Transcript Highlights:

• Thank you. our payer mix, they pay less than cost. our payer mix, they pay less than cost.
• It pays for services that don't pay for themselves, like Rick mentioned: OB, ambulance, ER, behavioral
• It pays for people, and quite honestly, it pays for the difference for Lakewood to be a community hospital
• It pays for people and quite health.
• It pays for people and quite honestly,<00:13:41.040><c> it</c><00:13:41.279><c> pays</c><00:13:41.519

Keywords: 919, house, all

Summary: House File 369 was the main topic, with House authors Rep. Natalie Zeleznikar, Rep. Robert Bierman, and Rep. Dave Baker arguing that the bill would give Minnesota’s 2024 340B law “teeth” by enforcing protections for nonprofit and rural hospitals’ access to the federal drug pricing program. They said the measure costs the state nothing, aligns with similar laws in more than 20 other states, and is needed before adjournment to help hospitals close funding gaps, support services like emergency care, obstetrics, behavioral health, and pharmacy access, and preserve care in remote communities. Several hospital leaders from across greater Minnesota testified that 340B revenue helps keep their facilities viable and that losing it would threaten services and, in some cases, hospital survival. Witnesses described severe financial pressure on rural hospitals, including reimbursement cuts, workforce shortages, inflation, and rising drug costs. Leaders from United Hospital District in Blue Earth, Lakewood Health System in Staples, Ely-Bloomenson Community Hospital, Northshore Health in Grand Marais, Community Memorial Hospital in Cloquet, and Cuyuna Regional Medical Center in Crosby said their hospitals serve as safety-net providers and often operate with thin or negative margins. They emphasized long travel times to other hospitals, seasonal tourism pressures in some areas, and the importance of local emergency, ambulance, inpatient, and specialty services. The Minnesota Hospital Association president also criticized pharmaceutical company messaging and said nonprofit hospitals are working around the clock to maintain access. In response to questions, Zeleznikar said she had considered other enforcement approaches but now supported using the original Senate-passed bill, citing concerns about fraud and the difficulty of alternative enforcement mechanisms. She and hospital leaders distinguished this bill from a separate hospital stabilization-grant proposal, saying both are needed but serve different purposes. No vote was taken at the meeting, and the speakers repeatedly urged House leadership to bring the bill to the floor before session ends.

Transcript Highlights:

• Mayor Charles Kauiwet refused to pay the lawsuit to Fonton, and Fonton started...
• Who pays that now? The city pays that. And right now.
• And I have to pay it out of the monies I receive.
• Our insurance, we purchase our own vehicle, we pay our own salaries to our deputies.
• their liability, I don't like paying their health insurance.

Keywords: 974, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Did their insurance pay for the injuries?
• We can't afford to pay boiler inspectors, much like the elevator inspectors.
• So you would pay for your city permit and then you would...
• We pay a lot of money for reinsurance in the property insurance world.
• We pay a lot of money for reinsurance in the property insurance world.

Bills: HB461, HB467, HB522, HB565, HB673, HB799, HB917, HB937, HB956, HB977

Keywords: building codes, construction standards, state uniform construction code, local option, municipal ordinance, parish ordinance, resilient construction, FORTIFIED Home, IBHS, Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety, hurricane resistance, storm resilience, roof replacement, residential construction, certificate of occupancy, code enforcement, building resilience, home hardening, wind mitigation, residential roof

Transcript Highlights:

• The health plans are not lawmakers and cannot unilaterally decide who pays for this care when there is
• </c> pay medical assistance for that service. pay medical assistance for that service.
• Private insurance pays first, like ours.
• </c><00:19:18.640><c> Um,</c> benefits um as well as provider pay.
• Um, benefits um as well as provider pay.

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• It was making them pay fees for paperwork just to prove who they were.
• If a citizen must pay for a birth certificate, pay for a name change document, pay for records from another
• That way that gives us the chance to figure out how we're going to pay for it.
• I wanted to see if you were paying attention.
• I wanted to see if you were paying attention.

Summary: The Senate opened with prayer, the Pledge of Allegiance, and a series of recognitions for interns, staff, and guests. Members also honored retiring Senate staffer Susan Miller and recognized a veteran injured in combat. After routine announcements, the chamber moved to returning messages from the House and began taking up bills and amendments. The Senate concurred in House amendments and passed SB 118 on RV park assessments and SB 572 on ethics for public officers and employees, both by 38-0 votes. It then took up the elections bill, CS/CS/HB 991, which drew extensive debate. Supporters said it would strengthen election integrity by tightening citizenship verification and ID rules; opponents argued it would burden eligible voters, especially students, seniors, disabled voters, and others without the newly required documents. The bill passed 27-12. The chamber also passed the education package SB 182 after adopting a Senate amendment to the House amendment, and approved SB 474 on military affairs, SB 425 on historic cemeteries, HB 929 on local regulation of chickees, and HB 35/SB 1370 on habitual traffic offender designation, all with unanimous or near-unanimous votes. The Senate then considered SB 902/ HB 733, the Department of Health package. Members adopted an amendment and amendment-to-amendment that preserved most Senate provisions while modifying or removing several House additions, including some early steps and medical marijuana-related changes, and the bill passed 37-0. The chamber also began work on HB 905, the foreign influence bill, with a strike-all amendment offered to expand restrictions on foreign influence, sister-city agreements, linkage institutes, and related activities, but the debate on that measure was still underway when the transcript ended. Several other returning messages and bills were temporarily postponed, and the Senate recessed briefly before resuming business.

Transcript Highlights:

• They have to pay a fee to connect to the urban water provider.
• So at the local level, if a new large water user wanted to come in, they pay a connection fee.
• I wanted to know who was paying for the growth. Okay, well, that's very helpful.
• They pay a fee on that to develop new supply.
• for those costs in the rates that they pay. ...that they are paying for those costs in the rates that

Keywords: 988, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• From California to other states, and some are already paying and others aren't.
• So historically, the state has said, hey, users of the road, you pay fuel taxes.
• And last question for me, what's the rationale for paying for these from the diesel tax fund?
• The governor's SAF incentive helps protect good-paying jobs while continuing to reduce emissions.
• The governor's SAF incentive helps protect good paying jobs while continuing to reduce emissions.

Summary: The Assembly Budget Subcommittee on State Administration heard several budget proposals from CDTFA, the Board of Equalization, and the Franchise Tax Board. The first panel focused on cannabis, hemp, flavored tobacco, and related enforcement. CDTFA requested ongoing funding to implement cannabis tax changes, enforce the new intoxicating hemp restrictions and flavored tobacco seizure authority, and continue compliance work. The department said it is targeting illicit product, protecting licensed businesses, and using referrals from the public and lawmakers to focus inspections. The LAO supported some of the proposals but urged the Legislature to treat them as part of a longer-term enforcement strategy and raised concerns about the use of General Fund support for cannabis enforcement. Public testimony on the cannabis item largely supported stronger enforcement and funding for the legal market. The committee also heard CDTFA’s request to reappropriate funds for an upgrade to the CROS tax collection system, which would improve taxpayer services, security, and software maintenance without adding new money. A separate CDTFA proposal would make all delivery network companies, such as DoorDash and Uber Eats, marketplace facilitators for sales tax purposes. CDTFA said the change would reduce confusion for restaurants and improve compliance, while the LAO questioned whether the proposal functioned more like a tax increase because it would also capture service fees. Members raised affordability concerns, but the proposal was framed by the administration as a parity and compliance measure. The subcommittee then considered a governor’s proposal for a sustainable aviation fuel tax credit. Finance argued the credit would help decarbonize aviation and support in-state production, while the LAO recommended rejection, citing cost, uncertainty about environmental benefits, possible diversion of diesel excise tax revenues from transportation programs, and concerns about consistency with voter-approved transportation funding rules. Testimony from airlines, labor unions, airports, and refinery workers strongly supported the credit, emphasizing union jobs, refinery conversions, and emissions reductions, while fuel retailers and some others warned about fiscal risk and higher fuel prices. The chair and some members expressed support for the proposal despite the funding concerns. Finally, the BOE presented an IT modernization project for state-assessed property administration, saying the current system is outdated and manual and that a new system is needed to improve accuracy, cybersecurity, and workflow efficiency, especially with a likely increase in workload from new VoIP assessments. The LAO asked for more justification for the timing, but BOE said the urgency stems from aging systems and growing workload. BOE also requested modest funding to implement SB 293 changes to intergenerational property transfers and wildfire relief guidance, which the LAO did not oppose. The Franchise Tax Board began its presentation on the final phase of its Enterprise Data to Revenue modernization effort, describing the project’s rollout across audit, collections, legal, and filing enforcement workloads and noting it is now in a warranty period.

Transcript Highlights:

• Over the years, $390,000 is what we've been able to pay for this interagency agreement.
• So we're paying for it now regardless? Yes. No, Finance?
• If they're absorbing the cost, we're paying for it now. So...
• If they're absorbing the costs, we're paying for it now. We're still paying for it now.
• Can you take out of the fund to pay for the workforce, continuing payment?

Keywords: 987, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Chair, members, House Bill 2584 prohibits the use of public monies to pay for genetic sequencing procedures
• Instead of ...communities like the one I represent get housing they can afford instead of paying 30 to
• But they have to invest in that credit, so they actually have to pay cash equity upfront before they
• What I take issue with are parents' demands that the government pay for a private education.
• It really frees up their budget in order to pay the electric bills, pay their rent, maybe save a little

Bills: HB2352, HB2388, HB2418, HB2499, HB2500, HB2579, HB2584, HB2804

Keywords: funding, auditor general, county treasurer, procedural reviews, state appropriations, HB2388, Arizona Commerce Authority, ACA, small modular reactor, SMR, nuclear energy, advanced nuclear, data center, data centers, economic development, study, appropriation, general fund, jobs, wages

Transcript Highlights:

• If they want bigger gyms, then they have to pay for them. So, again, keep that in mind.
• I was in Hobbs; we could pay for it. I was in Las Cruces; we could pay for it.
• So it's an undue burden on their operational dollars to pay for facilities.
• With respect to state charter schools, we're happy to pay our share.
• And is there an issue when you pay on the higher end?

Transcript Highlights:

• it, while dismantling a very, very crucial social safety net that ultimately all of us will have to pay
• it, while dismantling a very, very crucial social safety end, that ultimately all of us will have to pay
• Most notably, currently the program is providing $4.2 billion in the current year to help pay for the
• Say they were paying $200 a month—what's the estimate of how much more they will be paying per month?
• So in that regard, some folks will be paying more.

Summary: The Assembly Budget Subcommittee on Accountability and Oversight held its fifth hearing of the year to examine the newly enacted federal H.R. 1 and its effects on California. Members and the chair described the law as a major threat to state health, food, education, and climate programs, and emphasized that California would not be able to fully backfill the federal cuts. Several members also highlighted the bill’s tax provisions, including temporary deductions for tips, overtime, seniors, and auto loan interest, while warning that the largest benefits flow to higher-income taxpayers and that major cuts to Medi-Cal, CalFresh, and clean-energy incentives are delayed or phased in over time. The Legislative Analyst’s Office and the Department of Finance presented detailed overviews of the bill’s likely impacts and implementation timelines. They identified the main affected areas as health care coverage and financing, food assistance, higher education, personal income taxes, and clean-energy/electric-vehicle credits. They explained that H.R. 1 limits provider taxes used to finance Medi-Cal, adds work and redetermination requirements, restricts CalFresh eligibility and increases state costs, changes student loan and Pell Grant rules, extends and modifies federal tax provisions, and phases out many clean-energy credits. Finance also noted major rescissions of Inflation Reduction Act funds, new border and immigration enforcement spending, and the possibility of PAYGO sequestration if Congress does not act to offset the deficit increase. During member questions, the committee focused on likely enrollment losses, administrative burdens, and fiscal exposure for the state and counties. Witnesses said many details still depend on federal guidance, but they estimated significant impacts on Medi-Cal, CalFresh, and graduate/professional student borrowing, and noted that California’s high CalFresh error rate could increase state costs. UC testified that the elimination of Graduate PLUS loans would affect thousands of professional students, especially in health, law, and other high-cost programs. Members asked for follow-up data on county, health, and tax impacts, and staff agreed to provide additional tables and estimates as implementation guidance becomes clearer. Public commenters from counties, early childhood advocates, health coalitions, disability rights groups, immigrant-rights organizations, and other stakeholders urged the Legislature to mitigate the law’s effects. They warned of higher county costs, reduced access to health care and food assistance, increased administrative burdens, and harm to children, immigrants, people with disabilities, and low-income families. Several urged new state revenue solutions and stronger protections for Medi-Cal, CalFresh, child care, and home- and community-based services. No votes were taken; the hearing was informational and ended with a commitment to continue monitoring federal guidance and to work on state responses in the budget process.

Transcript Highlights:

• For example, who is paying? Is it the health plan?
• So the actual cash prices that people pay, whether direct pay or co-pay, they quite often don't find
• I mean, I guess so it's free because we pay for it, but we pay for it. Yeah, we do pay for it.
• . could be paying, and so they increase their rent to that amount.
• Then you're going to pay a little bit more out of pocket.

Bills: SB331, SB883, SB926, SB1137, SB1138, SB1144, SB1151, SB1236, SB1270, SB1522, SB1869, SB2207, SB2422

Keywords: healthcare, cost disclosure, transparency, administrative penalties, health facility compliance, COVID-19, off-label use, prescription drugs, patient access, medical standards, insurance, physician ranking, incentives, fiduciary duty, health plan issuers, SB 1137, group home, assisted living, residential care, board and care

Transcript Highlights:

• Emily: And we struck all the other loser pays provisions in this bill.
• Who pays that, that levy, the state of New Mexico?
• Do we as the legislature have to appropriate the levy or who pays it? Mr.
• Who would pay it under this compact? Who pays the levy? Mr.
• We're not set up to pay for this, why are you asking us to pay for it now?'

Transcript Highlights:

• This is how we pay for all of our copiers in the office.
• So those are the licensing fees that the educators pay. Educators pay? Yes, thank you.
• we pay them 25% of the harm done in fiscal year 25.
• </c><04:55:24.638><c> the</c> 1.6 million but we don't pay the 1.6 million but we don't pay the district
• Charter Schools instead of we uh pay Charter Schools instead of paying<05:04:08.320><c> them</c><05:

Keywords: 928, house, all

Summary: The Finance Division II committee heard a Department of Education budget presentation from Commissioner Frank Edelblut and CFO Tammy Valen-cour. The department outlined its organizational structure and emphasized that it functions largely as a flow-through agency for school funding. The commissioner reviewed general fund and Education Trust Fund items, including state aid, dropout prevention, special education, building aid, lease aid, charter schools, Education Freedom Accounts, and the district adequacy calculation. He also highlighted the public school infrastructure fund, saying the state has invested well over $50 million in school safety since 2018 for measures such as access controls, locks, and window film, and argued that safety spending should be ongoing rather than reactive. Members asked about the variability in the school infrastructure line, special education aid, and the Discovery Education learning platform. Edelblut explained that some safety funding had come from one-time surplus appropriations rather than the agency line, and said special education aid was underappropriated because districts submitted more invoices than expected; he said the governor added $16 million to address the shortfall. He also described CTE renovation funding, noting four projects were initially proposed but only Jaffrey and Milford were still moving forward, with local votes required and the state covering 75% of costs. He said Milford’s project was omitted from the governor’s budget by oversight. The department also reviewed enrollment trends, noting public school enrollment has fallen from about 230,000 students in 2002 to about 185,000 today. Edelblut clarified that charter students are not eligible for Education Freedom Accounts, while EFA students attending non-public schools are counted as EFA students. He described several one-time surplus-funded initiatives, including Student Clearinghouse, MTSSB work, civics curriculum development, computer science education, and adult education. He also discussed a $4 million CTE tuition and transportation grant, saying it was kept as a competitive grant rather than a formula grant to avoid creating an ongoing maintenance-of-effort commitment that could jeopardize federal Perkins funding. In the final portion, Edelblut identified prioritized needs in the department’s budget, especially funding for a state administrator for assessment to support the legislatively required civics assessment, and additional support for the Discovery Education platform. He said every school in the state is using the platform and cited more than 1.5 million educator engagements, while a member raised concerns about mixed reviews and uneven district awareness of the program. No votes or formal actions were taken during the presentation and question period.

Transcript Highlights:

• </c><01:51:16.920><c> for</c> well off and able and already pay for well off and able and already pay
• They may not be rich; they may have to take time to pay, but they have the ability to pay.
• </c><05:51:23.798><c> if</c> people who have an ability to pay if people who have an ability to pay if
• <c> reason</c><05:51:30.798><c> for</c> the ability to pay there's no reason for the ability to pay there's
• </c><05:51:33.040><c> the</c> those people not to be able to pay the those people not to be able to pay

Keywords: 1189, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• </c><00:03:12.239><c> and</c> hazard pay and hazard pay and um<00:03:14.239><c> can</c><00:03:14.319>
• No, we're not paying for that. The school is paying for that.
• So overall, so you pay the $2 million no matter what, and pay the $2 million no matter what.
• So, overall, you pay the $2 million no matter what, and pay the $2 million no matter what.
• Do they pay yours? I'm, I don't believe they pay. Okay.

Keywords: 912, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Their members pay contributions.
• They, the employer, the association, pays the employer rate, and they accrue benefits like any other
• pays, and then when the years are where the retired teacher gets his or her money back.
• Well, she's still paying into the retirement system, or he's still paying into the retirement system.
• , say, will no longer be paying into it.

Summary: The Senate Committee on Retirement met on May 5 with four members present. HB 41 was deferred until the following week, and the committee approved the April 20, 2026 minutes. The committee then took up several retirement-system bills, many of them negotiated measures involving municipal police, firefighters, teachers, district attorneys, and judges. HB 45, by Rep. Bacallat, was amended and reported favorably. It makes changes to the Municipal Police Employees Retirement System, including retention bonuses, recognition of out-of-state police service, benefits for three officers killed in the line of duty before full enrollment, a DROP fix, and more competitive accrual rates. Testimony from the Louisiana Municipal Association, MEPERS, police representatives, and Mayor Helena Marino was strongly supportive, emphasizing that the bill resolves longstanding disputes and litigation. HB 1237, also by Rep. Bacallat, was reported favorably after testimony that it eliminates partial dissolution penalties for municipal police and adjusts related firefighter provisions; witnesses said it was a negotiated fix supported by municipal and fire stakeholders. HB 42, concerning phased retirement in the Teacher Retirement System, was reported favorably as a permissive framework allowing universities to offer phased retirement options. HB 17, by the District Attorneys’ Retirement System director, was reported favorably to add the Louisiana District Attorneys Association to the definition of employer and require annual reporting on the rehire statute. HB 21, a cleanup bill for the Municipal Employees Retirement System, was also reported favorably. HB 1134, creating a backdrop retirement option for certain judges whose positions are abolished, was amended and reported favorably after LASERS raised questions about early retirement eligibility and the need to bar future judicial candidacy. HB 24, by Rep. Owen, drew the most discussion. It would allow retired or certified teachers to return to work through contracts with school systems, with a three-year sunset. The sponsor argued it would help keep qualified teachers in classrooms and avoid midyear departures, while TRSL, the Louisiana School Board Association, and committee members raised concerns about fiscal impact, contractor status, workers’ compensation, leave rules, and overlap with a separate bill being worked on by the chairman. After an amendment clarifying the independent-contractor definition was adopted, the committee chose to hold the bill in committee for further work rather than advance it immediately. The meeting ended with a motion to adjourn.

Transcript Highlights:

• Their members pay contributions.
• pays, and then when the years are, the retired teacher gets his or her money back.
• Well, she's still paying into the retirement system, where he's still paying into the retirement system
• , say, will no longer be paying into it.
• So someone who can retire and then come back and receive both pay and full retirement benefits, that

Bills: HB17, HB21, HB24, HB41, HB42, HB45, HB1134, HB1237

Keywords: HB 17, District Attorneys' Retirement System, retirement system, reemployed retiree, reemployment, supplemental retirement benefit, service credit, benefit suspension, public retirement, district attorney, assistant district attorney, Louisiana District Attorneys' Association, employer reporting, annual report, retirement benefits, state employees, local funds, state funds, Municipal Employees' Retirement System, part-time retirees

Transcript Highlights:

• Typically, there's a 90% of that dollar amount paid by the feds, and the state pays the 10% in this case
• Typically, there's a 90% of that dollar amount paid by the feds, and the state pays the 10% in this case
• The state typically pays 10% of that dollar amount, with 90% paid by the feds.
• The problem with that is we would be paying for people to stay home and not educate kids.
• The problem with that is we would be paying for people to stay home and not educate kids.

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• Are accumulated and if your heir gets the property, they're supposed to pay those back taxes.
• They'll have to pay the back property taxes. Yes, ma'am.
• It provides information and transparency to taxpayers about the school property taxes that they pay.
• Um, the 216 school districts that pay recapture this year will calculate the estimated percentage of
• their local maintenance and operations tax collections that they pay in recapture.

Bills: HB195, HB247, HB255, HJR6, HJR31, HJR34

Keywords: HB 195, Texas Controlled Substances Act, Schedule IV, controlled substances, mifepristone, misoprostol, carisoprodol, Health and Safety Code, drug scheduling, pharmacy regulation, prescription drugs, reproductive health, abortion medication, medication abortion, women's health, prescribing, dispensing, law enforcement, drug control, education reform