Video & Transcript : 'direct care services' :

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AR

Arkansas 2026 Regular Session

ALC-ADMINISTRATIVE RULES Jun 15th, 2026

ALC-ADMINISTRATIVE RULES

Transcript Highlights:
  • We use the terminology that it shall only occur in ambulatory care settings.
  • But direct pay is limited.
  • Direct pay, I believe, is currently behind about a month or so.
  • I don't care what it is, so you might pay for the sins of others.
  • Danny Hofer, Chief of Staff for the Arkansas Public Service Commission."
Keywords: 1204, all
TX

Texas 89th 2nd C.S.

Public Education Jun 1st, 2026

Public Education

Transcript Highlights:
  • Even so, the direction is right.
  • So you need to take care of all.
  • , retail, and food service.
  • and Human Services Commission.
  • Parent-directed special education services (PDS) is your $1,500 parent account that has been in place
Keywords: 1184, house, all
MN

Minnesota 2025-2026 Regular Session

Fraud Committee Meeting - 2025-05-05

Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Policy

Transcript Highlights:
  • Ensuring that the taxpayer dollars you dedicate to providing critical health care services to Minnesota's
  • CYF and direct services, there was an extensive legal analysis of what are really the limitations on
  • There are other areas, and you know, one thing with respect to home care services is particularly PCA
  • The same is true of other home care services.
  • Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General on health care fraud cases too.
Bills: HF3043 , HF2891
MO

Missouri 2026 Regular Session

General Laws Mar 4th, 2026

General Laws

Transcript Highlights:
  • If we look back since 2000, the inflation prices for health care services have exceeded general markets
  • So it's 275% over the last 25 years for hospital services, 129% for medical care.
  • If we look back since 2000, the inflation prices for health care services have exceeded general markets
  • So it's 275% over the last 25 years for hospital services, 129% for medical care.
  • An insurance company couldn't try to direct a patient to the cheaper option for the same service.
Committee: House General Laws
Keywords: 959, house, all
AR

Arkansas 2026 Regular Session

ALC-HOSPITAL, MEDICAID, & DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES STUDY SUBCOMMITTEE Jun 15th, 2026

ALC-HOSPITAL, MEDICAID, & DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES STUDY SUBCOMMITTEE

Transcript Highlights:
  • So we're moving in the right direction.
  • Vocational rehabilitation services, or the Rehabilitation Services Administration, is currently within
  • Having those after-hours service delivery options would be great. Improved customer service.
  • So that would be better directed.
  • So they work with Workforce Services.
Keywords: 1204, all
KY
Transcript Highlights:
  • behavioral health services as something that would ultimately create an access-to-care issue for behavioral
  • </c><00:20:53.880><c> so</c> um higher levels of of Health Care so um higher levels of of Health Care
  • services and, you know, or worse.
  • </c> it's a total of 300 shoppable services it's a total of 300 shoppable services and<00:49:01.720><
  • </c><00:50:57.559><c> but</c> estimate in advance of services but estimate in advance of services but
Summary: The committee began by reviewing a large slate of administrative regulations and explaining that it does not approve regulations but can find them deficient and send them back for further work. Members then asked questions on several items, including EMS reciprocity, dental hygienist licensure, and interpreter licensure. The EMS board explained that reciprocity would extend to applicants from any state, not just contiguous states, because the underlying statute had been amended. On the dental regulation, staff said the changes mainly clarified licensure requirements, reinstatement fees, and that dental hygienists administering local anesthetic must do so under direct dentist supervision. The most extended discussion involved the Board of Interpreters for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. The board chair said the main concern was that the EIPA is an educational specialty assessment, not a nationally recognized certification, yet the regulation would allow it to support full licensure. Members discussed whether that could let educational interpreters work outside their intended scope and whether a separate educational license or statutory change would be more appropriate. The board said it did not think the regulation could be fixed further at this point and suggested a statute could create a narrower educational interpreter license. After discussion, the committee voted to defer both related interpreter regulations, 201 KAR 39:030 and the companion regulation, for further work. The committee then took up two community mental health regulations, 907 KAR 1:044 and 907 KAR 5:005, which had been found deficient in Administrative Regulations. Department for Medicaid Services staff said the rules would expand and rename the mental health associate role as a behavioral health associate, making the role available in many more facilities, but would also require additional coursework or progress toward licensure. Some members and providers raised access-to-care concerns, especially for rural areas and unlicensed staff already working in the field. Staff said the proposal had been revised through work with CMHCs and licensing boards, but the committee ultimately voted to defer both regulations as well. After finishing the regulation review, the committee heard a presentation from the Kentucky Hospital Association on the ATRIP hospital rate improvement program. Hospital representatives said ATRIP is a Medicaid state-directed payment program funded through a provider tax and federal matching dollars, allowing hospitals to receive payments tied to quality measures. They reported improvements including lower Medicaid readmissions, high sepsis screening rates, reduced infections and opioid prescribing, expanded postpartum depression and suicide screening, and training for more than 1,000 people. They said the program has helped hospitals invest in staffing and quality improvement and warned that without it, many hospitals would face severe financial strain.
FL

Florida 2026 5th Special Session

FL House Floor Session - 2025-04-15 (4:30PM Session)

Florida House Floor Meeting

Transcript Highlights:
  • Understand that 200,000 veterans leave service every single year.
  • I think it's just a, you know, they do consumer services through FDACS, and this is a consumer service
  • It talks about direct support organizations and the department creating those direct support organizations
  • She requires 24-hour nursing care and supervision.
  • And mobility issues requiring lifelong 24-hour care.
Summary: The Senate opened with prayer, the Pledge of Allegiance, and several gallery introductions, including family members, university guests, local officials, and student groups. The chamber then moved to special order bills, beginning with two Open Government Sunset Review measures: SB 7010, preserving a public records exemption for certain Department of Financial Services receiver information, and SB 7008, preserving confidentiality for financial technology sandbox application records. Both bills passed unanimously after brief explanations and no amendments. The Senate also passed SB 1430 on post-judgment execution proceedings for terrorism victims, SB 910 on veterans benefits assistance, SB 832 on former phosphate mining lands, SB 796 on general permits for distributed wastewater treatment systems, and SB 700, the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services bill. SB 832 drew debate over a possible lawsuit and created a narrow strict-liability defense for landowners who survey and record notice of former phosphate property. SB 700 generated the most extended debate, especially over a provision removing fluoride from public water systems and related amendments on public health, local control, and study requirements; several fluoride-related amendments failed, while a technical amendment passed. The bill also included provisions on agricultural regulation, labeling, drones, lending, charities, housing for agricultural workers, and youth programs. The Senate then approved several claims bills, including relief for Darlene Angerville and J.R., Eric Miles Jr. and Jennifer Miles, and Marcus Button, all involving catastrophic injuries and settlements paid by the relevant public entities. SB 994 on driver’s license education requirements passed after an amendment that increased penalties for texting while driving and added a distracted-driving education component. SB 1718, preserving a public records exemption for minors seeking an abortion without parental consent or notification, also passed unanimously. Several other bills were temporarily postponed. At the end of the session, the Rules Chair moved to immediately certify all bills passed that day to the House, retain postponed bills on the special order calendar, and move CS for SB 7016 back to second reading; all motions were adopted. The Senate then adjourned until Wednesday, April 16, at 2:00 p.m. or upon the call of the President.
MO

Missouri 2026 Regular Session

Budget Feb 16th, 2026

Budget

Transcript Highlights:
  • This is the Corps for Offender Rehabilitative Services, and this is utilized to provide directions, supervision
  • care services.
  • But are there types of services where we openly do not provide health care for people that are incarcerated
  • Health care needs.
  • For all comprehensive health care services, yes. Just one? Yes. Okay. Okay.
Committee: House Budget
Summary: The committee first heard the Missouri National Guard’s FY 2027 budget request in House Bill 2008. Brigadier General Bob Payne outlined the Guard’s dual state and federal mission, recent deployments and state activations, counter-drug work, and the need to maintain readiness and aging armory infrastructure. Members questioned several items, including a proposed internal auditor position required by statute, a World Cup-related NDI, the use of general revenue versus other funds, and a federal match for base operations support at Rosecrans Airport. The presentation then shifted into executive session, where the committee reviewed a House committee substitute and several amendments. One amendment to fund the Missouri State Fair’s Great American State Fair participation with ag and tourism funds was rejected, while an amendment reducing $50,000 in House and Senate legal contingency funding was adopted. Another amendment directing budget information to all committee members rather than only chairs was rejected. The committee then adopted the substitute and voted House Bill 2014 do pass by a 24-0-1 vote. The committee next took up the Department of Corrections FY 2027 budget in House Bill 2009. DOC described a new CERT stipend increase, a reduction in the Office of Director’s Staff, and several core items including professional standards, federal funds, community treatment programming, education grants, population growth pool, restitution payments, human services staff, telecommunications, general services, fuel and utilities, food purchases, food service, staff training, employee health and safety, overtime, adult institution staff, institution E&E, wage and discharge, and individual institutions. Members asked about the CERT stipend, PREA allegations, education funding, restitution payments, the population growth pool, the working capital revolving fund, food service costs, overtime, retention, warden turnover, the prison nursery, and the use of inmate canteen funds. DOC said CERT members are full-time employees who volunteer for additional duty, that staffing has improved but remains a challenge, that the food service increase reflects the end of inventory credits and inflation, and that the department generally spends non-GR funds first when possible. Discussion also turned to whether DOC facilities could be repurposed for pretrial or mental health populations; DOC said it is legally limited to post-sentence inmates and that staffing and labor-market constraints make reopening closed facilities difficult.
WI

Wisconsin 2026 1st Special Session

Wisconsin State Assembly Floor Session May 13th, 2026

Wisconsin House Floor Meeting

Transcript Highlights:
  • We don't care about what's going on in Washington.
  • They care about getting their money back. They care about their schools being funded.
  • They care about property taxes going down.
  • the right direction.
  • This is a step in the right direction.
Keywords: 970, all
FL

Florida 2026 5th Special Session

FL House Floor Session - 2026-02-26 (9:00AM Session)

Florida House Floor Meeting

Transcript Highlights:
  • only when the service member has federal military service of 90 consecutive days or more, but not on
  • , child care, and food insecurity.
  • They operate by creating local service networks, bringing together education, health care, employment
  • , and housing services for children in these areas.
  • For a lifetime of service to our community.
Summary: The Senate convened with a quorum, opened with prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance, and heard several introductions and announcements before moving to a long special-order calendar. Early bills passed included a trust law measure allowing a nonjudicial process for trustee settlement and discharge, a military affairs bill expanding leave protections and retirement eligibility for certain Guard and Coast Guard-related public employees, a penny-rounding bill for cash transactions, a podiatric medicine bill restricting certain cellular/tissue-based products and adding notice and consent requirements, a veterans’ courts bill expanding access to those courts statewide, an RV assessment clarification bill, a military-installation jurisdiction bill giving juveniles on bases access to state juvenile justice resources, an alcohol-tax deduction bill restoring DBPR’s authority to allow deductions for unsellable alcohol, a bail bonds bill revising training, fees, remission timing, and electronic procedures, an eyewear insurance bill updating definitions for modern products, a nursing education fund bill expanding support to health science programs, a recovery residences bill streamlining regulation and background-check rules, a felony battery bill adding resisting an officer with violence as a qualifying prior offense, a child welfare bill extending visitor definitions, making the Step Into Success program permanent, and creating a best-practices repository, and a candidate qualification bill tightening party-affiliation requirements and, via the House version, adding a name-change disclosure provision. Most of these bills were substituted with House companions where applicable and passed on near-unanimous votes, with one recorded dissent on the bail bonds bill. Several measures drew brief debate or explanation. Senator Wright’s military affairs bill was amended to restore two Florida National Guard special project officer positions to retirement eligibility, and Senator Gates’ veterans’ courts bill was described as a way to better address PTSD, brain injury, and substance-abuse-related offenses through problem-solving courts. Senator Trunow’s bail bonds bill prompted questions about charitable bail bonds, with the sponsor saying the current statute would remain in place and that further discussion could occur later. Senator Massullo’s podiatric medicine bill was framed as a bipartisan patient-protection measure, and Senator Leak’s felony battery bill was presented as closing a loophole that allowed repeat violent offenders to avoid enhancement. The chamber also took up a candidate qualification bill that would create an enforceable party-affiliation requirement and, in the House version, restrict recent petition-based name changes for candidates. A major portion of the meeting was devoted to a farewell ceremony for Senator Lori Berman, with family, staff, former colleagues, and guests in attendance. Senators from both parties offered extended remarks praising her leadership, collegiality, policy work, and advocacy on issues including voting rights, women’s rights, Israel and antisemitism, school safety, breast cancer, Everglades restoration, and other constituent services. Berman’s own remarks reflected on her 16 years in the Legislature, her family, and her belief in dignity, respect, and practical problem-solving. The Senate then adopted a motion to spread her remarks upon the journal and recessed before returning to continue the calendar.
CA

California 2025-2026 Regular Session

Assembly Insurance Committee Apr 22nd, 2026

Insurance

Transcript Highlights:
  • AB 1795 does not change the direct physical loss or damage standard.
  • I'm glad to see everything moving in the right direction. Thank you.
  • AB 1576 fails to do so, and recent amendments have moved the bill in the wrong direction.
  • to repair major appliances and utility service lines at an affordable cost.
  • They know they'll be taken care of and that they have the right to go get this care and get better and
Committee: House Insurance
Keywords: 988, house, all
TX

Texas 89th Regular

Appropriations Mar 31st, 2025

Appropriations

Transcript Highlights:
  • appropriations of students or direct appropriations of the university.
  • years of ERS and TRS state service.
  • HHSC was directed to allocate these funds into ongoing services like outpatient treatment capacity enhancements
  • , crisis services, coordinated special. specialty care for early psychosis and hospital step-down programs
  • , and staff layoffs are imminent in local service areas across the state.
Bills: SB1 , HB500 , SB 1
HI

Hawaii 2026 Regular Session

HHS-CPN, CPN-HWN, CPN-LBT Public Hearings 02-06-2026

Health and Human Services

Transcript Highlights:
  • </c> registered in this to facilitate care registered in this to facilitate care for<00:18:34.880><c>
  • Healthc care is their health care.
  • direct payment to of benefits directing direct payment to the<00:36:37.920><c> provider,</c><00:36:38.800
  • </c> providing genetic counseling services. providing genetic counseling services.
  • </c><01:36:48.719><c> Thank</c> directed that direct that way. Thank directed that direct that way.
Keywords: 912, senate, all
Summary: The committee heard testimony on several health-related measures, with most of the discussion focused on bills addressing tobacco/vape enforcement, psychology licensure, hospital price transparency, prior authorization, and medical cannabis. The chair opened by explaining the one-minute testimony limit and that written testimony had been reviewed. For SB 2175 on disposable electronic smoking devices, the Department of Health said the bill’s placement in litter-control law was not a good fit because disposable e-cigarettes contain hazardous materials like lithium and nicotine, but it supported the intent and pointed to a related measure. Public health and tobacco-control advocates strongly supported the bill, citing youth use, toxic waste, battery fires, and the need to tighten definitions and remove exemptions; a long list of organizations and individuals were noted in support, with no opposition mentioned. For SB 2410, which would create a state directory and enforcement tools for authorized e-cigarette products, the Attorney General’s office strongly supported the measure and said it would help enforce the FDA-authorized list of products through certification, inspections, and civil penalties. The Department of Health said thousands of illegal products remain on the market and cited youth usage rates, while public health groups also supported the bill. One tobacco industry-related witness was noted in opposition. SB 2080, the psychology interjurisdictional compact, drew support from the Department of Corrections, which said it had severe staffing shortages and that the compact would help fill gaps, especially for forensic psychology and neighbor island facilities. Some committee members raised concerns about whether the compact would loosen licensure standards and reduce licensing revenue, and the Board of Psychology was said to be meeting and had not taken a formal position; testimony also noted the need for resources if the compact were adopted. The committee also heard SB 2276 on surgical assistance, with DCCA in opposition and a supporter from the field, but little discussion followed. SB 2277 on hospital price transparency drew support from consumer and patient advocates, who argued that clearer pricing would reduce medical debt and help patients shop for care; DCCA and the Department of Health offered comments, with the department suggesting an alternative enforcement model using outside review entities and noting that implementation would require significant staffing and funding. The Healthcare Association of Hawaii opposed the bill, saying federal transparency rules already cover the issue and state law could create duplication. SB 2282 on prior authorization received comments from insurers and providers; HMSA asked that the bill be set aside pending the report of the prior authorization working group created by Act 151, while the Hawaii Medical Association said prior authorization is a major burden but deferred to regulators on resources. Finally, SB 2413 on medical cannabis was supported by the Office of Medical Cannabis and others, who said the bill would close a patient-access gap by allowing viable seed sales; one witness suggested clarifying jurisdictional language and allowing dispensaries to sell seeds to each other. The committee then began SB 2425 on health insurance, where an addiction treatment provider testified that insurers’ refusal to honor assignment-of-benefits payments can delay reimbursement and create relapse risk for patients, but the transcript cuts off before further action on that bill.
AZ

Arizona 2026 Regular Session

01/30/2026 - House Health & Human Services Committee of Reference

House Health & Human Services Committee of Reference

Transcript Highlights:
  • This would include attendant care services, for example, for assisting minor children with personal cleanliness
  • And then finally, an increase in utilization of attendant care services, which parents can be compensated
  • their services, AHCCCS directed the department that it was prohibited from requiring parents or other
  • their services, AHCCCS directed the department that it was prohibited from requiring parents or other
  • So, in total, from fiscal years 2023 through 2025, minor DDD members' utilization of attendant care services
Keywords: 1182, all
MN

Minnesota 2025-2026 Regular Session

House Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Policy Committee 2/23/26

Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Policy

Transcript Highlights:
  • So if patients or family members see a problem in the service that is provided or in access to care,
  • care services.
  • </c> unqualified to provide health care unqualified to provide health care services.<00:53:23.520><c>
  • The Department of Human Services needs to do their job cuz Governor Walz only cares about the illegal
  • The Department of Human Services needs to do their job cuz Governor Walz only cares about the illegal
Bills: HF3542
CA

California 2025-2026 Regular Session

Assembly Judiciary Committee Jul 1st, 2025

Transcript Highlights:
  • the structure of CARE Court.
  • The underlying theory of CARE Court... The underlying theory of CARE Court is that it is voluntary.
  • Court have care agreements versus, I think there's only three people with court-ordered care plans.
  • Now they have to be careful.
  • Private equity in health care.
Summary: The committee met as a subcommittee without quorum at first, then later established quorum and continued hearing several bills. SB 27, the annual CARE Court cleanup bill, would require courts to consider CARE referral for certain misdemeanor defendants found incompetent to stand trial, combine some hearings, allow limited data sharing among licensed medical professionals, and expand eligibility to include mood disorders with psychotic features. Supporters said it would clarify the meaning of “clinically stabilized,” streamline the process, and help more severely ill people receive treatment; opponents argued it would expand CARE Court too broadly, strain county resources, and divert attention from housing and voluntary services. The bill passed to the Health Committee on a roll call vote and was placed on call. SB 82, dealing with so-called “infinite arbitration clauses,” would limit consumer contract arbitration provisions to disputes arising from the product or service actually purchased. The author and supporters said the bill would stop companies from forcing arbitration in unrelated claims and would not ban arbitration itself. Opponents from business and banking groups argued the language was too restrictive, could create litigation over related transactions, and should be clarified as prospective only. The committee approved the bill and placed it on call after a roll call vote. The committee then heard two reparations-related bills. SB 437 would direct CSU to develop a genealogical methodology and framework for verifying descendants of enslaved people, with oversight, reporting, and guardrails tied to recently allocated state funding. Supporters said the bill would create a fair, evidence-based process; opponents, including professional genealogists and reparations advocates, argued the work is already well understood, the bill is unnecessary, and it could delay action. SB 518 would create a Bureau for Descendants of American Slavery within state government, with divisions for genealogy, property reclamation, outreach, and legal affairs. Supporters framed it as needed infrastructure to implement reparations recommendations; opponents objected to locating it in the Department of Justice, warned about data privacy and law enforcement control, and criticized the inclusion of broader communities. Both bills were moved to Appropriations and placed on call. The committee also heard SB 52, the End AI Rent Hikes Act, which would prohibit the use of algorithms to collude on and artificially inflate rental prices; the author and supporters described it as a response to AI-assisted rent fixing in California’s housing market.
NM

New Mexico 2025 Regular Session

IC - Legislative Finance Nov 19th, 2025

Transcript Highlights:
  • Nobody took care of it, and the system is running.
  • So thank you for that direction.
  • The civil legal services budget is flat from last year.
  • Operating for community-based services and education.
  • Um, yes, so, the previous direction, Mr.
FL

Florida 2026 Regular Session

Senate in Session Feb 26th, 2026

Florida Senate Floor Meeting

Transcript Highlights:
  • only when the service member has federal military service of 90 consecutive days or more, but not on
  • paid leave from government employment for federal military service, which applies only when the service
  • , child care, and food insecurity.
  • housing, property insurance, health care, child care, and food insecurity.
  • They operate by creating local service networks, bringing together education, health care, employment
Summary: The Senate convened with a quorum, opening prayer, Pledge of Allegiance, and several introductions, including guests from the press, Florida State women’s soccer, and former Senator Janet Cruz. Members also announced there would be no conference that weekend. The chamber then moved to the special order calendar and began taking up a series of bills, often substituting House companions and proceeding quickly to third reading and final passage. Among the measures approved were bills modernizing trust settlement and trustee discharge procedures; revising military affairs laws, including leave protections, retirement eligibility, and assistance programs; creating uniform cash-rounding rules as Florida prepares for the end of the penny; refining podiatric medicine rules on cellular/tissue-based products and informed consent; expanding veterans’ court access statewide; clarifying RV park special assessments; establishing concurrent state-federal jurisdiction for juveniles on military installations; reauthorizing alcoholic beverage loss deductions; and revising bail bond and pretrial release laws, including training, electronic notices, forfeiture timing, and related procedures. Members also passed bills on eyewear insurance licensing, expanding the Linking Industry to Nursing Education Fund into health science education, streamlining recovery residence regulation, enhancing felony battery penalties, and updating child welfare rules to reduce repeated background checks, make the Step Into Success program permanent, and create a best-practices program. Several bills drew brief supportive remarks, especially those affecting veterans, the National Guard, foster youth, and military families. One bail bond bill prompted questions about charitable bail bonds, with the sponsor stating the current statute would remain unchanged. Most bills passed unanimously or near-unanimously; the bail bond measure passed 36-1, while the others noted here passed with no or minimal opposition. The Senate also adopted an amendment to the military affairs bill and a delete-all amendment to the military-installation jurisdiction bill before final passage. A major portion of the meeting was devoted to honoring Senate Democratic Leader Lori Berman on her farewell. Members from both parties offered extended remarks praising her leadership, preparation, collegiality, advocacy on issues such as voting rights, women’s rights, Israel, anti-Semitism, breast cancer, school safety, and family law, and her effectiveness in committee and on the floor. Berman delivered an extended farewell speech reflecting on her 16 years in the Legislature, her family, her district, and her legislative priorities, and the Senate ordered her remarks spread upon the journal before recessing and later returning to continue the calendar.
CA
Transcript Highlights:
  • “Making sure that labor, the workers, are taken care of.
  • Utilities were seen as a more significant strain than health care and groceries.
  • service failures.
  • Kate Eager with Vitamin Group on behalf of California Water Service.
  • day these nonprofits and small businesses are doing... the state services.
Summary: The committee heard several energy, water, and utility bills, with extensive testimony on cost, ratepayer impacts, and climate or reliability goals. SB 919 by Senator Grayson would extend the biomethane monetary incentive program through 2030 and support renewable natural gas development by reducing interconnection cost barriers. Supporters said RNG helps methane reduction and organic waste diversion, while opponents, including TURN and environmental groups, argued the bill could shift costs to ratepayers and subsidize combustion-based fuels, especially dairy digesters. The author said committee amendments removed the rate-basing provisions and instead urged the CPUC to act quickly on its pending decision; the bill was left for a later vote. SB 931 by Senator Laird would reauthorize the Diablo Canyon Community Impact Mitigation Program through 2030. Supporters said San Luis Obispo County and local schools rely on the funding for emergency preparedness and public safety, while TURN argued the extension would add about $47 million in statewide ratepayer costs and should instead be paid from existing PG&E deal revenues. Members discussed the bill as a continuation of the 2022 Diablo Canyon agreement, and the author said the measure simply restores the five years omitted from that deal. The committee also heard SB 1215 by Senator Cortese, which would direct the CPUC to set deployment targets for EV charging in multifamily housing. Supporters said renters and apartment residents are largely shut out of home charging, and that prior utility programs showed the model can be cost-effective and beneficial to ratepayers. The bill was amended to address affordability, ratepayer benefits, and limits on major system upgrades. SB 1295 by Senator Stern would create a framework for using distributed batteries and other local resources to solve grid constraints more cheaply than traditional infrastructure. Supporters said it could improve reliability and reduce costs by targeting batteries where they provide the most grid value, while utilities said they were open to continued discussion. SB 1359, also by Senator Stern, would require the CPUC to more carefully evaluate major gas infrastructure investments and alternatives such as electrification before approving new spending. Environmental groups supported the bill as a guardrail against stranded assets, while gas utilities opposed it, warning it could undermine the obligation to serve, create safety and reliability risks, and retroactively change the rules for approved investments. On water policy, SB 1125 by Senator Menjivar would create a statewide low-income water rate assistance program upon appropriation. Supporters said about 1.6 million households have water debt and that affordability is a statewide issue, not just a problem for disadvantaged communities. Some members raised concerns that the bill lacked a funding source and that state mandates, such as chromium-6 treatment requirements, already strain local water agencies; the author and supporters responded that the bill includes administrative caps and transparency measures and is intended to work alongside future funding. The committee then heard SB 1098 by Senator Pérez, which would restrict the use of utility memorandum and balancing accounts by requiring exceptional circumstances, adding sunset dates, and creating cost-sharing or lower-return rules for certain spending. TURN and other supporters said the accounts allow utilities to recover costs after the fact with too little discipline, while Edison and PG&E opposed the bill, arguing that some costs are unpredictable and that the CPUC already has a formal review process. SB 1125 was moved to Appropriations with a roll call, and the roll was left open for additional votes; the other measures were discussed with no final committee actions announced in the excerpt.
FL

Florida 2026 Regular Session

Senate in Session Feb 19th, 2026

Florida Senate Floor Meeting

Transcript Highlights:
  • And it's very well known that in our health care system, frequently individuals who are taking care of
  • And it's very well known that in our health care system, frequently individuals who are taking care of
  • This prevents a person from being a qualified elder care coordinator.
  • This bill also allows the Florida Forest Service to expand their... ...last year.
  • Senate Bill 706 preempts the naming of major commercial service airports to the state.
Summary: The Senate convened with an opening prayer, pledge, and several introductions recognizing visitors, students, local officials, and professional groups in the gallery. The chamber then took up a report from the Ethics and Elections Committee confirming 42 executive appointments; the report was adopted by a vote of 36-0. The Senate also adopted a resolution honoring the Ripple Project for childhood cancer awareness and funding. The bulk of the meeting was spent on special-order bills, many of them open-government sunset review measures and policy bills. The Senate passed bills preserving or updating public records exemptions for aquaculture records, trade secrets, and cybersecurity information; a child-abuse reporting statute of limitations bill; a commercial driving schools bill; a human trafficking training requirement for nursing graduates; a new injunction for protection against serious violence by a known person and its companion public-records bill; a nature-based coastal resiliency bill with an amendment restricting dredge-and-fill in Terra Ceia Aquatic Preserve; a chiropractic patient-funds bill; specialty license plate legislation; a one-time waiver for late financial disclosure fines; public school personnel compensation changes; the Florida Farm Bill with amendments protecting Everglades lands and technical corrections; homestead exemption clarification for long-term leaseholders; disability presumption clarifications for firefighters and law enforcement; reinsurance intermediary manager conformity changes; patriotic displays in public schools; ADS-B aviation fee restrictions; autism-related law enforcement training and a blue envelope program; public post-secondary safety policy requirements; and a bill allowing licensed agents to market health care sharing ministries. Several bills were temporarily postponed, including local vessel restrictions, temporary certificates for practice, and domestic animals. Members debated a number of measures, especially the health care sharing ministries bill, where opponents raised consumer-protection and commission concerns and supporters argued for free speech, religious liberty, and expanded consumer choice; it passed 32-5. Other debated bills included the autism law enforcement bill, the school athletics bill addressing coach support for student-athletes, and the Farm Bill, where senators discussed surplus land safeguards and biosolids timing. Most bills passed overwhelmingly, often 37-0 or 38-0, with a few closer votes such as the patriotic displays bill (36-2) and the health care sharing ministries bill (32-5).