Transcript Highlights:

• Paul continues to lag behind; they're 22% lower than elsewhere in Dakota County.
• to lag behind they're 22% continues to lag behind they're 22% lower<00:23:53.840> than<00:23:
• The operative part of the bill is 1.7. This was brought to me by a constituent, Renee McGrath.
• It will have consequences, but Senator Weber and I are agreed that we will continue to operate as we
• <01:22:52.400> to are agreed that we will continue to are agreed that we will continue to

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Before we continue, I do want to recognize newly elected Rep.
• <00:10:44.839> decisions decisionmaking or operational decisions decisionmaking or operational
• So I'm assuming you're over operational capacity as well.
• facility design capacity and operational facility design capacity and operational capacity<00:53
• capacity is ideal the operational capacity is ideal the operational capacity<00:53:54.280> means

Keywords: 912, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• We remain committed to that continued collaboration as the bill moves forward.
• Yes, we are continuing just to evaluate that timeline. Thank you, Senator, for the question.
• And we appreciate it and hope we can continue to have this discussion. So thank you. Thank you.
• AB 2046 will allow the approved conversion kits to operate in California.
• EPA, will be allowed to operate here in California.

Keywords: 987, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Should I do this in English or continue in Spanish?
• So now, as a supervisor, I continue to see this pattern.
• We look forward to continuing to work with the author to continue strengthening this bill so we can ensure
• We are seeing this trend continue, not decrease.
• We continue to lose manufacturing jobs.

Keywords: 987, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• These are not minor administrative oversights; these are the hallmarks of a system that is operated without
• These are not minor administrative oversights; these are the hallmarks of a system that is operated without
• I joined the agency last November as deputy director and chief operating officer and stepped into the
• So these payments will continue...
• So we can continue to ensure the department is keeping good on the promises that they have made.

Keywords: 1182, all

Transcript Highlights:

• We participated in an agency meeting and tour of our current operations with our architects in GSD in
• I think it would really benefit the continued operations of the Secretary of State and ensuring that
• We are ready and willing to participate in those discussions and continue to move things forward.
• Thank you all for being willing to continue to talk about this.
• The furniture project is continuing to be underway.

Transcript Highlights:

• and the PUC are authorized to permit a public utility agency to serve as a temporary manager or operator
• And every day of continuing violation represents a new violation. So let's just do the math.
• And every day of continuing violation represents a new violation. So let's just do the math.
• The PUC is going to come after them if they don't provide continuous and adequate service.
• There are some farming operations out there, like one of Mr.

Bills: HB4530, HB4931, HB5559, HB5560

Keywords: water rights, Texas Water Trust, water bank, environmental conservation, water quality, instream flows, aquifer, water injection, Edwards Aquifer, environmental regulation, groundwater, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, water conservation, drought, utility regulation, water use restrictions, Public Utility Commission, civil penalties, drought contingency, environmental protection

Summary: The Committee on Natural Resources met with a quorum present and first took up several pending bills for reconsideration and committee substitute adoption. House Bill 2692, relating to codification and clarification of local laws concerning the San Antonio River Authority, was reported favorably to the full House and sent to the Committee on Local and Consent Calendars by an 11-0 vote. House Bills 1407, 1520, 1535, 2970, 4153, 291, 3663, and 3915 were also reconsidered or laid out as pending business, with committee substitutes adopted where needed and each bill reported favorably, generally by unanimous vote, to the full House and then to Calendars or Calendars/Calendars-related referral as applicable. The committee then heard House Bill 4530, which would expand the Texas Water Trust framework to include groundwater rights, require Texas Water Development Board review and approval of groundwater dedications, and notify local groundwater districts when groundwater rights are placed in the trust. The bill’s author and witnesses from the Environmental Defense Fund, The Nature Conservancy, and Chispa Texas supported the measure as a conservation tool and a way to create a clear process for voluntary donations; a Texas Water Development Board witness testified neutrally. The bill was left pending. House Bill 4931, relating to an aquifer storage and recovery project in Medina County, drew support from the author, the Medina County judge, and a regional water alliance witness, who described severe stress on the Edwards Aquifer, low levels at Medina Lake, and the need for a local water-supply tool. The bill was left pending. House Bill 5559, which would clarify enforcement of drought contingency plans for investor-owned water utilities and involve the PUC in model plan development, received support from groundwater district representatives but also concerns from water company and utility witnesses about enforcement authority, approval procedures, and potential conflicts with existing obligations to provide continuous service; the committee substitute was withdrawn and the bill was left pending. House Bill 5560, which would raise the maximum civil penalty for certain groundwater conservation district enforcement actions from $10,000 to $25,000 per violation, prompted debate over whether current law is already sufficient; supporters said the higher cap would better deter overpumping, while opponents argued existing penalties are already severe. That bill was also left pending, and the committee adjourned subject to call of the chair.

Transcript Highlights:

• <01:17:48.560> to that we encourage people to continue to that we encourage people to continue
• Um, with you can continue to support.
• <01:25:59.120> So operation as efficient as we can. So operation as efficient as we can.
• to have a successful farming operation to have a successful farming operation and<01:31:08.400><
• tractors, heat our green houses, operate tractors, heat our green houses, operate coolers, coolers

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Los Vigiles continues to focus primarily on the mountain.
• But this continues to be a problem for us. At least for our land grant.
• The next one is continuing the same road going up.
• I'm not really sure how that operation happens. And then they did the construction.
• Now, we received a lot of criticism for that aerial operation.

Transcript Highlights:

• For every minute that you all delay and continue the conversations, we'll make sure we identify who you
• First, continuing her emphasis on holding down the growth in state government.
• I know what we have in reserves, but we can't continue to live off our reserves.
• Next year is 21.32, and it'll continue... To it. Next year is 21.32, and it'll continue.
• This is for the current operations of the Department of Corrections.

Summary: The committee first adopted revised JBC rules, which staff said were updated to reflect legislation passed in the 2025 session. It then heard a presentation from DFA Secretary Jim Hudson on the governor’s proposed balanced budget for FY27, with no action taken. Hudson said the budget reflects three priorities: limiting state-government growth, continuing investments in education, and advancing income-tax cuts. He highlighted increases for education funding through EFAs, pay-plan costs for Corrections, DPS, and the Attorney General, higher education productivity funding, drug task forces, a Corrections medical contract, the governor’s 1033 initiative, SNAP error-rate reduction efforts, and an additional $100 million set aside for Medicaid sustainability. Committee members questioned the size of the tax cuts, the balance requirement, public education funding, Medicaid trust-fund levels, EFA funding, and the expected impact of new SNAP cost-sharing rules. The Division of Higher Education then presented its productivity-based funding recommendations. Officials said institutions were 2.61% more productive overall, with funding changes driven by a statutory formula that rewards degree production, underserved populations, and high-demand fields. Members asked about declines at UA Little Rock, the formula’s multipliers, the role of the Arkansas Access Act and a new return-on-investment metric, and how two-year colleges are adjusted for size. The committee also reviewed special items and approved two letters: one authorizing 17 net personnel changes across nine institutions, and another adding special language for North Arkansas College’s entry into the University of Arkansas system. The committee then adopted the Higher Education Coordinating Board’s recommendations for all institutions. A lengthy portion of the meeting focused on the University of Arkansas system, especially Fayetteville’s athletics funding and the broader impact of the House/NIL settlement. Chancellor Charles Robinson and system officials explained that the board had waived a longstanding campus transfer and directed the university to provide an additional $6 million to athletics, with some costs likely to be passed through to students but partially offset by existing budget growth. Members debated whether the university should prioritize academics or athletics, how the transfer originated, and whether the athletic changes would affect affordability. The committee also discussed the 1890 extension program at UAPB and the Division of Agriculture’s land-grant funding. UAPB officials said the state match is intended to be one-to-one, that the current recommendation aligns appropriation with actual spending, and that a $2 million set-aside remains available if needed. The Division of Agriculture later clarified that its Smith-Lever extension and Hatch research funds are part of the UA system’s separate budget and that the state matched about $6.2 million in federal extension funding last year. The committee then moved to the Department of Corrections. It approved G1, transferring 51 positions to the secretary’s office to activate a recidivism program, with an estimated cost of about $4 million. Staff then began walking through the department’s FY27 budget, noting an increase of about $8 million for administration and shared services, including a $170,000 sex-offender assessment appropriation moved under Act 723 of 2025 and roughly $6 million more for medical contracts. Questions on the Corrections budget had just begun when the transcript ended.

Transcript Highlights:

• We can continue to do more deep analysis.
• And I'm going to continue to have a problem with that, and I'm going to continue to fight your budget
• So there's a value to the continuity of care.
• I think the projections we've done and the transparency with which we're operating, and continuing to
• They're the key to continued progress.

Bills: SB2

Transcript Highlights:

• As a superintendent, I've got my chief operating officer here today.
• So we continually have to make sure we're adding safe schools officers.
• That's where it started, and it continues to increase every day.
• So we have to continue to drive forward with our foot on the gas and continue to make Florida schools
• I work with my chief operating officer.

Summary: The subcommittee first heard an overview from Department of Education Chancellor Paul Burns on Florida’s K-12 governance structure and major divisions, including early learning, public schools, safe schools, school choice, and accountability. He highlighted school readiness and VPK, teacher preparation and licensure, school safety functions, scholarship and virtual/home education programs, and FAST progress monitoring. Burns also cited statewide gains such as higher mid-year reading performance, a record graduation rate of 89.7%, and record CTE enrollment, while members questioned the meaning of Florida’s “number one” education rankings, teacher pay, post-COVID learning loss, vacancies, and chronic absenteeism. St. Lucie County Superintendent John Prince then described the scale and responsibilities of a mid-sized district, emphasizing student safety, transportation, meals, hurricane shelter operations, career and technical education, teacher recruitment and retention, progress monitoring, remediation, and mental health supports. Members asked about school shelter construction standards, remediation funding, late school start times, attendance, and concordance scores; Prince argued for more flexibility for CTE pathways and noted that local districts use a mix of state and federal funds to support remediation and staffing. The committee then moved to an early warning systems panel. Burns explained that Florida law requires districts to use attendance, behavior/suspensions, course performance, FAST results, and other academic indicators to identify students needing support, with districts and families developing intervention plans. Superintendents from Putnam, St. Johns, and St. Lucie counties said chronic absenteeism is tied to achievement and NAEP decline, but causes vary by district, including poverty, transportation, daycare, family instability, travel, and student athletics. They described MTSS, PBIS, home visits, attendance letters, and community partnerships as responses. Members also discussed VPK access, full-day VPK funding, excused versus unexcused absences, and the need for earlier intervention in pre-K and K-2. Finally, Vice Chancellor Darren Norris outlined Florida’s post-Parkland school safety measures, including armed school officers, anonymous reporting, behavioral threat assessment teams, mental health training, panic alert systems, emergency drills, active assailant response policies, and firearm detection canines. Superintendents said compliance is costly and often requires shifting local funds, but they praised state grants for mental health, hardening, and mapping. They noted ongoing challenges with new mandates, capital costs, manual reporting burdens, and the need to balance safety requirements with classroom resources.

Transcript Highlights:

• As Chair of this committee, I will continue to fight to protect all programs for all Californians.
• As Chair of this committee, I will continue to fight to protect all programs for all Californians.
• Many of these providers operate short-term residential therapeutic programs, transitional housing programs
• Providers operate on fixed funding models that do not account for months-long hiring delays.
• When positions are vacant, programs are not operating at capacity, again leaving youth without the vital

Summary: The Assembly Committee on Human Services met, adopted its committee rules, and then considered four items, including two consent bills. The chair opened with remarks about protecting California’s safety net and set limits on testimony. The committee rules were adopted by roll call, and the consent calendar later passed 5-0, with the remaining member’s vote added afterward for a 6-0 final tally on the rules and consent items. AB 276 by Assemblymember Bennett addressed delays in out-of-state child abuse registry background checks for children’s residential agency staff. Supporters, including the California Alliance of Child and Family Services and Casa Pacifica, said long clearance times were worsening staffing shortages and causing qualified applicants to leave, while the bill would allow provisional hiring only after DOJ, FBI, and California Child Abuse Central Index clearance and without unsupervised contact with children. There was no opposition, and the committee approved the bill 5-0, sending it to the Assembly Public Safety Committee. AB 319 by Assemblymember Jackson sought to improve services for foster youth with severe trauma by requiring counties to submit and update detailed plans to the Joint Interagency Resolution Team for providing effective therapeutic interventions in the least restrictive settings. A former foster youth testified in support, and a committee member noted the ongoing shortage of therapists serving foster youth. The bill was approved 5-0 as amended and sent to the Assembly Appropriations Committee. After the consent calendar and remaining votes were completed, the hearing adjourned.

Transcript Highlights:

• And then we're going to have an overview of the Affordable Care Act and how it operates in the state
• And that means that the result of their finances really operates at that level. Okay.
• But they have to hold a certain amount to be a CCO and operate in our program.
• Behavior health will continue to be a key driver. However, we are seeing some shifts in 26.
• And in some respects, that continues to be the case, in that the..."

Keywords: 907, all

Summary: The committee held an informational hearing focused first on Oregon Medicaid coordinated care organization (CCO) finances and rate setting. Oregon Health Authority staff explained how 2025 CCO financial results will inform 2027 capitation rates, including reserve requirements, subcapitation arrangements, and major cost drivers such as behavioral health, pharmacy, rural hospital costs, and dental directed payments. They said the Legislature’s added 2025 funding materially improved CCO margins and that, without it, the program would have been negative overall. Members asked about retained earnings, subcapitation, behavioral health utilization, ABA therapy, and whether outcomes are being evaluated; OHA said rate setting is actuarial and that CCOs, OHA, and other partners all play roles in monitoring efficacy and access. OHA also reviewed House Bill 4039 changes intended to increase transparency and give CCOs earlier access to rate information and reconciliation exhibits. CCO representatives then testified that the system is under significant financial pressure and that behavioral health state-directed payments, benefit changes, and federal uncertainty from H.R. 1 are reducing flexibility. CareOregon said it has lost more than $500 million over the last couple of years and is now making provider terminations and other network changes to align spending with available funding, while emphasizing that CCOs must make hard decisions about which services and providers can be sustained. Eastern Oregon CCO said rural and frontier factors, cost-based hospitals, air ambulance needs, and statewide efficiency adjustments are not fully reflected in rates, and that dental funding is especially strained. Trillium similarly warned that state-directed payments and benefit expansion pressures are constraining the global budget model and that H.R. 1 could worsen acuity and volatility. Members pressed the witnesses on who is responsible for evaluating treatment effectiveness, especially for ABA and psychotherapy, and on how utilization limits and reimbursement changes are being used to control costs. The committee then shifted to an overview of the Affordable Care Act and Oregon’s commercial insurance market. Department of Consumer and Business Services staff explained actuarial value, metal tiers, premium tax credits, medical loss ratio rules, and the main drivers of premium rates: cost trend, utilization trend, and administrative costs. They said mandates have likely added only a limited amount to premiums over the past decade, though the exact effect is difficult to isolate, and they gave examples of how high-cost, low-volume services versus broad, high-utilization services can affect rates differently. Staff also noted that Providence Health Plan and PacificSource Health Plans are withdrawing from the individual market, though consumers should still have at least three insurer options in every county and may have four in many counties. The division said it is in the middle of reviewing proposed 2027 rates and will continue its public rate review process, including hearings and written comment.

Transcript Highlights:

• confidence,<00:03:34.040> the To continue earning that confidence, the To continue earning
• We must continue to keep in our work.
• I will talk operations and our budget.
• . operations. operations.
• operations to be self-sustaining. operations to be self-sustaining.

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• It continued, and the cracks started getting more severe. The floor started to continue to buckle.
• We continue to move forward.
• Because I've been operating since... I've got on that.
• The guide is going through a revision, and I applaud PSFA staff for continuing to look at that. for continuing
• I apologize for continuing to ask questions.

Transcript Highlights:

• don't know whether we have one operating don't know whether we have one operating in<01:39:33.199
• those um of that action we'll continue those um of that action we'll continue to<04:29:12.239>
• <04:34:59.039> to is a plan in place and we continue to is a plan in place and we continue
• and and we were doing this continuously and and we were doing this continuously with<04:39:47.280
• have done as well but we're continuing have done as well but we're continuing that<04:46:57.480>

Keywords: 928, house, all

Summary: The committee held an orientation for new and returning members of the House committee on agencies and administration, with introductions from members and staff. Chair Carol Maguire outlined her expectations for hearings: keep questions focused on the bill, be respectful to witnesses, and use the committee’s orientation opportunities to learn about the jail staff, retirement system, and Office of Professional Licensure. Members also discussed related assignments on other bodies, including the Joint Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules and the Joint Committee on Employee Classification, and noted that some members already serve on those panels. A substantial portion of the meeting focused on the State Building Code and the committee’s upcoming workload. Members explained how the state code is intended to provide a common baseline while allowing limited local options, and why municipalities must formally adopt and publish any local amendments. They reviewed several anticipated bills: a consolidation bill to gather building-code enforcement materials in one place, a bill to update the state energy code, a bill to restrict municipal adoption of building-code changes, and a bill to update the electrical code. Members also discussed how building codes apply to older homes and commercial buildings, and why code updates are important for safety and clarity. The chair said the committee had 36 bills currently scheduled, including many early bills that must move by March 6 because they will be heard by two committees. She said the committee would use subcommittees for harder bills, with three subcommittees this year: pensions, licensing, and likely state building code. She also outlined the hearing schedule, including lighter bills on February 12 and the expectation of executive sessions later in the month. No votes were taken during the orientation, but members were told that public hearings do not require a quorum and that hard copies of bills would be distributed by committee staff.

Transcript Highlights:

• May they continue to sense it in the quiet moments that follow this session.
• This fall, Adrian is headed to Washington D.C., where he will continue to make Texas proud in his continued
• He participated in counter-terrorism operations in the modern century.
• Allowing me to be here to continue to fight for working families as we continue to fight for ours.
• The PA program at Tech has been wonderful, and it continues to grow.

Keywords: 1184, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• The threshold for that BPT tax has continued to go up.
• The threshold for that BPT tax has continued to go up.
• The threshold for that BPT tax has continued to go up.
• The threshold for that BPT tax has continued to go up.
• <03:55:53.960> use exists Unity of ownership operation use exists Unity of ownership operation

Keywords: 928, house, all

Summary: The meeting was an introductory Ways and Means Committee orientation led by Chair John Janigian. Members went around the room introducing themselves, with several returning legislators and several freshmen describing their backgrounds in business, education, public service, finance, transportation, journalism, military service, and nonprofit work. Janigian explained his own legislative history and professional background, and other members, including Bill Bolton, Fred Doucette, Mary Ford, Jim Tierney, Scott Brier, Thomas Oppel, Mary Murphy, Representative Spar, Susan Elberger, Dennis Malloy, Jordan Ulery, and Julius Soti, briefly described their prior experience and reasons for serving on the committee. The chair then outlined the committee’s role. He said Ways and Means is responsible for revenue estimates that Finance will use to determine how much the state can spend over the next biennium, and that the committee would spend the next five to six weeks developing its best revenue estimate, due around February 15. He also explained that the committee hears from state agencies and departments about how taxes are created, collected, and performing against expectations, and that it reviews bills affecting state revenue, including tax increases, tax decreases, tax removals, and fee-related measures. Janigian noted that the committee had five bills at the time of the meeting and expected more to be referred. He explained that most would be first-committee bills, though some second-committee bills could come over if they involved taxes or fees after passing policy committees. He used marijuana-related legislation as an example of a bill that might first go to another committee and later reach Ways and Means if it had fiscal implications. No votes were taken; the meeting was informational, and members were told how to participate in hearings and follow-up questions during regular committee work.

Transcript Highlights:

• <00:27:52.400> to long-term and one that continues to long-term and one that continues to
• Uh, we'll continue to work with Xcel Energy to, um, to continue hopefully to utilize the refuse-derived
• Uh, we'll continue to work with Xcel Energy to, um, to continue hopefully to utilize the refuse-derived
• Um we're recovering operating costs.
• to<01:15:19.520> have utilities commission continues to have utilities commission continues

Keywords: 1183, house