Transcript Highlights:

• rather than resource protection." rather than resource protection." Unquote. Unquote. Unquote.
• protect aquatic life. protect aquatic life.
• <00:16:18.120> the have been required to protect the surface water by protecting groundwater
• <01:06:31.080> the use of authority to protect the use of authority to protect the resources
• all the garb that you have to protect all the garb that you have to protect yourself<02:05:42.400

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• action exposure under fees, or class action exposure under other<00:38:23.520> laws.
• And when they don't satisfy those terms, they can be subject to consumer protection laws and find the
• Um, and this this protected as well.
• <00:41:18.079> Is Protection Act. Um so please vote no. Is Protection Act.
• <01:30:55.440> I are able to protect these animals. I are able to protect these animals.

Keywords: 981, all

Transcript Highlights:

• <00:02:49.840> This<00:02:50.080> is protecting students and staff.
• This is protecting students and staff.
• for a number of years or be protected for a number of years or be protected because<00:46:33.920
• And the other day I got a feed for soy product replacing fire protection PFAS.
• soy product replacing fire protection soy product replacing fire protection PAS.<01:03:34.799>

Bills: HF3220

Keywords: school safety, school security, emergency access, law enforcement access, master key box, secure key box, entry device, school grants, education finance, Department of Education, charter schools, school districts, cooperative units, appropriation cancellation, one-time appropriation, school safety plan, emergency preparedness, public safety, school building security, 1183

Transcript Highlights:

• Of course, our flagship is the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, which combines world-class research and
• Enrollment, I'm pleased to report, is driving with record incoming classes over the last three years.
• over the last 3 record incoming classes over the last 3 years<00:14:33.079> a<00:14:33.240>
• We're the Pacific theater for them in their protection, so we want to capitalize on that.
• We have really diversified our economy, and we're not really protecting the environment.

Keywords: 910, house, all

Summary: The House Finance Committee held an informational briefing with the University of Hawaiʻi, led by new President Wendy Hensel and Vice President for Budget and Finance Calbert Young. Hensel outlined the university system’s scope, student demographics, research activity, and campus missions, emphasizing four strategic priorities: serving Native Hawaiians and Hawaiʻi, student success, workforce development, and economic diversification through innovation and research. She highlighted the system’s enrollment, research funding, and the roles of Mānoa, Hilo, West Oʻahu, the community colleges, and specialized institutions such as JABSOM and the Cancer Center. Young then reviewed the budget request, focusing largely on making prior one-time appropriations permanent and supporting recurring needs. Items included funding for Mānoa athletics, the Hawaiʻi Institute for Marine Biology, K-12 teacher education, Pamantasan Council support, Hilo programs, Windward’s mental health technician certificate, Maui’s practical nursing bridge program, and student support positions such as financial aid and admissions counselors. He also described workforce-related requests tied to nursing expansion at Mānoa and West Oʻahu, as well as facilities support at West Oʻahu. A major portion of the testimony addressed the university’s two Kakaʻako medical facilities. Young explained that declining tobacco settlement and cigarette tax revenues are no longer sufficient to cover debt service for JABSOM and the Cancer Center, so the governor’s budget includes general fund support to supplement those obligations. He also described a regents-approved request not included in the governor’s proposal: expanding the Hawaiʻi Promise financial aid program to the four-year campuses, estimated at about $11–12 million. No votes or formal committee actions were taken during the briefing.

Transcript Highlights:

• <00:04:05.680> vulnerable safeguards that protect vulnerable safeguards that protect vulnerable
• protect children and vulnerable adults? protect children and vulnerable adults?
• would be a concern of mine to protect would be a concern of mine to protect because<00:16:02.399
• <00:46:34.640> Protect to support House File 3800. Protect to support House File 3800.
• Recipients remain protected.

Bills: HF3174, HF3800

Keywords: background study, disqualification, set-aside, permanent disqualification, Office of Administrative Hearings, chief judge, human services licensing, substance use disorder treatment, SUD treatment, chemical dependency, recovery, rehabilitation, abstinence, foster care, child foster care, vulnerable adults, caregiver background check, license holder, direct contact, risk of harm

Transcript Highlights:

• protect us all. protect us all.
• allowed to protect themselves. allowed to protect themselves.
• class.
• And then finally we struck all of section two, which would have included children’s protected classes
• <02:49:55.680> classes included children's protected classes included children's protected

Keywords: 981, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Closed primaries protect values at all.
• prevent protect party integrity, prevent protect party integrity, prevent manipulation,<00:32:00.640
• <00:57:10.079> integrity Senate, which aims to protect integrity Senate, which aims to protect
• Let's protect our primaries.
• Let's protect our primaries. amendments. Let's protect our primaries.

Bills: HB541, SB194

Keywords: PFAS, drinking water, public health, environmental management, liability, agriculture authority, eminent domain, property rights, tax exemption, agriculture center, 1136, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Got to protect yourself. You need that. And I have a habit of stealing them when you're ready.
• just a and we will open the next one in just a minute got<00:39:57.640> to<00:39:57.880> protect
• got to protect got to protect yourself<00:39:59.920> you<00:40:00.119> need yourself
• And also consider maybe military voters: say somebody is overseas fighting to protect our democracy and
• You know, I am an engineer; my class grammarian from eighth grade is showing.

Keywords: 1191, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• <00:37:44.880> So expensed under a longer class life.
• So expensed under a longer class life.
• Protecting taxpayer information. And again, we do a lot of different ways, uh, to do that.
• Um and then comm Protecting taxpayer information.
• Next slide, ways in which we stop fraud and protect taxpayers: fraud prevention measures.

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• our water quality feed protect our water quality feed represents<00:21:26.960> the<00:21:27.080
• We believe farms can grow and prosper in Minnesota while protecting our land, air, and water.
• our land air and while protecting our land air and water<00:23:47.039> Minnesota's<00:23:47.600
• <01:40:44.960> too<01:40:45.440> to we offer egg education classes too to we offer
• For the school year, our egg class goes out into the field with us, helps pick the corn from our

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• What that means in terms of FTS, real FTS, not the protected levels, we've gone from roughly 900,000
• whether it's stability, which is our version of declining enrollment, or the three-year average protections
• courses to be granted articulation and to count when they show up so they don't have to retake that class
• ethnic studies, that students would be taking ethnic studies in their community colleges and those classes
• For them, that translates directly to student need for classes, counseling, and support.

Summary: The committee heard an overview of the California Community Colleges budget proposal, including Proposition 98 funding, a 2.41% COLA for apportionments, enrollment growth funding, repayment of an apportionment deferral, and one-time investments for a student support block grant and deferred maintenance. The Department of Finance described the Governor’s package as providing significant new resources, while the LAO recommended prioritizing COLA and enrollment growth within available funds but raised concerns about some smaller proposals, including making the Healthy School Food Pathways Program ongoing and adding more funding for credit for prior learning before outcomes are known. The Chancellor’s Office supported the COLA, enrollment growth, and one-time investments, and said current projections suggest enrollment growth closer to 3%, with about $85 million to $90 million in ongoing costs if fully funded. Members focused heavily on enrollment growth, the 10% district cap, and whether the state should continue funding growth in the current year and budget year. The Chancellor’s Office said some districts, especially in the Inland Empire and Central Valley, are growing rapidly and that about seven districts are above the cap, with roughly 1,563 FTES and about $30 million in ongoing costs tied to that issue. Members also discussed hold-harmless districts and whether declining campuses should be required to produce turnaround or right-sizing plans. The Chancellor’s Office said districts are already having local conversations and that state funding provides time to adjust, but no formal plan requirement was proposed. The committee then took up common course numbering, where the Chancellor’s Office said all 115 community colleges have implemented the first phase and more than 550,000 students enrolled in the first six commonly numbered courses. The office argued that CCN improves clarity but does not yet guarantee that credits will transfer with full value across UC and CSU, because articulation is still handled campus by campus and can require more than 3,500 separate reviews. Members expressed concern that students can still be forced to retake courses such as calculus or ethnic studies even when they have the same common number, and urged the systems to develop a stronger statewide articulation mechanism tied to outcomes and transparency. The item was left open. Finally, the committee heard the Governor’s proposal to make Calbright College’s funding ongoing at $53.1 million. The LAO recommended instead transitioning Calbright to the student-centered funding formula, with one-time bridge funding in the meantime, arguing the Governor’s proposal lacks a clear enrollment-based rationale and performance expectations. Calbright’s leadership defended the college’s competency-based, flexible model for adult learners, citing more than 6,800 students served, over 2,200 certificates awarded, and wage gains for graduates; they said enrollment is expected to grow from about 7,000 students now to roughly 8,000 to 9,000 next year and around 10,000 over the next couple of years. Members pressed for clearer enrollment and funding data before deciding how Calbright should be funded going forward.

Transcript Highlights:

• <00:21:21.279> mission heart of our consumer protection mission heart of our consumer protection
• part of the in the consumer protection part of the business<00:41:37.440> so<00:41:37.720>
• <02:20:04.359> class On page 166, class 73 grants, non-federal—what's that all about?
• It is, and then their benefits are in class 60. So obviously, if I could further, Mr.
• unit 1880 class 28 so it's<02:50:55.640> on<02:50:55.800> page<02:50:56.239> 166

Keywords: 928, house, all

Summary: The committee heard testimony from Insurance Commissioner DJ Bettencourt on the New Hampshire Insurance Department budget. He said the department is self-funded through assessments on insurers based on New Hampshire premium volume, with about $8 billion in premiums written in the state and a department budget of roughly $15.5 million. He explained that the department has 88 authorized positions, eight vacancies, and that three full-time positions were unfunded after the governor’s requested 4% reduction exercise. He also said the department is trying to balance staffing needs with not overburdening carriers during a hard insurance market. A major topic was the department’s $2.6 million rebate to industry from the prior fiscal year, which Bettencourt described as a credit against the next assessment rather than a direct cash payment. Members questioned why that credit was not reflected as a reduction in the upcoming budget, and Bettencourt and staff explained that the budget assumes full staffing and full spending, with any year-end surplus returned to insurers. The commissioner said the department had added staff in recent years for succession planning and to preserve institutional expertise, and that the rebate reflects careful budgeting rather than excess spending. Members also asked about staffing changes by division, including positions unfunded in fraud, property and casualty examinations, life and health examinations, and tax. Bettencourt said fraud investigations remain strong and that the department can use outside contractors for examinations, with those costs billed to the company being examined. He also described the department’s examination process, including periodic financial exams and targeted market conduct reviews triggered by consumer complaints or trends. Additional questions covered OIT transfers, the department’s oversight of fully insured health coverage, the insurance premium tax and fines going to the general fund, and the department’s limited role in auto repair reimbursement disputes, where he said complaints have recently declined.

Transcript Highlights:

• He had to pay his ticket and attend a class.
• He had to pay his ticket and attend a class.
• overarching, cohesive type of strategic plan for the use of those funds to help with the restoration and protection
• 17.120> and funds to help with the restoration and funds to help with the restoration and protection
• protection of the marine resources. protection of the marine resources.

Keywords: Ports and Marine Resources - Room 216, 30 January, 2026; 11:00 AM, 925, all

Summary: The committee first took up Senate Bill 2263, which would require Department of Marine Resources law enforcement officers to have probable cause before boarding or stopping a vessel or conducting a search at a marina. The bill sponsor said current law does not require probable cause for DMR stops, and members discussed complaints from constituents about boats being stopped and searched without cause, including checks for life jackets, fish measurements, whistles, and flares. Questions also raised whether the bill should be consistent with wildlife officers and other law enforcement standards; the sponsor noted a separate bill addressing freshwater officers was in another committee. The committee ultimately moved the bill forward with a do pass recommendation. The committee then considered Senate Bill 2264, a coastal restoration and conservation planning bill. The sponsor explained that Mississippi receives multiple streams of restoration-related funding, including RESTORE Act, GOMESA, tidelands, and other federal funds, but lacks a coordinated science-based plan for how those dollars should be deployed. The bill would create a technical advisory board with representatives from state agencies, universities, and an NGO to develop a strategic plan and annual report on priorities such as water quality, habitat loss, and Mississippi Sound restoration. Members confirmed the bill would not change executive branch control over the funds and that GCRF economic damage funds were not included. The committee adopted the bill and reported it out. Next, Senate Bill 2370 was taken up to allow airport authorities to remove abandoned vehicles using the same procedures available to municipalities and private landowners. The sponsor said airports were dealing with vehicles left in parking areas for long periods and needed authority to begin the abandonment process. The bill was reported out. Senate Bill 2618, which would authorize airport authorities to enter public-private partnerships for property on airport-controlled land, was amended with a reverse repealer so it could be studied further; the committee then adopted the amendment, passed the bill as a committee substitute, and reported it out. Finally, Senate Bill 2634, which would let DMR create and pay reserve officers for special events and other staffing needs, was also approved and reported out.

Transcript Highlights:

• the 2026-27 year, but places the program in the Century Code instead of seeking more permanent protection
• door, next session, whoever is privileged to sit here, to... ...to please come up with things to protect
• the Constitution, which is protecting the people in North Dakota from out-of-state interest groups that
• have the guts and the will to start being... ...the guts and the will to start being leaders and protecting
• Pioneering the first night school and English as a second language class.

Bills: SB2401, SB2402, SB2403, SB2404

Keywords: SB 2401, North Dakota, Century Code, occupational therapy, occupational therapy board, criminal history record check, background check, licensee investigation, physician continuing education, medical license renewal, nutrition education, metabolic health, chronic disease prevention, health occupation boards, medical board, licensure fee, audit response, disciplinary action, Title 43, board of medicine

Summary: The Senate convened with prayer, roll call, and a quorum present, then took up second reading and final passage of several House bills related to the Rural Health Transformation Program and other matters. House Bill 1621, requiring the presidential fitness test in school physical education with exceptions and a delayed effective date, passed 43-3. House Bill 1623, appropriating federal rural health transformation grant funds and creating a related loan program and reporting structure, passed 46-0 after extensive debate about using the federal money for community health, infrastructure, and sustainability. House Bill 1622, joining the physician assistant licensure compact, also passed unanimously 46-0. House Bill 1625, authorizing the Ray Richards Golf Course land sale to support a Grand Forks transportation project and golf course improvements, passed 46-0. House Bill 1626, clarifying that the primary residence credit is applied after the early payment discount so taxpayers receive the full $1,600 benefit, passed 40-6.

Transcript Highlights:

• <00:09:08.640> the license tax and to protect the license tax and to protect the reputation
• the reputation of the protect the reputation of the superintendent?
• <00:30:30.000> public behind this is is to protect public behind this is is to protect public
• <01:33:29.280> We protect, excuse me, production team.
• We protect, excuse me, production team.

Keywords: Discussion of BR 25 (2026 RS) 04:15 Presentation on voting systems by ES&S 48:14 Presentation on voting systems by Hart InterCivic and Harp Enterprises 01:13:07, 958, all

Summary: The committee met to approve the October 21 minutes and then took up BR 25 for the 2026 regular session, a proposal relating to prohibited uses of tax dollars and public resources. The sponsors said the bill is intended to strengthen existing law by adding civil and criminal penalties for taxpayer-funded advocacy on ballot questions, especially in light of controversies during the 2024 election over school officials and districts using public resources to oppose a constitutional amendment. They also described related concerns about school districts hiring third-party lobbyists and public relations firms, particularly in Fayette County, and said the proposal was meant to keep tax dollars focused on public services rather than political persuasion. Committee members raised several concerns about scope and drafting. Some asked whether the bill should specifically mention schools, school boards, and school employees, and the sponsors said they would add that language. Others questioned whether the measure would also affect local government lobbying through groups like KLC and KCO, and the sponsors said they intended to focus narrowly on schools while exempting certain advocacy organizations and internal government lobbyists. Members also asked whether public employees could still speak as private individuals, and the sponsors said yes. Several members suggested splitting the lobbying and ballot-advocacy issues into separate bills, and the sponsors said they would consider that. Members also pressed for clarification on how the bill would apply in practice, including whether it would cover legal challenges to petition drives or only advocacy after a question is on the ballot. Counsel for the sponsors said the bill would not cover some petition-related litigation as drafted, though they believed it should. The sponsors and supporters argued the proposal was needed to give the existing prohibition real enforcement, while some members warned that the language could unintentionally limit legitimate public representation or be too broad if not carefully drafted. No final vote was taken during the discussion.

Transcript Highlights:

• Largely, this is people of color and working-class families.
• :03:36.400> of<00:03:36.480> color<00:03:36.840> and<00:03:37.000> working-class
• people of color and working-class people of color and working-class families.<00:03:38.560> In
• I want to protect people's number one asset. And I've been a broken record on that for 10 years.
• <01:08:30.240> them<01:08:30.880> from actually protecting them from actually protecting

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Thank you for your time and commitment to protecting Texans. Thank you.
• It protects our river that all of Texas benefits from.
• But here's what I'm protecting.
• And trying to have a better flood. protection system.
• Hills, a working class neighborhood located off Highway 39 in Hunt.

Keywords: 997, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• He says this loss directly affects the district's ability to maintain class sizes, support services,
• sizes support services maintain class sizes support services and<00:21:14.080> educational<00
• are put into Environmental Protections are put into place<00:45:09.599> and<00:45:09.720>
• Don't protect Minnesotans; just open the checkbook. Please oppose this bill.
• ask them no questions don't protect ask them no questions don't protect motans<00:52:20.880>

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• on the bill, and I will be happy to accept the committee amendments to ensure that this bill will protect
• It preserves flexibility across the full six-month authorization period, protecting a patient's right
• class.
• We are a proud co-sponsor of AB 1876, and we identify this bill as a crucial piece in protecting access
• Really, this is a very, very simple bill that codifies discrimination protections that are already in

Keywords: 987, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• to teacher turnover rates to classes to teacher turnover rates to average<00:33:54.639> teacher
• better Learners improves the class better Learners improves the class classroom<01:06:55.960>
• There are twice as many children who are food insecure in class, and children classified as hungry are
• School Meal line um and this is just to School Meal line um and this is just to protect<04:16:02.840>
• the child's well well-being we protect the child's well well-being we do<04:16:05.600> see<04

Keywords: 928, house, all

Summary: The committee took up HB 651, a school-funding bill that would raise the base cost of an adequate education and increase differentiated aid for students in poverty, English language learners, and special education. The chair opened with housekeeping notices about parking and eating in committee spaces, and noted a revised fiscal note would be distributed. Representative David Luneau presented the bill as part of a broader package of public school funding measures, explaining that HB 651 builds on HB 550 and is intended to respond to court rulings and the ongoing school-funding litigation by adjusting both the base adequacy amount and equity-based funding factors. Luneau said the bill would raise the state’s adequacy grant from about $4,100 to $7,351 per student and increase differentiated aid, while also updating statutory language so future recalculations include the court-identified resource elements. He argued the measure is about fairness and shifting more of the burden from local property taxpayers to the state, not about increasing overall education spending. He reviewed fiscal-note figures indicating the bill would add roughly $576 million to the state share of school funding, bringing the total state share to about $1.65 billion, and said the note also mentions possible effects on charter schools and vouchers. Committee members asked about the evidence supporting higher costs for low-income and English learner students, how long ESL funding should continue, why free-and-reduced-lunch aid remains higher than special education aid, whether the formula is based on enrollment or average daily membership, and whether the bill is truly equitable across districts of different sizes and needs. Luneau and later witness Zach Shen of the New Hampshire School Funding Fairness Project said the bill is supported by research and court findings, that the current formula relies heavily on local property taxes, and that shifting more funding to the state would reduce property-tax pressure and help address disparities among districts. Shen also cited broad public support for the related HB 550 testimony and said HB 651 is intended as a step toward a more equitable funding system. No vote or final action was taken in the portion provided.