Transcript Highlights:

• </c> consideration um as the city's request consideration um as the city's request and<00:03:33.959><
• I think my comments from the very beginning were appropriate to describe the bill.
• I think my comments from the very beginning were appropriate to describe the bill.
• I think my comments from the very beginning were appropriate to describe the bill.
• I think my comments from the very beginning were appropriate to describe the bill.

Committee: Senate Taxes

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• So any one of the members on that committee can request us to do another audit if they deem that’s appropriate
• So any one of the members on that committee can request us to do another audit if they deem that’s appropriate
• But we should reserve some time for appropriate requests.
• ><c> requests.
• </c><01:27:54.480><c> The</c> time for appropriate requests. The time for appropriate requests.

Keywords: 928, house, all

Summary: The Judiciary Committee met to hear the Legislative Budget Assistant Office’s performance audit of the New Hampshire Commission for Human Rights. Auditors said the commission was inefficient and ineffective in investigating discrimination complaints and closing cases in a timely manner during fiscal years 2020 through 2023. The report contained 25 observations; the commission fully concurred with 24 and concurred in part with one. Auditors highlighted major problems with case processing delays, inaccurate case data, lack of a case management system, weak strategic planning and risk assessment, outdated and disorganized policies, confidentiality issues, expired administrative rules, fee-setting practices, incomplete financial-interest filings, and failure to complete required reports and reconciliations. Two recommendations, involving complaint screening and conciliation, may require legislative action. Several observations focused on the commission’s intake and investigation practices. Auditors said complaints may have been screened out before docketing, potentially preventing commissioner review required by statute, and that the investigation process lacked clear rules and guidance. They also found investigators were assigned non-investigative tasks, training was inadequate, interview requirements were unclear, supervisory duties were burdensome, and confidential information was not always protected by encrypted email. The audit recommended clearer administrative rules, better internal controls, more focused staffing, a supervisory investigator position, and improved training and documentation. Commission representatives said they had already made progress on several items since the audit began, including posting overdue biennial reports and moving toward a case management system expected to go live in June. They said they were working with EEOC counterparts and legal counsel, but emphasized staffing shortages and high turnover, noting the commission currently had nine people working out of 15 authorized positions, with three investigator vacancies and a vacant paralegal position. Committee members thanked the auditors and commission staff, discussed the history of the audit request, and raised concerns about how long the recommended corrective actions might take. The committee took no vote or formal action during the hearing.

Transcript Highlights:

• Those were handled just like what came out in HAFC through grow appropriations for two years.
• Requests from the feds, their overtime pay.
• here and what their new requests are.
• If you can give me, um, so the appropriation that came over was non-reoccurring.
• Then you would appropriate it fully once you knew that.

Committee: House House Appropriations & Finance

Transcript Highlights:

• Bonta, the recommendation is do pass as amended to the Committee on Appropriations.
• And I would also add that there are incentives in the legislation.
• AB 801 is a top priority of the California Legislative Black Caucus.
• I respectfully request your aye vote.
• Do you pass or refer to the Committee on Appropriations and AB 866?

Committee: House Banking and Finance

Keywords: 988, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Persons disrupting legislative proceedings are subject to removal, arrest, or other appropriate legal
• On behalf of the Legislative Women's Caucus, I rise in support of ACR 195.
• I rise on behalf of the new California Legislative Christian Caucus.
• With that, I would respectfully request your aye vote on ACR 195.
• I will specifically speak to the parents' rights legislation.

Keywords: 988, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Okay, we have an ISP request here, an interim study proposal.
• Okay, we have an ISP request here, an interim study proposal.
• Arkansas as the state's first and only public adult charter, made possible after Arkansas passed legislation
• session, anything that's appropriated by law that needs to be funded, any new program that is Legislative
• or under their watch that are appropriated in the Public School Fund.

Summary: The House and Senate Education Committee first approved minutes from February 2 and 3, then took up an interim study proposal on adult education and the Excel Center model. Representatives from Goodwill Industries of Arkansas, the Excel Center network, and the University of Notre Dame’s Lab for Economic Opportunities testified that roughly 300,000 Arkansans over age 19 lack a high school diploma or GED, and argued that the Excel Center provides a supported diploma pathway for adults who struggle with GED testing. Witnesses highlighted wraparound services such as free child care, transportation assistance, tutoring, life coaching, and career services, and cited outcomes including high retention, growing enrollment, and research showing higher employment and earnings and lower criminal justice involvement for graduates. Committee members raised questions about the state’s role, existing adult education programs, and how the study would be structured; the motion to adopt the ISP passed, though there was some procedural disagreement about when questions should have been taken. The committee then heard a detailed adequacy funding overview from BLR staff Katie Walden and Adrian Beck on Arkansas K-12 education finance. They reviewed national funding principles and explained Arkansas’s system, including state and local revenue sources, the Public School Fund, the Educational Excellence Trust Fund, the Educational Adequacy Fund, and the Facilities Partnership Program. Staff said K-12 state and local revenues totaled $6.6 billion in 2025, with foundation funding making up the largest share of district and charter funding, followed by additional, categorical, and supplemental funds. They also explained the matrix-based foundation formula, the role of the uniform rate of tax, and how categorical and supplemental funds support areas such as alternative learning, English learners, special education high-cost cases, teacher salary equalization, declining enrollment, and student growth. Members asked several follow-up questions about how specific funding categories are defined and used, including student support staff, instructional aides, special education high-cost occurrences, ALE funding, teacher salary equalization, and the inclusion of Excel Center amounts in state-local funding totals. Staff said some of those details would be addressed in a later presentation and offered to provide additional records, including district lists and historical information. The meeting ended after the funding overview, with no additional votes or actions beyond the ISP adoption and adjournment.

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> put forward as a measured request. put forward as a measured request.
• I'm the director of legislative and political affairs, MAPE.
• :32:46.880><c> political</c> director of legislative and political director of legislative and political
• My name is Ethan Vogel, legislative director with AFSCME Council 5.
• c> with</c><00:36:37.920><c> ASME</c> Vogel, legislative director with ASME Vogel, legislative director

Committee: House Public Safety Finance and Policy

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• ITD is appropriated 1,645 employees. ITD is appropriated 1,645 employees. We're implementers.
• We're met with, again, more requests, community requests for responding to their growing needs.
• ITD is appropriated funds from federal funds and state funds, two sources.
• You'll see in the line item a request for replacement of 44 snowplows.
• It also addresses some legislation that's passed in 2015 as well as 2019.

Committee: House Transportation and Defense

Keywords: 989, all

Transcript Highlights:

• I'd like to move favorable at the appropriate time. All right.
• I don't believe there was ever a request on 870.
• It appears to be the appropriate time. The board is clear.
• Chair, acting chair, at the appropriate time, I'd like to report Yes, Mr.
• a stab at it, but I may not be an appropriate party.

Committee: Senate Insurance

Summary: The Senate Committee on Insurance met on May 6, 2026, and first reported HB 1241 favorably. That bill, by Chairman Furman, requires insurers to check with DCFS before paying certain insurance settlements to determine whether the recipient owes delinquent child support, and to withhold and remit arrears if found. DCFS explained that Louisiana already has intercepts and other collection tools, but no current mechanism for insurance settlements. Senators raised concerns about notice to obligors and about liability if insurers fail to withhold, but the bill was advanced without objection. The committee then heard HB 870, which would require health insurers and PBMs to cover lower-cost generic or biosimilar drugs when available and to use utilization management no more restrictively on those drugs. Supporters said the bill would improve access and lower patient costs by using wholesale acquisition cost as the comparison point. Opponents, including Louisiana Blue and the AFL-CIO, argued that WAC ignores rebates and net cost, could force plans to cover higher-cost biosimilars first, and could increase premiums and disrupt ERISA and fully insured plan design. The committee adopted a technical amendment set and then a second amendment set that added notice and reporting requirements tied to net cost calculations, and HB 870 was reported favorably as amended. Several other bills were moved with little or no opposition. HB 1176, concerning Medicare Advantage coverage for integrative cancer treatments such as cold cap therapy, cryotherapy, and acupuncture, was amended to change the effective date and then reported favorably. HB 1196, dealing with colorectal cancer screening follow-up colonoscopies, was also amended and reported favorably. HB 1162, a consumer protection bill requiring DOI to verify that a contractor named on a first-party property damage check is licensed in Louisiana, was amended and reported favorably. HB 826, which modernizes insurance referral rules to allow referrals by email or website address, was reported favorably. The committee also heard HB 1151 on insurer investment limits and solvency protections, and HB 1236 on pharmacy reimbursement and copay maximizer programs; both drew substantial testimony and concern, especially over retroactivity, PBM cost allocation, and whether copay maximizers shift costs to patients, but the transcript cuts off before final action on HB 1236.

Transcript Highlights:

• </c><00:13:43.399><c> in</c> that's um that's not appropriated in that's um that's not appropriated in
• This is the one that's Appropriations, the government appropriation Division II.
• </c> depending on how they made their request depending on how they made their request to<03:24:12.040
• </c><03:36:13.920><c> additional</c> governor did appropriate additional governor did appropriate additional
• </c><03:48:13.159><c> is</c> talked about so that appropriation is talked about so that appropriation

Keywords: 928, house, all

Summary: The committee first took up HB 129, which would redefine “evidence-based” in public education. The Department of Education testified that the bill’s definition would conflict with federal definitions and be very restrictive, potentially affecting a wide range of instructional methods, curriculum materials, teacher training, civics requirements, suicide prevention training, and other programs. The department said the bill could force a broad overhaul of school practices, create local implementation burdens, and require at least one new state position, with a fiscal note estimating roughly $118,000 in FY 2026 rising in later years. Members also raised concerns about possible impacts on federal pass-through funding and whether the bill was workable. Representative Papovich moved to retain HB 129, and the motion passed 7-0. The committee then heard HB 133, a Department of Safety/DMV bill involving follow-up when a person votes using an out-of-state license or non-driver ID and then does not obtain a New Hampshire credential within the statutory timeframe. DMV officials said the bill would require a $40,000 technology upgrade plus a new full-time position, and that the fiscal note did not include postage or fully account for the manual work needed to match records, send notices, and review responses. They said the proposal also raised broader tracking issues because it would apply not only to voters but to anyone who had not obtained a New Hampshire license within 60 days, and they questioned whether DMV was the proper agency to make those inquiries. Committee members pressed the department on how the 60-day clock would be determined, whether the bill could amount to a kind of poll tax or raise privacy concerns, and whether voter ID cards or other exceptions would avoid that problem. The department explained that New Hampshire offers a free voter identification card through town clerks for people without a license or state ID, but said the bill did not exempt those cards and that the DMV would still be asked to investigate status after voting. Officials also said the bill would be difficult to enforce, that some cases would be ambiguous, and that any response from the DMV would likely amount to a request for information rather than an enforceable consequence. No vote on HB 133 was taken in the portion provided.

Transcript Highlights:

• .<00:06:47.600><c> Um,</c> legislation.
• Um, legislation.
• </c> legislation like this? legislation like this? &gt;&gt; 100%. &gt;&gt; 100%. &gt;&gt; 100%.
• </c> We cannot pass legislation like this. We cannot pass legislation like this.
• </c> behind bringing this legislation behind bringing this legislation forward,<01:38:40.239><c> I</c

Committee: Senate Education

Keywords: 1191, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• We're not getting as much reach as I would like, so I respectfully request all legislators to follow
• ><c> all</c> So I respectfully request all So I respectfully request all legislators<00:07:52.479><c>
• We're not requesting any state appropriation, just raising the ceiling for us to expend more federal
• </c> requesting any um state appropriation. requesting any um state appropriation. uh<01:09:10.319><c
• . requests. requests.

Keywords: 912, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Unanimous consent has been requested to discuss previous legislation. Any objection?
• That legislation was a bit different. That legislation was not a DOGE Task Force recommendation.
• Unanimous consent has been requested to discuss previous legislation. Any objection?
• Unanimous consent has been requested to discuss previous legislation. Any objection?
• This focus on this Hispanic Commission is not justified or appropriate and not really the kind of legislation

Committee: House Revenue and Taxation

Keywords: 989, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Persons disrupting legislative proceedings are subject to removal, arrest, or other appropriate legal
• I request unanimous consent to suspend Assembly Rule 4. Good morning, Mr. Speaker.
• With that, respectfully request your aye vote on AB 107. Thank you.
• With that, I respectfully request your aye vote on AB 117. Thank you, Assembly Member Gabriel.
• All requests for adjournment in memory will be deemed read and printed in the journal.

Keywords: 988, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• modest penalties of no less than $1,000 when financial institutions fail to comply with the lawful request
• The Chair of the Appropriations Committee can also, of course, call this bill into Appropriations, she
• Patterson, consent to Appropriations. Kalra, aye. Kalra, aye. Massito, aye. Mascito, aye.
• What's happening in our community to understand why this legislation is necessary.
• They brought it to their local legislator.

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:

• We'll introduce him when he comes in and embarrass him appropriately for being late.
• And the request at the time, last time I was here, was that we'll send a letter out to the judges asking
• So the Chief Justice did that at my request.
• The agenda was just in response to the request of the commission asking for feedback from the judges,
• So the definite, the plain language is a request for judgment on the pleadings.

Keywords: Code Commission, 976, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> request for it in our budget. request for it in our budget. Okay. Good. Thank you. Questions.
• </c> appropriate this money and also request appropriate this money and also request that that that the
• ><c> and</c> appropriation was considered and appropriation was considered and approved<00:05:56.680>
• So, I obviously support that legislation.
• Um I think it's an legislation.

Committee: Senate Finance

Keywords: 1191, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• The task force must be chaired by a legislator, and staff support must be provided by legislative staff
• The two appointed legislative members with the most years of legislative service must jointly set an
• The fiscal note was not requested, and I’m happy to take questions.”
• It’s essentially a letter that makes a request to a specific agency.
• I sit on some boards outside of the legislature as a legislator.

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.

Transcript Highlights:

• The task force must be chaired by a legislator, and staff support must be provided by legislative staff
• The two appointed legislative members with the most years of legislative service must jointly set an
• The fiscal note was not requested, and I’m happy to take questions.”
• It’s essentially a letter that makes a request to a specific agency.
• I sit on some boards outside of the legislature as a legislator...”

Bills: HB2131 , HB2221 , HJM4009 , HB2619

Committee: House Agriculture & Natural Resources

Keywords: sea lion, predation control, salmon preservation, fishing industry, voluntary donations, ungulate, wildlife conservation, ecosystem management, population sustainability, environmental impact, wildfire, federal response, community protection, natural resources, firefighter safety, agriculture, regulations, farming, compliance, economic impact

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> intern at the state legislator intern at the state legislator legislature,<00:04:42.000><c> I've
• Um, I hope you all have the corrected... and other legislative enactments and other legislative enactments
• That's row amendment on as requested.
• The second division. appropriate amendment left. And and in appropriate amendment left.
• Concurrence requests. Let's read it in while you're getting situated. Senate concurrence request.

Keywords: 916, all