Transcript Highlights:

• On the first page, Section 1 appropriates funding to government units for the county seat, or the payment
• Section 18 details the various steps that the state treasurer can take to issue total payments at the
• , and if approved, it can implement it using federal and matching funds, while making clear that payments
• Section 32 would not allow the University of Delaware to make payments for utility bills and building
• Section 32 would not allow the University of Delaware to make payments for utility bills and building

Keywords: 1064, all

Transcript Highlights:

• AB 2216, Aguiar-Curry, Valley and Delta Conservancy, do pass as amended to cap advance payments at 25%
• AB 2258, Avila Farías, child care alternative payment program, do pass out on an A roll call.
• AB 2314, Rogers, Child Care Alternative Payment Program, do pass. That's out on an A roll call.
• AB 2481, Soria, BCRFA quality incentive payments, do pass. That's out on an A roll call.
• AB 1793, Ward, cash payment calculation, do pass. That's out with Republicans not voting.

Summary: The Assembly Appropriations Committee held a suspense-file hearing on May 14, 2026, reviewing hundreds of Assembly bills and a few committee bills. The chair opened by explaining the committee’s budget constraints and the factors used in suspense decisions, including fiscal impact, return on investment, effects on constituents, and protection of the state’s social safety net. The agenda was organized alphabetically by author, and the committee noted that results would be posted later that day online. The committee then acted on a very large number of measures, sending many bills to the Assembly floor on do pass or do pass as amended motions, while holding many others in committee. Topics covered a broad range of policy areas, including housing, health care, education, labor, public safety, wildfire mitigation, water, energy, transportation, cannabis, immigration, and state governance. Many bills were amended to narrow scope, make implementation contingent on appropriations or existing resources, remove provisions, or clarify agency responsibilities; several bills were held without further action. Among the notable actions, the committee advanced bills on items such as Medi-Cal services, child care, wildfire-related programs, housing financing, school and college issues, public safety and criminal justice, environmental and energy policy, and various consumer and business regulations. Some measures were sent out on A or B roll calls, with Republicans often not voting on amended bills. The hearing concluded after the committee reported that a large number of bills had been moved to the Assembly floor, either as do pass or do pass with amendments, and the committee adjourned.

Transcript Highlights:

• Once they stopped the weight loss drug payment, they did adjustments on that, which was really red, but
• Hope Scholarship requires payments early in August to all the people and schools. So our cash flow.
• The admin is a 50-50 payment. So those rules are changing October 1. Payment.
• find the error... ...application or somebody goes in and audits and they find the errors on these payments
• So it's got seven steps to the formula, plus it's got their PIA payments, got local share, it's got their

Keywords: 994, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• The information includes charges of theft and making false claims for health care payments.
• is charged with making personal purchases with a government credit card, including rent and a down payment
• These include charges of theft and making false claims for health care payments.
• Defo Mabrat of Portland, who pleaded no contest last week to making a false claim for health care payment

Keywords: 907, all

Summary: Oregon Attorney General staff held a press event on National Health Care Fraud Take Down Day to announce new Medicaid fraud enforcement actions and highlight the work of the state’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. The attorney general said the unit, created in 1986, has secured 348 criminal convictions, 156 civil settlements and judgments, and significant recoveries since 2010, and noted the legislature recently approved additional staffing. She framed the work as protecting vulnerable Oregonians and taxpayer dollars, and said the unit is a small multidisciplinary team of investigators, auditors, attorneys, data analysts, and a nurse investigator. The office announced criminal filings in four cases involving alleged fraud by providers or public employees, including charges against a Beaverton man tied to housing assistance funds, a Corvallis provider and company accused of billing Medicaid for services not provided, a former Lane County employee accused of improper personal purchases on a government credit card, and a Tigard man in a medical transportation-related case. The attorney general also cited recent outcomes in other cases, including a Portland nurse who pleaded no contest and was sentenced to jail, probation, and restitution for billing for services not provided. She emphasized that the defendants are presumed innocent. In response to questions, the attorney general said Oregon staff attended a recent federal meeting on Medicaid fraud despite late notice to many Democratic states, describing the issue as bipartisan even amid broader disagreements with the Trump administration. She said federal staffing cuts have made state enforcement more important and that Oregon is already evaluating how to adapt to a more complex fraud landscape. She also said the cases announced are primarily against providers and entities rather than Medicaid recipients, and that Oregon’s managed care system is not currently a major barrier to investigations.

Transcript Highlights:

• property tax exemptions for the Fond du Lac Band of Ojibwe, an income tax subtraction for one-time payments
• 37.640> one-time an income tax subtraction for one-time an income tax subtraction for one-time payments
• payments to nursing facility workers. payments to nursing facility workers.

Keywords: 919, house, all

Summary: The House considered the conference committee report on House File 2438, the 2026 tax bill. Representative Gomez outlined the main provisions, saying most fiscal changes were tied to federal tax conformity. He also described several other items in the report, including a two-year extension of the pass-through entity tax workaround, a sustainable aviation fuel provision, a one-time $125 million increase in homestead credit property tax refunds, a one-year removal of the cap on the beginning farmer tax credit, a four-year tax exemption for PGA tickets, permanent aid to certain school districts, a direct file program, changes related to homestead resort classification thresholds, local property tax and income tax provisions, local government aid for the new city of Northern, a four-year extension of local homeless prevention aid, and Department of Revenue policy, technical, TIF, local, and public finance items. After the report was presented, the House adopted the conference committee report and ordered the bill repassed as amended by conference. The clerk then gave the bill its third reading as amended. Following third reading, Representative Niska moved to lay House File 2438 on the table. The motion prevailed, and the bill was tabled.

Transcript Highlights:

• It will also require an OBGYN add-on payment... ...to support hospitals providing labor and delivery
• HB 18 goes further with regard to labor and delivery payments, specifically in the areas of Medicaid
• payments, training, and telemedicine.
• The rural maternal add-on payment certainly moves the needle in the right direction.
• It's not the intent of this to reduce the payments. Well look, this is interesting.

Bills: HB18, HB37, HB116, HB388, HB879, HB913, HB1151, HB2216, HB2358, HB2809, SB577, SB1590, SB1782, SB1887, SB2744, HB18, HB37, HB116

Keywords: rural health, hospital funding, healthcare access, mental health services, financial stability, perinatal bereavement, healthcare, hospital training, bereavement support, maternal care, fetal demise, stillbirth, neonatal death, parent-child relationship, involuntary termination, family law, child welfare, child protection, HB 388, HB388

Transcript Highlights:

• We make sure that the federal government receives their proper royalty payment.
• payments to five and 10%.
• And that's just to ensure that our payments reflect the true child care utilization.
• And that is to limit child care payments through the month a child turns 18.
• Michelle, I got a question on the North Dakota Medicaid payments chart that you have.

Summary: The committee met to receive a series of audit presentations, beginning with the statewide Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR) for fiscal year 2025. The State Auditor’s Office and OMB reported a clean, unmodified opinion for the state, with strong financial results including a $40.6 billion net position, $30.99 billion in assets, $1.81 billion in liabilities, and continued Legacy Fund growth. OMB also explained the new GASB 101 compensated-absences reporting change and discussed pension-liability fluctuations tied to discount-rate assumptions and investment performance. Members asked about how the state compares to others and about the effect of short-term commodity price swings, and OMB said the report reflects actual fiscal-year results rather than forecasts. The committee then heard the University System audit, which also received a clean opinion but included four findings: misreporting of Strategic Investment and Improvements Fund revenue, insufficient monitoring of service organizations at CTS, NDSU, and UND, improper bank reconciliations at Dakota College of Bottineau, Dickinson State, and Williston State, and investment/cash reconciliation problems at Bismarck State College related to bond proceeds. University officials agreed with the findings and said corrective actions were underway, including internal review of bank reconciliations. Members raised questions about NDSU’s use of certificates of deposit, and university staff explained that CDs are used to earn interest on funds being accumulated for future projects. Several other audits were presented, most with clean opinions and no findings, including the State Auditor’s Office, Workforce Safety and Insurance, Housing Finance Agency, Housing Incentive Fund, Job Service North Dakota, the Retirement and Investment Office, PERS, the Center for Distance Education, the Commission on Legal Counsel for Indigents, the Ethics Commission, and the Office of Administrative Hearings. Notable exceptions included a State Fair Association audit with an adverse opinion on the foundation component unit because its financial statements were not available for audit, and a Securities Department performance audit finding that performance-based pay increases and bonuses were issued without required evaluations. The committee also discussed the State Auditor’s future needs, including more staff capacity, data analytics, cybersecurity reviews, possible subpoena authority, independent legal counsel, and whether some audits—such as the Ethics Commission and State Fair—should be handled by independent third parties or under different statutory arrangements.

Transcript Highlights:

• Senate File 2413 was a bill to provide a new directed payment program, or payment to hospitals, via our
• Senate File 2413 was a bill to provide a new directed payment program, or payment to hospitals, via our
• and then applied by them to the payment.
• then applied by them to the payment. then applied by them to the payment.
• Um but we their their monthly payment.

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• corps back to the department of education, making it clear that when excesses and deficiencies and payment
• schedules apply to the programs payment schedules apply to the programs that<00:06:11.360> were
• This bill would also eliminate the 10% reconciliation payment that would be the 10% cleanup payment for
• > fiscal the 10% uh cleanup payment for fiscal the 10% uh cleanup payment for fiscal year 25.<
• We hope to have those final payments out here in April.

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• resource um it states that co-payments resource um it states that co-payments co-<00:15:40.839><
• <00:19:26.840> from people removes any co-payments from people removes any co-payments from
• <00:41:03.880> rates processes of establishing payment rates processes of establishing payment
• of rate exceptions rather that payment of rate exceptions rather that payment rates<00:48:22.440
• thinking about the U the average payment thinking about the U the average payment you<01:06:22.880

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• year when they get out of prison to try to get their life together before they have to begin the payments
• Since we mirrored it after that payment and doing it through the clerk's office, I think it would, but
• I think that's why we have the maintenance, the payments set up through the, unlike child support, because
• case was sentenced to 10 years at 100%, and he will have one year after release to start making payments
• case was sentenced to 10 years at 100%, and he will have one year after release to start making payments

Summary: The committee heard Senate Bill 1135, Bentley and Mason’s Law, which would require a person convicted of killing a parent or parents while driving drunk or otherwise under the influence to pay ongoing child support-like maintenance to the victim’s children until age 18, or 21 if in college. The sponsor explained the bill is modeled on child support procedures, with the amount determined by the court based on the offender’s finances and the children’s needs, and with a one-year delay after release from prison before payments begin. He also said the bill was designed to avoid duplicate recovery if the family pursues a civil case against an insurance company, and members raised questions about penalties for nonpayment, whether health care or FAFSA would be affected, and whether the bill should be strengthened with more enforcement teeth. Public testimony was strongly supportive. A Tennessee mother, Brooke Stewart, described how her husband was killed by a drunk driver and how a court-awarded restitution order under Bentley’s Law is helping provide for her two daughters’ future education and needs. She said the offender had prior DUI-related arrests and that the law gave her family relief after a devastating loss. A representative from Mothers Against Drunk Driving also supported the bill, said the measure is needed because Missouri families currently lack this protection, and urged the committee to pass it without amendment because the session was nearing its end. She noted the bill has been pursued for several years, has support from affected families, and is part of a broader effort to strengthen impaired-driving laws in Missouri. Committee members generally expressed sympathy and support, with several saying the bill was good policy and asking about implementation details rather than opposing the concept. The sponsor indicated he was open to offline discussions about possible strengthening amendments, but MADD asked that the bill not be changed at this stage. No opposition testimony was offered, and the hearing on Senate Bill 1135 was closed without any vote or other action taken in the transcript.

Transcript Highlights:

• Medi-Cal General Fund solutions by one year to July 1, 2027, including elimination of prospective payment
• It also includes $3 billion in Proposition 2 funding for the CalPERS Supplemental Pension Payment in
• plan on the timing of which they'll make those payments.
• I have one question about the plastics market development payment program.
• And my question regarding the plastics market development payment program, the payments drop down $5

Keywords: 988, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• authority. ...provider support, quality improvement, and data analytics, and removes AHCCCS claims payment
• So they went on to implement blanket suspensions, terminations, widespread payment delays, payment denials
• It sounds like this kind of came out because of a payment issue you described, so we're happy to look
• We understand that we need to improve our payment speed.
• reductions without a commensurate decrease in expectations for service delivery, fee-for-service payment

Bills: SB1086, SB1193, SB1318, SB1345, SB1346, SB1451, SB1496, SB1611, SB1630, SB1631, SB1632, SB1672

Keywords: reimbursement, healthcare, laboratory services, noncontracting providers, Arizona health care cost containment, personal identifying information, PII, privacy, confidential records, public records exemption, commercial disclosure, data privacy, licensure, certification, health professions, health care licensing, Arizona Department of Health Services, ADHS, emergency medical care technician, EMCT

Transcript Highlights:

• This bill aims to eliminate these surprise owed payments by creating a system based more on transparency
• back to the or or salary uh payments back to the employer<00:10:56.720> they<00:10:56.839>
• Payment of wages, inclusive of notification about deductions related to payment of wages and record keeping
• , being related to the payment of wages.
• as wage payments because that is what they would be given that...

Keywords: 1191, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• The lump sum payment this fiscal year is $611,136. John Posey: ...
• The returns that we have here are net of our payments.
• This is net of our annuity payments we pay monthly. These returns are.
• We get quarterly payments. So we just today received quarterly payments.
• We get quarterly payments. So we just today received quarterly payments.

Bills: SB1, SB 1

Keywords: appropriations, budget, state funding, education, healthcare, infrastructure, campground safety, youth camp regulations, flood safety, emergency evacuation, health and safety standards, 1185, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Medi-Cal General Fund solutions by one year to July 1, 2027, including elimination of prospective payment
• It also includes $3 billion in Prop. 2 funding for the CalPERS Supplemental Pension Payment in 2026-27
• plan on the timing of which they'll make those payments.
• I have one question about the plastics market development payment program.
• And my question regarding the plastics market development payment program, the payments drop down $5

Summary: The Assembly Budget Committee met to consider the final three-party agreement for the 2026-27 state budget and 19 implementing bills, including two budget bill juniors and 17 trailer bills. Committee leadership and administration officials described the budget as a balanced plan that reduces out-year structural deficits, maintains large reserves, and makes major investments in health care, education, housing, child care, public safety, and other core services while also responding to expected federal cuts and fiscal uncertainty. The Department of Finance outlined the package’s major components, including Medi-Cal adjustments, education funding increases, higher education changes, child care and human services updates, housing and homelessness funding, energy and transportation provisions, and tax and general government changes. Members asked questions about several provisions, including CSU enrollment targets and turnaround plans, the Prop. 98 settle-up mechanism, the plastics market development payment program, housing accountability measures, NextGen 9-1-1 implementation, and veteran services. Staff and administration witnesses explained that the higher education language is intended to improve campus-by-campus reporting and oversight, that Prop. 98 settle-up would be finalized later through the statutory certification process, and that NextGen 9-1-1 now includes one-time funding, quarterly reporting, an independent technical review, and a state audit. Members also discussed the HAP homelessness funding increase to $900 million and the balance between accountability and timely distribution of funds. The most extended exchange centered on comparisons between funding for veterans and Medi-Cal/immigrant health coverage. Republican members argued the budget spends far more on undocumented immigrant services than on veterans, while Democratic members and Finance staff responded that the comparison was misleading because many veterans’ services are federally funded and the state budget also includes dedicated veteran support. The chair and other members emphasized that the budget reflects difficult tradeoffs and that the package protects vulnerable populations, preserves health care access, and advances affordability. No final vote was described in the excerpt, but members indicated support for the overall package and said they would support it on the floor.

Transcript Highlights:

• And HB 18 goes further with regard to labor and delivery payments.
• HB 18 goes further with regard to labor and delivery payments, with regard to Medicaid payments, in the
• The rural maternal add-on payment certainly moves the needle in the right direction.
• The rural maternal add-on payment certainly moves the needle in the right direction.
• It's not the intent of this to reduce the payments. Well, look, this is an interesting issue.

Bills: HB18, HB37, HB 116, HB388, HB879, HB913, HB 1151, HB2216, HB2358, HB2809, SB577, SB1590, SB1782, SB1887, SB2744

Keywords: rural health, hospital funding, healthcare access, mental health services, financial stability, perinatal bereavement, healthcare, hospital training, bereavement support, maternal care, fetal demise, stillbirth, neonatal death, parent-child relationship, involuntary termination, family law, child welfare, child protection, HB 388, HB388

Summary: The Senate Committee on Health and Human Services met with a quorum and took up several House and Senate bills, with public testimony limited to two minutes per witness. The committee first heard HB 2358, a cleanup bill requested by HHSC that would repeal outdated training and conference requirements for long-term care facility surveyors and certain providers; there were no witnesses, and the bill was left pending. The committee then heard HB 18, the rural hospital stabilization bill, which would create financial assessment tools, a rural hospital finance office at HHSC, an academy for rural hospital officers, multiple grant programs, enhanced Medicaid reimbursement tied to average cost, OB/GYN add-on payments, expanded pediatric telehealth connectivity, and a rural pediatric mental health program. Senator Perry and witnesses from TORCH, a rural hospital, AARP Texas, and ARCHI strongly supported the bill as a way to stabilize rural hospitals, improve OB access, and address workforce and financial pressures. Committee members discussed rural hospital closures, low-volume quality metrics, system affiliation, and the need for predictable monthly reimbursement; the bill was left pending after testimony and questions. The committee next heard HB 37, which would create a perinatal bereavement care initiative for families experiencing stillbirth, neonatal death, or intrauterine fetal demise, including counseling, staff training, and access to cooling devices, with possible grants and a recognition program for hospitals. Senator Huffman explained the bill, and several witnesses testified in support, sharing personal stories about infant loss and the importance of time with the baby, trained staff, and cuddle cots or similar devices. A neonatologist also supported the bill while suggesting clarification that hospitals should not be penalized if state funding is unavailable and recommending use of regional advisory councils to help implement training. Public testimony was then closed and the bill left pending. The committee also heard HB 879, which would create a streamlined licensing pathway for veterans with medical or nursing experience to practice in Texas, and HB 913, which would add new state hospitals to statute and split the North Texas State Hospital into two separate hospitals with their own superintendents; both bills had no opposition testimony and were left pending. Later, the committee heard SB 2744, a heart disease screening bill that would update the 2009 Texas Heart Attack Prevention Act to require insurance coverage for coronary CT angiography with plaque analysis, including soft plaque detection, as a preventive screening tool. The author and invited witnesses argued the technology is more effective than calcium scoring alone, can identify patients before symptoms appear, and could save lives at a cost comparable to or lower than colonoscopy. An insurance industry witness opposed the bill, arguing the technology has not been recommended by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force for universal screening and that the mandated coverage and payment level would raise costs; the bill was left pending after testimony. Finally, the committee heard HB 1151, a parental rights bill clarifying that refusing psychotropic medication or psychiatric treatment is not neglect unless the child is harmed. Supporters, including parent advocates and attorneys, said the bill would protect parents from CPS overreach and preserve medical decision-making authority, while one witness urged broader attention to physical causes of behavioral issues. Public testimony was closed and HB 1151 was left pending.

Transcript Highlights:

• <00:32:50.960> Um, other forms of payment. Um, other forms of payment.
• to payment from the state.
• to those who are entitled to payment to those who are entitled to payment from<00:41:13.080>
• Senator Bar. as a payment option. What I uh while I as a payment option.
• And then finally as I payment.

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• We also have risks of withholding of federal payments.
• The first round of changes on this slide are the changes to nursing facility payments.
• As you can nursing facility payments.
• the patientdriven payment model or PDPM. the patientdriven payment model or PDPM.
• of the nursing facility payment rates. of the nursing facility payment rates.

Bills: HF3379

Keywords: housing stabilization, disability services, predatory funding, provider requirements, housing accessibility, 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• SB 241 establishes statutory parameters around family eligibility, prioritization, payment practices,
• Another important aspect of this bill is that it establishes a co-payment structure and wait list if
• Representative Dow, I think we just took out including co payments in the rate setting.
• I think it's one of the amendments because the rate, the co payment is part of the rate, and so there
• was a request to take out including co payments in the rate.

Bills: SB132, SB241

Keywords: SB132, DOIT, Department of Information Technology, software replacement, equipment replacement, technology funding, revolving fund, capital equipment, enterprise services, state IT budgeting, software budgeting, amortization, depreciation, State Treasurer, Department of Finance and Administration, New Mexico, information technology, IT infrastructure, fund accounting, legislative appropriation