also have a rulemaking docket and a boundary adjustment docket.
• </c><01:26:06.239><c> uh</c> boundary adjustment uh boundary adjustment uh docket<01:26:08.000><c> and
• is not true and so again U the claim is not true and so again it's<01:37:03.840><c> a</c><01:37:04.119
• You know, the things roll down upon us, and we will adjust.
• um my whole philosophy was pretty adjust um my whole philosophy was pretty standard<01:44:24.639><c>

Committee: House Elections Finance and Government Operations

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• And I will point out the statutory scheme provides for a damaged property owner to bring a claim against
• against the department for bring a claim against the department for damages<00:28:21.960><c> so</c><
• the dot teams in neighboring budget year the dot teams in neighboring counties<00:44:48.000><c> adjusted
• </c><00:44:48.440><c> noise</c><00:44:48.720><c> barrier</c> counties adjusted noise barrier counties
• adjusted noise barrier parameters<00:44:49.640><c> to</c><00:44:49.800><c> manage</c><00:44:50.200><

Keywords: 928, house, all

Summary: The committee first heard House Bill 561, sponsored by Representative Nancy Murphy, which would limit the state’s ability to discontinue, reclassify, or revert state-owned highway property to municipalities without local approval. Murphy and other supporters argued the bill would protect towns from unfunded mandates and prevent property tax increases caused by taking on costly road maintenance. Representative Wendy Thomas, Rosemarie Rung, Merrimack Town Council Chairman Finley Rothhouse, and Town Manager Paul McAuliffe all testified in support, describing the financial burden of the planned transfer of Continental Boulevard in Merrimack and warning it would set a harmful precedent for other communities. The Department of Transportation’s Steve Leon explained the department’s current authority and processes for discontinuance and reclassification, said active highways are not surplus property, and noted that the Supreme Court’s Town of Nelson decision held such reclassifications were not an unfunded mandate. The committee then closed the public hearing on HB 561. The committee next took up House Bill 578, presented by Representative Mooney on behalf of Representative Bill Boyd, to require sound barriers along the F. Everett Turnpike in Merrimack. Supporters said widening the turnpike would increase noise in nearby neighborhoods and that a 2019 NHDOT study identified 17 neighborhoods with noise levels above federal standards, though only four were included for mitigation under the current project. They argued the remaining neighborhoods should also receive relief and cited quality-of-life and property-value concerns. Senator Tim McGuire also testified in support, saying residents were experiencing unexpected and severe noise impacts and urging the committee to act outside the usual criteria to approve the barriers. The transcript provided does not show a final committee vote or action on HB 578.

Transcript Highlights:

• If a staff member has a sexual misconduct claim and if it is sustained, does that determination remain
• If a staff member has a sexual misconduct claim and if it is sustained, does that determination remain
• claims.
• So now we have knowledge of many claims that are not being addressed at all of sexual misconduct and
• Please adjust the mic. My name is Carrie Cesarigo.

Keywords: 988, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Advocates in the industry claim kratom is harmless because it is natural, while also promoting it as
• So we want to fix that by adjusting the range, essentially.
• They can file a 1983 claim in federal court.
• A person who claims ownership of an outlined property is deemed the lawful owner if the person's claim
• To me, that reads like assistance being what the sponsor is claiming his intention was.

Summary: The committee approved the minutes and then heard a long series of bills, mostly from Senators Hoffman, Fernandez, and Bolick. Early action included SB 1436 on school bond/override ballot language, which passed 4-3 after brief debate over ballot length and transparency. SB 1568, requiring election systems to keep clocks within 60 seconds of official time and making violations a misdemeanor, was amended and passed 4-3 despite concerns about machine failures and the breadth of the penalty. SB 1569, limiting special election board members from collecting voter registrations while assisting confined voters, also passed 4-3 after testimony from county officials and a deputy registrar describing alleged misuse of SEBs. SB 1746, requiring schools to serve as polling places and closing schools on regular primary/general election days for staff training, passed 4-3 over objections about school autonomy and safety. SB 1295, allowing certain incarcerated people needing long-term care or treatment to be transferred to contracted medical institutions, passed unanimously after an amendment narrowing the medical eligibility language. The committee then took up SB 1067, a county blight/abatement bill allowing property tax bills to include assessments for removing rubbish, debris, and dilapidated structures; county officials from Gila and Pima Counties strongly supported it, and it passed 7-0. SB 1285, which would have repealed kratom protections and added kratom and its alkaloids to the narcotic-drug list, drew strong opposition from industry and a pharmacist and failed 3-4 after debate over safety, regulation, and criminal penalties. SB 1413, removing the $100,000 restitution cap for serious injury or death caused by a moving violation, passed after a short explanation that it was intended to conform statutes to a prior Arizona Supreme Court ruling. SB 1476, making prenatal exposure to dangerous or narcotic drugs and fetal alcohol syndrome a class six felony child neglect offense with an affirmative defense for mothers who completed treatment, drew emotional testimony from a foster/adoptive parent and opposition from reproductive justice and criminal defense advocates; it passed 4-2. Later, SB 1585, creating standards and funding mechanisms for sex offender-specific evaluations, treatment, and polygraphs, passed 4-2 after supporters argued it would improve oversight and opponents questioned the added surcharge and appropriation. SB 1662, requiring probation conditions to be the least restrictive necessary and tailored to risk and needs, passed 5-0 with support from justice reform advocates and defense attorneys. SB 1664, adjusting constable nomination signature requirements in Maricopa and Pima Counties, passed unanimously after county association support. The committee then began SB 1666 on in-state custodial interference, with the sponsor and a supporter describing repeated violations of custody orders and arguing for a tiered civil-penalty-to-felony structure; the transcript ends during questioning on that bill.

Transcript Highlights:

• Do they claim that we hear the term evidence-based all the time? Was it evidence-based? >> Never.
• Do they claim that we hear the from.
• These claims are not true. And when you hear them, you need to ask who benefits.
• And when you These claims are not true.
• </c><01:53:05.840><c> that</c> hand tests, but we can adjust that hand tests, but we can adjust that

Committee: Joint Education

Keywords: 958, all

Transcript Highlights:

• I'm calling on the legislature to send a question to voters that would allow adjustments to Medicaid
• Our forefathers chased opportunity in the Land Run of 1889, staking claims on unassigned lands and building

Bills: HB3725 , HB3260 , HB3660 , HB3369 , HB3370 , HB2937 , HB3419 , HB3264 , HB3266 , HB3267 , HB3268 , HB3310 , HB4311 , HB3841 , HB3024 , HB3075

Keywords: labor, e-verification, immigration, employers, employment eligibility, Department of Labor, penalties, funeral licensing, continuing education, Oklahoma Funeral Directors Association, professional development, licensing requirements, HB3660, natural organic reduction, human composting, soil reduction, green burial, funeral services, cremation, burial permit

Transcript Highlights:

• Adjusting eligibility requirements for participating in the New Mexico Health Care Fund. 3.
• compensation fund to be made as expenses are incurred, limits attorney fees, and addresses malpractice claims

Transcript Highlights:

• But for the Medicaid rates for rural hospitals, those have been adjusted and have been implemented as
• Front desk, you know, who's working the claims, who's answering the phones at all levels.
• Did they run out of medication, and what adjustments can we make to support them?
• It's a graph representing claims submitted by It's a graph representing claims submitted by behavioral
• They were claiming benefits they were not entitled to.

Committee: House Public Health

Keywords: 1184, house, all