Transcript Highlights:

• emissions reduction program.
• the methane emissions Reduction programs the methane emissions Reduction Program<02:28:48.160><c> and
• We have a punitive program.
• This is a program that is working.
• </c> the methane emission Reduction Program the methane emission Reduction Program will<03:22:37.479>

Keywords: U.S. House of Representatives Floor Proceedings on Wednesday, February 26, 2025, 1012, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• This is another program that's funded outside of CCSNH's budget, and it's an ongoing program which he
• </c> because we had more kids in the program because we had more kids in the program and<00:56:13.839
• </c><03:24:01.040><c> for</c> esta 747 establishing a program for esta 747 establishing a program for
• accounts programs.
• <03:47:50.720><c> yes</c> programs yes programs yes representes<03:47:52.800><c> but</c><03:47:52.960

Keywords: 928, house, all

Summary: The Education Funding Committee met in executive session and first took up HB 193, which limits the maximum credits per course eligible for the Dual and Concurrent Enrollment Program. Representative Ladd said the bill clarifies that eligible courses may not exceed four credits and was requested by the community college system. Representative Earth offered an amendment to make the bill effective on passage, which the committee adopted 18-0. The committee then approved HB 193 as amended by an 18-0 OTPA vote and placed it on the consent calendar. The committee next retained HB 295, concerning School Building Aid program funds, after Representative Spillsbury said the building aid bills were complex and needed more work. The motion to retain passed 18-0, with the chair explaining that retained bills can be revisited later and that related language could be moved among building aid bills. HB 354 was not acted on because the chair said the Department of Education and others had suggested possible changes that should be worked out first. HB 366, another school building aid bill, was also retained 18-0 for the same reasons as HB 295. The committee then considered HB 494, which funds the math learning communities program. Representative Earth offered an amendment to flat-fund the program, reducing the proposed increase by a net $50,000 and keeping funding at current levels for the biennium. After discussion about budget pressures and the program’s role in supporting math instruction and professional development, the amendment passed 18-0, and the bill as amended was approved 18-0 and placed on consent. Finally, the committee took up HB 515, which would repeal charter public school eligibility for state school building aid. Representative Popovici-Muller moved inexpedient to legislate, arguing charter schools should not be treated differently from other public schools, while Representatives Luno and Damon opposed the motion, saying charter schools differ in governance and financial risk and should not receive limited state building aid. The motion failed 10-8, so HB 515 was sent to the regular calendar. The committee assigned Representative Damon to the minority report and Representative Popovici-Muller to the majority report, with a noon deadline the next day. The committee then began HB 716, an appropriation for the dual and concurrent enrollment program. Representative Ladd described the program as a successful affordability measure that saves families money and supports college access. Representative Earth offered an amendment to flat-fund the program at current levels, reducing the proposed increase by $500,000 in each year of the biennium. Shannon Reed of the Community College System said the change could limit enrollment or the number of funded courses, though students could still take additional courses at their own expense. Representative Ladd explained the program’s tuition structure and said the funding would help meet demand; the transcript cuts off before the final vote on HB 716.

Transcript Highlights:

• The first one is early intervention day program, we call it EIDD.
• First one is early intervention day program, we call it EIDD.
• And then second one is adult day program.
• And about 38% attend an adult day program. ...within the DDPA.
• You hope to get into an ABA program.

Committee: All TASK FORCE ON AUTISM

Summary: The Arkansas Legislative Autism Task Force approved the April 1, 2026 meeting minutes and discussed several vacant membership slots, including positions tied to the Arkansas Psychology Board, Arkansas Blue Cross Blue Shield, UAMS, and parent or guardian appointments. Members said they would try to fill the vacancies and, if not, include the issue in the legislative report and consider statutory changes in the next General Assembly. The task force then heard from the Developmental Disabilities Provider Association and Civitan Services about DDPA’s role in supporting 80 provider organizations serving more than 13,000 children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities across 75 counties. They described services such as early intervention day programs, adult day programs, supported employment, intermediate care facilities, work activities, and community/residential waiver services, and said autism falls within the populations they serve. They also shared survey information on services used by older adults with IDD and offered contact information for providers. Members also heard a proposal to amend Act 656 of 2021 to add licensed psychological practitioners as qualified providers for autism waiver-related evaluations. The presenter argued this would reduce wait times, avoid duplicate assessments, and help families access services sooner, while noting that Arkansas Medicaid already pays for some of these evaluations. Task force members and Dr. Scott discussed the roles of psychologists, speech-language pathologists, and the possibility of using training or board oversight to ensure evaluators are properly qualified, with some noting that speech pathologists’ inclusion has historical and clinical roots. The task force also said it still needs a future discussion on fraud, plans to invite the Attorney General’s office, and wants to identify priorities for the 2027 session before adjourning.

Transcript Highlights:

• So that But, Rendered in the form of employee hours donated to such programs.
• Economic Development, DED, they administer the funds, but DNR administers the program.
• DNR administers the program. Yeah.
• And if so, if it affects this particular program, it would clearly need to be revisited.
• I am fortunate because my school has a well-resourced program and dedicated mentors.

Committee: House Higher Education and Workforce Development

Summary: The Committee on Higher Education and Workforce Development heard House Bill 3359, presented by Rep. Travis Wilson on behalf of Rep. Riggs. The bill would create a state income tax credit for donations to registered school robotics/STEAM programs, including cash, equipment, software, materials, and certain employee volunteer hours. The proposal was described as a 20% credit, capped at $10 million annually beginning in tax year 2027, with a six-year sunset. Committee members raised questions about whether the credit applies to individuals or businesses, how volunteer hours would be valued, whether the bill should be limited to qualified coaches or employees rather than parents or general volunteers, which state agency would administer reporting, and whether the 20% rate should be higher. Rep. Wilson said he was open to clarifying amendments and noted the bill sponsor would need to weigh changes. The bill’s student author and witness, Sarah Waldron, a Westminster Christian Academy senior and robotics team CEO, testified in support. She said the bill was intended to help Missouri schools, especially under-resourced ones, access funding for robotics programs and argued that the credit would leverage private donations into student opportunities and workforce development. She clarified that the volunteer-hour provision was meant for business employees, not individual volunteers, and said she had drafted an amendment to provide higher credits for schools with higher free-and-reduced-lunch percentages. Several committee members praised her work and discussed the need to target aid toward schools with fewer resources. Arne C. A.C. Dinoff, State Public Advocate, testified in opposition. He praised the student’s initiative but argued the state could not afford another tax credit given budget deficits and said volunteerism should not be tied to a fiscal reward. He also questioned the fiscal note and said robotics support should be handled locally rather than through a state tax credit. No vote was taken, and the chair concluded the hearing after testimony.

Transcript Highlights:

• and directed the Department of Ecology from distributing no-cost allowances under the CAP-invest program
• to electric utilities to mitigate the cost burden of the program on data center customers.
• , and it amends some program terminology.
• Finally, it establishes future regulation on lead in cookware under the Safer Products program.
• Finally, it establishes future regulation on lead and cookware under the safer products program.

Summary: The Senate Environment, Energy, and Technology Committee took executive action on 11 bills. It advanced SB 624 on an Appliance Affordability Index study with an amendment excluding consumer electronics, and SB 6284 on artificial intelligence systems with a proposed substitute adding definitions, developer requirements, exemptions for some entities, and clarifying enforcement. The committee also moved forward SB 5609 on cultural resource protection under SEPA after rejecting an amendment to the proposed substitute, and SB 6172 on coal plant treatment under cap-and-invest after adopting an amendment related to emergency federal orders. Several energy and climate bills were also approved, including SB 6246 on emissions-intensive trade-exposed facilities, SB 5932 on alternative jet fuel production, SB 6269 on the definition of motor fuel, and SB 6223 on community-scaled weatherization projects. On SB 5975 concerning lead in cookware, the committee rejected one proposed substitute and adopted another that bans intentionally added lead in cookware beginning in 2027 and directs future regulation through the Safer Products program. The committee then considered SB 5466 on electric transmission reliability and capacity, taking up multiple amendments to a proposed second substitute. Amendments addressing wildfire risk, corridor identification, landowner consultation, eminent domain, and wildfire liability were all rejected, and the bill was advanced on a due pass recommendation. In each case, the committee’s final action was to pass the bills or substitutes subject to signatures, with several measures referred onward to Ways and Means or Rules as noted.

Transcript Highlights:

• This program is the state's number one tool for business expansion and retention.
• need government assistance programs because they do it through hands-on job training.
• Last year, I saw firsthand the impact of this program.
• Last year, I saw firsthand the impact of this program.
• The Mo Scholars Program has lifted a tremendous financial burden off of their family.

Keywords: 959, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• grant funding for local units of government and organizations to help improve their management and programs
• Management and programs to remove garbage, making it easier for our local communities to improve and
• the work of this bill and expanding the program.
• the work of this bill and expanding the program.
• This is why I'm asking. program because I think we're going to program because I think we're going to

Keywords: 919, house, all

Summary: The committee heard House File 1120, the follow-up “Keep It Clean” bill from Representative Andrew Myers, which would create grant funding for local governments and organizations to improve garbage removal and related clean-water programs, especially around frozen lakes and winter recreation areas. Myers said the earlier Keep It Clean effort to enforce litter laws on frozen lakes had already reduced garbage in the water, and he framed this bill as a way to expand that success with additional resources. Testifier Robin Dwight of the Upper Red Lake Area Association and Keep It Clean Coalition described growing problems with trash and human waste on ice, said the coalition now has 60 members representing more than 10,000 lakes, and explained that local programs use dumpsters and separation systems to manage waste. Tom Johnson of the MPCA and Assistant Commissioner Bob Myers of the DNR both testified in support, saying improper disposal of human and solid waste is a real and growing problem and that the public education campaign has changed behavior on the ice. Members asked about the bill’s results and funding needs. Representative Pelz asked for more context on the coalition’s impact, and Dwight said the group has been active for about three years and recently launched a survey to gather more data on infrastructure needs for wheelhouse users. Representative Fiser asked what dollar amount would be needed, and Myers said the bill seeks general fund dollars, with a rough ideal range of one to two million dollars, though he emphasized he wanted to work with the committee on the final amount and funding mechanism. The discussion also noted a second related bill with a $10 wheelhouse fee as another possible funding option. No opposition testimony was presented. After discussion, the chair renewed the motion to lay over House File 1120 for possible inclusion in a future bill, and the bill was laid over.

Transcript Highlights:

• The programs are sites as well.
• </c> programs that keep our communities safe. programs that keep our communities safe.
• </c> fruit and the vegetable voucher program. fruit and the vegetable voucher program.
• </c> reap program has been cut by 50%. reap program has been cut by 50%.
• The programs that we are talking about, the internet program, it drives growth.

Keywords: U.S. House of Representatives Floor Proceedings on Thursday, June 4, 2026, 1012, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> the operation, staffing, and programming the operation, staffing, and programming of<01:17:01.160
• If so, all those in favor, please say aye. forensic program. Thank you. forensic program.
• this</c><01:53:56.240><c> program,</c><01:53:57.200><c> in</c> It creates a program, this program, in
• the program if this program<01:56:29.440><c> goes</c><01:56:29.760><c> forward</c><01:56:30.320><c>
• </c> working on creating a full program. working on creating a full program.

Keywords: 926, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• I don't think this inspection program.
• </c><00:39:44.800><c> Yet</c> program? Of course they do. Yet program? Of course they do.
• Thank you. made this program unmanageable, made this program unmanageable, unnecessary,<00:41:04.480>
• </c> inspection program. inspection program.
• If this program throw with this program.

Committee: Senate Commerce

Keywords: 1191, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> investment relief initiative program investment relief initiative program modification.
• Uh the program provides with an I.
• players, and that program is called the CLC Market Builders Program.
• </c><00:54:32.240><c> and</c> then brings me to the eco program and then brings me to the eco program
• Um, I am happy to Green program.

Committee: Senate Agriculture, Veterans, Broadband, and Rural Development

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> and I'm the antiterrorism program and I'm the antiterrorism program manager<00:28:40.840><c> and
• </c> manager and The Insider threat program manager and The Insider threat program manager<00:28:42.600
• <00:34:53.200><c> don't</c><00:34:53.520><c> always</c> programs don't always programs don't always um
• </c> any that type of a pilot in that program any that type of a pilot in that program okay<00:36:13.040
• </c><01:22:23.360><c> then</c> whatever state take that program then whatever state take that program

Committee: Senate Judiciary

Keywords: 1191, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Uh program.
• Part D program.
• </c> LIS program do for New Hampshire. LIS program do for New Hampshire.
• . program. program.
• </c> created this program 13 years ago. created this program 13 years ago.

Committee: House Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs

Keywords: 1189, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• This is a proven program that has stood the test of time.
• The CalVet Home Loan Program exemplifies fiscal responsibility.
• If that happens, we lose this program.
• , which I would not call scraps, and other important programs.
• , which I would not call scraps, and other important programs.

Committee: House Military and Veterans Affairs

Keywords: 988, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• risk management program.
• He's a product of this program.
• Our most important and well-known extension program is 4-H.
• we have a similar program with BYU.
• we have a similar program with BYU.

Committee: House Agricultural Affairs

Summary: The committee first approved the minutes from Monday, February 16, 2026, and then heard a presentation from the University of Idaho College of Agricultural and Life Sciences. The dean highlighted the college’s land-grant mission, student placement rates, research and extension work, and major facilities projects including the new Meat Science and Innovation Center, the Idaho Center for Agriculture, Food and the Environment (CAFE), and the deep soil ecotron. Members asked about genetics research at CAFE, herd acquisition timing, the status of a proposed Jerome-related center, and how endowed positions are handled. The dean also explained how the college is responding to budget cuts by delaying hires and reducing some temporary support. The committee then heard from Dr. Kendra Kaiser of the Idaho Water Resources Research Institute, who described the institute’s statewide water research priorities and its use of advisory committees, public submissions, and data tools to guide projects. She discussed work on snowpack visualization, flood mapping, managed aquifer recharge water quality, harmful algal blooms, monitoring gaps, canal seepage, Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer modeling, and other water supply and quality issues. Members asked for the project selection materials, clarification on snow-water content and water budget modeling, and more detail on the value of independent review and data access. Dr. Kaiser said the institute is building interactive public data tools and expects initial water quality trend results later in the year. The committee then considered House Bill 630, which would move the airborne shooting of coyotes, wolves, and other predatory animals from rule into statute. Representative Schurz said the bill codifies an existing program to help producers address predation. The committee voted to send HB 630 to the floor with a due pass recommendation. It also heard House Bill 631, which would move agricultural certificates of free sale into statute, and voted to send that bill to the floor with a due pass recommendation as well. At the end of the meeting, the committee recognized its page, Kaylyn, for her service. She spoke briefly about learning how to advocate for agriculture and the importance of family farm operations. The committee presented her with a Capitol-flown flag, a governor-signed certificate, and a necklace before adjourning.

Transcript Highlights:

• For brief background, the Aviation Assurance Funding Program is a temporary program created in 2023 by
• This program expires along with the underlying legislation on July 1, 2007.
• He said the program protected property worth over $100 million.
• Geisler said the program had strengthened the partnership with local fire districts.
• Hardin said the program does not just help protect homes and farmland.

Bills: HB2104 , HB2348 , HB2454

Committee: House Agriculture & Natural Resources

Keywords: aviation, wildland fires, funding, disaster relief, emergency response, timber sales, land sales, process efficiency, legislation, department language, regulatory burdens, small producers, infrastructure materials, economic growth, manufacturing, 904, all

Transcript Highlights:

• And the thing that's really key about that program is we start with the dual enrollment.
• And I went through their accelerator program that then I met other investors and other mentors.
• Public training programs are not scaling fast enough to meet the demands of our economy.
• Businesses are aware of support programs but aren't engaging with them.
• But those programs are. committed in scale and funding.

Committee: House Economic Development, Growth, and Household Impact

Keywords: 988, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Along with that, we have the expedited propagation program that's run through the Florida Department
• So this program takes the most promising new varieties, whether they're from reading or these escape
• state of Florida to get this program off the ground and it has been phenomenally successful.
• Well, they talk to you about as far as getting into the program. We are wanting to be a part of it.
• and under their regional regional advertising and promotion program to market abroad.

Keywords: 999, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• This is the Young Announcers Program, led by the radio station Urban Heat 98.1 FM and the nonprofit 365
• They've been up here promoting and presenting the program.
• Young Announcers is a dynamic, interactive, and engaging program aimed at an...
• They're implementing and instructing being done by radio pioneer Steve Guzby, who's also with the program
• Through the National Crime Information Center for the EA program.

Keywords: 995, all

Summary: The Senate opened with the Pledge of Allegiance and a brief recognition of guests participating in the Young Announcers Program, including students and community leaders from Urban Heat 98.1 FM, 365 Dad, and Academy of the Pacific Rim Charter School. The chamber then took up House No. 58, a fiscal year 2025 supplemental appropriations bill focused largely on emergency assistance shelter funding and related policy changes. Senator Rogers explained that the agreement appropriates $425 million for the EA shelter system through the rest of FY25 and includes measures intended to reduce caseloads and improve oversight, such as tighter eligibility verification, criminal offender information checks, disclosure of prior convictions, reporting requirements, a study of NCIC background checks, and a plan to phase out hotels and motels. Senator Tarr praised the urgency of the bill but criticized the process, saying the measure was negotiated without a formal conference committee or public report and did not go far enough on reform. The Senate adopted the concurrence and further amendment, then adopted an emergency preamble by a vote of 11-0. The Senate then took final action on House No. 58, with Senator Tarr requesting a roll call vote. After the call of the yeas and nays, the bill passed to be enacted by a vote of 32-7 and was ordered signed by the President and laid before the Governor. The chamber also adopted a motion to adjourn in memory of State Representative Carol A. Doherty, followed by a moment of silence, and then agreed to adjourn until the next day at 11:00 a.m.

Transcript Highlights:

• in particular and the homelessness programs.
• We have requested that GoBiz be funded at $26 million in the SIP and TAP programs.
• So those are loan assistance and technical assistance programs.
• . ...currently unable to receive services due to the oversubscription of the program.
• The Small Business Technical Assistance Program and Capital Infusion Program provide meaningful and impactful

Keywords: 987, senate, all