Transcript Highlights:

• MY KID DID NOT WANT TO DO TRACK UNTIL HIS TENTH GRADE YEAR OF HIGH SCHOOL AND THEN HE DECIDED TO DO TRACK

Keywords: 999, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• THERE IS A TIPPING POINT -- WE WILL GO BACK TO THIRD GRADE HERE.

Keywords: 999, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• City Dallas has been an invaluable resource for over 50 years and was recently named on the health grades

Keywords: legislation, testimonies, committee meeting, public interest, bills

Summary: The committee meeting was conducted with several discussions surrounding various proposed bills, addressing both public interests and legislative concerns. Specific bills were presented, and members debated the implications of each, emphasizing their potential impact on the community and state regulations. Notably, several testimonies were heard from stakeholders, which enriched the conversation and provided different perspectives on the bills being reviewed.

Transcript Highlights:

• And the total minimum pay grade for those positions comes out to just over about $18.4 million.

Summary: The Health Care Budget Subcommittee met to review agency budgets, vacant positions, and possible efficiencies across several health and human services agencies. Members were asked to identify savings and potential areas for increased funding, and the discussion repeatedly focused on whether long-vacant FTEs, reversion of funds, and staffing shortages reflect true operational needs or broader budgeting and recruitment problems. The chair and members emphasized that the exercise was intended to help the committee make more informed budget decisions and to identify structural issues that may require legislative action. For the Agency for Persons with Disabilities, members highlighted a large waiting list, including individuals in crisis and children, and discussed whether vacant positions and unspent funds could be redirected to services. Several members raised concerns about delays in crisis applications, the use of paper applications, and whether the issue is staffing, process, or both. For the Department of Children and Families, the presenters discussed vacant positions, the use of staff augmentation in state hospitals, support for expanding behavioral qualified residential treatment program beds, and concerns raised by audits of the managing entities, which showed procurement and financial management problems. They recommended continued oversight, reporting requirements on Medicaid enrollees receiving mental health services through managing entities, and support for the governor’s proposed funding items. Other agencies reviewed included Elder Affairs, where members questioned the need for multiple divisions, CARES assessments, and supervisory overhead; the Department of Health, where vacancies, turnover, pay gaps, and units of rate were discussed as barriers to recruitment and retention; and the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, where the presenters said vacancies were tied to new nursing homes and recommended shifting a major priority into general revenue rather than trust funds. Throughout the meeting, members generally agreed that the vacancy review was eye-opening and suggested deeper, possibly separate, reviews of agency staffing, pay parity, and fund reversion practices. No formal votes were taken during the transcript.

Transcript Highlights:

• City Dallas has been an invaluable resource for over 50 years and was recently named on the health grades

Keywords: 1184, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Is there a ranking grading system? Yes, sir. Mr. Chairman, that's a great question.

Transcript Highlights:

• The district is required to provide five hours of resiliency education to students in grade 6 through

Summary: The Joint Legislative Auditing Committee received a presentation from Auditor General staff on recurring findings from audits of district school boards, colleges, and universities. For school districts, the main issues discussed included missing or outdated safe-school officer training documentation, weak purchasing-card controls, vendor banking-change fraud risks, incomplete background screenings and disqualification-list procedures, missing website budget disclosures, excessive or untimely IT access, late deactivation of former employees’ access, missed emergency drill deadlines, inaccurate capital outlay and resiliency education records, weak tangible property inventories, adult education reporting errors, untimely bank reconciliations, and improper use of workforce development funds. The auditors said many of these issues are repeated from prior years and are summarized in their annual report on significant findings and financial trends. For universities and colleges, the auditors highlighted similar control weaknesses, including vendor information change controls, IT access issues, cash and investment reconciliation problems, purchasing and procurement deficiencies, personnel and compensation issues, and student fee compliance concerns. Specific examples included a UF consulting contract totaling about $6 million, FAU underreporting carry-forward balances by about $77 million, UCF’s payment loss of about $107,000 from an email scam tied to vendor changes, and a North Florida College unauthorized transfer involving a few hundred thousand dollars. The committee asked questions about the UF consulting work, the FAU carry-forward issue, and whether the listed findings meant every named entity had every issue; auditors clarified that the lists reflected entities with findings in those categories, not necessarily each specific problem. The committee then turned to enforcement for entities with long-standing uncorrected audit findings. Staff reported 144 entities with 197 findings repeated in three or more successive audit reports and recommended sending letters requesting updated corrective-action status, including for late-filed 2022-2023 reports where appropriate. The committee approved the staff recommendation and directed letters to be sent. The meeting ended with members emphasizing the importance of audit oversight and taxpayer accountability.

Transcript Highlights:

• Minnesota law has long required that when employees move between systems, they do so at the same grade
• Minnesota law has long required that when employees move between systems, they do so at the same grade
• Minnesota law has long required that when employees move between systems, they do so at the same grade
• <03:23:45.760> That grade and with the same benefits.
• That grade and with the same benefits.

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• The real caveat is we’ve always been graded heavily on timeliness, and that’s still out there, but nobody
• The real caveat is we’ve always been graded heavily on timeliness, and that’s still out there, but nobody
• The real caveat is we’ve always been graded heavily on timeliness, and that’s still out there, but nobody
• The real caveat is we’ve always been graded heavily on timeliness, and that’s still out there, but nobody
• The real caveat is we’ve always been graded heavily on timeliness, and that’s still out there, but nobody

Keywords: 924, joint, all

Transcript Highlights:

• <02:16:04.639> She<02:16:04.880> got grade and didn't speak English.
• She got grade and didn't speak English.
• I also was teaching Canvas this morning at 4:00 a.m., grading exams, and a $200,000 to $1 million cost
• <02:18:44.160> grading<02:18:44.719> exams<02:18:45.200> and morning at 4:00
• a.m. grading exams and morning at 4:00 a.m. grading exams and 200<02:18:46.719> $200,000<02:18

Keywords: 928, house, all

Summary: The Education Funding Committee’s higher education subcommittee met to discuss HB 443, HB 510, and related issues. The chair explained the subcommittee membership and noted that Representative Luno was absent and replaced by Representative Bricky, with other full committee members allowed to participate in discussion but not final votes. No votes were taken during this meeting, and the chair said final subcommittee recommendations would likely come in the first week of November. On HB 443, which concerns terms of appointment to the Higher Education Commission, the chair described the bill as intended to let the governor replace members who are not attending or no longer representing the appointing organization. He said the prior governor supported the idea, but the current governor’s office believes the bill is unnecessary because nonattendance or loss of representation would already amount to resignation or removal. Members raised questions about legal authority and whether the same principle should apply to other boards. The chair said he was leaning toward finding the bill not needed, but would continue discussion later. The committee then spent most of the meeting on HB 510, which would establish due process rights for students, student organizations, and faculty at public higher education institutions and address collective bargaining issues. Supporters, including Representatives Papovich and Brown, argued the bill would provide clear, minimum protections, especially because campus rules are lengthy and vary by institution; Brown also suggested adding an independent ombudsman or representation for students. Opponents, including Representatives Burton and Bricky, said existing campus regulations already provide due process and that the bill could interfere with campus governance and collective bargaining. The chair and others discussed whether the bill’s definitions should be aligned with existing law to avoid confusion, and several members suggested using existing statutory definitions or cross-references. The chair also said the bill would apply only when disciplinary action is involved, not as a general challenge to DEI policies, though members referenced recent national examples involving DEI-related disputes as context.

Transcript Highlights:

• And if we have any time left, we'll get started on the side by side on HB 1, and we've got some grade
• and<00:10:11.200> we've<00:10:11.360> got<00:10:11.519> some<00:10:11.680> grade
• /c><00:10:11.920> out<00:10:12.160> areas<00:10:12.480> on and we've got some grade
• out areas on and we've got some grade out areas on the<00:10:12.720> on<00:10:12.959> the<
• Keep on hold Uh that would grade out.

Keywords: 928, house, all

Summary: The committee of conference on HB 1 and HB 2 met to review revenue estimates and begin working through a side-by-side of the budget. New Hampshire Lottery Director Charlie McIntyre testified that lottery revenues are outperforming prior estimates, projecting a $27 million return to the state this year, up $7 million, and $200 million per year in the next biennium, up $6.5 million per year. He attributed the increase to stronger scratch ticket sales, no negative impact from Massachusetts sports betting, and overall better performance. Members questioned the assumptions behind the higher numbers, including the proposed $50 scratch tickets, the effect of inflation, and whether the projections were conservative enough. McIntyre said the $50 ticket could produce modest growth and that the estimates were intentionally cautious. The discussion also covered gaming revenue assumptions for historical horse racing and video lottery terminals, with McIntyre saying the state market is not yet saturated and that future conversions from HHR to VLTs should be net positive for the state. Members also discussed differences between House and Senate revenue numbers for gaming, including machine counts, daily revenue assumptions, and the tax split. The Senate version used higher machine counts and a 31.25% tax rate, with a quarter-point reserved for responsible gaming and the remainder split between charities and the state. The House had used a 30% rate with a different distribution. McIntyre and committee members also reviewed House Bill 2 items affecting Kino hours and local option games of chance, with McIntyre explaining that the bill would expand playing hours and shift towns to an opt-out model. No votes were taken during the lottery discussion, but the committee indicated it would continue refining the revenue model and circulate the spreadsheet used for the estimates. The committee then moved through the HB 1 detail change sheet, accepting several Senate positions and holding others for later. It agreed to a zero-cost realignment in the Department of Safety moving the international fuel tax agreement function from administration to motor vehicles, and it restored eight passenger motor vehicle inspection positions for later discussion in HB 2. The Department of Corrections reorganization was set aside for a later, more detailed discussion. The committee also accepted no-change positions for the Department of Employment Security and agreed to a technical footnote fix in the Judicial Council section. It discussed a new HB 2 item moving contract counsel for involuntary mental health admissions from the judicial branch to the Judicial Council, funded at $100,000 per year, and noted that the public defender funding issue would be revisited when the overall budget picture is clearer. The meeting ended with the committee continuing its review of the remaining pages of the detail change sheet.

Transcript Highlights:

• I want to share the story of my daughter Joy, who is now 16 years old and in the 10th grade.
• and is<02:17:53.840> in<02:17:54.080> the<02:17:54.240> 10th<02:17:54.599> grade
• Joy is doing well is in the 10th grade Joy is doing well with<02:17:56.920> when<02:17:57.160
• After spending most of the summer before her ninth grade year at the detention center, she was court
• She was discharged to a group home, but it took weeks to get her a therapy appointment. nth grade year

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Keywords: 1191, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• you know<00:40:02.119> with<00:40:02.280> your<00:40:02.960> um<00:40:03.319> egg
• <00:40:03.599> enforcement<00:40:04.280> some know with your um egg enforcement some
• know with your um egg enforcement some of<00:40:04.599> it<00:40:04.760> could<00:40:04.960

Keywords: 910, house, all

Summary: The Committee on Finance received an informational briefing from the Department of Law Enforcement on its priorities following the January 1 transfer of law enforcement assets into the department, including the sheriff’s division, narcotics enforcement, criminal investigations, homeland security, and the inspector general’s office. DLE said its goals are to improve public safety, accountability, communications, training, and standards. The department outlined planned initiatives such as stronger federal partnerships, narcotics and gun-violence enforcement, an agricultural crime unit, traffic and commercial vehicle enforcement, an explosive/fireworks enforcement section, gun buybacks, new police facilities in the airport area, Aahu, and the leeward side, a state training center, upgraded law-enforcement IT, and efforts to narrow salary gaps with county departments to improve recruitment. A major portion of the discussion focused on illegal fireworks enforcement after the recent explosion tragedy. DLE said its current task force is small and relies on ad hoc support from HPD, the Attorney General’s office, criminal investigations, and sheriffs, which is not sustainable. The department requested eight FTEs for the effort—one administrator, two clerical staff, and six investigators—plus funding for a laboratory, equipment, storage, disposal, vehicles, safety gear, and a criminalist. DLE said the explosive enforcement section would use an existing facility and that the initial lab startup cost is about $2 million. Members asked for follow-up materials, and DLE said it would send the explosive enforcement forms and additional details to the Finance and Judiciary chairs. Members also questioned staffing vacancies, interagency coordination, and whether new specialized units could be filled. DLE said it has about 119 vacancies and that recruitment is hindered by a roughly $28,000 starting pay gap with county police departments; academy classes are down to about 12 to 14 recruits. The department said it is streamlining hiring, using QR-code recruitment, and hopes specialized units will attract applicants. On coordination, DLE said it works closely with HPD and other agencies on operations such as fireworks enforcement and public events, and that DOCARE remains a case-by-case partner but is not currently moving into DLE. The committee also received updates on the Silver Alert program, which is nearing rollout with county MOUs and a coordinator expected later in the month, the special duty officer program, which is being moved to a web-based vendor-managed system at no cost to the department, and the SaferWatch school safety system, which is being deployed statewide with annual software costs of $3,500 per school in the first year and $2,500 thereafter. No votes or formal actions were taken.

Transcript Highlights:

• By the time that child went from kindergarten and finished first grade, that child was in the classroom
• For example, a child that’s in first grade may get two sessions of speech pathology a week, a half hour
• c><01:17:00.159> that's<01:17:00.600> in<01:17:00.880> first<01:17:01.199> grade
• example a child that's in first grade example a child that's in first grade may<01:17:01.719>
• so the Harper program was what grades so the Harper program was what was<01:34:24.520> presented<

Keywords: 928, house, all

Summary: The hearing focused on HB 563, which would revise the education funding formula for pupils receiving special education services by replacing the current single special education amount with three differentiated categories. Representative Rick Ladd, the prime sponsor, said the bill largely tracks a House-passed version from the prior session with minor figure adjustments, and explained that the proposal uses projected FY26 amounts for three categories based on time in general education versus more intensive placements. He also noted that the bill does not address catastrophic aid directly, but that special education aid, CAT aid, and proration all remain issues for later work sessions. Ladd and supporters argued that weighted categories better reflect actual costs and are more sustainable than treating all IEPs the same. Representative Margaret Drye said the approach was one of the best ideas from the education funding subcommittee and urged the committee to support differentiated aid. Representative Ames asked how the category amounts were derived, and Ladd said Category A follows the FY26 base, Category B is a higher weight, and Category C is a still higher weight for more intensive services, though he acknowledged the exact multipliers were developed earlier and could be revisited. He also said the committee would continue discussing whether the weights are appropriate and how they interact with CAT aid. Testimony from Bonnie Dunham strongly opposed the bill. She argued that funding based on placement rather than actual service need would create incentives to move students into more restrictive settings, could stigmatize children with labels such as "Category C," and would undermine the least restrictive environment requirements under federal special education law. She described her son’s experience in inclusive settings as beneficial and said the bill would have penalized the district for serving him there. In response to questions, she said schools and parents should base funding on the child’s actual needs and costs, not on placement, and urged the committee to recommend the bill inexpedient to legislate.

Transcript Highlights:

• The cost of eggs, milk, bread, baby formula, and fresh produce keeps rising while giant grocery chains
• The cost of<02:19:02.880> eggs,<02:19:03.280> milk,<02:19:03.599> bread,<02:19:04.160
• > baby<02:19:04.479> formula,<02:19:04.880> and of eggs, milk, bread, baby formula
• , and of eggs, milk, bread, baby formula, and fresh<02:19:05.359> produce<02:19:05.840> keeps

Keywords: U.S. House of Representatives Floor Proceedings on Thursday, May 21, 2026, 1012, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Massachusetts increased its grade from a D in the 2019 report to a C minus in this report.
• third edition of the National Get the Lead Out report, which gave Massachusetts a C-minus for its grade
• Point-of-use filtration systems from companies like ours and our competitors have high-capacity commercial-grade

Keywords: 995, all

Summary: The hearing covered a broad set of environmental and water-related bills, with much of the testimony focused on blue economy and circular economy proposals, drought management, drinking water safety, flood resilience, and water infrastructure funding. Supporters of bills such as H. 987 and H. 988 described grant programs for blue economy workforce development, research, small businesses, and public education about a circular economy. Other speakers backed measures on coastal erosion research, recreational boating dredging, cranberry water-right transfers, sand mining oversight, and a voucher program for home water filtration in PFAS-impacted communities. Several elected officials and advocates also urged passage of bills to require private well testing, improve school drinking water safety, and address sand mining pollution and PFAS contamination. Water supply and drought issues drew extensive testimony. Senator Eldridge and others supported legislation to let the state, through DEP and the drought management task force, impose regional water-use restrictions during droughts and make the task force permanent in statute. Advocates from watershed groups, farms, and environmental organizations said the current town-by-town approach is inconsistent and ineffective, and they described drought impacts on rivers, farms, private wells, and wildfire risk. A related bill on private wells was supported as a way to help homeowners test and remediate contaminated wells, especially in rural areas without public water. The committee also heard testimony on a bill to allow the Lynnfield Water District to join the MWRA, with local officials saying the move would help address PFAS and other contamination and improve supply reliability. Another major panel supported a water infrastructure funding bill, arguing that aging drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater systems need major new investment, including support for PFAS treatment, sewer rate relief, biosolids research, and regional interconnections. Members asked about costs, funding sources, and the relationship to existing revolving loan funds; witnesses said the bill would need to be paired with future bond funding and new revenue ideas. No votes were taken during the hearing, and the chairs repeatedly invited written testimony and noted the large number of speakers.

Transcript Highlights:

• 13.440> pepper parking lots as staging grounds, pepper parking lots as staging grounds, pepper grade
• c> school<00:14:15.040> students<00:14:15.680> at<00:14:15.920> dismissal grade
• high school students at dismissal grade high school students at dismissal time,<00:14:17.279> used

Keywords: 919, house, all

Summary: House File 3435 was moved before the committee and, after an author’s DE1 amendment was offered and adopted, the bill was sent to the general register. The bill, as described by Co-Chair Jordan, would limit immigration enforcement on school grounds unless agents present a judicial warrant, identification, and notify school leadership; supporters said it is intended to create clear separation between ICE/DHS activity and schools while preserving local law enforcement responses to other emergencies. Testimony was overwhelmingly in support of the bill. School leaders, teachers, union representatives, and Education Minnesota’s general counsel argued that immigration enforcement near schools has caused fear, absenteeism, disrupted operations, and serious mental health harms for students and staff. Several witnesses described students carrying passports or birth certificates, families keeping children home, and schools shifting large numbers of students to virtual learning. Speakers from districts in the Twin Cities and greater Minnesota said the presence of ICE or federal agents near schools and bus stops has undermined attendance, trust, and the ability to teach and learn. Witnesses also emphasized that the bill would provide needed clarity for educators and administrators about how to respond if federal agents come to school property. Some speakers framed the issue as protecting all children and families, including immigrant and refugee communities, and said schools should remain safe, stable places focused on education rather than immigration enforcement. No opposition testimony or committee vote beyond adoption of the DE1 amendment and the motion to place the bill on the general register was shown in the transcript.

Transcript Highlights:

• early, sorry, excuse me, in college I had a depressive episode, withdrew from everything, and my grades
• She ran seventh-grade cross-country for the boys' team.
• depression, hopelessness, substance abuse, and suicidal ideation, as well as increasing school attendance, grades

Keywords: 959, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• math scores; less than half are meeting grade-level standards reading standards and third grade proficiency
• And when over half our kids are not reading at grade level and they are not doing math at grade level
• level and they are not reading at grade level and they are not<00:42:27.760> doing<00:42:28.000
• > we<00:42:29.280> are<00:42:29.599> sh not doing math at grade level, we are sh
• not doing math at grade level, we are sh we<00:42:30.160> are<00:42:30.319> shorting<00

Keywords: 1187, senate, all