Video & Transcript : 'spent grain' :

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WA

Washington 2025-2026 Regular Session

House Environment & Energy Jan 15th, 2026

Transcript Highlights:
  • things out of the stomach of cows, because literally grazing animals will eat whatever's near their grain
  • start my testimony by first and foremost thanking the over 65 individuals and organizations that have spent
  • start my testimony by first and foremost thanking the over 65 individuals and organizations that have spent
  • We really do appreciate the time that she has spent listening to us and our concerns and helping shift
Summary: The committee heard testimony on several waste and recycling bills. House Bill 2212 would require microfiber filters on commercial and industrial washing machines, with Ecology authorized to consider residential machine rules later if cost thresholds are met. Supporters, including the sponsor, students, environmental advocates, and scientists, said washing machines are a major source of microplastics and that filtration is a practical way to reduce pollution before it reaches waterways and human bodies. Opponents, including appliance manufacturers, laundromat operators, business groups, and Ecology staff, raised concerns about technical feasibility, worker safety, cost, and the lack of third-party certification for commercial systems. Ecology said the science is emerging and the proposal would create new agency work and costs. No vote was taken. House Bill 2233 would tighten the state’s carry-out bag laws by banning reusable film plastic bags, raising the paper bag pass-through charge to 20 cents, and extending certain requirements to manufacturers, distributors, and third-party sales platforms, while preserving protections for food assistance cardholders. Supporters argued the current thicker-bag approach has not reduced plastic waste, that plastic bags contribute to litter and microplastics, and that a stronger ban would better protect waterways and wildlife. Opponents from grocery, retail, hospitality, paper, and business groups argued the bill would raise consumer costs, create checkout and food-safety problems, and add operational complexity; some also said the state should wait to see the effects of the recent fee increase. Several local government and environmental witnesses supported the bill. No final action was taken. House Bill 1420 would establish an extended producer responsibility program for textiles and apparel, requiring producers to form a producer responsibility organization to manage collection, reuse, repair, recycling, and related infrastructure. The sponsor described the bill as a response to textile waste, overconsumption, and landfill impacts, and said the proposal had been refined through extensive stakeholder work. Supporters from environmental groups, local governments, Ecology, counties, Goodwill, and circular-economy organizations said textiles are a growing waste stream and that producer responsibility could improve collection, reduce dumping, and support repair and reuse. Opponents from business, retail, hospitality, apparel, and medical-device groups raised concerns about complexity, consumer and compliance costs, governance, supply-chain reporting, and possible unintended coverage of uniforms or medical products. The hearing also included a State Board of Health health impact review noting likely increased awareness and collection but limited evidence on large-scale reuse and recycling outcomes. No vote was taken.
NH

New Hampshire 2026 Regular Session

Senate Session (01/29/2026)

New Hampshire Senate Floor Meeting

Transcript Highlights:
  • We spent a lot of time and effort.
  • I've spent 14 years here in the legislature, between the House and the Senate.
  • </c> is going to happen with a grain of salt. is going to happen with a grain of salt.
  • Since 2014, we've spent over $223 million in medication-assisted treatment. evidence-based tool.
  • ><c> $223</c> 2014, we've spent over $223 2014, we've spent over $223 million<02:16:32.479><c> in</c>
Keywords: 1191, senate, all
MA

Massachusetts 2025-2026 Regular Session

Joint Committee on Environment and Natural Resources Jun 21st, 2026 at 01:00 pm

Joint Committee on Environment and Natural Resources

Transcript Highlights:
  • I spent hours in the many tributaries of the Charles last summer and fall, from the Muddy River in Boston
  • Working for the state and now Mass Audubon, I've spent the past two decades as a restoration practitioner
  • I've spent the last 35 years working as a professional geologist dealing with groundwater and water quality
  • Smaller grain sizes of silica, known as respirable silica, are carcinogenic, meaning they cause cancer
  • no confining layer above the water table, where the materials overlying the water table are coarse-grained
Keywords: 995, all
Summary: The hearing covered a broad set of environmental and water-related bills, with much of the testimony focused on blue economy and circular economy proposals, drought management, drinking water safety, flood resilience, and water infrastructure funding. Supporters of bills such as H. 987 and H. 988 described grant programs for blue economy workforce development, research, small businesses, and public education about a circular economy. Other speakers backed measures on coastal erosion research, recreational boating dredging, cranberry water-right transfers, sand mining oversight, and a voucher program for home water filtration in PFAS-impacted communities. Several elected officials and advocates also urged passage of bills to require private well testing, improve school drinking water safety, and address sand mining pollution and PFAS contamination. Water supply and drought issues drew extensive testimony. Senator Eldridge and others supported legislation to let the state, through DEP and the drought management task force, impose regional water-use restrictions during droughts and make the task force permanent in statute. Advocates from watershed groups, farms, and environmental organizations said the current town-by-town approach is inconsistent and ineffective, and they described drought impacts on rivers, farms, private wells, and wildfire risk. A related bill on private wells was supported as a way to help homeowners test and remediate contaminated wells, especially in rural areas without public water. The committee also heard testimony on a bill to allow the Lynnfield Water District to join the MWRA, with local officials saying the move would help address PFAS and other contamination and improve supply reliability. Another major panel supported a water infrastructure funding bill, arguing that aging drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater systems need major new investment, including support for PFAS treatment, sewer rate relief, biosolids research, and regional interconnections. Members asked about costs, funding sources, and the relationship to existing revolving loan funds; witnesses said the bill would need to be paired with future bond funding and new revenue ideas. No votes were taken during the hearing, and the chairs repeatedly invited written testimony and noted the large number of speakers.
AZ

Arizona 2026 Regular Session

01/28/2026 - Senate Health and Human Services

Senate Health and Human Services COR

Transcript Highlights:
  • This is so that Arizonans know how much is being spent in hospitals for illegal aliens.
  • This is so that Arizonans know how much is being spent in hospitals for illegal aliens.
  • It's already happening, and I'm not sure why we want to find out how much money is spent on treating
  • He spent many days at the screening center because of overcrowding.
  • I spent eight years in short-term acute care behavioral health hospitals.
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.
NH

New Hampshire 2025 Regular Session

House Fish and Game and Marine Resources (02/05/2025)

Fish and Game and Marine Resources

Transcript Highlights:
  • </c> the medium I had two canines that spent the medium I had two canines that spent three<01:00:35.440
  • Representative Stone: What is the foot-pound velocity in the grain of the bullet?
  • </c> the round the Grain in the grain bullet the round the Grain in the grain bullet yeah<02:26:08.880
  • We've spent more time educating people than pinching them, because a lot of people violating the law
  • We spent over a year on this to make it fair and use it as a deterrent towards poaching.
Keywords: 1189, house, all
MN

Minnesota 2025-2026 Regular Session

House Environment and Natural Resources Finance and Policy Committee 2/19/26

Environment and Natural Resources Finance and Policy

Transcript Highlights:
  • This money has been spent, and unfortunately the work will slow down in this area, but it has been really
  • I am the vice president of the environmental promotion office at Dyken Applied Americas, and I've spent
  • </c> Dyken Applied Americas and I've spent Dyken Applied Americas and I've spent more<00:52:58.000><c
  • Is the food being uptake into the grains or the products that are being done off of that?
  • or the products that are into the grains or the products that are being<01:17:44.640><c> done</c><01
Keywords: 1183, house
OK

Oklahoma 2026 Regular Session

Revenue and Taxation Apr 13th, 2026

Revenue and Taxation

Transcript Highlights:
  • If they are reciprocal states, I'm thinking my parents in Illinois, when they go and buy a grain of,
Summary: The Revenue and Taxation Committee met and first laid over House Bill 15.9 to the next meeting. The committee then unanimously advanced an executive nomination, James Burleson to the Oklahoma Tax Commission, after brief testimony from Sen. Pugh and Burleson’s comments about his private-sector, nonprofit, and community experience and desire to serve the state. Members then considered several tax-related bills. House Bill 3986, expanding eligibility for the 24-month gross production tax exemption for wells completed using recycled water, passed 10-1 after questions about whether the change was retroactive. House Bill 3548, which would exempt small child-run businesses from certain taxes and permits up to a $1,000 gross-revenue threshold, passed 11-0 after questions focused on enforcement and adult involvement. House Bill 3661, removing the sunset on the forestry equipment sales tax exemption, passed 8-3 despite concerns about the lack of hard data supporting the incentive’s continuation. The committee also passed House Bill 4346, creating reciprocity for agricultural sales tax exemptions for neighboring states, after discussion about verification methods, fraud prevention, and whether the Oklahoma Tax Commission could track out-of-state buyers; the bill passed 8-3. House Bill 3075, the “Oklahoma Common Sense Act” dealing with a post-penny environment and giving agencies and political subdivisions more time to update point-of-sale systems, was amended to set an effective date of November 1, 2026, and then passed 11-0. Finally, House Bill 4273, clarifying that certain R1 university aerospace research employees qualify for an aerospace tax credit, passed 6-5 after debate over whether the credit could create a broader domino effect for other professors and fields. The chair announced the committee would likely meet again the following Monday for its last meeting of the year, and then adjourned.
WA

Washington 2025-2026 Regular Session

House Floor Session Jan 15th, 2026 at 10:30 am

Washington House Floor Meeting

WA

Washington 2025-2026 Regular Session

House Floor Session Jan 15th, 2026

Washington House Floor Meeting

Transcript Highlights:
  • This bill, however well-intended, adds one more grain of sand onto the scales of affordability.
Summary: The House opened with the Pledge of Allegiance and a prayer, approved the prior day’s minutes, and announced caucuses before moving through introductions, committee reports, and second reading bills. The chamber considered three bills on second reading: HB 1175, allowing small business establishments in residential zones; HB 1376, allowing voluntary prepayment of capital gains tax up to six months early; and HB 1500, concerning resale certificates for units in common interest communities. HB 1175 received Amendment 1461, which added a population-estimate reference for small communities, and then passed 94-2. HB 1376 passed 97-0 after supporters said it would let taxpayers capture a federal deduction by paying earlier, while still preserving state revenue. HB 1500 received a technical striking amendment updating condo-law language and then passed 85-12; supporters said it would improve access to complete resale certificates for condo sales, while some members raised concerns about added regulation and costs. The House then took up third reading bills. Substitute HB 1302, which would let local governments waive utility connection charges for certain green technology or industrial symbiosis projects, passed 76-21 after supporters emphasized environmental benefits and opponents warned it could shift costs to other ratepayers. HB 1796, allowing school districts to bond against capital levy collections to speed projects and reduce inflationary costs, passed 78-19; supporters said it would save taxpayers money and help districts complete needed construction sooner, while opponents argued it could bypass voter intent and increase indebtedness without renewed approval. Finally, Substitute HB 1980 was returned to second reading for a striking amendment, which was adopted, and then passed 97-0. Supporters described it as a pilot program to help employers and transit agencies work together to move workers more efficiently in congested areas, using existing transit/HOV infrastructure. The House also re-referred HJM 4010 and HB 2402 to different committees, then adjourned until the following Friday morning.
FL
Transcript Highlights:
  • I graduated from Florida State College of Law and have spent 20 years practicing law here in Santa Rosa
  • I spent my career investing in the young people of our region, and I am passionate about it, and working
  • something that, as you know, it's gotten a heck of a lot of publicity, and we've been going against the grain
  • So this is a very serious commitment, and I appreciate your indulgence in the time that we have spent
  • So this is a very serious commitment, and I appreciate your indulgence in the time that we have spent
Summary: The committee on Higher Education Appropriations heard and favorably reported two bills: SB 1570, which revives the former Project Leo program to help locate missing persons with special needs through voluntary tracking devices and coordination with sheriff’s offices, and CS/SB 1376, which creates a grant program to support genetic counseling education in response to a statewide shortage of genetic counselors. Both bills drew supportive comments, with the genetic counseling bill also receiving public support from a university representative. The committee then took up a large slate of confirmations. It first approved a block of reappointments to various university and college boards of trustees, including institutions such as UWF, Broward College, Chipola College, FIU, Pasco-Hernando, Polk State, St. Petersburg College, Valencia, FAMU, FAU, UCF, FSU, New College, UNF, USF, and Broward College. It then heard from numerous new appointees and some requested reappointments, many of whom emphasized workforce training, nursing, military and veteran support, dual enrollment, and local economic development as priorities for their institutions. Several nominees highlighted their personal ties to the schools and communities they would serve, including appointees to Pensacola State, Polk State, St. Petersburg College, UNF, UWF, FIU, the College of the Florida Keys, Valencia College, and Chipola College. Committee members repeatedly asked about nursing NCLEX pass rates, workforce alignment, and institutional growth. One reappointment, Thomas Zachary Smith to the UWF board, was pulled from the block for separate questioning about his past public comments and his role in Project 2025; he said he would serve in his personal capacity and treat all students equally. The committee also separately heard from a Florida Poly reappointment, I. Shapiro, who was questioned about prior remarks regarding race and Supreme Court nominations, and from a New College reappointment, Mark Bowerlaine, who described campus improvements and enrollment growth. The meeting ended amid ongoing confirmation processing and separate votes on the remaining nominees.
TX
Transcript Highlights:
  • allowing it to be. done lightly or indiscriminately and cause a lot of time and trouble and money to be spent
  • That doesn't even include the $133 per day that can be spent on spouses, children, and their staff, each
  • But the public will never know how much is spent to wine and dine their legislators because as long as
  • It was a wonderful time, and many of you sometimes don't know the history of people who have spent some
  • Grains, lots of good ideas. And when we all put them together, what a wonderful world this will be.
Bills: HB18 , SB 54 , SB 10 , HR76 , HR77 , HR78 , HR82 , HR83 , HR88 , HR89 , HR93 , HR94 , HR95 , HR98 , HR101 , HR102 , HR104 , HR105 , HR107 , HR108 , HR109 , HR110 , HR111 , HR112 , HR113 , HR123 , HR125 , HR79 , HR80 , HR81 , HR84 , HR85 , HR86 , HR87 , HR90 , HR91 , HR92 , HR96 , HR97 , HR100 , HR103 , HR106 , HR114 , HR115 , HR116 , HR117 , HR118 , HR119 , HR120 , HR121 , HR122 , HR124 , HB18 , SB54 , SB10 , HB8
NM

New Mexico 2025 Regular Session

IC - Legislative Health and Human Services Nov 5th, 2025

Legislative Health & Human Services Committee

Transcript Highlights:
  • But as of September 30th, they have not spent any of that approximate $25 million.
  • Is money not being spent in the program being rolled out the way that it should be?
  • And it's not spent because it's just sitting there. And so that's frustrating.
  • And so we have to treat where we rank in the states with a grain of salt.
  • Can be spent and how it can be spent in a good way.
FL

Florida 2025 Regular Session

House in Session Apr 23rd, 2025

Florida House Floor Meeting

Transcript Highlights:
  • We don't know if the money is being wasted, if the dollars are being spent well.
  • There is so much that could be done to ensure the tax dollars are being spent wisely, that the parents
  • I spent 10 years in the classroom teaching American history; no one is doing that.
  • This is not someone who spent four years trained.
  • in possession of one grain of the drug.
NH
Transcript Highlights:
  • There is no additional money being spent; it all comes out of the one fund.
  • it's all coming out of the being spent it's all coming out of the One<00:26:56.679><c> Fund</c><00:26
  • </c><01:21:48.480><c> uh</c><01:21:48.760><c> about</c> average they spent uh about average they spent
  • </c> It's okay to sell grain alcohol or high-content liquor in the stores, and the state does that as
  • No one's saying, well, they sell grain alcohol, that's killing people.
Keywords: 928, house, all
Summary: The committee held a public hearing on House Bill 451, which would create a postconsumer paint stewardship program in New Hampshire. Prime sponsor Representative Karen Ebel described the bill as a bipartisan, broadly supported model based on PaintCare programs used in other states. She said consumers and businesses could drop off leftover paint at participating retailers or municipal household hazardous waste sites, with the paint then collected and recycled by the stewardship organization. She emphasized that the program is intended to reduce landfill disposal, improper dumping, and contamination of groundwater and soil, while also helping municipalities save on hazardous waste handling costs. Members asked several questions about how the program would work and how it would be funded. Ebel explained that the program would be financed by a small fee charged at the point of sale on paint products, not a general sales tax, and that retailers could either list it separately or roll it into the price. She said the fee would cover the Department of Environmental Services’ administrative costs, which were described as minimal, and that the program’s structure was developed with DES and industry input. Questions also addressed whether cans would be recycled and how collected paint would be processed; Ebel said the ACA and PaintCare representatives could provide more detail, but that the paint and containers would be handled through recycling or other approved disposal methods rather than landfilled. Representative Judy Aron, a co-sponsor and chair of the House Environment and Agriculture Committee, testified in support, saying the bill had been developed over several years with stakeholders and would keep toxic paint out of landfills while saving municipalities and taxpayers money. Representative Peter Bixby, the ranking member of Environment and Agriculture, also supported the bill, saying his committee had heard it many times and that it had strong bipartisan enthusiasm. No vote was taken during the hearing.
WA
Transcript Highlights:
  • It was very dense and unhealthy, and we have spent, as a community, we came together as different Dense
  • and unhealthy, and we have spent, as a community, we came together as different cooperators to change
  • Our research has shown that every dollar spent on mitigation saves $8.14 in state funds.
  • Again, the amount that was spent was a quarter of a percent of that.
  • You can't reimburse nights spent listening for trouble instead of sleeping.
Summary: The committee heard public testimony on House Bill 2619, which would create a joint legislative task force to review and recommend ways to reduce regulatory burdens in agriculture, and on House Joint Memorial 4009, which asks Congress to ensure federal wildfire response agencies remain capable of protecting communities, natural resources, and firefighter safety. On HB 2619, the prime sponsor and supporters from the Washington State Department of Agriculture, cattle, wheat, potato, onion, and dairy interests said the bill responds to farm stress and suicide concerns by examining regulatory overload; WSDA supported the concept but noted a fiscal note, and members discussed whether the task force scope and cost could be reduced before policy cutoff. On HJM 4009, staff and the sponsor described the memorial as a request for stronger federal wildfire capacity and coordination, with testimony from tribes, counties, forest landowners, conservation groups, and public employees emphasizing wildfire risk, smoke impacts, and the importance of federal-state cooperation; the committee also repeatedly tied the memorial to support for state wildfire funding under 1168 and heard broad support for restoring that funding. The committee then took up House Bill 2221, which would require the Department of Fish and Wildlife to designate at-risk ungulate populations and begin predator mitigation when certain population declines occur, while also requiring annual reporting and white-tailed deer surveys. The sponsor argued the bill addresses rapidly declining deer and elk herds, predator pressure, food security, and rural economies in northeast Washington. Supporters included some local residents, ranchers, sheriffs, county officials, and the Colville Tribes, who said predators, livestock conflicts, and reduced hunting opportunity are harming communities and that the state should act more aggressively. Opponents included WDFW staff, Washington Wildlife First, the Sierra Club, the Animal Legal Defense Fund, and other conservation voices, who said the bill is not scientifically supported, would be costly, and wrongly blames predators rather than habitat, forage, weather, disease, and vehicle collisions; several said predator control would have limited value and could undermine wolf recovery. Some agricultural and sportsmen groups supported the bill in principle but asked for amendments, especially to remove or revise the in-state wolf translocation provision. No final votes or executive action were taken in the hearing.
CA

California 2025-2026 Regular Session

Assembly Floor Session Jul 14th, 2025

California House Floor Meeting

Transcript Highlights:
  • father's legacy, Harris Ranch Beef Company experienced tremendous growth, delivering superior-quality, grain-fed
  • had some fun doing it too, and he had an amazing ranch and restaurant out there off of I-5, and I spent
Summary: The Assembly convened after a quorum call, adopted the previous day’s journal, and handled several procedural motions, including suspending rules to allow committee notices and moving some bills and items on and off the file. Members also introduced a number of guests and fellows on the floor, including Equality California Comcast Fellows, tribal youth visitors, interns, local officials, and community representatives. On the floor file, the Assembly concurred in Senate amendments to AB 1216 (TK-12 omnibus education technical changes), AB 377 (high-speed rail), and AB 951 (health care coverage), and adopted ACR 103 declaring July 14-18, 2025 as California Western Monarch Protection Week. The body also adopted AJR 18, a resolution calling for an official legislative apology to California Native Americans for historic injustices and affirming support for healing and reconciliation, and ACR 71 designating a portion of State Route 101 as the Little Saigon Freeway. Each of these measures drew supportive remarks from multiple members, and co-author rolls were opened before final adoption. The Assembly also adopted SCR 66 proclaiming Law Day, after a lengthy partisan debate over the rule of law, executive power, and recent federal and state actions; the resolution was ultimately adopted by voice vote after 51 co-authors were added. Members then adopted SJR 3 urging Congress to reverse SNAP cuts and protect CalFresh benefits, with debate focused on food insecurity, fraud, work requirements, and the impact on low-income Californians; the resolution passed with 69 ayes and no noes after 70 co-authors were added. SB 757, authorizing local governments to use nuisance abatement liens or special assessments to collect abatement costs, also passed 68-0, and ACR 94 on anti-microbial resistance was adopted on the consent calendar. The session concluded with adjournments in memory honoring Jane Day, agricultural leader John C. Harris, and Willie Earl Arno, followed by announcements of committee meetings and the schedule for the next floor session. The Assembly adjourned until Thursday, July 17, 2025, at 9 a.m.
CA
Transcript Highlights:
  • We recommend requiring funds be spent only at eligible school sites.
  • Our school meals are standards-based; they include a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grain-rich
Keywords: 988, house, all
NH

New Hampshire 2025 Regular Session

House Education Funding (01/28/2025)

Transcript Highlights:
  • </c> $600 and you accepted it and you spent $600 and you accepted it and you spent it<01:10:52.400><c
  • if you've ever spent time with a<01:45:00.599><c> hungry</c><01:45:01.040><c> child</c><01:45:01.719
  • The Cinnamon Toast Crunch at the school is actually 50% or more whole grain.
  • The Cinnamon Toast Crunch at the school is actually 50% or more whole grain.
  • The Cinnamon Toast Crunch that is at the school is actually 50% or more whole grain.
Keywords: 928, house, all
Summary: The committee took up HB 651, a school-funding bill that would raise the base cost of an adequate education and increase differentiated aid for students in poverty, English language learners, and special education. The chair opened with housekeeping notices about parking and eating in committee spaces, and noted a revised fiscal note would be distributed. Representative David Luneau presented the bill as part of a broader package of public school funding measures, explaining that HB 651 builds on HB 550 and is intended to respond to court rulings and the ongoing school-funding litigation by adjusting both the base adequacy amount and equity-based funding factors. Luneau said the bill would raise the state’s adequacy grant from about $4,100 to $7,351 per student and increase differentiated aid, while also updating statutory language so future recalculations include the court-identified resource elements. He argued the measure is about fairness and shifting more of the burden from local property taxpayers to the state, not about increasing overall education spending. He reviewed fiscal-note figures indicating the bill would add roughly $576 million to the state share of school funding, bringing the total state share to about $1.65 billion, and said the note also mentions possible effects on charter schools and vouchers. Committee members asked about the evidence supporting higher costs for low-income and English learner students, how long ESL funding should continue, why free-and-reduced-lunch aid remains higher than special education aid, whether the formula is based on enrollment or average daily membership, and whether the bill is truly equitable across districts of different sizes and needs. Luneau and later witness Zach Shen of the New Hampshire School Funding Fairness Project said the bill is supported by research and court findings, that the current formula relies heavily on local property taxes, and that shifting more funding to the state would reduce property-tax pressure and help address disparities among districts. Shen also cited broad public support for the related HB 550 testimony and said HB 651 is intended as a step toward a more equitable funding system. No vote or final action was taken in the portion provided.
OK

Oklahoma 2026 Regular Session

Senate Legislative Session Feb 24th, 2026

Oklahoma Senate Floor Meeting

Transcript Highlights:
  • I wanted to point out nearly three-fourths of Oklahoma's grain products are made from wheat flour, and
Summary: The Senate convened with a quorum, opened with prayer, and recognized the nurse of the day, Michelle Bradshaw, along with several gallery guests and pages. The chamber then took up Senate Concurrent Resolution 15, recognizing February 24 as World Spay Day to highlight pet overpopulation and the importance of spay and neuter programs; the resolution was adopted without debate. The main floor debate centered on House Bill 2786, a supplemental appropriation of $19,660,770 for the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services to close out FY25 and cover statutory and contractual obligations, including Medicaid/Title 19-related payments. Senator Kurt raised repeated concerns that the supplemental did not restore funding for substance use providers, uncompensated care, or crisis services that had been cut or left unpaid, while Senator Rosino argued the bill only covered amounts the state was legally required to pay and reflected the department’s verified needs. The Joint Committee report was adopted, and HB 2786 passed 38-10 and was then passed as an emergency measure. The Senate also passed House Bill 2787, a supplemental for the State Department of Health tied to legacy contracts associated with “Choosing Childbirth,” despite criticism from Senator Kurt that the money could have gone to direct mental health services. The chamber then advanced and passed Senate Bill 1525, raising the threshold for the Tourism and Recreation Department to contract with private entities for a tourism conference from $25,000 to $75,000, and Senate Bill 2011, adding contracted employees of county detention facilities to a protected class list. Senate Bill 2159, designating wheat as the official state crop, also passed. The Senate adjourned until Wednesday, February 25 at 1:30 p.m.