Transcript Highlights:

• So depending on each of these systems, we have the requirements.
• And now there could be a problem that goes in the system.
• And, of course, when we technologically enhance it—that technologically enhanced naturally occurring
• And of course, when we technologically enhance it, that technologically enhance naturally occurring radioactive
• There's a very, very complex system going on in our atmosphere.

Committee: Joint Advanced Nuclear Energy Committee

Transcript Highlights:

• So at the base of this ecosystem, you can see our hardware systems.
• There are other systems in the world, and we partner and learn about those other modalities in quantum
• And we try to structure our full stack to be supportive of those in addition to our own systems.
• or in the higher education systems.
• The proposed cuts to the workforce system are pretty extreme.

Transcript Highlights:

• This allows water utilities to plan and schedule system improvements.
• This allows water utilities to plan and schedule system improvements.
• It applied to all transit systems, not just high-speed rail.
• If not, the transit system could just move forward.
• systems also experience it.

Summary: The committee heard several energy and water affordability bills, with extensive testimony on SB 254 by Senator Becker, SB 541 by Senator Becker, SB 453 by Senator Stern, SB 292 by Senator Caballero, and SB 473 by Senator Padilla. SB 254 was presented as a broad utility affordability package addressing short-term climate credits, a Power Fund, tighter scrutiny of rate increases and utility profits, wildfire spending, securitization of future utility costs, and streamlining. Supporters, including TURN and several environmental and public power groups, said it could lower bills and reduce long-term costs; opponents from investor-owned utilities, labor, business, and local government raised concerns about market impacts, insufficient analysis, and the breadth of the bill. The committee approved SB 254 on a 6-3 vote and placed it on call. SB 541 focused on load flexibility and using existing grid capacity more efficiently. Senator Becker described it as a transparency and planning measure to identify cost-effective load shifting and reduce peak demand, while supporters said it could improve resiliency and save money. Several CCAs and utilities opposed the bill in print or unless amended, arguing that some language implied a mandate and that the concept needed more cost-effectiveness analysis; the author said amendments would remove language dividing the state goal among retail suppliers and clarify that the bill is not a procurement mandate. The committee passed SB 541 as amended to Appropriations on a 9-1 vote and left it on call. SB 453 by Senator Stern would return unspent ratepayer-funded microgrid program dollars and was described as a way to keep the lights on and redirect unused funds. It drew support from local government and environmental groups, with PG&E expressing concern about how the bill would affect its ability to spend awarded funds. The committee passed SB 453 as amended to Appropriations on a 12-0 vote. SB 292 by Senator Caballero would require more granular outage and reliability reporting, including census-tract-level data, to better inform resilience planning after PSPS events; utilities opposed unless amended, citing duplicative reporting and regulatory overlap, but the bill passed 12-0 to Appropriations. SB 473 by Senator Padilla would require or expand water utility decoupling to promote conservation and affordability. Supporters, including water utilities, labor, business, and local government groups, argued decoupling stabilizes revenue, supports conservation, and can keep rates lower for low-use customers. The Public Advocates Office opposed, saying prior pilot data showed no conservation benefit and about $1 billion in added costs, and that the CPUC had already rejected similar requests. Committee members questioned the conservation and capital-investment effects of the different rate structures; the author and supporters argued decoupling helps utilities fund infrastructure while allowing lower fixed charges for low-use customers. The transcript ends during that discussion, before a final vote on SB 473 is shown.

Transcript Highlights:

• Those are, first, it enhances the development of nuclear energy in Missouri.
• But the second is to enhance the development of nuclear energy in Missouri.
• of the other sources that appear on pages like that are much lower, but they have to have a backup system
• Geothermal and hydro are geographically infeasible in the state, and new coal faces prohibitive regulatory
• And that would enhance the attractiveness of both the gas and data center in isolation.

Committee: House Utilities

Transcript Highlights:

• As the author mentioned, the current system is broken.
• As our region continues to grow and innovate, our health care system must keep pace.
• Our health care system must keep pace.
• Population growth and rising acuity are only increasing the strain on the system.
• There are many, many different sciences used in enhanced oil recovery.

Summary: The committee heard a long series of bills, beginning with AB 2026 on groundwater recharge. The author and supporters said the bill would streamline permitting for recharge projects, codify long-standing CEQA exemptions for flood diversions to recharge, and add tribal consultation and other guardrails. Water agencies and local districts supported the measure as a way to capture high-flow water and reduce groundwater subsidence, while environmental groups and some irrigation districts opposed it, warning that the bill’s exemptions and broader diversion authority could harm rivers, Delta resources, and public trust values. The bill was discussed but not voted on because the committee lacked a quorum at that point. The committee then took up AB 1577 on data center energy accountability, which would require monthly reporting of energy-use data and permit-related estimates of energy and water demand. The author and the Little Hoover Commission argued the bill would improve transparency, help protect ratepayers, and give regulators better information for grid planning. Data center industry representatives opposed it as duplicative, burdensome, and uniquely targeted, while local governments, environmental groups, and some utilities supported it or supported it if amended. The bill was later reported out with a due pass recommendation once a quorum was established. Members also heard AB 2245 on a producer responsibility program for lubricant products and containers, AB 2170 on CEQA language-access and environmental review protections for overburdened communities, AB 2059 on rural transportation and VMT mitigation, AB 1808 on Western Joshua tree permitting and fee relief, AB 2182 on industrial energy efficiency program changes, and AB 2231 on streamlining two hospital projects. Testimony was mixed on most of these bills: supporters emphasized affordability, local control, environmental justice, or project urgency, while opponents raised concerns about CEQA scope, regulatory duplication, costs, and environmental impacts. Several measures received due pass recommendations and roll-call votes, including AB 2170, AB 2059, AB 1808, AB 2182, and AB 2231, with some members voting no or not voting and some bills left open for absent members.

Transcript Highlights:

• I think a lot of them have already opted in or chosen to do this system as well.
• This system as well.
• 116 school districts in our state, and 12 of them have green energy in their backyard—windmills, geothermal
• What I'm looking at is making a change, an adjustment here, that just applies to geothermal and windmills

Committee: House Revenue and Taxation

Transcript Highlights:

• At health care system here in the US.
• Um our resilience into our food systems.
• </c> animals through enhanced biocurity. animals through enhanced biocurity.
• ,</c><00:53:13.280><c> we</c> Uh, currently in this in our system, we Uh, currently in this in our system
• And this includes um a new system.

Summary: The committee met to adopt the minutes of the second meeting by voice vote, then heard an update focused on disaster preparedness, resiliency, response, and coordination among state agencies and partners. The chair emphasized avoiding duplication of resources and highlighted the importance of agriculture-related response issues, including animal evacuation, feed distribution, and the role of extension services during disasters. The Department for Public Health was invited to explain its role in emergency planning and response. Public Health described its Emergency Preparedness and Response Branch as the lead coordinating agency for Emergency Support Function 8, covering health and medical services under Kentucky’s emergency operations framework. Testimony outlined its broad responsibilities, including support for hospitals, morgues, local health departments, behavioral health, crisis counseling, suspicious package testing, disease outbreaks, and coordination with emergency management, EMS, transportation, and nonprofit and private partners. Officials also described the agency’s risk-assessment process, training and exercise programs, and deployed assets such as PPE caches, deployable communications, a federal medical station, a mobile treatment center, and alternate care support used in events like the eastern Kentucky floods and COVID-19. The agency also discussed funding through federal cooperative agreements for public health emergency preparedness and hospital preparedness, noting that these programs have evolved since 9/11 and have been shaped by major disasters and emerging threats. Officials said Kentucky’s funding has declined over time and that current awards are partially funded for the first time in the program’s history. They expressed support for efficiency if federal programs are consolidated, but cautioned that combining programs could risk further funding losses.

Transcript Highlights:

• Looking at 2025, we have provided the enhancements that, the ongoing enhancements that were provided
• Looking at 2027, we have some ongoing enhancements and we do have some one-time.
• So looking at those ongoing enhancements, Good Neighbor Authority.
• We also see a number of ongoing and one-time enhancements that are related to fisheries.
• And so we did have a budget enhancement to help address that. I believe it was FY24.

Summary: The committee heard budget presentations and questions for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, the Office of Species Conservation, and the Office of the Attorney General. Fish and Game’s budget was described as largely dedicated and federal funding with no general fund support, with discussion of ongoing and one-time enhancements for fisheries inflation, habitat projects, Good Neighbor Authority work, depredation claims, chronic wasting disease testing, and communications. Director Jim Fredericks also reviewed the new nonresident tag draw system, access challenges on private lands, and the department’s role in habitat work and species management. Members raised concerns about depredation claim shortfalls, survey and advisory committee processes, predator management, and the overlap between Fish and Game and the Office of Species Conservation on habitat and endangered species work. The Office of Species Conservation presentation focused on its role coordinating state actions for threatened, endangered, and candidate species, mostly through federal and miscellaneous revenue funds. Administrator Mike Edmondson explained that the office often serves as the policy and administrative lead while Fish and Game carries out much of the field work, and he described metrics for sage grouse, salmon and steelhead, and grizzly bear-related efforts. He also said the office has been working with the Department of Energy and Mineral Resources on a possible merger, with some staff reductions under consideration, and answered questions about grizzly bear delisting, wolf litigation, and tribal consultation. Attorney General Raul Labrador then argued that his office has produced significant results without asking for new money, but said the committee’s proposed reductions would force furloughs or position cuts and asked for $980,000 to be restored. He highlighted the ICAC unit’s elimination of a cyber-tip backlog, increased arrests, consumer protection recoveries, and expanded appellate and civil litigation work defending state laws. Members asked about the source of recovered funds, the office’s flexibility to absorb cuts, and whether the state could work on a framework to transfer incarcerated undocumented offenders to federal custody for deportation. The committee ended by noting upcoming budget-setting work and adjourned until the next morning.

Transcript Highlights:

• and kind of looking at the actual numbers, there's about 200 kids a year that age out of the Foster system
• that every year that would probably stay in it's a voluntary program if they want to stay in the system
• The compact is designed to enhance access to athletic training services across state lines.
• would be a process for allowing them legal action still If something had happened before this new system
• opportunity for those who have had lived experience, maybe some of those who have come out of the system

Bills: SB1806 , SB1430 , SB206 , SB1547 , SB1849 , SB1428 , SB1653 , SB1984 , SB1644 , SB1561 , SB1813 , SB1570 , SB1796

Committee: Senate Health and Human Services

Keywords: foster care, adoption assistance, transitioning youth, Department of Human Services, voluntary services, mental health, substance abuse, commissioner appointment, governor's authority, legislative consent, SB206, emergency medical services, EMS, ambulance, 911 response, emergency response, essential services, federal funding, grant funding, public health

Transcript Highlights:

• Department of Corrections, New Hire Reporting System, U.S.
• She has gone to the appellate system, and...
• We’re going to go to SCR 1033, a postcard to the retirement system. Mr.
• This does not require that the retirement system do anything.
• This does not require that the retirement system do anything.

Bills: HB2070 , HB2129 , HB2227 , HB2439 , HB2667 , HB2745 , HB2773 , HB2825 , HB2873 , HB2876 , HCR2005 , HCR2044 , SB1002 , SB1036 , SB1054 , SB1271 , SB1432 , SB1435 , SB1437 , SB1439 , SCR1022 , SCR1031 , SCR1033

Committees: Senate Government , Senate Senate Government Committee of Reference

Keywords: flood relief, Gila County, emergency funding, public safety, environmental cleanup, municipal libraries, annual reporting, state legislation, transparency, government accountability, chiropractic, chiropractor, chiropractic board, state board of chiropractic examiners, license discipline, unprofessional conduct, patient records, record retention, HIPAA, conflict of interest

Bills: HB163 , HB344 , HB163 , HB344 , SB11 , SB92 , SB164 , HB22 , HB89 , SB227 , SB6 , SB11 , SB92 , SB164 , HB22 , HB89 , SB227 , SB6

Committee: Senate County and Municipal Government

Keywords: income tax, research expenditures, economic development, tax deductions, Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, Alabama tax law, educational intervention, State Superintendent, local boards of education, subpoena, accountability, state control, property improvement, private financing, energy efficiency, capital expenditure, local government, volunteer fire departments, federally insured financial institutions, fund management

Transcript Highlights:

• but also operational technology and systems that incorporate artificial intelligence.
• They deserve clarity, dignity, and a safe travel system that works for them, not against them.
• Speaker Johnson has called the Affordable Care Act enhanced premium tax credits a boondoggle.
• In Virginia, about 350,000 people benefit from the enhanced premium tax credits.
• IN VIRGINIA ABOUT 350,000 PEOPLE BENEFIT FROM THE PREMIUM -- ENHANCED PREMIUM TAX CREDITS.

Bills: HR878 , HB2659 , HB1608 , HB2261 , SB260 , HB5078 , HB2212 , HR782 , SB2392

Keywords: cybersecurity, critical infrastructure, CISA, Department of Homeland Security, DHS, FBI, interagency task force, Volt Typhoon, People’s Republic of China, PRC, state-sponsored cyber actors, Chinese cyber threats, cyber espionage, critical infrastructure protection, homeland security, national security, information sharing, threat intelligence, digital forensics, sector risk management agencies

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> system. This is barbaric. system. This is barbaric.
• The tribunal's harvesting system.
• ,</c> worry that without a better IT system, worry that without a better IT system, reasonable<04:27:
• Beijing has waged a systemic blunt.
• </c> Crow redlinining, and systemic racism. Crow redlinining, and systemic racism.

Bills: HR36 , HR530 , HB1800 , HB2416 , HR1316 , HB1724 , HB1540 , HB1486 , HB1512 , HB1503 , HB1912

Keywords: federal programs, government efficiency, budget cuts, committee, oversight, rules resolution, House Rules Committee, procedural rule, floor procedure, appropriations, military construction, Veterans Affairs, VA funding, fiscal year 2026, immigration enforcement, special interest aliens, DHS reporting, monthly report, inadmissible, deportable

Transcript Highlights:

• committee members, House Bill 227, in my opinion, will actually... 227, in my opinion, will actually enhance
• We're actually trying to enhance and put in writing the guidelines that will be followed for years to
• So this adds in and enhances the statute that's there, and I think it just there and I think it just
• State, but at the same time, we don't do that for our local school systems.
• You know, we give money to our local schools and we allow our local school systems to raise additional

Bills: HB227 , HB255 , HB465 , HB472 , HB482 , HB483 , HB526 , HB529 , HB484

Committee: House Ways and Means General Fund

Keywords: firefighter benefits, occupational disease, line of duty, disability pension, death benefits, retirement benefits, hypertension, heart disease, respiratory disease, cancer presumption, HIV, hepatitis, municipal firefighters, state firefighters, fire districts, workers' compensation, public safety employees, post-retirement benefits, benefit eligibility cutoff, occupational illness

Transcript Highlights:

• career scientists and experts at the department, and get to know the highly complex interconnected system
• think we've got to spend more time listening to each other, and more time looking at things like geothermal
• there's only one source of energy and that it lies Beneath the surface of the earth other than geothermal

Committee: Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee

Transcript Highlights:

• That money will come back, uh, into the system. This is grants. That's a very different proposal.
• That's the role of banks and the free enterprise system.
• Um, energy development that comes along, which could easily be geothermal.
• Geothermal is very promising. It doesn't have the problem with the nuclear with the waste.
• Ana, do you realize that it was my bill that ended the system benefit fund? OK.

Bills: HB14 , HB 106 , HB146 , HB267 , HB274 , HB 1127 , HB1359 , HB1393 , HB1584 , HB1640 , HB1710 , HB2152 , HCR101 , HJR8 , HR51 , HB106 , HB146 , HB267 , HB274 , HJR8 , HR51

Committee: House State Affairs

Keywords: nuclear energy, advanced reactors, energy security, grant programs, Texas Advanced Nuclear Energy Office, HB 106, oil and gas, Railroad Commission of Texas, overhead electrical lines, electrical distribution system, power line maintenance, administrative penalty, Natural Resources Code, oil and gas lease, well operator, energy safety, utility infrastructure, regulatory compliance, cleanup fund, oil and gas regulation and cleanup fund

Transcript Highlights:

• and a gas we have a electric system and a gas system<00:04:38.560><c> that</c><00:04:38.880><c> are<
• </c> in an electric system into three pieces. in an electric system into three pieces.
• </c> end of their life, but maybe the system end of their life, but maybe the system has<00:12:55.279
• to the gas system, the gas system has the same basic dynamics.
• </c> uh to the table when it comes to system uh to the table when it comes to system reliability.

Committee: Senate Energy, Utilities, Environment, and Climate

Transcript Highlights:

• We're adding another system, if you will, These already exist.
• With SMRs, they have what's called passive safety systems, which basically...
• We also have geothermal... ...that we expedite the generation of electricity.
• We also have geothermal opportunities up in the same area where St.
• And geothermal in Greenlee County is there as well.

Bills: HB2014 , HB2113 , HB2145 , HB2331 , HB2340 , HB2389 , HB2400 , HB2401 , HB2428 , HB2494 , HB2696 , HB2756 , HB2795 , HB2955 , HCM2008

Committees: House Natural Resources, Energy & Water , House House Natural Resources, Energy & Water Committee of Reference

Keywords: air emissions, fuel blends, environmental quality, feasibility study, Arizona Department of Agriculture, utility consumer, rate intervention, public service corporation, Arizona Revised Statutes, residential rates, consumer protection, fuel reformulation, gasoline standards, environmental regulations, ethanol supply, Air Quality, energy reliability, electric service providers, reliable resources, public power entity

Transcript Highlights:

• New sequence number adding $6 million in special funds for geothermal carbon sequestration and an underground
• :18:22.120><c> special</c><00:18:22.440><c> funds</c><00:18:22.760><c> for</c><00:18:22.880><c> geothermal
• </c> million in special funds for geothermal million in special funds for geothermal carbon<00:18:24.280

Bills: HB389 , HB469 , HB1510 , HB1573 , HB1705 , HB1858 , HB1875 , HB1946 , HB1961 , HB1962 , HB2001 , HB2093 , HB2096 , HB2097

Transcript Highlights:

• Next is our request for $2.7 million.02 FTEs for an oil and gas authorized pit registration system.
• We have a GIS mapping system. In fact, one of our requests is to make sure that gets on the cloud.
• Um, I've upgraded, uh, our systems, um, and I think, uh, I was reading through, uh, your exceptional
• Additionally, this position will help perform post-implementation supportive software systems.
• It's a parasite, the blood system, Babezia bovis or Bavivia Babezia bigemini is the organism.

Committee: House Appropriations - S/C on Articles VI, VII, & VIII

Summary: The committee met with a quorum present to hear Article VI Natural Resources agency budget recommendations, beginning with the Railroad Commission. LBB staff summarized the commission’s 2026-27 base recommendation at $458.7 million, down from the prior biennium, with an increased FTE cap. The presentation highlighted reduced federal IIJA funding, volatility in oil and gas regulation account 5155, continued support for IT modernization, and rider changes. The commission’s major exceptional items were then presented, including requests for produced water and injection data reporting, an authorized pit registration system, regulatory filing/permitting upgrades, an underground injection well investigation team, site remediation support, and especially $100 million for orphan well plugging. Members asked about biennium-to-biennium comparisons, salary biennialization, the scale of orphan well risks, federal funding delays, bonding, and whether the state should rely more on industry or general revenue for plugging costs. Commission leadership explained that orphan wells can threaten water and public safety, that plugging costs have risen sharply, and that current funding is insufficient to keep up with emergency wells and the backlog; they also said the agency is moving to cloud-based systems with cybersecurity protections and that the proposed performance measure may need adjustment if funding does not increase. The Railroad Commission testimony was followed by LBB and agency testimony for the Texas Animal Health Commission. LBB described a $42 million recommendation for 2026-27, an increase overall, but with a reduced FTE cap due to turnover and salary reallocation. The recommendation maintained funding for cattle fever tick work, chronic wasting disease, lab testing through an MOU with Texas A&M’s veterinary diagnostic lab, and a new $5 million spay-and-neuter pilot program, while deleting a capital budget rider and adjusting riders tied to entry point inspection stations and clinical trials. Agency leadership then outlined the commission’s mission to protect livestock health and the state’s $22 billion animal industry, and described major disease threats including highly pathogenic avian influenza, cattle fever ticks, New World screwworm, and chronic wasting disease. Their exceptional items focused on recruiting and retaining veterinarians, replacing fleet vehicles, creating an ectoparasite identification lab, adding field staff and IT support, improving records and epidemiology reporting, strengthening central administration, supporting secure food supply planning, expanding chronic wasting disease work, and staffing the new spay-and-neuter program. Members asked about field identification of ticks, the use of disinfectants and PPE, fleet management, the scale of cattle fever tick risk, and chronic wasting disease; the agency explained its current inspection and lab-confirmation process, its reliance on field disinfecting and biosecurity, and the need for more staff and better data systems to keep pace with growing workloads and disease threats.