Transcript Highlights:

• Through mentorship programs, educational initiatives, and service projects, Sigma men work every day
• to uplift others and create opportunities for future generations.
• It's called Cals, and for staff members that program is called Sage.
• Great programming. I participated in it myself a number of years ago.
• We have the regional director, Lindsay Gray, the director of strategic partnerships and policy programs

Summary: The House convened with prayer, the Pledge of Allegiance, and approval of the prior day’s journal by a 117-1 vote. Members then spent a long portion of the morning introducing guests and visiting groups, including schoolchildren, university visitors, county officials, business and civic groups, fraternity and sorority members, and legislative conference participants. The Speaker also signed several measures already passed, including Senate Substitute for HB 2061, HB 2641, Senate Substitute for HB 2423, and HB 2934. The main floor debate centered on HCR 48, which urges Congress to pass the federal SAVE Act requiring documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote. Supporters argued it would protect election integrity and prevent non-citizen voting, while opponents said it would create burdensome, potentially disenfranchising requirements, amount to a poll tax, and interfere with state election administration. After extended debate and a successful previous-question motion, HCR 48 was third read and passed 92-43. The House then took up HCR 23, a federalism resolution reaffirming that states should control election administration; it passed unanimously, 137-0. The House also perfected and printed two bills. HB 2855, dealing with workers’ compensation funding increments for the workers’ compensation and second injury funds, was amended to allow finer 0.1% adjustments instead of 0.5% increments and then perfected. HB 1906, a simple county-government bill allowing township counties to offer annual, semiannual, or quarterly payment options for real and personal property taxes, also advanced without opposition. The chamber then moved to announcements and recessed until 2 p.m.

Transcript Highlights:

• Also, there are several existing property tax exemption, deferral, and assistance programs.
• Part three creates a property tax exemption program for grocery stores located in underserved community
• Grocery store property tax exemption program to provide property tax exemptions to preserve existing
• We had a bill that helped us think about creative solutions in the future of grocery stores, maybe even
• The solid waste excise tax is not currently going to solid waste programs directly.

Summary: The committee heard briefings, sponsor presentations, and public testimony on several finance bills. HB 2038 would impose an additional B&O tax on businesses operating social media platforms beginning in 2027 and create a youth behavioral health account funded by the tax. The sponsor argued the bill would help address youth mental health harms linked to social media and support implementation of the Washington Thriving plan. Supporters in testimony, including youth advocates and some public health voices, said social media contributes to youth anxiety and addiction and that the revenue should be used for behavioral health services. Opponents, including technology and business groups, argued the tax unfairly singles out one sector, could be passed on to consumers, and may violate federal internet tax law. The hearing on HB 2038 was suspended and later reopened for public testimony; no vote was taken. HB 2297 would create tax incentives for grocery stores in underserved communities, including local B&O preferences, a sales tax exemption for security services, a 30-year property tax exemption program, a B&O tax credit, and a B&O exemption for certain locally owned or employee-owned stores. The sponsor and supporters said the bill is intended to preserve and attract grocery stores in food deserts, especially after recent store closures, and to help communities with limited transportation and access to healthy food. County representatives supported the goal but raised concern about the bill’s sales tax exemption and its effect on local revenues. Public testimony was largely supportive, with advocates, local officials, grocers, and residents describing grocery stores as essential community infrastructure. No action was taken. HB 2382 would raise cigarette taxes by $2 per pack, restructure vapor and other tobacco product taxes, and dedicate portions of the revenue to a time-sensitive emergency system, tobacco enforcement, and the foundational public health services account. The sponsor said the bill would generate needed revenue, support cancer research funding, and strengthen public health and enforcement. Supporters said higher tobacco taxes reduce use and help cover long-term health costs, while some public health witnesses supported the revenue but suggested directing more funds to existing tobacco prevention accounts. Opponents from retail and industry groups argued the proposal is regressive, could increase illicit sales and cross-border purchasing, and would hurt small businesses and low-income consumers. The committee also heard HB 2487, a Department of Revenue request bill that would narrow the B&O exemption for insurers to clarify that it applies only to premium income subject to insurance premium tax, and apply the change retroactively to 2019. The sponsor and supporters said the bill closes a loophole created by a recent Supreme Court ruling and preserves tax equity, while insurers and business groups objected to the retroactive application, warning of higher premiums and unfair taxation. Finally, HB 2018 would increase the solid waste tax by 0.5% per year for five years and direct the new revenue to a local government solid waste assistance account for county and city waste management plans. County officials supported the bill as a way to stabilize funding for solid waste systems, and testimony emphasized rising disposal and infrastructure costs. No votes were taken on any of the bills during the hearing.

Transcript Highlights:

• Referred to the Resource and Conservation Committee: House Bills 565, 566, 567, 568, and 569.
• Senate Bill 1222 referred to the Resource and Conservation Committee.
• House Bill 511, by the Resources and Conservation Committee, relating to private forest land.
• If we would arrest both of them or treat them both equal, then there may be a diversion program that
• They are having their program at 1:00 p.m., and they do have gelato, so I highly recommend it.

Keywords: 989, all

Transcript Highlights:

• In terms of economic development, the future is very bright, and as many other areas in Texas need water
• is pursuing desalinization of groundwater, and it's gonna provide a long resource for them in the future
• It's a city with a bright and sunny future.
• Today is a celebration of Galveston County's past, present, and future.
• HB 986 by TOT relating to the state savings achieved through a budget savings program administered by

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> event of an accident your future event of an accident your future earnings<00:04:14.799><c> are<
• </c> there would be some followup that future there would be some followup that future um<00:15:40.920
• </c> table to take up at a future table to take up at a future hearing<01:09:20.319><c> which</c><01:
• </c><02:04:17.800><c> a</c> America is the scenic byways program a America is the scenic byways program
• </c> money for our Bridge replacement program money for our Bridge replacement program so<02:10:14.119

Committee: Senate Transportation

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• going toward a grant program.
• We've done something similar with the Abortion Access Fund program as well.
• And so I would just cite that for those two reasons, ...access fund program as well.
• It's overall a third of the Medi-Cal dental program.
• The state can't continue to ignore this program and let it slip through the cracks.

Committee: Senate Budget and Fiscal Review

Keywords: 987, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• H.J.R. 8 includes a subsection 2 that speaks specifically about the potential future transfer of federal
• We don't know what the future holds.
• Then a conservative percentage of that money is taken and given to the beneficiaries each year.
• That's obviously a really conservative percentage.
• That's obviously a really conservative percentage.

Committee: House State Affairs

Keywords: 989, all

Transcript Highlights:

• program.
• for future generations.
• It removes the provisions in the My Safe Florida Condominium Pilot Program that limit the program to
• This bill is not just about diversity programs.
• That is why those programs exist.

Committee: House Commerce Committee

Summary: The committee first considered CS/HB 1263 on the Office of Insurance Regulation. The sponsor said the bill would strengthen OIR’s tools to oversee property insurance, including market conduct and solvency exams, claims handling oversight, mandatory discounts for certain mitigation measures, storage of mitigation inspection forms, and clearer authority over pharmacy benefit managers. An amendment narrowing fingerprinting requirements was adopted, and the bill passed favorably after supportive testimony from OIR and others. Members then heard CS/HB 527, which would require a human review before an insurance claim can be denied or reduced when artificial intelligence or automated systems are used. After an amendment removing the term “algorithm” was adopted, the bill drew opposition from several insurance industry groups, while consumer and labor witnesses supported it. The sponsor argued the measure was needed after reports of AI-driven claim denials, and the bill passed favorably. The committee also approved CS/HB 637 on farm equipment “lemon law” protections, with an amendment clarifying who qualifies as a consumer, refund rights, repair timelines, and an effective date. The committee next took up CS/HB 1007 on data centers, which would create a regulatory framework for siting and operating large data centers, limit NDAs in some circumstances, set PSC tariff requirements, and restrict certain locations near homes and schools. After an amendment narrowing the five-mile buffer to data centers over 50 megawatts and adding noise-study requirements, the bill drew mixed testimony from business, consumer, and local-government groups, with supporters emphasizing guardrails and opponents warning about competitiveness and site restrictions. The bill passed favorably despite several no votes. Later, the committee approved CS/HB 1291 on the NICA birth-related neurological injury compensation program after a strike-all amendment revised reimbursement and assessment provisions; testimony included support from NICA and concerns from the Florida Justice Association and a family affected by the program. The committee also passed CS/HB 185 on a sales tax exemption for home-hardening products, CS/HB 425 on a historic African-American cemetery preservation program, CS/CS/CS/HB 1177 on Space Florida and spaceport operations, CS/CS/CS/HB 657 on community associations and HOA/condo reforms, and CS/CS/HB 1221, the DFS agency package. The final bill discussed was CS/HB 1001, which would restrict county and municipal DEI-related actions and contracting; the sponsor explained the strike-all, and members began questioning its definitions and exceptions, but the transcript cuts off before the bill’s final disposition.

Transcript Highlights:

• Tione Theus needs it, but also the future of our children needs it as well. Thank you.
• It is one of the first trafficking prevention programs in California schools that is created and led
• The programs that she helped build and the partnerships that she helped build fundamentally transformed
• He co-founded the Rex Foundation to support grassroots conservation and education initiatives and went
• He also served as a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Development Program, where he used his

Summary: The Assembly convened after an initial quorum call and proceeded with routine business, including approval of the previous day’s journal, procedural suspensions, and several file items. Most second-reading, concurrence, veto, and reconsideration items were passed, retained, or continued without debate. The main floor action was on House Resolution 75, authored by Assembly Member Pellerin, designating January 26 as National Human Trafficking Awareness Month. Pellerin and several members from both parties spoke in support, emphasizing survivor-led advocacy, the prevalence of trafficking in California, risks tied to major events and vulnerable populations, and the need for better prevention, data collection, and victim services. The resolution was adopted by voice vote after 64 co-authors were added. Assembly Member Avila Farias’s AB 768, relating to mobile home park rent control and affordable housing, also passed with a 60-1 vote. The Assembly then held multiple adjournment-in-memory tributes for Joy Atkinson, a longtime Los Angeles civic leader and mentor to Black women in public service, with members recounting her work in government, political organizing, and the La P.I.E. leadership institute. Later, Assembly Member Haney offered an adjournment in memory of Bob Weir, founding member of the Grateful Dead, highlighting his musical legacy and philanthropy. The House adjourned until Thursday, January 22, at 9 a.m.

Transcript Highlights:

• Tione Theus needs it, but also the future of our children needs it as well. Thank you.
• It is one of the first trafficking prevention programs in California schools that is created and led
• It is one of the first trafficking prevention programs in California schools that is created and led
• The programs that she helped build and the partnerships that she helped build fundamentally transformed
• He co-founded the Rex Foundation to support grassroots conservation and education initiatives and went

Keywords: 988, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Milton to appropriate money for the construction of a new school on certain land acquired for conservation
• The House bill relative to automatic re-enrollment in the low-income home energy assistance program,
• Milton to appropriate money for the construction of a new school on certain land acquired for conservation
• An act relative to automatic re-enrollment in the low-income home energy assistance program, LIHEAP,
• An act relative to automatic re-enrollment in the low-income home energy assistance program, LIHEAP,

Keywords: 1212, all

Transcript Highlights:

• And that's that sexually violent predator program that's in place.
• It lays the groundwork for a future, First step.
• Rural schools, underfunded districts, special education programs.
• I think about him a lot in that and the future that holds.
• I think about him a lot in that and the future that holds.

Keywords: 959, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Section four is a small fix to align the conservator statute with the guardian statute and requires conservators
• Since I discussed these programs.
• </c><00:54:43.119><c> statute</c> fix to align the conservator statute fix to align the conservator statute
• them and would like to apply for that program to get protection.
• them and would like to apply for that program to get protection.

Committee: Senate Judiciary and Public Safety

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• In future hearings, we will be covering issues such as the implementation of Proposition 36, programs
• programs.
• programs, the reentry programs. programs, and all these rehabilitative programs, that agreement to not
• So those programs I would.
• programs from.

Keywords: 988, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• The future of Texas depends on it. Excuse me, Ms.
• I want you to realize that regional day school programs are some of the most expensive programs in public
• Regional day school programs provide hearing aids for students.
• To be a member of a regional day school program by the state.
• Overall, we serve 30 districts for our regional day school program.

Bills: HB2 , HB2

Committee: House Public Education

Keywords: public education, teacher compensation, certification, funding, school finance, educator rights, education funding, charter schools, staff compensation, state aid, retention allotment, disaster preparedness, emergency management, flooding, mass fatality, mass casualty, fatality tracking, body recovery, autopsy, justice of the peace

Transcript Highlights:

• What protections exist for people in these programs?
• and invest in particular aspects of that program.
• and invest in particular aspects of that program.
• and invest in particular aspects of that program.
• For the Medi-Cal program, yes. For the Medi-Cal program in California. Correct.

Committee: Senate Budget and Fiscal Review

Keywords: 987, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• :25:58.400><c> those</c> implemented those programs and those implemented those programs and those programs
• Why is that program being program. Why is that program being eliminated?
• </c><00:30:29.440><c> This</c> program. This isn't a loan program. This program.
• Wasn't a program. It's entire agency. Wasn't a program.
• </c> program, uh some of these core programs program, uh some of these core programs that<00:52:05.680

Keywords: 916, all

Transcript Highlights:

• health coverage, and they trust that their data will be used only to administer or improve those programs
• recent examples: the federal government has sought detailed immigration data from food assistance programs
• And having been a mayor for 20 years, city attorneys will be very, very, very conservative.
• companies, the leading producers and distributors of motion pictures, television, and streaming programs
• So I will not be able to support the bill today, but I look forward to seeing your future amendments

Committee: Senate Privacy, Digital Technologies, and Consumer Protection

Keywords: 987, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• And if you're referencing a park sticker, that's a different program.
• So, as a good conservative jurist, I can't read that in there.
• If you're looking at future legislation, I do have a question here.
• If you're looking at future legislation, I do have a question. I do have a question.
• If you're looking at future legislation, I do have a question here.

Committee: House Transportation and Defense

Keywords: 989, all

Transcript Highlights:

• This program is fully optional for each veterinarian.
• So I happen to be the creator of a program at Colorado State University.
• And our VPA program was approved just this last February by our state board of governors.
• A bill I did not vote for three years ago was the Soil and Water Conservation District because it had
• But the qualifications to serve on a soil and water conservation district included that, to serve on

Committee: Senate Regulated Industries

Summary: The committee took up several bills and reported each favorably after brief debate and roll call votes. SB 578 would allow wine to be sold in recyclable containers, aligning wine with beer container rules; it had support from Americans for Prosperity. SB 606 clarified when nonpaying guests may be removed from public lodging establishments, updated notice and checkout provisions, and removed a mandatory arrest requirement, with support from Florida Realtors, the Asian American Hotel Association, and the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association. SB 202 addressed a long-running dispute between Miami Gardens and North Miami Beach over a water utility surcharge, requiring the utility to charge residents in the city where the plant sits the same rate as its own residents; supporters argued it was a fairness issue, while North Miami Beach opposed it as a burden on its residents. All three bills were reported favorably. The committee also approved SB 570, which updates and clarifies the scope of work for swimming pool and spa contractors, and CS/SB 928, which targets non-approved disposable nicotine devices by restricting advertising and display visible to minors, increasing inspections and penalties, and adopting an amendment to clarify the bill does not cover fully unlawful products and to add a 500-foot school buffer for smoke shops. SB 346, dealing with state preemption of local regulation of hoisting equipment, was reported favorably after testimony about the St. Petersburg crane collapse during Hurricane Milton; supporters said local governments need authority to address hurricane-related crane safety, while builders and contractors warned against patchwork regulation and urged a more targeted approach. The committee then considered SB 652, creating Veterinary Professional Associates to perform certain tasks under veterinarian supervision, including limited surgical procedures after an amendment clarified those procedures are limited to spay/neuter and non-cavity surgeries. Supporters said the bill would expand access to veterinary care and help shelters, while some veterinarians expressed concern about training and safety; the bill was reported favorably. Finally, the committee took up SB 354 on the Public Service Commission, adopting a substitute amendment that would expand the commission, require stronger financial expertise and more detailed rate justifications, set rate-filing schedules, tighten storm-hardening review, and add transparency rules for nonprofit water and wastewater utilities; the bill drew support from consumer advocates and AARP, while Florida Rural Water warned of unintended consequences for nonprofit systems. The transcript ends while testimony on SB 354 is still underway, with no final vote shown in the excerpt.