Transcript Highlights:

• A declining student enrollment payment.
• We create a monthly system, a monthly payment system.
• And during that period of time, they receive a quarterly payment.
• They re CRA monthly payment, rather, they receive frontloaded monthly payments and that money goes into
• I do have a question when it comes to the monthly payments, if in a while the monthly payments or be

Transcript Highlights:

• My point is that payment methods, and the...
• and the timing of payments coming in.
• and the timing of payments coming in.
• We’ve been talking about just the payments going out.
• The payments going out.

Committee: Senate State Affairs

Transcript Highlights:

• Then on the following page, page 9, line 1, that section would authorize payment or appropriate money
• For the purposes of the down payment assistance program.
• Lastly, down payment assistance for first-generation homebuyers ensures more families can purchase a
• We are proud to be part of this community-based approach to down payment assistance (DPA), targeting
• It's essential that we pair it with down payment assistance.

Committee: House Housing Finance and Policy

Transcript Highlights:

• that</c><00:09:52.000><c> sort</c> payments or partial payments, that sort payments or partial payments
• and then payments weren't made?
• ><c> eligibility,</c> payments for accuracy, eligibility, payments for accuracy, eligibility, timeliness
• And so if ever we get a payments.
• </c> was not, we would not make that payment. was not, we would not make that payment.

Bills: HF3217 , HF2252

Committee: House Workforce, Labor, and Economic Development Finance and Policy

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> or forces a pharmacy to accept payment or forces a pharmacy to accept payment less<01:13:54.400>
• </c> Directed payment programs are not new. Directed payment programs are not new.
• <01:41:59.920><c> to</c><01:42:00.080><c> a</c> payment to a payment to a hospital.<01:42:01.840><c>
• </c><01:43:57.520><c> to</c> payment through the directed payment to payment through the directed payment
• That gets paid as a separate payment term along with the capitation payments to hospitals.

Committee: Senate Health and Human Services

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> try to come back in later um payment try to come back in later um payment suspensions<00:12:59.320
• </c> and we conduct both pre and post-payment and we conduct both pre and post-payment audits<00:15:14.920
• </c><00:28:03.200><c> for</c> we are required to suspend payment for we are required to suspend payment
• </c> type then we would not suspend payment type then we would not suspend payment um<00:28:19.320><c
• </c><00:28:32.679><c> until</c> then we do not um suspend payment until then we do not um suspend payment

Summary: The subcommittee met to review the Department for Medicaid Services’ program integrity work. Commissioner Lisa Lee and Program Integrity Director Jennifer Dudinsky outlined Kentucky Medicaid’s structure, funding, enrollment, and spending, including FMAP rates, the size of the Medicaid and KCHIP populations, the number of providers, and 2024 expenditures. They also described the managed care and fee-for-service populations, noting that managed care serves most members while fee-for-service is concentrated in long-term care and waiver populations. Most of the discussion focused on fraud, waste, abuse prevention, and provider oversight. The department described its provider enrollment and certification checks, revalidation requirements, site reviews, fingerprinting for some high-risk providers, and termination grounds such as false application information, Medicare actions, unreported ownership changes, and abandonment of a provider number. Members asked about nonprofit ownership reporting, MCO fraud oversight, and how the department tracks unusual CPT code utilization, especially in behavioral health. The department said it uses data analytics, audits, policy review, and collaboration with behavioral health staff to monitor those trends. Dudinsky explained the division’s four branches: provider licensing and certification, audits and compliance, recovery, and third-party liability/estate recovery. She described prepayment and postpayment audits, referrals of credible fraud allegations to the Attorney General, monthly meetings with the AG’s office, and coordination with the Office of Inspector General, CMS, HHS OIG, MCOs, and other partners. She also explained payment suspensions, stand-downs during law enforcement investigations, and recovery efforts for overpayments, provider/member fraud, and third-party liability. The department said its recovery and avoidance efforts produced more than $251 million in savings so far in 2025. No votes or formal actions beyond approving the minutes were taken.

Transcript Highlights:

• So I usually begin Giving a brief update on the actual MSA payment for 2025.
• This year, the payment in 2025 is for. Sales during the calendar year of 2024.
• The MSA payment was calculated to be the base amount at about $5.5 billion.
• We have five remaining payments on the JUUL settlement.
• So the last payment will be in 2030.

Committee: House Tobacco Settlement Revenue Oversight Committee

Transcript Highlights:

• </c><00:09:16.720><c> but</c> slight increase in benefit payments but slight increase in benefit payments
• TRS takes that lump-sum payment.
• </c><01:39:56.480><c> It's</c> TRS takes that lumpsum payment. It's TRS takes that lumpsum payment.
• /c><01:40:20.880><c> we</c><01:40:21.360><c> get</c> payment that 30% payment we we get payment that
• . payments. payments.

Summary: The meeting opened with a quorum call, the Pledge of Allegiance, a prayer, and approval of the prior meeting minutes. The first presentation was from Bo Craycraft of the Judicial Form Retirement System, who gave an update on investment performance, asset allocation, cash flow, and projected employer costs. He reported strong fiscal year 2025 investment results, with both the legislative and judicial retirement plans outperforming their actuarial assumed rates of return and benchmarks, driven largely by U.S. equity performance. He also noted the plans remained near their target asset allocation and continued to experience negative cash flow, though he said that was manageable in context of strong asset growth. Craycraft then discussed a recent experience study and actuarial assumption changes, especially a revised salary growth assumption and a higher cash balance interest credit rate. He said these changes increased projected employer costs, with contributions rising from about $700,000 to a projected $2 million in later years, though he expected the eventual 2025 valuation and investment gains to reduce that estimate. Members asked about mortality assumptions, the impact of the experience study on liabilities, and the sharp increase in the judicial plan’s projected employer cost. Craycraft explained that the increase was driven mainly by the updated assumptions and that no other major plan changes were involved. At the chair’s request, Craycraft also addressed the recent rise in Medicare Advantage premiums for the plan’s health coverage, saying the 2025 increase was largely tied to Part D changes and the Inflation Reduction Act and had been about 45%, but that future growth was expected to be under 5%. After his presentation, the committee moved to the Kentucky Public Pensions Authority update, where the next speaker began by saying the funds had exceeded actuarial assumed returns for the fiscal year.

Transcript Highlights:

• Benefits in payment typically do increase over time, and you'll see here that our benefits in payment
• But most of it is that one-time payment, the board's making one payment during each year for the next
• That payment to date equals about 4.7 percent of payroll.
• So there's no payment required for an unfunded accrued liability.
• We had a slight increase in cost of benefits and payment.

Summary: The Public Retirement System Actuarial Committee met on February 23, 2026, approved the December 18, 2025 minutes, and heard actuarial valuation reports and experience studies for several retirement systems. Presenters repeatedly noted strong investment performance, payroll growth, and generally improving funded ratios across the systems, with most plans showing lower minimum recommended employer contribution rates for fiscal 2027. The committee also received explanations of funding deposit accounts, frozen unfunded liabilities in some plans, and how recent legislative changes, including the move to five-year DROP periods in some systems, affected costs and assumptions. For the Clerk of Court, District Attorney, Firefighters, Municipal Employees (Plans A and B), Municipal Police, Registrars of Voters, and Sheriffs systems, the committee reviewed 2025 actuarial evaluations and, where applicable, 2025 experience studies. The actuarial reviewers reported no significant deficiencies and said the valuations were completed in accordance with applicable actuarial standards, generally accepted actuarial practice, and state statutes. The experience studies generally led to modest assumption changes, with some cost decreases from salary, mortality, withdrawal, and asset experience, while some plans saw offsetting increases from retirement or post-DROP behavior. The committee asked a brief question about mortality assumptions and was told the studies use separate male/female and safety/non-safety tables adjusted for Louisiana experience. The committee adopted each valuation and experience study without objection. Key fiscal 2027 minimum recommended employer contribution rates included 14.75% for Clerk of Court, 3.0% for District Attorneys, 25.5% for Firefighters, 20.75% for MERS Plan A, 8.75% for MERS Plan B, 26.5% for Municipal Police, 0% for Registrars of Voters with a $207,683 allocation to the Member Supplemental Savings Fund, and 7.75% for Sheriffs. The committee also recognized DROP crediting rates where applicable and adjourned after completing all agenda items.

Transcript Highlights:

• . payments. payments.
• We do not have the authority to tell them turn on payments, turn off payments because they administer
• We do not have the authority to tell them turn on payments, turn off payments because they administer
• , turn off payments them turn on payments, turn off payments because<00:23:41.000><c> they</c><00:23:
• </c> do you get now on directed payments? do you get now on directed payments?

Committee: Senate Health and Human Services

Transcript Highlights:

• payments? payments?
• So, we're getting close to $2 payments.
• </c> through NIL payments. Is that correct? through NIL payments. Is that correct?
• Uh that payments to student athletes.
• </c><00:36:47.200><c> scheme</c> committee to look at the payment scheme committee to look at the payment

Bills: HB2384

Committee: House Consumer Protection & Commerce

Summary: The joint committees heard HB 2384, relating to student athlete compensation, with testimony largely in support from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Athletics, University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo Athletics, and several other supporters. UH Mānoa said the bill would create a framework for name, image, and likeness (NIL) policies, including education, financial literacy, agent regulation, transparency, and reporting. Supporters argued NIL is now a necessary part of college athletics to recruit and retain athletes, keep Hawaiʻi talent in-state, and remain competitive, while also helping student athletes develop as future leaders. One supporter also emphasized the need for financial guidance so young athletes do not mishandle NIL income. Committee members questioned why the bill would direct public funds to NIL payments rather than broader athletic operations or other student groups, whether other states are funding NIL directly, and whether the approach could create a bidding war. UH representatives said the university already has NIL contracts in place, but the bill would strengthen and formalize policies. They said the requested funding model includes about $5 million for NIL and $10 million for athletics operations, with the NIL amount intended to supplement private fundraising; they also noted UH has raised roughly $1.5 million to $2 million for NIL since July 1 and is targeting $3 million this fiscal year. Members also raised concerns about fairness, public spending priorities, and whether the university’s policies adequately protect student athletes. The committees voted to pass HB 2384 HD1 with amendments. The chair said the bill should be amended to explicitly state that allocated funds may be used by UH for NIL payments to student athletes, and asked the next committee to examine whether a different payment scheme, similar to those used elsewhere, might be more appropriate for public funds. One member announced a no vote, citing concerns about direct public funding of NIL and unequal treatment of student athletes versus other students. The JHA committee adopted the same recommendation, with some members voting with reservations. Afterward, the meeting moved on to HB 644 HD1 on single-use plastics, where the first testimony was in opposition from the Hawaii Food Industry Association and the Biodegradable Products Institute, both arguing the bill as drafted would improperly exclude certified compostable products and should better align with composting and certification standards.

Transcript Highlights:

• It's a very kind of directed payment as a result.
• Are these legal maneuvers that companies are doing to avoid payments?
• All of the opioid settlements involve payments over time according to specific payment schedules, and
• payments that the state is expecting to receive in OSF.
• The incentive payment program made $1.5 billion available in incentive payments to Medi-Cal managed care

Summary: The committee heard a budget oversight hearing on the Department of Health Care Services, focusing first on the overall Medi-Cal budget and a March General Fund loan to cover a current-year shortfall. DHCS said the 2025-26 budget proposal totals $193.4 billion, with Medi-Cal projected at $188.1 billion total funds and $42.1 billion General Fund, driven by higher enrollment, pharmacy costs, managed care growth, and costs tied to eligibility expansions and the COVID-era redetermination unwinding. The department said the $3.44 billion loan was needed to manage cash flow and ensure timely payments to providers and plans, while the LAO noted Medi-Cal’s cash-basis budgeting creates volatility and that more detailed estimates would come with the May Revision. Members discussed federal Medicaid threats, the need for transparency on cost drivers, and the impact of pharmacy spending, long-term care, and immigration-related coverage expansions. The second major topic was family health programs, including California Children’s Services, the continuous coverage unwinding, and opioid settlement fund spending. DHCS described CCS funding methodology changes, ongoing county stakeholder work, and a delayed rollout of CCS monitoring and oversight until July 1, 2025, while county representatives and advocates argued the program is underfunded and asked for more technical assistance and a delay in implementation. On the unwinding, the department explained that federal redetermination flexibilities helped maintain coverage after the pandemic, but the Governor’s budget proposes ending them at the end of June 2025; advocates urged making the flexibilities permanent to avoid coverage losses. For opioid settlement funds, DHCS and Finance said the budget increases funding for naloxone distribution while reducing other harm-reduction spending based on updated settlement revenues, prompting criticism from members and public commenters who argued the change would weaken effective harm-reduction programs. The hearing also included an update on Proposition 35 implementation. DHCS said the voter-approved measure continuously appropriates MCO tax revenues beginning in 2025, with up to $4.6 billion annually available for specified Medi-Cal and provider investments in 2025 and 2026, but implementation depends on consultation with the required stakeholder advisory committee. The department and LAO noted uncertainty about future federal rules affecting the MCO tax after 2026. Public testimony largely supported maintaining Medi-Cal expansions, protecting immigrant coverage, preserving harm-reduction funding, and increasing support for community health workers, pediatric dental care, and CCS county administration. No votes were taken during the portion of the hearing provided.

Transcript Highlights:

• The bill simply Help track payments and ensure that the support reaches those children.
• So payments are supposed to go through the state case registry no matter what, right?
• Payments are supposed to go through the state case registry no matter what, right?
• Payments are supposed to go through the state case registry no matter what, right?
• Ultimately, these are court-ordered payments that have to be paid.

Summary: The Assembly Judiciary Committee met without quorum for part of the hearing and proceeded on several bills, with testimony focused on probate access, domestic violence protections, child support services, and an immigration resolution. On AB 1660, the author and county public administrators said financial institutions often delay or refuse lawful requests for account information and assets, causing harm to estates and vulnerable people; banks and credit union representatives opposed the new penalties, arguing the underlying statute may be outdated and that fraud concerns require more verification. The author agreed to amend the bill to make penalties discretionary rather than mandatory, and the bill ultimately passed out of committee to the floor with a due-pass recommendation and later add-on approval. AB 1657, by Assembly Member Rogers, would bar courts from requiring domestic violence survivors seeking temporary restraining orders to notify the alleged abuser before filing; the Sonoma County district attorney and others supported it as a safety measure, and it passed unanimously to the floor with multiple members requesting coauthor status. The committee also heard AB 1643, which would automatically enroll custodial parents in child support services after a support order is entered unless they opt out. The author and child support officials argued the bill would increase access to free enforcement and collection services, reduce child poverty, and help families who do not complete the current application process; some members raised concerns about fees, opt-out clarity, and whether automatic enrollment could interfere with amicable co-parenting arrangements. After discussion about the program’s funding and the need for a clear opt-out process, the bill was moved to the Human Services Committee, with some members voting no or not voting and later add-on action placing it on call and then advancing it. The committee also considered SJR 8, urging Congress to modernize the federal immigration registry so long-term undocumented residents could qualify for lawful permanent residency on a rolling basis; supporters described it as a long-overdue pathway for immigrant families and workers, and the resolution was adopted to the floor after a vote and later add-on action. Throughout the hearing, members repeatedly emphasized the need to balance enforcement, fraud prevention, and access to services. Several members supported the domestic violence and probate bills as necessary fixes to existing systems, while others urged continued work with stakeholders on standardized forms, clearer procedures, and modernized safeguards. The committee also took up consent items and add-ons, including AB 1597, AB 1651, and AB 1652 on consent, and later finalized votes on the measures discussed above.

Transcript Highlights:

• And again, this Declining student enrollment payment.
• The bill aligns the scholarship payment installments from quarterly to monthly and aligns the payments
• We create a monthly system, a monthly payment system.
• , or a monthly payment, rather, they receive front-loaded monthly payments, and that money goes into
• So they're the ones that are making the payments.

Summary: The committee first heard the Pre-K-12 education budget proposal for fiscal year 2025-26 and voted to adopt it as the committee’s recommendation to the full Senate Appropriations Committee. The proposed $34.7 billion budget includes increases for the FEFP, Family Empowerment Scholarships, VPK, school safety, the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind, school hardening, Jewish day school security, and an education enrollment stabilization fund. Members asked no questions on the budget before it was advanced, and staff was authorized to make technical corrections. The committee then passed CS/SB 1402, which expands eligibility for dropout retrieval services to any individual who has withdrawn from high school and clarifies how school grades are calculated for virtual instruction providers that offer only dropout retrieval services. An amendment to clarify the grading calculation was adopted without objection, and the bill was reported favorably after a roll call vote. The committee also took up SPB 7030, a comprehensive scholarship-program bill sponsored by Senator Gates, which would separate Family Empowerment Scholarship funding as its own categorical, expand the education stabilization fund, create fall and spring application windows, require a single scholarship application and more documentation, assign student IDs, change payments to a monthly schedule, require background checks for paid instructional providers, mandate annual FTE audits by the Auditor General, and standardize reimbursement and eligibility procedures. After extensive discussion and public testimony, the bill was adopted as a committee bill and reported favorably, with Senator Osgood voting no. Finally, the committee considered CS/SB 508, which requires private schools participating in the Family Empowerment Scholarship Program to disclose in writing what accommodations, modifications, and services they will provide for students with existing plans such as IEPs, 504 plans, or ELL plans. An amendment was adopted to require public schools to consult with private schools about equitable services, and the bill was reported favorably. Public testimony included support from parent-choice advocates and concerns from private-school representatives about administrative burden and the scope of the required disclosures. The meeting concluded after the final roll call votes and adjournment motion.

Transcript Highlights:

• **Senator Brent Webster**: Well, the payment of this case has been delayed.
• **Josh Reno**: ...and ultimately our payments have to be related to a border crime.
• If it's not associated to a border crime, we can't make a payment.
• There's some other way of receiving payment you've got to go there first.
• One was sexual assault exams, and the other was crime victims' compensation payments.

Bills: SB 1

Committee: Senate Finance

Keywords: campground safety, youth camp regulations, flood safety, emergency evacuation, health and safety standards

Transcript Highlights:

• The payment error rate is not a measure of fraud.
• We did receive our final payment error rate for this year.
• So we do now know that our 2025 payment error rate is 9.89. Okay.
• The payment errors are divided into two categories.
• So how are they involved in the payment error rate discussions?

Summary: The committee met with a quorum, approved the March 18 minutes, and then received a series of updates on health-related projects and Department of Health and Human Services budget matters. Representatives from CHI St. Alexius in Bismarck and Williston, and Altru in Grand Forks, reported progress on behavioral health expansion projects, including demolition and construction milestones, updated timelines, funding status, staffing plans, and barriers such as an unbudgeted air handler replacement in Williston. Members asked about original completion dates, use of telehealth, recruitment of psychiatrists and other staff, and whether the new beds might reduce the need for patients to travel to Jamestown State Hospital. The projects were described as on track overall, with completion expected in 2027 for the larger builds and earlier openings for some phases in Williston. The committee then heard from HHS leadership on technical line-item transfers and the Salaries and Wages Block Grant. Donna Ockland explained that recent transfers were administrative corrections to place spending in the proper budget lines and did not involve new spending, and she reviewed FTE counts and vacancies across the department. Questions focused on behavioral health staffing changes and the use of consultants in the Rural Health Transformation Program. Pat Rainer outlined the rural health program’s first-year grants and priorities, including workforce retention, rural rotations and housing, community wellness initiatives, behavioral health promotion, safety net services, hospital equipment, suicide prevention training, technology, and EMS support. He said North Dakota’s plan was drawing positive national attention, but the department still needed to obligate roughly $199 million by September and was working with CMS on timing and compliance. The committee also received an update on certified community behavioral health clinics from Elena Zeller. She said North Dakota had been accepted as a demonstration state, with certification efforts underway in Williston, North Central, Fargo, and Dickinson. Members asked about care coordination, service growth, staffing, and whether certification would expand to all clinics; the department said it was still collecting baseline data and evaluating impacts before making future recommendations. Finally, Rebecca Askins reviewed SNAP payment error rates, explaining that the 2025 rate was finalized at 9.89 percent and that the department is working on training, system changes, and quality assurance steps to get below 6 percent. Members pressed on the causes of monthly variability, the performance of the SPACES system, and accountability for ongoing errors, and the department said it expects improvement over the next 6 to 12 months.

Transcript Highlights:

• And these three categories are what made up the dental directed payment.
• These are monthly fixed payments for OHA to pay to CCOs for OHP member care.
• Guests, would you say that's part of our directed payment?
• I mean, that makes sense based on the direct-to-payment increase.
• For the state-directed payments, no.

Summary: The committee held an informational hearing focused first on Oregon Medicaid coordinated care organization (CCO) finances and rate setting. Oregon Health Authority staff explained how 2025 CCO financial results will inform 2027 capitation rates, including reserve requirements, subcapitation arrangements, and major cost drivers such as behavioral health, pharmacy, rural hospital costs, and dental directed payments. They said the Legislature’s added 2025 funding materially improved CCO margins and that, without it, the program would have been negative overall. Members asked about retained earnings, subcapitation, behavioral health utilization, ABA therapy, and whether outcomes are being evaluated; OHA said rate setting is actuarial and that CCOs, OHA, and other partners all play roles in monitoring efficacy and access. OHA also reviewed House Bill 4039 changes intended to increase transparency and give CCOs earlier access to rate information and reconciliation exhibits. CCO representatives then testified that the system is under significant financial pressure and that behavioral health state-directed payments, benefit changes, and federal uncertainty from H.R. 1 are reducing flexibility. CareOregon said it has lost more than $500 million over the last couple of years and is now making provider terminations and other network changes to align spending with available funding, while emphasizing that CCOs must make hard decisions about which services and providers can be sustained. Eastern Oregon CCO said rural and frontier factors, cost-based hospitals, air ambulance needs, and statewide efficiency adjustments are not fully reflected in rates, and that dental funding is especially strained. Trillium similarly warned that state-directed payments and benefit expansion pressures are constraining the global budget model and that H.R. 1 could worsen acuity and volatility. Members pressed the witnesses on who is responsible for evaluating treatment effectiveness, especially for ABA and psychotherapy, and on how utilization limits and reimbursement changes are being used to control costs. The committee then shifted to an overview of the Affordable Care Act and Oregon’s commercial insurance market. Department of Consumer and Business Services staff explained actuarial value, metal tiers, premium tax credits, medical loss ratio rules, and the main drivers of premium rates: cost trend, utilization trend, and administrative costs. They said mandates have likely added only a limited amount to premiums over the past decade, though the exact effect is difficult to isolate, and they gave examples of how high-cost, low-volume services versus broad, high-utilization services can affect rates differently. Staff also noted that Providence Health Plan and PacificSource Health Plans are withdrawing from the individual market, though consumers should still have at least three insurer options in every county and may have four in many counties. The division said it is in the middle of reviewing proposed 2027 rates and will continue its public rate review process, including hearings and written comment.

Transcript Highlights:

• This adds a section in 16A which makes all appropriations, allocations, payments, or other transfers
• </c> payment oversight. payment oversight.
• This adds a section in 16A which makes all appropriations, allocations, payments, or other transfers
• </c><00:07:31.080><c> And</c><00:07:31.200><c> so,</c> like procurement payments.
• And so, like procurement payments.

Transcript Highlights:

• payments, just for transparency?
• </c> payments. on-time payments. payments. on-time payments.
• Rent ledgers often include partial payments, subsidy timing, payment plans, or disputes.
• and post payments in place.
• and post payments in place.

Bills: HF4207 , HF3639 , HF3981 , HF3064 , HF2123

Committee: House Housing Finance and Policy

Transcript Highlights:

• As you probably know, each hospital had an initial 18 months with no payments due.
• Most loan recipients continue to experience Payments on their loan.
• , what we call transformative payments for rural hospitals.
• So the second part of that was a cap on provider payments.
• So the second part of that was a cap on provider payments.