Transcript Highlights:

• The Committee on Military, Veterans Affairs, Space, and Domestic Security will now come to order.
• I'm honored to carry the Space Florida bill for the 2026 legislative session.
• And I hope Space Florida likes that I still am their sponsor as we move forward based.
• Guard increased force structure by Senator Wright.
• I don't know... in its force structure.

Summary: The Senate Committee on Military, Veterans Affairs, Space, and Domestic Security met with a quorum present and took up several measures. The committee first heard SM 1714, urging Congress to pass the federal No Tax Dollars for Terrorist Act to prevent U.S. funds from benefiting the Taliban; after brief explanation and no testimony or debate, it was reported favorably. The committee then considered SB 1512 on Space Florida, which expands certain sales and use tax exemptions for qualifying tangible personal property and allows Space Florida to bypass competitive bidding for certain purchases when state funds are not used; support was noted from Space Florida and the Florida Chamber of Commerce, and the bill was reported favorably. The committee also passed SB 1656, designating the SS American Victory as Florida’s flagship, with discussion focused on the ship’s World War II and later service, museum role, and lack of known fiscal impact; it too was reported favorably. The committee next approved SM 1186, which urges Congress and the National Guard Bureau to increase the Florida National Guard’s force structure, with the sponsor citing Florida’s population, emergency history, and outdated allocation levels; one senator voiced support and the memorial was reported favorably. The committee then considered SB 1602, creating the Homes for Veterans Property Management Incentive Pilot Program in selected counties to help landlords house veterans through vacancy relief and risk mitigation trust funds; two amendments were adopted, including technical and clarifying changes, and the bill was reported favorably as amended. Finally, SB 1604 created the related vacancy relief and risk mitigation trust funds within the Florida Housing Finance Corporation to support the pilot program; one technical amendment was adopted and the bill was reported favorably as amended. The meeting concluded with no further business and adjournment.

Transcript Highlights:

• Our agency heads will be presenting on their silos and taking questions, and we have in our space the
• Space Florida's funding here represents two different buckets of funds.
• Currently, 14% of our force, or about 1,700 guardsmen, are without health insurance.
• The fourth bullet and final investment area... ...of our force and operational readiness.
• launch capacity at the spaceport and also the other space territories in the state.

Bills: S0048

Committee: Senate Appropriations Committee on Transportation, Tourism, and Economic Development

Summary: The Appropriations Committee on Transportation, Tourism, and Economic Development heard the Governor’s proposed FY 2026-27 budget for the TED silo and presentations from Commerce, Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, Military Affairs, the State Guard, State, Transportation, and Emergency Management. The Governor’s office outlined a $117.4 billion overall budget, including $18.3 billion for TED agencies, with major allocations for FDOT, Commerce, emergency management, tourism, military affairs, and state operations. Agency heads emphasized priorities such as housing and disaster recovery, workforce and rural infrastructure, law enforcement recruitment, defense support, tourism marketing, aerospace and spaceport investment, election audits, historic preservation, road and bridge maintenance, aviation safety, and emergency preparedness systems. Members asked several questions about the use and effectiveness of funding. Visit Florida officials said the public-private match is essential and that they exceeded the required match last year. Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles discussed trooper pay, vehicle replacement, aviation support, and transparency tools such as vehicle camera systems, with senators praising the department’s recruitment efforts. Military Affairs and the State Guard described readiness, recruiting, facility construction, and support for domestic missions, including hurricane response and perimeter security at the Everglades detention site; questions focused on deployment tempo, staffing, and costs. The Department of State explained funding for automated election audits, a conservation lab, and historic preservation, and said its arts grant changes were intended to standardize scoring rather than cut programs. Transportation highlighted a $15.4 billion total budget, major work program funding, safety initiatives, seaport and aviation investments, and the elimination of Florida Rail Enterprise funding due to reduced documentary stamp revenues. The committee also heard and passed CS/SB 48 by Senator Gates, which requires local governments to allow accessory dwelling units on a voluntary basis, while preserving local authority over setbacks, construction, and permitting. An amendment removed reusable tenant screening reports and clarified that conforming ADUs are allowed by right without separate hearings. The Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association and several industry and business groups supported the bill, citing the need for long-term rental housing for workers. After debate, the committee adopted the amendment and reported the bill favorably by roll call vote.

Transcript Highlights:

• It's been forced to change a lot because of these budgetary issues, but we're forced to meet the students
• It's been forced to change a lot because of these budgetary issues.
• But, and it's, we're forced to meet the students, all of our students where they are.
• That is really the driving force. more work needs to be done with respect to articulation.
• as well as in the community college space.

Summary: The committee held an oversight hearing on a state audit examining California’s community college transfer process and whether streamlining it could improve access to bachelor’s degrees. Opening remarks from legislators emphasized that California’s transfer system is central to equity and workforce development, but that only about one in five transfer-intending community college students complete a transfer within four years. Members highlighted disparities by race, region, campus, and major, and pointed to confusion created by differing requirements across the UC, CSU, and community college systems, including limits and inconsistencies in the Associate Degree for Transfer (ADT), TAG, and major-specific prerequisites. State Auditor’s staff said the audit found that while UC and CSU systemwide enroll more transfer students than the Master Plan target, individual campuses and high-demand STEM programs often do not. The audit identified barriers including unclear and varying course requirements, limited counseling and education plans, insufficient counselor staffing at some campuses, and weak equity plans. It also found that many students never even apply because they do not accumulate enough units or cannot navigate the process. The auditor described examples where transfer students with strong preparation were denied at selective campuses and noted that articulation alignment across systems remains limited. Representatives from UC, CSU, and the Community Colleges responded that transfer remains a top priority and described ongoing reforms. UC cited a new public dashboard, data-sharing agreements, new transfer pathways, and an ADT pilot at UCLA, while saying campus-level capacity and program differences limit how much can be standardized from the system office. CSU said it admits more than 90% of eligible transfer applicants, is expanding transfer planning tools and direct outreach, and is implementing SB 640’s Transfer Success Pathway Program. Community Colleges said transfer reform must focus on clearer credit mobility, more consistent articulation, and broader ADT adoption. Members pressed the systems on inconsistent major requirements, the need for better coordination, and whether campuses are fully prioritizing transfer students; no votes were taken during the hearing.

Transcript Highlights:

• and an Air Force Air Operations Group.
• That's the Army by itself, not including the Air Force.
• about a little over 700 spaces.
• So that really helped us get new force structure.
• In many respects, I'm a retired Air Force guy.

Committee: Senate Military and Veterans Affairs, Space, and Domestic Security

Summary: The Senate Committee on Military, Veterans Affairs, and Domestic Security met for its first meeting of the 2025-26 session and heard presentations from Major General John Haas, Adjutant General of Florida, and Tim McGregor, executive director of the Florida Defense Support Commission. General Haas reviewed the Florida National Guard’s missions, statewide footprint, domestic disaster response, and federal deployments, emphasizing the Guard’s role in hurricanes, border-related support, and other state operations. He also discussed recruiting and retention, noting that recruiting remains strong but retention is challenged by the Guard’s high operational tempo, and he outlined efforts to expand force structure, improve facilities, and modernize units, including Camp Blanding upgrades, new armories, additional infantry, engineer, military police, and aviation assets, and the Air National Guard’s F-35 conversion. Members asked questions about recruiting methods, typical brigade size, and how many personnel would be needed to reduce the average duty burden back toward the statutory 39 days. Haas explained that Florida’s large population helps recruiting, especially through community and school outreach, but that the state’s frequent domestic missions make the current 12,000-member force too small for its workload. He said the Guard’s high tempo is the main reason members leave for the reserves and argued that more force structure is needed to reduce strain. Committee members also discussed prior efforts to influence National Guard stationing decisions based on population shifts and domestic mission demands. McGregor then described the Florida Defense Support Commission’s work to protect military installations, prevent encroachment, support workforce and economic development, and improve the military-friendly environment for service members and families. He highlighted the commission’s grant programs, the military benefits guide, and a spouse license reciprocity matrix, as well as site visits to installations and defense-related facilities across the state. Members asked about Lockheed Martin’s innovation and simulation work in Orlando and discussed the value of military spouse reciprocity compacts. No bills were heard, and the committee adjourned after the presentations and discussion.

Transcript Highlights:

• They have now grown over the decades into mega players in the health care space, sometimes bigger than
• A child of eight months old was forced to use a specialty pharmacy for their medication.
• where it doesn't exist in other spaces.
• where it doesn't exist in other space. this sort of strict confidentiality to exist in this space where
• it doesn't exist in other spaces.

Committee: House Judiciary

Summary: The committee began without a quorum and heard several bills. SB 41 by Senator Wiener would regulate pharmacy benefit managers by increasing transparency, banning patient steering and spread pricing, and requiring full pass-through of rebates. Supporters, including independent pharmacists and health groups, said PBM practices are driving pharmacy closures and higher costs; opponents argued the bill overlaps with recent PBM licensing and reporting changes in AB 116 and may be preempted by federal ERISA law. Members raised questions about confidentiality, legal preemption, and whether savings would reach consumers, and the author asked for an aye vote. The committee then heard SB 378, also by Senator Wiener, which would let consumers seek civil penalties against online marketplaces that advertise illegal intoxicating hemp and unlicensed cannabis products. Supporters said online sales are undermining the licensed cannabis market and exposing children to unsafe products; opponents, including TechNet and hemp businesses, warned the bill is overbroad, could sweep in general-purpose platforms, and may raise First Amendment and dormant commerce clause concerns. The author said he would narrow the bill, remove industrial hemp references, and address strict liability and standing issues. Members generally supported the goal of protecting children and legal cannabis businesses, while asking for narrower language. SB 243 by Senator Padilla would impose guardrails on AI companion chatbots, including disclosures, anti-addictive design limits, self-harm response protocols, reporting, audits, and a private right of action. Supporters, including Common Sense Media and AI transparency advocates, said companion chatbots can intensify loneliness, manipulate users, and have been linked to self-harm risks for minors; opponents said the definitions are too broad and could capture general-purpose AI tools, and several objected to the private right of action. Members expressed strong concern about child safety but also questioned the breadth of the bill and the need for clearer standards. The committee also heard SB 522, which would preserve just-cause eviction protections for rental units destroyed by disaster and later rebuilt, and SB 259, which would restrict businesses from using device data such as hardware state or geolocation to set prices. SB 522 drew support from Los Angeles officials and tenant advocates who said rebuilt disaster housing should retain tenant protections, while landlords and Realtors opposed it as a burden on reconstruction. SB 259 was supported as a consumer protection against device-based price discrimination, but business groups opposed it as overbroad and harmful to legitimate pricing models. In both cases, members discussed the balance between consumer protection and business concerns, and the bills were held pending a quorum.

Transcript Highlights:

• Being forced in the wrong space is not safe. I am not asking for special treatment.
• </c><01:49:40.240><c> space</c><01:49:40.840><c> is</c><01:49:41.080><c> not</c> Being forced in the
• wrong space is not Being forced in the wrong space is not safe.<01:49:42.600><c> I</c><01:49:42.760><
• because women shouldn't be forced to see penises in their private spaces or have their bodies exposed
• private spaces because women shouldn't<03:01:51.080><c> be</c><03:01:51.200><c> forced</c><03:01:51.640

Committee: Senate Judiciary

Transcript Highlights:

• Birch Fort Group at Army Headquarters and Air Force Fighter Wing and Air Force Air Operations group.
• That in itself is about a little over 700 spaces.
• We have to take a lot of force structure from a lot of states.
• So I'm retired Air Force guy. My friends in the military were in uniform.
• So we're going to be down in the space coast in November. During session.

Transcript Highlights:

• Air Force reservist.
• I know Onward's Ops is in that space as well, helping in that space.
• I know Onward's Ops is in that space as well, helping in that space. So the more...
• I know Onward's Ops is in that space as well, helping in that space.
• Army and Air Force.

Summary: The Select Committee on Veterans Affairs met to hear testimony on interim charge 2, focused on military-to-civilian transition, and later on the role of the Military Veteran Peer Network and broader transition supports. The committee first heard from representatives of Midwestern State University and Wichita Falls, who described partnerships with Sheppard Air Force Base, expanded military student services, scholarship support, and the importance of helping service members connect to education, employment, and community before separation. Witnesses emphasized that successful transition is not just about finding a job, but about creating a warm handoff to local employers, colleges, civic groups, and veteran organizations, and they urged earlier outreach while service members are still on active duty. Testimony from Texas A&M University–Central Texas and the Texas A&M University System focused on the Military Talent Pipeline, credentialing, and workforce alignment. Witnesses said Texas should better capture service members’ skills earlier, improve information-sharing with employers, and expand pathways that translate military training into civilian credentials. A major recommendation was a Texas “medic/corpsman to registered nurse” pathway modeled on Wisconsin’s WISMAC program, along with broader reciprocity and bridging programs for military certifications in fields such as aircraft maintenance, trucking, and other high-demand occupations. Members also discussed the need for more staffing and resources at university veteran offices, and the value of measuring the return on state investment in veteran education benefits such as Hazelwood. The committee then heard from the Texas Veterans Commission’s Mental Health Department on the Military Veteran Peer Network. The witness described peer support coordinators and rural veteran counselors who provide warm handoffs, suicide prevention support, and counseling, especially during the first 18 months after separation, which was identified as a high-risk period. She said the network is effective but too small and needs growth, and noted barriers to base access and TAP participation. Additional testimony from a retired Army officer and transition leader stressed that Texas has many strong programs but weak coordination, and recommended using installation-specific approaches, commander engagement, consent-based data sharing, and stronger links between TAP, state resources, and local communities. A final witness from Onward Ops described upstream enrollment, risk screening, certified peer mentors, and data-sharing to proactively support separating service members; he said the current system leaves veterans to navigate stovepiped programs on their own and called for more community partners, especially in rural areas. No votes were taken during the hearing.

Transcript Highlights:

• Really in the boating space, because they are boating access funds.
• Patrick, it's a task force. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
• I'm Patrick Wright, Director of the Governor's Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force.
• version of the task force was launched way back in 2021.
• That's what the wildfire enforcement resilience task force is doing.

Summary: The subcommittee began by announcing a change in the agenda order, moving item 6 ahead of item 1 and then item 7, and noting there would be no votes taken on any items that day. Item 6 covered a proposed operational efficiencies control section for the Natural Resources Agency that would let multiple departments jointly fund landscape-scale or multi-jurisdictional projects and allow Finance to transfer climate bond funds to a lead state entity. The LAO said the proposal was reasonable but suggested the Legislature consider requiring summary notification on how it is used; Finance said it would consider that request. Item 7 focused on the 2026-27 biodiversity and nature-based solutions spending plan. Finance and the Wildlife Conservation Board described the climate bond funding for habitat restoration, wildlife crossings, public access, tribal nature-based solutions, and related work, including $111 million proposed for WCB and $30 million for Salton Sea habitat and public access projects. The LAO supported the overall approach but flagged the San Andreas Corridor Program as an area where the Legislature may want to specify geographic priorities. Members discussed the pace of Salton Sea work and whether the proposed projects would count toward disadvantaged community goals. Item 8 addressed Cal Fire’s aviation contract and staffing needs for wildfire response. Cal Fire said year-round fire activity, a larger and more complex aircraft fleet, and labor market pressures justified the proposed contract increase, including more mechanics, pilots, and maintenance support. The LAO recommended approval, saying the proposal addressed health and safety concerns. Members asked about contractor staffing, competition in the bidding process, and future technology for early fire detection and suppression. The committee then took up item 1 on golden mussel containment. Fish and Wildlife described the invasive species’ spread in the Delta, the task force and response framework, and a request for eight new positions funded by Prop. 4 to support control plans, outreach, monitoring, research, and coordination with partners and law enforcement. Members pressed the department on whether the state should fund more direct decontamination infrastructure and grants to local water managers, and on the realistic goal of containing the mussel. The chair and several members emphasized the urgency of the threat and requested an itemized breakdown of the $20 million request. The hearing then moved to a broader LAO overview of wildfire prevention and response funding, where the LAO summarized the state’s funding mix and warned that ongoing wildfire resilience funding will likely decline as one-time bond and GGRF funds are exhausted, prompting discussion of long-term funding options and the balance between prevention, suppression, and community hardening.

Transcript Highlights:

• this is common It's common sense to want to make sure that we don't allow men in women's private spaces
• It is common sense to provide a safe, separate space for both men and women in locker rooms, showers,
• Brooke was forced to share intimate private spaces, including her apartment, hotel rooms, and locker
• They brought triple the police force in that day because Brooke was threatened.
• Now, they're being forced to share small, overcrowded spaces with men, including those with violent criminal

Bills: SB15 , SB9 , SB4 , SB8 , SB60 , SB4 , SB8 , SB60 , SB4 , SB8 , SB60 , SB15 , SB9

Transcript Highlights:

• It's not forced on anyone, and that's the best part of it.
• God doesn't force but I would hate to have the, God doesn't force itself on anyone else, anyone.
• But if you don't, then, you know, it was a task force that was...
• Because right now there are laws regarding how they need to be spaced.
• She worked in the virtual school space to herself.

Summary: The Human Services Subcommittee met with a full agenda and reported all measures favorably. The committee first heard HB 1327, which would codify the Hope Florida program in state law, and HB 1329, the related public-records exemption for Hope Florida participants; both bills drew questions about oversight, duplication of services, staffing, and data privacy, and both passed 17-0 after an amendment to HB 1329. The committee then approved HB 391, allowing certified batterers intervention programs to include optional faith-based content while remaining grounded in required therapeutic models; an amendment clarified that participation in faith-based components must be strictly voluntary. Supporters argued the bill restores choice and access, while opponents raised concerns about church-state separation and uneven availability of secular alternatives; the bill passed 17-0. Members also advanced HB 1065, creating an Alzheimer’s disease awareness initiative through the Department of Elder Affairs, with broad support from members who shared personal experiences and emphasized early detection and public education. HB 1163, dealing with recovery residences, passed 12-5 after debate over local zoning authority, home rule, and whether the bill would help or hinder placement of level four recovery homes near urban cores. Several members said they supported recovery housing in principle but wanted more clarity on task force findings and local impacts before fully backing the measure. The committee next approved HB 969, which shifts evaluation of school district mental health assistance programs to OPAGA and requires reports on outcomes and effectiveness; members stressed the need to know whether substantial mental health funding is improving student outcomes. HB 1191, which decriminalizes allowing children to travel to school, play outdoors, or stay home for reasonable periods and codifies current DCF policy, passed 16-0 with support framed around parental rights and child development. Finally, HB 1207, the Tristan Murphy Act, passed 15-0 and would expand mental health diversion and treatment options, including training for first responders, a forensic hospital diversion pilot, a behavioral health data repository, and additional evaluation requirements before inmate work assignments. The meeting adjourned after all agenda bills were reported favorably.

Transcript Highlights:

• And I think it's our role to make sure that we can preserve our open space, make sure our open space.
• .. ...to make sure that we can preserve our open space, make sure our open space is preserved, but making
• The space simply doesn't exist.
• The bill does not force these spaces to be used for housing.
• right use of the space.

Bills: HB2459 , HB2480 , HB2530 , HB2129 , HB2223

Committee: House Local Government

Keywords: school siting, urban growth, education policy, zoning regulations, community planning, residential development, commercial zones, mixed-use zoning, urban planning, state regulations, public facilities district, regional aquatics, sports facilities, local government, infrastructure, agritourism, agriculture, tourism, economic development, local businesses

Transcript Highlights:

• At the highest enlisted rank of the US Air Force in the E9, kind of like a...
• He is also the president of the Oklahoma State Air and Space Forces Association.
• Air Force Space Command, where he developed and implemented security requirements for 550 land-based
• he inspected more than 16 installations, and Security Forces Manager for the 72D Security Forces Squadron
• Space Command Senior Noncommissioned Officer of the year in 1995.

Bills: HR1041 , SB137 , SB1255 , SB1226 , SB1238 , SB1258 , SB1325 , SB1460 , SB1543 , SB1730 , SB1921 , SB1733 , SB1216 , SB1256 , SB1061 , SB1534 , SB1873 , SB1653 , SB540 , SB1948

Keywords: Oklahoma, House Resolution, HR1041, Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campus, Department of Energy, DOE, advanced nuclear, nuclear energy, small modular reactors, SMRs, microreactors, energy innovation, advanced energy, energy security, economic development, job creation, workforce training, research and development, nuclear supply chain, clean energy

Transcript Highlights:

• Under this law, I would be forced to use the women's restroom in all public spaces.
• Under this law, I would be forced to use the women's restroom in all public spaces.
• And we haven't seen in the school space, in the college and university space, and the domestic violence
• shelter space, and the state correctional facility space. college and university space and the domestic
• violence shelter space and the state correctional facility space, you know, major retrofitting of facilities

Committee: House State Affairs

Transcript Highlights:

• My concern is that it's unfair because space and funds are already stretched so thin.
• We're trying to imagine a situation where the government forces the businesses to give free space to
• Depot to have an ace hardware store and their space and pay for it.
• This bill offers less of an opportunity to public school students being forced to share space already
• Our charter contracts, even when schools have space and communities even have space and community demands

Transcript Highlights:

• which would have inflated the amount of space the state would be paying for the non-academic space, not
• So, we've tried to look for amount of space the state would be paying for the non-academic space, not
• And I'm not suggesting we should force facilities.
• And I'm not suggesting we should force them to do that.
• Decisions about how to make space better.

Committee: House Public School Capital Outlay Oversight Task Force

Transcript Highlights:

• Then Governor Ducey created a task force to respond to that horrific incident.
• Million square feet of state government space.
• This has saved Arizona taxpayers more than $9 million in rental cost space.
• So that includes the rental office space, electricity, and furniture.
• Special Forces and numerous overseas deployments.

Committee: Senate Senate Health and Human Services COR

Summary: The committee first approved the January 21 minutes and then heard SB 1179, which would remove the delayed repeal date and appropriation contingency from the Developmental Disabilities Group Home Monitoring Program. Testimony from Disability Rights Arizona and program managers described the program’s monitoring and investigative work, including identified systemic concerns in group homes, while the sponsor said the effort should continue. SB 1179 received a do-pass recommendation on a 6-1 vote, with some members reserving their right to revisit the bill on the floor. The committee then took up SB 1114, appropriating $1 million for the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office to investigate behavioral health patient brokering. Witnesses, including Native advocates, described widespread recruitment of vulnerable people—especially Native Americans—into fraudulent treatment and sober-living schemes, often through social media and across state lines. Members and the sponsor framed the bill as an enforcement response to long-running abuse. SB 1114 passed 6-0. The committee also heard SB 1115, which would require AHCCCS/Access employees to work in person rather than remotely; supporters argued remote work had harmed oversight and service delivery, while Access said it would need substantial office space and warned of costs and staffing impacts. SB 1115 passed 4-3. The committee next considered SB 1051, requiring hospitals that accept Access payments to collect patients’ citizenship or immigration status on intake forms and report aggregate data to DHS. Supporters said it was a data-collection and accountability measure; opponents, including nurses and physicians, said it would deter care, undermine trust, and function as immigration surveillance. The bill passed 4-3. SB 1122, dealing with prior authorization and prepayment review for behavioral health services under the American Indian Health Plan, was amended to require a corrective action plan before 100% prepayment review; Access said it had minimal concerns with the amended version. It passed unanimously 7-0. SB 1132, a blank appropriation for a new Arizona State Hospital wing, drew testimony from families and advocates about the shortage of psychiatric beds and the effects of the Arnold v. Sarn consent decree; it passed 7-0. The committee also approved SB 1169 for graduate medical education funding, SB 1171 on dual enrollment checks between AHCCCS and exchange plans, and SB 1172 on DCS investigations and court notification, with votes ranging from 4-2 to unanimous support. Finally, the committee heard SB 1173, which would require owners and applicants for outpatient behavioral health facility licenses to be U.S. citizens or lawfully present, with an amendment clarifying lawful permanent resident status. The sponsor said the bill was intended to curb fraud tied to behavioral health licensing and patient brokering; discussion focused on whether the bill language matched that intent. The transcript ends before a final vote on SB 1173.

Transcript Highlights:

• Air Force, the E-9—kind of like a unicorn.
• He is also the president of the Oklahoma State Air and Space Forces Association.
• Security, Headquarters Air Force Space Command, where he developed and implemented security requirements
• And Security Forces Manager for the 72d Security Forces Squadron, Tinker Air Force Base, where he was
• Space Command Senior Non-Commissioned Officer of the Year in 1995.

Summary: The House convened, the roll was called, and members proceeded through the day’s order of business, including prayer, the Pledge of Allegiance, introductions, and routine floor announcements. Chaplain Ronnie Wilson delivered the invocation, and Chief Master Sergeant Walter Kula Jr., U.S. Air Force retired, was recognized as Veteran of the Day for more than 26 years of service and continued civic leadership. The House also welcomed student pilots from multiple countries training at Vance Air Force Base, social workers and social work students for Legislative, Education, and Advocacy Day, and a group of pages introduced by the Majority Leader. Several honorees were presented to the chamber, including Doctor of the Day Chanel Gray of Tallahena Hospital/Choctaw Nation Hospital, Psychologist of the Day Dr. Mary Shepard, and Nurse of the Day Robin George. Members also recognized the Edmond Memorial Bulldogs palm squad for a fifth consecutive 6A large mixed state championship and the Dover Longhorns basketball team for winning the Class B-2 state title. Additional floor remarks included birthday greetings and a poem directed at Representative Anthony Moore. The transcript does not show debate on substantive legislation or recorded votes. The only formal action reflected at the end was a motion to adjourn, and the House agreed to stand adjourned until Tuesday, March 31, 2026, at 9:30 a.m.

Transcript Highlights:

• How can we support the military and their force protection and the protection of their facilities?
• They work crimes from murder, attempted murder, rape; they're assigned to task forces.
• But in the space of UAS, or drones, as we call them, I wanted to comment or continue the conversation
• You know, even in the criminal investigation space, we now have troopers that use drones on scene at
• And so we're very proud of our troopers' efforts in that space, and it shows the utility and value of

Committee: Senate Military and Veterans Affairs, Space, and Domestic Security

Summary: The committee heard two presentations on domestic security. Deputy Commissioner David Binder of FDLE described the state’s domestic security structure, including FDLE’s coordination role, the fusion center system, regional task forces, and private-sector infrastructure partnerships. He emphasized the Domestic Security Oversight Council’s grant-ranking process and warned that federal homeland security funding has dropped sharply over time, with possible future cuts threatening fusion center analysts and other capabilities. Binder also focused on emerging threats, especially drones and counter-UAS issues, noting current legal limits on mitigation authority, concerns about tethered drones and drone use near correctional facilities and military sites, and the need for a turnkey solution if state or federal authority expands. He also highlighted FDLE’s cataloging of critical infrastructure sites through Florida Kicker and the growth of trusted private partners. Director Dave Kerner of the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles then outlined the Florida Highway Patrol’s role in domestic security. He paid tribute to a fallen sergeant and discussed FHP’s structure, criminal interdiction work, border integrity and trafficking enforcement, dispatch and communications, aviation and drone use, and immigration enforcement under 287(g). Kerner said troopers have seized large amounts of narcotics and currency this year and have arrested thousands of unlawful immigrants. He also described FHP’s involvement in operations such as Lone Star, Vigilant Sentry, and Faithful Service, and said the agency is working toward expanded counter-UAS authority through federal discussions and Sergeant Dooley’s testimony. Members expressed support for both agencies, discussed the dangers and potential benefits of drones, and the committee adjourned without objection after no public testimony was offered.

Transcript Highlights:

• We should have been a simple protected space for girlhood, but instead it has become a forced violation
• You don't get to have safe spaces.
• But girls shouldn't have to bear the discrimination of forced competition with male bodies.
• I don't want to discount the fears that some folks feel about competing in this space.
• I don't want to discount the fears that some folks feel about competing in this space.