Transcript Highlights:

• We need to increase transmission capacity by some 350%. This is hard.
• prior year being 6.9 gigawatts of new capacity in 2024.
• unit of measurement for reliability capacity in the state.
• And so we definitely have the capacity to continue building a large amount of capacity in the short term
• You know, we have refineries here that are facing challenges.

Committee: House Utilities and Energy

Transcript Highlights:

• environmental health impacts on low-income communities and communities of color that are located near refineries
• 00.720><c> refine</c> of color that are located near refine of color that are located near refine refineries
• <00:39:01.760><c> and</c><00:39:02.000><c> plastic</c><00:39:02.400><c> production</c> refineries and
• plastic production refineries and plastic production facilities.<00:39:04.000><c> And</c><00:39:04.160

Summary: The Senate convened, established a quorum, approved the previous day’s journal, and received several committee reports and House messages. Committee reports advanced a number of bills and appointments, including Senate Bill 163, House Bill 1320, Senate Bill 160, House Bill 1210, and several board and commission appointments recommended for the consent calendar. The chamber also received House action on multiple bills, including concurrence in Senate amendments to House Bills 1239, 1262, and 1110, a request for a conference committee on House Bill 1084, and transmission of several other measures to the Revisor of Statutes. The Senate then took up Senate Joint Resolution 22, designating July 12-18, 2026, as Plastic Pollution Awareness Week. Senator Cutter spoke in support, arguing that plastic pollution harms environmental and human health, disproportionately affects vulnerable communities, and cannot be solved by recycling alone. The resolution was adopted on a 25-9 vote, with several senators recorded in opposition, and co-sponsors were noted. The chamber also recognized guests from the Colorado Society of Enrolled Agents and the National Association of Tax Professionals, as well as visitors from the Colorado School of Mines and former Senator John Evans. Later, the Senate considered special orders on the consent calendar, including House Bills 103, 1026, and 1051, and adopted the committee reports and the bills. House Bill 1026 was amended and House Bill 1051 was advanced to third reading and final passage. The Senate also took up Senate Bill 117, concerning permissible methods for the sale of lottery tickets. Senator Bridges explained that the bill was intended to respond to lottery rules allowing online sales and credit card purchases, but said the measure had been narrowed in committee and then raised constitutional concerns under Colorado’s prohibition on slot machines outside limited gaming areas. The transcript ends during that debate, before final action on Senate Bill 117 is shown.

Transcript Highlights:

• It imposes obligations on 15,000 school systems without offering any capacity or funding to meet that
• </c><00:43:07.040><c> or</c> systems without offering any capacity or systems without offering any capacity
• I hear three refineries now, and we can't keep a pipeline full, and they have a new fuel standard that
• I hear three refineries now, and we can't keep a pipeline full, and they have a new fuel standard that
• I hear three refineries now, and we can't keep a pipeline full, and they have a new fuel standard that

Bills: HR1049 , HR1069

Keywords: Seattle Seahawks, Super Bowl, MVP, football, victory, sports, community, Olympics, Paralympics, Team USA, 2026 Games, Athletics, International competition, Sportsmanship, Unity

Transcript Highlights:

• point of focus at the legislature and with key partners who work across the state in many different capacities
• production, such as exceptional agricultural productivity and biomass availability, and existing biofuel refineries
• We also support variation in organizational capacity and potential applicants.
• the resources to engage in the legislative process. to engage in the legislative process or the capacity

Bills: HF1587 , HF2293 , HF2218 , HF1208 , HF1482

Committee: House Environment and Natural Resources Finance and Policy

Transcript Highlights:

• a refinery staffing task force.
• Closures and long-term idling in California's refineries are leading to significant staffing shortages
• The increased risk is not limited to refinery employees.
• AB 605 by Assembly Member Muratsuchi addresses this increased risk by establishing a 14-member refinery
• These tools lack the capacity to understand the human condition and are likely to exacerbate discrimination

Transcript Highlights:

• Please be aware that Texas had installed utility-scale solar capacity of 9.3 gigawatts in 2021 and 33.6
• We simply cannot afford to chase away any new megawatts of capacity, including solar and storage.
• there's a lot of disruption and just chaos as a result of that, and trains and chemical companies and refineries
• think certainly I agree with Senator Johnson on landowner rights, other things, but in trying, in my capacity
• for Lone Star Justice Alliance, here testifying in support of the bill, but also in my personal capacity

Bills: SB913 , SB1086 , SB1087 , SB1143 , SB1534 , SB1553 , SB1718 , SB1754 , SB2004 , SB2322 , SB2448

Committee: Senate Economic Development

Summary: The Senate Economic Development Committee met to hear a series of bills and informational primers, with several resource witnesses from the Governor’s Office, the Texas Workforce Commission, and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. The chair opened by noting the death of Senator King’s son and asking members to keep the family in their prayers. Most bills were laid out and left pending subject to the call of the chair after brief author presentations and public testimony. The committee heard several local hotel occupancy tax bills: SB 1553 for Kerr County, SB 1086 for Childress County, SB 1087 for Mason County, and SB 913 for Alpine. Supporters, including the Texas Hotel and Lodging Association and local officials, said the measures would allow counties or the city to use hotel tax revenue for tourism-related projects and local development. The committee also heard SB 1534, which would direct a study on health physics education and workforce needs in Texas; resource witnesses from TWC and THECB testified on the bill. All of these measures were left pending. A major portion of the hearing focused on SB 1754, which would prohibit local tax abatements for renewable energy facilities selling power at wholesale, with an exception for certain battery storage tied to dispatchable generation. The bill drew strong support from witnesses who argued counties should not subsidize wind and solar projects that can harm neighboring landowners and that renewables already receive substantial federal support. Opponents from the solar and storage industry argued the bill would remove a voluntary local economic development tool, raise power prices, and discourage investment. Senators also debated landowner impacts, grid reliability, and whether the bill was the right policy tool; the bill was left pending. The committee also heard SB 2322, a committee substitute related to the Jobs, Energy, Technology, and Innovation Act, which would exempt electric generation facilities from the program’s compelling-factor test so they can qualify for school tax limitation agreements. Supporters said the change would correct an unintended barrier for dispatchable generation, while Senator Johnson argued it would weaken the program’s purpose by subsidizing projects that would locate in Texas anyway. SB 1718 would add the NRA annual meeting to the major events reimbursement program; the NRA supported it, while gun violence prevention advocates opposed using state incentives for the organization. SB 2004 would add the Arlington Grand Prix to the major events program, and SB 2448 would create a rural workforce development grant program; both drew supportive testimony and were left pending. The committee also heard SB 1143, a substitute bill aimed at improving transparency and coordination in programs serving opportunity youth ages 14 to 24, with witnesses supporting better reporting and workforce alignment. At the end of the meeting, Senator Johnson moved that the committee stand in recess subject to the call of the chair.

Transcript Highlights:

• notification system that we use for shelter-in-place notifications, messages like during the Husky refinery
• uh during notifications, messages like uh during the<00:19:53.520><c> Husky</c><00:19:53.919><c> refinery
• ><00:19:54.400><c> explosion</c><00:19:54.799><c> in</c><00:19:55.039><c> Superior</c> the Husky refinery
• explosion in Superior the Husky refinery explosion in Superior and<00:19:56.320><c> evacuation</c><00
• . capacity. capacity.

Committee: Senate Judiciary and Public Safety

Transcript Highlights:

• production capacity would bring the price of oil even lower.
• More pipeline capacity is great.
• But if we create that capacity or if the oil and gas companies create capacity, then our revenues hold
• We have to create those new capacities, whether it's quantum fusion. Right.
• And so, in order to do that, we don't have the refineries that really process that crude.

Committees: Senate Senate Finance , Senate House Appropriations & Finance

Transcript Highlights:

• In the COD market, and they are currently developing roughly 70,000 megawatts of new capacity.
• Shutdown systems and cybersecurity for those systems for all refineries in the U.S.
• Quickly building this additional solar and wind capacity will be critical.
• So over 90% of our installed Utility scale capacity has come online since 2020.
• Capacity for a co-located industrial facility.

Bills: SB458 , SB819 , SB1238 , SB1642 , SB1643 , SB1644 , SB1791 , SB1810 , SB1824 , SB1825 , SB758 , SB1455 , SB1706

Committee: Senate Business & Commerce

Transcript Highlights:

• I think we'd love to do some more on refineries, but that will have to happen at another time.

Committee: House Ways and Means

Transcript Highlights:

• industry for 30-some years, there are biosolids from digesters in sewage treatment plants and in refineries
• 30-some years, there are biosolids from digesters in sewage treatment plants and in refineries in industry

Summary: The committee heard several natural resources bills focused on wildfire resilience, recycling, forest management, and organic waste diversion. AB 442 would remove a requirement that a harvest area be limited to a single watershed for working forest management plans; the author and supporters from the California Forestry Association and Pacific Forest Trust said it would reduce barriers to forest resiliency work, and there was no opposition. AB 623 would require state agencies to report on the use of CEQA and Coastal Act suspensions for wildfire and fuel-management projects after the governor’s emergency proclamation; the author said the bill would provide data on how well the suspensions are working, and it drew support with no opposition. AB 35 would exempt Proposition 4-funded programs from the Administrative Procedures Act to speed implementation of climate, water, wildfire, and environmental projects; the author and a large coalition of local governments, water agencies, conservation groups, and fire organizations argued the exemption would help get funds out faster, while no opposition was present. The committee also discussed AB 3333, which would create a market-development payment to support end users of non-container glass, such as ground glass pozzolan used in cement, in order to divert glass from landfills and reduce carbon emissions. Supporters said the bill would create a productive use for hard-to-recover glass, while opponents from the Glass Packaging Institute, Californians Against Waste, and waste management interests argued it would divert beverage container recycling funds away from the bottle-to-bottle system and could undermine existing recycling investments and recycled-content goals. Members raised questions about the fund’s revenue sources, the purpose of the beverage container recycling program, and whether the bill would amount to “downcycling”; despite those concerns, the bill advanced on a due-pass-as-amended recommendation, with members noting fiscal and policy issues for further work. AB 643 would allow certain diverted organic material used as a beneficial agricultural amendment, including CDFA-licensed fertilizer products made from biosolids, to count toward SB 1383 recovered organic waste procurement targets. Supporters from wastewater agencies and Clean Water SoCal said the change would expand options for meeting procurement requirements and help move biosolids out of landfills, while Californians Against Waste and other opponents argued the bill could expand procurement credit beyond SB 1383’s original intent and weaken investments in composting infrastructure. Committee members questioned what kinds of biosolids would qualify, how the procurement credit would work, and whether the bill could be narrowed to historically landfilled materials; the author said she would continue working with opponents and wait for CalRecycle technical assistance. The committee adopted the bills’ amendments and passed AB 35 with urgency, AB 3333, AB 442, AB 623, and AB 643 to Appropriations, and also approved consent-calendar AB 946. After roll calls, all of the measures were reported out of committee, and the hearing adjourned.

Transcript Highlights:

• And we're kind of at a disadvantage because we don't have a refinery in Idaho and we don't produce crude

Committee: House Transportation and Defense

Transcript Highlights:

• A 1,000-megawatt SMR nuclear facility, which operates at above 90% capacity factor, by the way, requires
• So typically that's at the refinery level or where the fuel supply is brought into the state.
• This bill explicitly recognizes that advanced nuclear power operates at a significantly higher capacity
• The region's transition away from fossil fuels is outpacing our ability to replace that capacity.
• They took more than 10 years to build and cost more than $15,000 per kilowatt of capacity.

Summary: The committee heard testimony on several bills. House Bill 2272 would update state park inspection language for ski lifts and related equipment to better match current equipment and federal standards; the sponsor and State Parks said it was a simple modernization bill, and there was no opposition. House Bill 2245 would expand Clean Energy Transformation Act coverage to port districts that distribute electricity, utilities with a single customer, and certain affected market customers such as data centers; supporters said it closes loopholes and applies clean-energy rules more fairly, while ports, business groups, and some utilities warned of unintended consequences, added reporting burdens, and impacts on cogeneration and rural economic development. Ecology and Commerce supported the goal but raised concerns about allowance allocation, fiscal impacts, and possible double counting, and WAPUDA asked that existing single-customer PUDs be grandfathered. House Bill 2215 would lower Climate Commitment Act thresholds for gasoline, diesel, biodiesel, and propane suppliers and extend coverage to some purchasers; supporters said it would prevent entities from gaming the system and cover significant emissions now below the threshold, while Ecology, fuel distributors, propane suppliers, grocers, and business groups warned of compliance costs, supply-chain impacts, possible linkage issues, and the need to preserve existing reporting authority for natural gas. Ecology estimated about 50 additional covered entities could be brought in, and several opponents argued the bill would sweep in small family-owned businesses not intended to be regulated. House Bill 2090 would direct Commerce to develop a nuclear strategic framework for inclusion in the state energy strategy, contingent on outside funding. The sponsor and supporters argued the bill is only a planning measure to ensure Washington considers advanced nuclear as a firm, low-carbon, small-footprint resource amid rising demand, grid constraints, and land-use concerns; supporters included Energy Northwest, local governments, labor/environmental Democrats, and pro-nuclear groups. Opponents, including the Sierra Club, Columbia Riverkeeper, tribal representatives from the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, and several environmental advocates, said the bill gives nuclear special treatment, relies on private funding that could bias the study, and risks advancing projects at Hanford without early, meaningful tribal consultation. Tribes requested explicit consultation, independent and publicly funded analysis, and attention to treaty rights and historic nuclear impacts. Testimony also sharply divided over cost, waste, and land use, with supporters emphasizing reliability and footprint and opponents citing high costs, unresolved waste disposal, and the immaturity of small modular reactors. No votes or final actions were taken in the hearing.

Transcript Highlights:

• It is defined by our capacity to... It is defined by our capacity to deliver for our neighbors.
• Let's end the renewable fuel standard crippling American refinery production, but let's go ahead ...refinery
• And then don't tell me Texan who might want to have ...have the refining capacity that we need.

Bills: HR915 , HB7401 , HB2478 , HR1381

Keywords: Holodomor, Ukraine famine, 1932-1933 famine, genocide recognition, Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin, collectivization, grain confiscation, human rights, Ukraine, Ukrainian people, Russian aggression, Vladimir Putin, foreign affairs, sense of the House, commemorative resolution, historical remembrance, Soviet repression, Kremlin denial, Ukraine sovereignty

Transcript Highlights:

• safety element or hazard mitigation plan to perform emergency services, the expansion of its services capacity
• For example, the Phillips 66 Refinery notified their employees that they would be laid off in December

Summary: The Assembly convened after a quorum call, opened with prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance, welcomed visiting students from De La Salle High School and a guest for Assembly Member Kalra, and then moved through a lengthy concurrence and third-reading agenda. Early actions included concurrence on ACR 21 honoring fallen Galt Police Officer Herminda Grewal, followed by a series of mostly noncontroversial bills on utilities, reclamation districts, housing, wildfire relief, mobile homes, environmental quality, health care coverage, and local government. Several measures were presented as technical, clarifying, or urgency bills, and many passed with unanimous or near-unanimous votes; notable items included AB 238 (wildfire mortgage forbearance), AB 571 (Southern California Veterans Cemetery permitting/CEQA exemption), AB 574 (health care coverage), AB 696 (lithium-ion battery safety advisory group), AB 1150 (airport car rental facility maintenance), AB 1154 (ADU parking standards), and SB 499 (impact fee deferrals for emergency-related parkland and utility infrastructure). SB 499 drew the most debate, with supporters emphasizing disaster resilience and dual-use parkland and an opponent arguing it would worsen housing-related fee burdens; it ultimately passed after a call was lifted. The chamber also adopted SJR 4 urging restoration of NIH funding, and passed SB 230 expanding workers’ compensation presumptions to additional firefighters, SB 92 tightening density bonus law to curb loopholes, SB 782 creating disaster relief financing districts, SB 40 capping insulin copays at $35 and limiting step therapy, SB 362 strengthening small-business financing disclosures, SB 513 requiring workers access to training records, SB 489 requiring public agencies involved in housing approvals to post requirements online, SB 31 promoting recycled water use, SB 551 introducing normalization and dynamic security concepts in corrections, SB 639 extending flood-protection deadlines for Sacramento/Yuba projects, SB 653 defining environmentally sensitive vegetation management, AB 652 on air pollution, and SB 221 updating stalking law to include threats to pets. Several bills received recorded opposition or split votes, including SB 551, SB 439, SB 782, and SB 499, but most measures passed comfortably. The Assembly also concurred in Senate amendments on AB 516 and AB 1523, and later lifted the call on SB 499 to complete passage. The session included an adjournment in memory of Rick Bryson of Long Beach, with Assembly Member Lowenthal highlighting Bryson’s athletic, business, and civic contributions. The day ended with reminders to secure floor managers for pending bills, a notice of the next day’s 10 a.m. floor session, and adjournment until Thursday, September 4th.

Transcript Highlights:

• Those critical infrastructure facilities can include petroleum refineries, electric power generation

Bills: SB372 , SB1224 , SB1232 , SB1264 , SB1330 , SB1381 , SB1441 , SB1450 , SB1589 , SB1618 , SB1936 , SB1980 , SB2011 , SB2030

Committee: House Criminal Judiciary

Keywords: SB372, firearms, gun rights, lawful carry, concealed carry, open carry, handgun license, Oklahoma Self-Defense Act, weapons policy, gun law, school safety, private school, public school, college campus, university campus, technology center, courthouse, government buildings, municipal buildings, county courthouse

Transcript Highlights:

• There was a proposal in Utah to raise fuel taxes, or to tax the fuel going from the Utah refineries into

Committee: House Ways and Means

Transcript Highlights:

• House Bill 4025, establishing the gas and petroleum refinery study committee.
• And I would encourage the petroleum industry to come here and build all of your refineries that you want
• And actually, President Trump just decreed that we are opening a refinery in Texas, and I just think

Transcript Highlights:

• We have a projecting year of five because we may be at capacity. Uptake may be a lot less.
• Chair, to this bill, other triggers that are based on capacity, on supply, on workforce, so that all
• Chair, to this bill, other triggers that are based on capacity, on supply, on workforce, so that all
• And so we have to import oil because our refineries don't process that.
• Senate Bill 204 helps preserve critical research capacity. ...on our research enterprise.

Bills: SB204 , SB241 , HB34 , HB2 , SB204 , SB241 , HB34

Committees: Senate Senate Education , Senate House Education

Keywords: higher education, research funding, federal funding, New Mexico, appropriation, University of New Mexico, New Mexico State University, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, child care, child care assistance, child care subsidy, early childhood education, early childhood care, daycare, preschool, pre-K, Head Start, Early Head Start, Children's Code, early childhood education and care department

Transcript Highlights:

• Joplin actually has a much larger hotel capacity. It's many.
• Joplin actually has a much larger hotel capacity than people realize.
• So we do have maybe a greater capacity for that than people realize.
• And so we don't want to create barriers for folks to serve in that capacity.
• We want some experience to serve in those capacities. I hope that's somewhat of a...

Committees: House Local Government , House Local Government, Elections and Pensions

Summary: The Committee on Local Government met and first moved into executive session to consider three bills. House Bill 1825 and House Bill 1940 were each voted do pass by unanimous roll call votes of 16-0. HB 1940 was then also approved do pass by consent, with the sponsor explaining it would help small-town rural newspapers survive and preserve a local source for legal advertising. House Bill 2395, which was described as updating soil/perk test standards and protecting consumers, was voted do pass 15-0 and then also do pass by consent 15-0 after brief questions about whether it was the same bill as last year and whether it had changed. The committee then held a public hearing on House Bill 1867, which would allow the City of Joplin to ask voters to approve a 2% increase in the hotel-motel tax, with the revenue dedicated to tourism-related capital projects. Sponsor and witnesses said the measure was intended to help fund the rehabilitation of Memorial Hall, a city-owned historic building and veterans memorial, and to support future tourism projects through an oversight board and city approval process. Several members voiced support for local control and historic preservation, and witnesses from Joplin, including a former mayor and an American Legion commander, testified in favor. No opposition testimony was offered. The committee also heard House Bill 2600, a bill to update ambulance district law. The sponsor and witnesses from the Missouri Ambulance Association said it would make ambulance district elections at-large, allow board size changes with voter approval, and create a clearer process for consolidating adjacent ambulance districts, including public notice, hearings, and voter approval if objections are filed. Supporters said consolidation is needed to improve rural EMS efficiency, staffing, and response times, and cited a difficult prior consolidation process. Some members raised concerns about at-large elections, the 10% petition threshold, and whether the bill should be narrowed or revised, but no one opposed the bill on the record. Finally, the committee heard H.J.R. 143, which would remove a constitutional restriction to allow the legislature and counties to consider a limited motor vehicle personal property tax exemption. The sponsor framed it as a local-control measure and a possible future tax cut, while committee members and the Missouri Municipal League warned it could shift revenue burdens to local governments, schools, fire districts, and other services. The hearing closed with no further business and the committee adjourned.