Transcript Highlights:

• And this industry is going to the states that provide incentives.
• The industry will not shoot where they do not receive incentives.
• And then lastly, you know, we've been, had this recruitment part for, for secret and when you recruit
• This is where we need assistance for retention and recruitment.
• It also serves as an incentive to recruit new members. This concludes my presentations.

Committee: House Appropriations - S/C on Articles I, IV, & V

Transcript Highlights:

• Item three discusses DPS troopers and recruit schools.
• Recruiting has been an issue nationwide.
• Recruiting has been an issue nationwide.
• How do you recruit? Thank you.
• How do you recruit? Chair: We recruit actively and continue to enhance our recruitment efforts.

Bills: SB 1

Committee: Senate Finance

Summary: The committee heard a Legislative Budget Board presentation and then testimony from the Department of Public Safety on the Article 5 public safety budget. LBB said DPS’s 2026-27 recommendation totals $3.7 billion, down from the prior base, while FTEs rise by 856.7. Major items included increased funding for driver license services and customer support, new trooper funding and recruit schools, crime lab operations, border security, and reductions tied to one-time facility, vehicle, and aircraft spending. The committee also discussed new riders, including one to lapse unused trooper funds and require reporting after recruit schools. Members focused heavily on driver license operations, questioning why prior staffing increases and a prior efficiency study had not solved long wait times, high call abandonment, and appointment delays. DPS and LBB said the agency receives about 22,000 calls per day, answers only about 9 percent, and is seeking more staff plus technology upgrades such as automation, kiosks, and better online processing. Senators also raised concerns about rural access, REAL ID document requirements, and whether the department should rethink its processes rather than simply add employees. DPS leadership then described needs for the Williamson County training academy, additional troopers, Capitol and Alamo security, border operations, aircraft and vehicle replacement, and regional headquarters in El Paso and San Antonio. Members asked about Operation Lone Star costs, overtime, pursuit safety, border crime, oilfield theft, and sexual assault kit and toxicology backlogs. DPS said border deployments remain focused on criminal threats, that overtime is partly driven by deployments and staffing shortages, and that the sexual assault kit backlog is down to 118 cases with a goal of zero by April. The committee later recessed and began the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission budget presentation, where LBB outlined a $115.1 million recommendation and noted ongoing costs for the AIMS technology project.

Transcript Highlights:

• You have a double... ...funding for the Teacher Incentive Allotment.
• Specifically, how would you structure long-term incentives to ...
• More teachers are participating in the teacher incentive allotment.
• There is no incentive.
• So there's no... ...Incentive, then there's no real incentive under state law for an individual pursuing

Bills: SB1 , SB 1

Committee: Senate Finance

Transcript Highlights:

• He was big on recruiting and retention in the Guard.
• They thought five years would actually incentivize people to stay as far as retention and recruitment
• So that was not an incentive for me to stay in the guard. No paycheck until I was 60.
• So that was not an incentive for me to stay in the Guard.
• You now have to pay in, which is less an incentive for people to stay.

Bills: SB2026 , SB1376 , SB1355 , SB2115 , SB1533

Committee: Senate Veterans and Military Affairs

Summary: The Veterans and Military Affairs Committee met and advanced several bills related to veterans records, National Guard benefits, burial honors, and veterans home operations. Senate Bill 2026 would allow grandchildren, with proof of lineage, to access a veteran’s DD-214 filed with a county clerk; it passed 9-0. Senate Bill 1376, amended to be named the CW5 Chris Rowe Act, would revise National Guard retirement and pay provisions, including a five-year Oklahoma Guard service minimum for retirement eligibility and language intended to ensure full-time Guard members are paid at their rank; despite concerns raised about the five-year threshold and out-of-state members, it passed 9-0. Senate Bill 1355 would create a program and funds to provide memorial headstones, markers, or medallions for eligible veterans and National Guard veterans; it also passed 9-0. The committee then considered Senate Bill 2115, a broad measure affecting Oklahoma veterans homes and the Department of Veterans Affairs. The bill would allow more flexible hiring of part-time health care staff, create revolving funds for quicker purchasing of supplies, and exclude certain purchases from the state Purchasing Act. Members questioned the canceled warrant fund, the scope of the purchasing exemption, and how donations and federal funds would be handled. The author and ODVA representatives said the bill was still a work in progress and emphasized the need for flexibility and safeguards. The bill passed 9-0. Finally, Senate Bill 1533, described as cleanup language for the Dignity and Burial Act, would change eligibility to require a veteran to have been a resident of Oklahoma rather than dying in the state. It also passed 9-0. Near the end of the meeting, Chair Stanley noted plans for another committee meeting the following week and Senator Peterson mentioned an upcoming floor substitute related to the Strategic Military Planning Commission sunset issue.

Transcript Highlights:

• Senate bill 1826 simply eliminates the sunset on a on the Oklahoma Enterprise Zone Incentive Leverage
• The bill ensures that Oklahoma's use of economic development incentives promotes responsible labor practices
• It is not intended to squelch any incentive related to the fact that the Thunder players are part of
• if the employer, and then it goes through The things that if they do, they're not eligible for an incentive
• why would we pursue a policy that is negative for the industry that we're doing the best we can to recruit

Bills: SB1824 , SB1813 , SB1326 , SB1277 , SB1937 , SB1217 , SB1826 , SB1641

Committee: House Business

Keywords: corporation, corporate governance, business entities, Oklahoma General Corporation Act, limited liability company, LLC, shareholder rights, beneficial owner, controlling shareholder, control group, interested director, fiduciary duty, books and records inspection, corporate records, ratification, defective corporate acts, putative stock, stock issuance, treasury shares, rights and options

Transcript Highlights:

• Department of Commerce and the Department of Veterans Affairs to approve special compensation and recruitment
• incentive plans.
• Department of Commerce and the Department of Veterans Affairs to approve special compensation and recruitment
• incentive plans.
• The Department of Commerce is special compensation and recruitment incentive plans.

Committee: All ALC-PERSONNEL

Transcript Highlights:

• The recruiting environment in Wyoming is difficult at best.
• Therefore, the federal recruiting incentives and retention bonuses are on the decline.
• ><c> Wyoming</c><00:02:56.800><c> is</c> The recruiting environment in Wyoming is The recruiting environment
• , the federal recruiting Therefore, the federal recruiting incentives<00:03:29.360><c> and</c><00:03:
• Did I hear you right that they'll recruit away from us? Yes.

Bills: SF0012 , SF0013 , SF0067

Committee: House Transportation, Highways & Military Affairs

Transcript Highlights:

• As a separate incentive, we are also asking, and it's not reflected in the budget for.
• I think voice writing is the incentive to young people to come into the profession.
• And that's also why this is so important to recruit to our rural districts.
• I'm recruiting, recruitment, and retention.
• Some of our recruiting and retention issues fall on our law enforcement side.

Transcript Highlights:

• This budget includes $100 million for recruitment and retention in the state university system.
• And so this budget that you all presented, it's $100 million for recruitment and retention placed in
• There are no directives given to them other than it should be used for faculty recruitment and retention
• So we’re in a position to take the funds that, if you choose to, you invest in faculty recruitment and
• So we’re in a position to take the funds that, if you choose to, you invest in faculty recruitment and

Committee: Senate Appropriations Committee on Higher Education

Summary: The Appropriations Committee on Higher Education received a presentation from the Governor’s Office and the Commissioner of Education on the proposed higher education budget. The presentation highlighted a $117.4 billion overall state budget, with education at $32.5 billion and higher education receiving a modest overall increase. Key items included no tuition or fee increases for Florida residents, major financial aid funding such as Bright Futures, Benacquisto, EASE, Open Door, and first responder scholarships, as well as workforce investments including apprenticeship programs, career and technical education, nursing pipeline funding, and performance-based funding for colleges and universities. Committee members asked questions about the proposed expansion of the Guardian program at state colleges and the $100 million university recruitment and retention fund. Officials said the Guardian funding would give colleges flexibility to use trained personnel for campus safety, sometimes alongside or in place of campus police or private security. The Chancellor explained that the recruitment and retention money would be distributed to universities with no specific directives beyond using it for faculty recruitment and retention, emphasizing Florida’s favorable demographics and the opportunity to attract faculty from states facing enrollment declines. The committee then heard testimony from multiple appointees and reappointees to boards of trustees at state colleges and universities, including Eastern Florida State College, Lake-Sumter State College, State College of Florida Manatee-Sarasota, Miami Dade College, Northwest Florida State College, and St. Johns River State College. Each described their backgrounds and stressed themes of affordability, workforce alignment, nursing and technical programs, dual enrollment, and local community needs. Several cited strong nursing licensure pass rates and college outcomes. After hearing all appointees, the committee voted unanimously to confirm the full block of nominees, and the confirmations were reported favorably before the meeting adjourned.

Transcript Highlights:

• We do what is called centralized recruitment.
• We receive, specifically for recruitment, about $372,000 to do what we call active recruitment.
• On page four, I gave a list of whom we see doing the recruiting.
• I think sometimes we try to measure the wrong thing in recruitment.
• A lot of my focus, self-admittedly, has been on the grow-your-own recruitment incentives.

Committee: House Legislative Health & Human Services Committee

Transcript Highlights:

• the local government shall have the authority to negotiate with the developer an annual housing incentive
• The length of this annual incentive payment shall not exceed seven years for new construction and 15
• Chairman, in closing, Senate Bill 9 gives local governments tools to be aggressive in recruiting new
• </c> developer an annual housing incentive developer an annual housing incentive payment,<00:13:40.880
• </c> The length of this annual incentive The length of this annual incentive payment<00:13:54.480><c>

Committee: Senate State & Local Government

Transcript Highlights:

• That's why we make such an effort to invest in teacher incentive a lot.
• Your choice to provide financial incentives for what's best for kids.
• As a teacher incentive allotment, TIA designated early. Childhood Educator.
• Provide guidance for designated and enhanced teacher incentive allotment.
• And you need more pay to recruit and retain the best teachers.

Bills: HB2 , HB2

Committee: House Public Education

Keywords: public education, teacher compensation, certification, funding, school finance, educator rights, education funding, charter schools, staff compensation, state aid, retention allotment, disaster preparedness, emergency management, flooding, mass fatality, mass casualty, fatality tracking, body recovery, autopsy, justice of the peace

Transcript Highlights:

• The company that's being recruited will pay for this fee and will reduce the state sales tax abatement
• the way she terms it: it will allow us to stretch our legs a little bit and see what we can do to recruit
• They can still receive incentives just again to let us compete for slightly larger projects.
• I just have to say this: I was here when we passed that first incentive bill, and I don't know if...
• ...that first incentive bill.

Bills: SB45 , SB73 , SB169 , HB243 , SB177

Committee: Senate Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Development

Keywords: driver licenses, validation, identity, state laws, regulations, K-12 education, athletic associations, student-athlete eligibility, Alabama Administrative Procedure Act, governance, manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, motor vehicle crimes, restitution, law enforcement, HB243, Devinee Rooney and John Wesley Safe Streets Act, DUI, drunk driving, impaired driving

Transcript Highlights:

• That was used by many of our members to develop sites for recruiting industrial businesses.
• You know, I have Kent Valley in manufacturing, and so I'm really interested in the incentives.
• We hear about other states offering lucrative incentive packages to attract businesses.
• Here on this slide, you can see our current recruitment pipeline.
• So how do we continue to recruit and still have those jobs?

Summary: The Senate Committee on Business, Financial Institutions, and Trade met off-site at SEA Airport for a work session focused on Washington’s air and maritime cargo economy. The first panel featured Port of Seattle air cargo manager Tom Green, Northwest Seaport Alliance CEO John Wolfe, and Washington Public Ports Association executive director Eric Fitch. Green described SEA’s air cargo mix, emphasizing the importance of belly cargo on passenger flights, the airport’s international freighter and domestic cargo operations, and the value of air cargo to exports, imports, and jobs. Wolfe outlined the Northwest Seaport Alliance’s role as a joint Seattle-Tacoma maritime gateway, the competitiveness of West Coast ports, recent volume volatility tied to tariffs and supply chain shifts, and regional partnerships such as inland logistics efforts in the Tri-Cities and work with tribal and city partners. Fitch then presented a broader trade strategy effort led by public ports and industry groups, centered on making Washington the most competitive West Coast gateway through partnership, workforce support, truck parking, site readiness, foreign trade zones, permitting, and land-use protections for industrial areas. Committee members asked about whether a separate cargo airport would relieve pressure at SEA, how cargo is measured, the role of Moses Lake and Paine Field, truck parking, and the effects of tax increment financing and international trade planning. The witnesses generally said cargo relocation would not solve the need for belly cargo at SEA, that kilograms/metric tons are the industry standard, and that smaller airports can capture some charter or niche cargo but SEA remains the main hub. Fitch said truck parking is a major unmet need and that tax increment financing has helped some port projects, especially in Pasco. Chair Kauffman and members also raised workforce development, manufacturing incentives, and coordination with broader state trade planning. The committee then heard from the Department of Commerce on small business export assistance and international investment promotion. Commerce staff said exports are critical to Washington’s economy, but tariffs and trade uncertainty are raising costs and threatening competitiveness, especially in aerospace and agriculture. They highlighted the state’s overseas consultant network, the Paris Air Show delegation, and participation in Fruit Attraction in Madrid as examples of trade promotion work that can generate business leads and jobs. They also warned that federal funding for overseas representation and the STEP export program is at risk, which could reduce Washington’s visibility in global markets and limit support for small exporters. A roundtable followed with Washington Farm Bureau’s Brianna Elsie, ILWU longshore worker Ali Vekich, and Eric Fitch. Elsie said specialty-crop agriculture has been more resilient than some other sectors but is still under severe pressure from high labor and input costs, farm losses, and market uncertainty; she urged broader policy solutions beyond mental health support. Vekich described how tariffs, zoning changes, and industrial land pressures are hurting longshore jobs and argued for stronger protections for maritime industrial lands. Fitch closed by stressing that Washington’s trade economy depends on cooperation among ports, labor, agriculture, and state government, and that maintaining competitiveness will require active policy support rather than complacency."}

Bills: HB111 , HB108 , HB145 , HB164 , HB291 , HJR6 , HR1 , HB63 , HB64 , HB165 , HB184 , HB200 , HB4 , HB7 , HB20 , HB65 , HB66 , HB80 , HB88 , HB96 , HB166 , HB285 , HB295 , HB306 , SB29 , SB37 , HJM2 , HJM3 , HJM1 , HM7 , HM17 , HM4 , HM22 , HM23 , HM24 , HM26 , HM2 , HM16 , HM32 , HM13 , HM47 , HM20 , HM51 , HM1 , HM31 , HM35 , HM36 , HM46 , HM53 , HM54 , HM11 , HM14 , HM21 , HM34 , HM50 , HB111 , HB108 , HB145 , HB164 , HB291 , HJR6 , HR1 , HB63 , HB64 , HB165 , HB184 , HB200 , HB4 , HB7 , HB20 , HB65 , HB66 , HB80 , HB88 , HB96 , HB166 , HB285 , HB295 , HB306 , SB29 , SB37 , HJM2 , HJM3 , HJM1 , HM7 , HM17 , HM4 , HM22 , HM23 , HM24 , HM26 , HM2 , HM16 , HM32 , HM13 , HM47 , HM20 , HM51 , HM1 , HM31 , HM35 , HM36 , HM46 , HM53 , HM54 , HM11 , HM14 , HM21 , HM34 , HM50

Keywords: water law, state engineer, civil penalty, compliance order, water rights, overdiversion, illegal diversion, groundwater storage and recovery, well license, permit violation, water enforcement, New Mexico water code, irrigation district, conservancy district, water diversion, unauthorized water sales, measuring device, district court appeal, water resources, water compliance

Transcript Highlights:

• We have a smaller pool of individuals to recruit and compete from.
• They're not driven by any sort of recruitment and retention problem for us.
• and continually recruit attorneys.
• Each office employs a different means of recruiting attorneys.
• I've had success in recruiting attorneys right out of law school.

Transcript Highlights:

• , but we also... ...could help the state improve their recruitment.
• This is, as I already discussed, and greater out-of-state recruitment.
• So I kind of want to go back to the recruitment issue you're having.
• I don't want to go back to the recruitment issue you're having.
• We just need to know what we need to know for the recruitment part.

Summary: The Senate Budget Subcommittee heard presentations from the Office of the Inspector General (OIG), California Correctional Health Care Services (CCHCS), the California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal (CalAIM) program, and the Coleman mental health receivership. The hearing focused on correctional health care, reentry, aging incarcerated populations, and the state’s progress toward compliance in the Plata and Coleman receiverships. Members also discussed the OIG’s intake complaint workload and medical inspection findings, as well as broader questions about staffing, vacancies, and the cost of court oversight. The OIG requested $275,000 General Fund for two permanent positions in its intake processing unit, citing a sharp rise in complaints from 3,200 in 2022 to 7,860 in 2025. OIG officials said complaints are categorized by issue and prison, prioritized by urgency, and generally responded to within 30 days, but they do not track complaint “validity” rates. The medical inspection unit reported that in cycle seven, case review performance was generally adequate while policy compliance was often inadequate; the lowest-scoring areas included emergency services, medication management, and health care environment. Members asked for more detailed reporting on complaint types, priority levels, and systemic issues. CCHCS described rising health care costs driven by an aging prison population, staffing vacancies, and contract medical expenses. Officials said more than 80% of the budget is personal services, and they are using hiring events, social media outreach, and expanded classifications to reduce vacancies. CalAIM officials reported early implementation success in pre-release and reentry services, including 89% Medi-Cal activation at release, 87% assigned managed care plans, 88% reentry care plans, and 59% warm handoffs, with about 169,000 claims submitted and $14.7 million reimbursed. The LAO noted that the Plata medical receivership has increased per-person costs and that the state should continue oversight while seeking ways to reduce vacancies and expand federal reimbursement opportunities. For the Coleman mental health receivership, the receiver’s office requested $33.9 million from the Mental Health Special Deposit Fund, including $8.2 million for receiver office staffing and $25.3 million to make court-ordered bonus payments permanent. The LAO supported continued oversight but recommended additional steps to address vacancies, including greater out-of-state recruitment, expanded telemental health, and possible consolidation of mental health services. The LAO also recommended reducing the telemental health staffing request and monitoring its effects. Members questioned the long-term cost of receiverships, the pace of compliance, and whether more detailed benchmarks and staffing data should be provided. No formal votes were taken during the portion of the hearing provided.

Transcript Highlights:

• And quite a long career, he was big on recruiting and retention in the guard.
• Far as retention and recruitment goes, if you add longer on that, they were afraid it wouldn't help at
• However, I would have gotten no paycheck until I was 60, so that was not an incentive for me to stay
• You now have to pay in, which is less an Incentive for people to stay.
• Stand by my assertion last year that this bill is good for retention and recruitment for Oklahoma.

Bills: SB2026 , SB1376 , SB1355 , SB2115 , SB1533

Committee: Senate Veterans and Military Affairs

Keywords: military discharge, veterans, DD Form 214, confidentiality, grandchildren access, Oklahoma National Guard, education assistance, military benefits, dependents, CareerTech Assistance Act, burial grant, memorial headstone, eligibility requirements, funding, Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs, fiscal management, state law, veteran burial, burial assistance, indigent veterans

Transcript Highlights:

• Is there a bonus for for recruitment?
• for recruiting and retention are really declining.
• </c><00:30:15.840><c> recruiting</c> those federal incentives for recruiting those federal incentives
• It is very difficult to get our young recruits into the military.
• Matter of fact, we actually will send potential recruits even to other states.

Bills: HB0122 , SF0004 , SF0012 , SF0013 , SF0067 , SF0070 , SF0124

Committee: House Appropriations

Transcript Highlights:

• We use financial incentives to pull students to law school. I'm sorry.
• We use financial incentives to pull students to law school.
• I supervise our recruitment and retention team. I supervise our recruitment and retention team.
• So we continue recruiting.
• And we could continue our recruitment and expand it to include non-lawyer professionals.

Committee: House Civil Rights & Judiciary

Summary: The work session began with testimony on expanding opportunities in the legal profession, especially in response to rural attorney shortages and public service recruitment. Washington State Bar Association Executive Director Tara Nevitt described a growing but aging attorney workforce, noted that younger attorneys have declined, and outlined efforts including supervised practice as an alternative to the bar exam, reduced admission-by-motion experience requirements, expansion of the law clerk program, rural job fairs and grants, and a pilot program for innovative legal service delivery. Members asked about bar passage standards, loan repayment assistance, and the former limited license legal technician program. Representatives from the University of Washington, Seattle University, and Gonzaga discussed law school pipelines into public service and rural practice. They described early outreach to students, loan repayment assistance and scholarships, public service stipends, clinics and externships, and partnerships that place students in government, nonprofit, prosecution, and defense roles. Seattle University highlighted its Flex JD and hybrid hub model in rural communities; Gonzaga presented data showing many graduates remain in Washington and enter public interest work; and UW emphasized that unpaid internships and debt remain barriers. The Washington Association of Prosecuting Attorneys and the Office of Public Defense both testified that prosecutor and defender vacancies are severe in rural counties, and that salary, hiring bonuses, housing support, internships, and loan repayment programs are important tools. The Office of Public Defense said its new recruitment and retention program, funded by SB 5780, has already placed interns in underserved counties and helped some commit to future jobs there. The Washington State Bar’s law clerk program was also described as a pathway that helps people train and remain in their home communities. The committee then shifted to family law, guardians, and guardianships. On guardian ad litem practice in Title 26 cases, Northwest Justice Project and private family law practitioners said training has improved since 2018, but concerns remain about inconsistent investigations, bias, inadequate domestic violence training, lack of oversight, high costs, and uneven county practices. They suggested more robust training, better accountability, and possible use of mental health professionals for custody evaluations. For minor guardianships under the Uniform Guardianship Act, a Superior Court judge said filings have increased and courts struggle to find qualified attorneys and court visitors, while the Administrative Office of the Courts said its $3 million annual reimbursement program for local courts is running out earlier each year and that minor guardianship costs make up most of the spending. The Office of Public Guardianship reported rising demand for adult guardianship services, noting that recent legislation expanded its caseload capacity and added a navigator role, but that referrals and active cases continue to grow statewide.