Transcript Highlights:

• So this is one way of thinking about how these unique things impact the state budget.
• So for sure, it's impacted what people pay at the pump.
• 27, with $73,000 from the State Patrol Highway Account and $3,000 for general fund impacts.
• He said the sport has evolved and that he wanted to talk about the impact on rural counties where the
• Ranking Member Lowe, there is no fiscal impact to this bill.

Summary: The committee first received a presentation from NCSL staff on national transportation funding trends and alternative user-fee options as gas tax revenue declines. The presentation covered declining fuel-tax purchasing power, the effects of more fuel-efficient and electric vehicles, and a range of state responses including indexed gas taxes, EV and hybrid registration fees, voluntary and mandatory road usage charges, transportation network company fees, retail delivery fees, and per-kilowatt-hour EV charging fees. Members asked about Virginia’s mileage-fee program, enrollment rates, and whether states had reduced gas taxes alongside new fees; the presenters said they would follow up with additional information. Committee staff then presented a comparison of Washington’s transportation budget with Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, and Utah, focusing on population, lane miles, road condition, fuel taxes, preservation spending, mega-projects, and governance structures. The discussion highlighted Washington’s unique transportation pressures, including ferries, fish-passage obligations, high debt service, and major capital projects. Members asked follow-up questions about debt service, interest costs, CCA impacts on fuel prices, and whether project costs differed by state. The committee held public hearings on three bills. House Bill 2109 would allow vehicles being towed on trailers to use coverings to contain mud, rocks, or debris instead of requiring prior cleaning; the bill’s sponsor and construction witnesses supported it as a practical solution, and the fiscal note showed modest costs to WSP and WSDOT. House Bill 2139 would raise snowmobile registration fees to support snow park and trail grooming; State Parks, DNR, and several snowmobile advocates supported it, while some snowmobile users opposed it, arguing that enforcement of unregistered sleds should be addressed first. House Bill 2192 would expand the Washington Traffic Safety Commission’s fatal crash review authority and allow it to collect certain health data; the sponsor and agency supported the bill as a public-health tool, while one attorney raised concerns about limiting civil discovery and evidentiary access in fatal crash litigation.

Transcript Highlights:

• And even one as meaningful and impactful as this youth development program?
• It states no fiscal impact for school districts.
• I serve as the director of the Rural Ed Center.
• It's a cooperative of over 110 small rural districts all across the state.
• And when funding doesn't keep pace with our fixed costs, student learning is impacted.

Summary: The committee first heard Senate Bill 5992, which would create a non-appropriated Youth Development Fund account to support grants for positive youth development programs serving ages 5 to 24. Staff explained that OSPI would administer grants to nonprofits, tribes, and local parks and recreation entities, with school districts and ESDs eligible mainly as partners; annual reporting would be required. The sponsor and many testifiers, including students, youth-serving nonprofits, tribal representatives, and agency partners, described after-school, mentoring, arts, sports, outdoor, and wraparound programs as important for mental health, belonging, safety, civic engagement, and prevention, especially for vulnerable and rural youth. The committee then moved to executive session and adopted a substitute and passed SB 5992 to the Rules Committee. The committee also took executive action on Senate Bill 5952, which would standardize the process for excusing high school students from physical education, and on Senate Bill 5961, which would transfer the Imagination Library of Washington from DCYF to OSPI. In both cases, the committee adopted proposed substitutes that narrowed or adjusted the bills, then voted them out of committee: SB 5952 was sent to Rules, and SB 5961 was sent to Ways and Means. The committee also heard Senate Bill 5969 on allowing an IEP transition plan to satisfy high school and beyond plan requirements; after discussion, a substitute was adopted that instead directs OSPI to reduce duplication in the statewide IEP system, and the bill was passed to Ways and Means. Later, the committee heard Senate Bill 5918, which would increase materials, supplies, and operating costs (MSOC) funding by $100 per student or $100,000 per district, whichever is greater, starting in the 2026-27 school year. Testimony from educators, administrators, school board members, PTA, and OSPI emphasized that districts are using local levy dollars to cover basic operating costs such as utilities, insurance, curriculum, and maintenance, leaving less for enrichment and forcing cuts or deferred purchases. One opponent argued against additional taxes and questioned the return on school spending. The sponsor framed the bill as necessary to meet the state’s paramount duty to fund basic education. The transcript then shifted to Senate Bill 5951 on school access to albuterol, which would allow schools to keep stock albuterol under a statewide standing order and let trained staff administer it under certain conditions; students, nurses, and advocates testified that stock albuterol could reduce absences and improve safety for students with asthma. Finally, the committee began hearing Senate Bill 6042 on school mapping, which would require school safety plans to include accurate, interoperable digital maps for first responders; the sponsor and emergency response witnesses said standardized maps are critical for coordinated, timely response in school emergencies.

Transcript Highlights:

• I'm going to talk about the impact... right.
• And what I'm talking about is really the impact of the state on the state and then the impact on our
• And I'm going to talk about the economic impact, the patient impact, and recruitment and retention.
• And that impact falls onto the patients.
• And with this state being so rural sometimes, You cannot get services.

Keywords: 996, all

Transcript Highlights:

• They're going to talk about the impact that that's having on their revenues and things of that nature
• Recent PCS, unexpected expenses, and rising costs of living all impact folks.
• Okay, so looking at how this impacts clients and food banks.
• I think it was so important to focus on the impacts to our veterans and our military community.
• Is it financially accessible to some of these fire departments, especially in rural New Mexico?

Transcript Highlights:

• or supports to address the underlying causes of child school absences, which are often due to the impacts
• will struggle to meet the ongoing needs, and we'll have to reduce operations in a way that could impact
• our office, along with two powerful foster testifiers, spoke to this committee about the critical impact
• it could mean for the state of Minnesota, the sustainability of child care centers, especially in rural
• Channel One serves 13 counties, and each place we serve is rural, other than the city of Rochester.

Bills: HF2436

Keywords: child welfare, economic assistance, child care, grant program, video security cameras

Transcript Highlights:

• Today, we face a nationwide shortage of nurses, especially in rural areas like many in Iowa.
• Bone-weary by the fear of the impact these reckless actions continue to have on our working families.
• and</c><07:59:08.240><c> urban</c> Now closures of rural and urban Now closures of rural and urban hospitals
• </c><08:00:35.440><c> areas</c> just in urban areas, but in rural areas just in urban areas, but in rural
• No impact on the bottom 98% of the income distribution. How much did it cost?

Keywords: U.S. House of Representatives Floor Proceedings on Monday, May 5, 2025, 1012, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• We can't make Tom or his family hope, but we can provide extra supports, invest in rural mental health
• We can't make Tom or his family hope, but we can provide extra supports, invest in rural mental health
• <00:08:57.440><c> in</c> can provide extra supports invest in can provide extra supports invest in rural
• mental health and the farm rural mental health and the farm business<00:08:59.040><c> management</c>
• I really appreciate you centering us with a story about how folks are personally impacted by this chaos

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• These high-impact projects reduce the economic burden of energy costs, help maintain energy reliability
• Most of what we do, and our impact and outcomes, are measured and dictated by statute. Next slide.
• </c><00:12:30.279><c> farming</c> small rural farming small rural farming operations<00:12:32.320><c>
• </c> geographical balance I.E rural geographical balance I.E rural urban<00:22:01.159><c> um</c><00:22
• That impacts our ability to bring in more money, which we want to do.

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Representative, from what I understand, so this is mainly geared for our rural, smaller municipalities
• So will this be for municipalities, municipal infrastructure and rural water, both? Yes.
• Municipal infrastructure and rural water, both? Yes. Okay, thank you. For all.
• Obviously, if we impact an existing contract, that's considered taking.
• There's potentially as many as 500 individuals impacted across the broader co-op.

Bills: SB1346, SB1509, SB1928, SB2028, SB2071, SB2110, SB2117, SB2127, SB2134, SB722, SB3

Keywords: water infrastructure, wastewater, investment program, loans, local government, SB1509, groundwater, water wells, well spacing, water rights, Oklahoma Water Resources Board, OWRB, basin, subbasin, maximum annual yield, aquifer management, water allocation, water permits, temporary permits, irrigation

Summary: The committee began by introducing new member Rep. Dylan Travis, who was elected in a special election and will represent District 35. The first measures taken up focused on water policy. HB 1346, as amended, would create a revolving fund for water and wastewater infrastructure loans through the Oklahoma Water Resources Board, with the amendment removing population-based language so infrastructure needs can be considered more broadly; it passed 9-0. SB 1509 would make well-spacing standards apply uniformly across the state by aquifer rather than waiting on maximum annual yield studies, and OWRB staff explained that domestic wells are not affected and existing rules still protect landowners; it passed 6-3. SB 1928 would establish a five-year flex allocation for groundwater use, allowing producers to shift unused water from one year to another, and it passed 7-2. The committee also considered several agriculture and food-related bills. SB 2028 would authorize the sale of raw milk products without consumer notification or container labeling beyond indicating the product is unpasteurized; it passed 8-0. SB 2071 would align Oklahoma’s Grade A milk regulations with federal standards and increase the dairy inspection fee from 1 cent to 2 cents per hundred pounds, but after concerns from members and testimony from ODAF about the fee burden, the committee adopted an amendment restoring the 1-cent rate; the bill then passed 8-1. SB 2110 would allow sale of ungraded eggs off-farm at farmers’ markets or directly to consumers, including unwashed eggs, and passed 9-0. SB 2117 would clarify that the Department of Agriculture can stop the sale of contaminated grain and direct remediation or destruction in a current contamination event involving sewer leakage into a field; it passed 9-0. Other measures addressed livestock transport, crop protection, hemp, and a proposed reimbursement scheme. SB 2134 would create procedures for wreck services and emergency management to handle livestock involved in transportation accidents, with the Department of Agriculture setting humane handling policies; members discussed whether the bill should explicitly address state or county emergency management and rail incidents, and it passed 8-0. SB 2127 was described as a work in progress to address crop protection and nontraditional producer practices, especially amid difficult conditions for row-crop producers, and it passed 8-1. SB 722, after the committee rescinded a prior referral, was presented as a new section requiring ODAF to reimburse agricultural operations for economic losses caused by agency actions enforcing court-ordered rules from an attorney general suit; after extensive questioning about scope, valuation, and legal effects, the author laid the bill over for further work. Finally, SB 3, on a newly adopted PCS, was reframed from a biosolids bill into a hemp-definition bill intended to align state law with the new federal definition and reduce youth access to marijuana-like hemp products; it passed 8-0. The meeting then adjourned.

Transcript Highlights:

• That's new voters, people who've moved, rural voters.
• impact? impact?
• Um, it would impact, um, everyone &gt;&gt; Yeah.
• </c> voters, people who've moved, rural voters, people who've moved, rural voters. voters. voters.
• But talk to me about the other impact on Minnesotans.

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> improve Mississippi through impactful improve Mississippi through impactful leadership.<00:30:28.720
• </c> not impact federal law. not impact federal law.
• And so this impacts complication.
• </c> definition of the rural hospitals. definition of the rural hospitals.
• </c> of a rural hospital. of a rural hospital.

Keywords: MS House Floor - 4 February, 2026; 10:00 AM, 925, all

Transcript Highlights:

• </c><00:23:30.720><c> health</c> the most recent uh rural health the most recent uh rural health transformation
• </c> transformation project the rural areas transformation project the rural areas are<00:23:34.480><
• As of the fiscal impacts for this bill.
• </c><01:02:07.760><c> if</c> that can have a significant impact if that can have a significant impact
• or potential impact.

Keywords: 1189, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• </c><01:55:42.639><c> de</c> Utah also maintains dedicated rural de Utah also maintains dedicated rural
• </c> structure, vast geography, and rural structure, vast geography, and rural scale<01:56:03.199><c>
• We're rural.
• We're rural. We used to small nature. We're rural.
• </c><03:33:47.359><c> us</c> anything that impacts us anything that impacts us more.<03:33:49.279><c>

Keywords: 916, all

Transcript Highlights:

• But I will say that one of the concerns we've had living in a rural area is learned animal veterinarians
• And it's definitely, there is a big urban-rural divide across the state. Thank you.
• This challenge impacts dental offices of all sizes and in all corners of the state.
• This challenge impacts dental offices of all sizes in all corners of the state, and that shortage is
• of shortages are felt most acutely in rural and underserved communities.

Bills: SB6138, SB5899, SB6072, SB6094

Keywords: dental procedures, sedation, patient safety, multiprovider system, healthcare regulation, chiropractic, animal care, veterinary medicine, license endorsement, nonhuman animals, veterinarian-client-patient relationship, VCPR, veterinary telehealth, telemedicine, teletriage, teleadvice, animal health, licensed veterinarian, Washington veterinary board, prescription drugs

Transcript Highlights:

• Chair, that may impact within...
• To provide it with the services that can maximize its impact.
• How are those impacting, you know, my orthopedic requirements?
• The other key aspects are the changing site conditions and impacts.
• The other one is our active remediation impacts.

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> the rural health transformation program. the rural health transformation program.
• </c><00:41:42.079><c> This</c> of our most rural communities. This of our most rural communities.
• economic impact can also not be understated.<01:12:43.520><c> Rural</c><01:12:43.920><c> hospitals</c
• </c><01:13:12.640><c> This</c> Rural Hospital Assistance Fund. This Rural Hospital Assistance Fund.
• </c> providers, including our rural providers, including our rural hospitals. hospitals. hospitals.

Keywords: Several minutes after the convene vote and before the introduction failed to properly steam. This version was pulled from a local back up., 958, all

Summary: The House convened with 97 members present, declared a quorum, approved excusing absent members, and suspended the rules to allow co-sponsorships and vote modifications. The journal for February 25, 2026 was approved. The clerk also reported that the Senate had passed Senate Bills 98 and 122 and requested concurrence. The House then received second-reading reports on a range of bills, including measures on prison educational programs, respiratory care, dietitians, wildlife depredation, temporary structures, military families, civil rights, local boards of education, light pollution, controlled-substance prescribing licenses, youth health services, class sizes for exceptional children, the athletic trainer compact, limited commercial driver’s licenses, and Senate Bill 145 relating to the Department of Agriculture and Alcohol Beverage Control. Committee reports moved several bills forward, including the main budget bills House Bill 500 and House Bill 504, along with measures on workforce investment, data centers, domestic violence, guardians ad litem, domestic relations, health delivery and “food is medicine” initiatives, state personnel, open records, and fish and wildlife resources. House Bill 500 and House Bill 504 were taken from the Rules Committee and placed on the orders of the day. House Bill 500, the executive branch budget bill, was then taken up for third reading and explanation. Members presented extensive floor explanations of House Bill 500 and House Committee Substitute 1, describing it as a “good first draft” of the executive budget. Supporters said the proposal emphasizes restrained spending growth, base reductions with exemptions for key areas, employee salary increments, and deposits to the Budget Reserve Trust Fund for future one-time investments. They highlighted funding for K-12 education, postsecondary aid and workforce training, Medicaid and behavioral health, public health infrastructure, pensions, veterans, public safety, economic development, tourism, and state technology and facility maintenance. The budget substitute was adopted by voice vote, and the discussion continued with detailed descriptions of the bill’s provisions; no final passage vote was shown in the excerpt.

Transcript Highlights:

• So green policies are against human impact.
• And that will impact our local budgets.
• mitigate the impact of climate change?
• their ability to pay. impacts their insurance score.
• But the tariff impact doesn't stop there.

Keywords: homeowners insurance, natural disasters, insurance costs, climate change, disaster preparedness, federal policies, bipartisan solutions

Summary: The meeting reviewed critical issues surrounding the rising costs and accessibility of homeowners insurance across the United States, particularly in light of increasing natural disasters linked to climate change. Members engaged in extensive discussions regarding the implications for families and the economy, citing significant increases in premiums and decreasing availability of policies in high-risk areas. Supervisor Peysko highlighted the direct impact of federal policies on local communities, emphasizing the growing burden on homeowners as they face skyrocketing insurance costs amidst a backdrop of environmental challenges and regulatory constraints. The committee expressed a unified call to action for bipartisan solutions, focusing on improving building codes and enhancing disaster preparedness measures.

Transcript Highlights:

• THEY HAVE $9.4 BILLION OF IMPACT AND THIS INCLUDES ROUGHLY 68 THOUSAND JOBS.
• I STAND BEFORE YOU AS A VOICE FOR RURAL TDC ACROSS THE STATE.
• ELIMINATING THE TDT WILL DISPROPORTIONATELY AFFECT RURAL COMMUNITIES.
• I STAND BEFORE YOU OPPOSING ANY IMPACT ON THE TOURIST DEVELOPMENT TAX.
• WE ARE NOT SURE HOW THE IMPACT OF THE MECHANISM TO ACCOUNT FOR THE PROPERTY TAX OFFSETS WILL WORK.

Transcript Highlights:

• OSPI does not know when the eligible districts impacted by the bill, Clover Park and Medical Lake, would
• Well, that works great for the military bases, but it impacts negatively the surrounding community when
• So the actual impact could be less than that example. And that's all I have on the briefing.
• So it's not impacting.
• And very impactful stories we got to hear through that work.

Summary: The committee first heard Substitute Senate Bill 5901, which would change the School Construction Assistance Program formula for school facilities on military bases. Staff explained that the bill would exclude instructional space on military bases from a district’s available inventory and add an extra 15% to the state funding assistance percentage for projects located on a military base. Senator Leonard Christian said the bill was intended to help districts such as Clover Park and Medical Lake, where base facilities reduce eligibility for off-base school construction funding. Testimony was strongly supportive from OSPI, Clover Park, and Medical Lake, while one citizen raised broader concerns about school funding and common school trust lands. The hearing on the bill was then closed. The committee then heard Engrossed Second Substitute Senate Bill 5061, which would require annual adjustments to prevailing wage rates in most public works contracts, with exemptions for small works, residential construction, and certain other projects. Staff described the bill’s delayed effective date of July 1, 2028 and reviewed fiscal impacts, including significant L&I operating costs and an indeterminate but potentially substantial capital cost impact. Senator Steve Conway said the bill was a technical fix to align contract wages with regularly updated prevailing wage rates and noted that the bill had been amended to exempt small works and low-income housing projects. Proponents from labor and mechanical contractors said annual updates would better reflect negotiated wage schedules and help retain skilled workers, while opponents from contractor groups warned of unpredictability, higher project costs, and the need for a change-order safeguard if wage increases exceed 5%. L&I testified that the fiscal note reflected the need to rework its IT system to track annual adjustments. The hearing was then closed. The committee also received a briefing on a proposed substitute to House Bill 2295, which would add funding for several new projects and make technical and language changes. Staff said the substitute would increase spending by $611,000 in bonds and $3 million from the Waste Tire Removal Account. The committee then moved into executive session and, by a vote of 18-0 with one excused, reported proposed substitute House Bill 2295 out of committee with a do-pass recommendation. The chair also announced plans for future executive sessions, including one on Substitute Senate Bill 5901, and adjourned the meeting.

Transcript Highlights:

• If you're not in a rural district, I have really learned to depend on my soil and water conservation
• We also continue to have major concerns about how this will impact acequias because of their inability
• by the district impacted by the failure, and the list—this list of tax ...impacted by the failure, and
• And it's in rural communities, you know, sometimes it's whoever has the biggest family gets elected.
• those reasons, because I represent, you know, ...for those reasons, because I represent, you know, rural

Keywords: 996, all