Transcript Highlights:

• Right now, what you're seeing chiropractors do is they'll actually reach out to maybe a nurse practitioner
• My current sheriff actually increases his budget by using the 287 program.
• It added further growth to that program.
• Most departments, if not every one of them, are enjoying the program.
• They make a financial benefit from being in the program.

Keywords: 989, all

Transcript Highlights:

• The bill creates a crisis care coordination team pilot program in Polk and Volusia counties to help reduce
• has partnered with the Polk County Sheriff's Office and local police departments to implement this program
• The pilot program will show that it is possible to reduce the time burden on law enforcement completing
• we're in our fourth year, and we have good data that we believe is good to take it out to a pilot program
• Thinking back about my time at the guardian program, I lose sleep wondering if my support to terminate

Summary: The Human Services Subcommittee considered three bills and reported all of them favorably. HB 1013, relating to crisis care coordination, would create a pilot program in Polk and Volusia counties to connect people who have had Baker Act-related crises with follow-up counseling, assessments, and outpatient services through partnerships between law enforcement and community providers. The sponsor said the program has reduced repeat Baker Act commitments in Polk County, and the committee adopted a strike-all amendment moving the pilot to a different statute, formalizing partnerships, and requiring an independent DCF evaluation due in January 2029. The bill drew support from mental health and justice advocates and passed unanimously. The committee then heard PCS for HB 511, which addresses child protective investigations involving specific medical diagnoses. Sponsors and several parents, attorneys, and advocates described cases in which children were removed after injuries were initially treated as abuse but later linked to conditions such as Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, metabolic bone disease, or other medical fragility. They argued the bill would require notice of the right to a second medical opinion, better consideration of preexisting conditions and medical records, and more coordination before reports are sent to law enforcement, while still preserving protections for abused children. Members expressed sympathy for the families and emphasized the need for fairness and accurate medical review; the bill passed 17-0. Finally, HB 1439, based on recommendations from the 2025 Commission on Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder, was presented as a broader mental health and substance use disorder measure focused on crisis response, access to care, and workforce development. An amendment aligned the bill more closely with commission recommendations, including assessment tools, trauma-informed practices, school-based behavioral health access, telehealth, discharge planning, and long-acting injectable treatment access. The commission chair testified that the bill reflected a vetted set of recommendations from subject matter experts and commissioners, and the committee adopted the amendment and then reported the bill favorably by unanimous vote. The meeting then adjourned.

Transcript Highlights:

• 00:07:47.920><c> in</c><00:07:48.080><c> particular</c> programs that have been in particular programs
• </c> find a way to uh to get the program find a way to uh to get the program integrity<00:10:30.400><
• </c> regard to program integrity. regard to program integrity. 16<00:19:31.480><c> is</c><00:19:31.600
• . program. program.
• . programs. programs.

Committee: Senate Health and Human Services

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Only a few institutions in the state offer competency-based education, or CBE, programs.
• aware of the waiver program, they may not be in a position where they are able to use it.
• Social programs are designed to support individuals in making positive contributions to society.
• The program will help 11th and 12th grade students complete a certificate program while in high school
• Sustained investment in career and technical education, the ARPET program, and the P-TECH program is

Committee: Senate Education

Keywords: 1185, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• It is a massive program.
• It is a abuse in the Medicaid program. It is a massive<00:26:45.679><c> program.
• are enrolled in the program.
• </c> been involved in your program? been involved in your program?
• </c> national health program. national health program.

Keywords: During the committee meeting live stream, portion of the video was lost due to network issues. There were also some technical difficulties with content and the incorrect background image being used. The lost footage was recovered from backup, and the other issues corrected in post production editing. 1. 00:00:41 Call to Order 2. 00:01:02 Roll Call 3. 00:02:54 Approval of Minutes 4. 00:05:06 Statutory Reports and Data Requests 5. 00:35:14 2025 and 2026 Session Update 6. 01:03:10 Board Structure Updates and Subcommittees 7. 01:05:20 Public Comment 8. 02:23:14 Adjournment, 958, all

Summary: The Medicaid Oversight Board meeting opened with quorum, approval of the March 9 and March 16, 2026 minutes, and a welcome to new member Representative Willner. The board then heard a presentation from the Department of Medicaid Services on several statutory reports: the quarterly budget analysis (LRC) report, the quarterly MCO report, the provider tax and assessment report, the enrollee demographic report, the annual behavioral health/substance use disorder utilization report, and the Medicaid pharmaceutical rebate fund. Commissioner Lisa Lee and CFO Steve Bechal explained the reports and answered questions. On spending, DMS said the quarterly budget analysis report should be read using the summary tabs because the first tab reflects only traditional Medicaid and does not include all populations. Lee said the first three quarters of fiscal year 2026 showed about $191 million more in waiver spending than the same period last year, about $250 million more in other categories such as nursing facilities, CCBHCs, and FQHCs, and roughly $450 million more in total fee-for-service spending. She also noted that Medicare Part D premiums are 100% state funds and estimated the state-fund increase at about $140 million. For managed care, DMS said pharmacy, inpatient hospital, and outpatient hospital spending made up about 66% of MCO payments so far this fiscal year. Members asked about administrative costs, provider tax impacts, citizenship-status categories, medical loss ratio, and whether the reports could be expanded to show recoupments and citizenship-based spending. DMS clarified that the spending figures discussed were benefit costs only, not administrative costs, and said administrative match rates vary. On the provider tax and directed payments report, Lee said the new CMS proposed rule would allow separate payment terms to continue through the grandfathering period, but that the impact would be substantial for providers even if the administrative effect was minimal. She also said DMS was still reviewing unusual citizenship categories such as “other” and “unspecified,” and would provide more information on medical loss ratio and recoupments if available. Auditor Ball raised concerns about alleged waste, duplicate Social Security numbers, ineligible enrollees, and high error rates in other programs. Lee responded that Medicaid focuses on fraud, waste, and abuse, but said the cited $800 million figure was not factual because it did not account for people enrolled in more than one Medicaid program at the same time. She said DMS is reviewing eligibility systems, including changes tied to community engagement requirements, and is working with the cabinet’s eligibility staff and ombudsman division on error rates. No additional votes or formal actions were taken beyond approving the minutes.

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> want them allow to have these programs want them allow to have these programs um<00:24:40.320><c
• Is it residential programs for religious purposes, or is it all residential programs?
• If it's all residential programs, the concern is that if a church owns, for example, a nursing home or
• If it's all residential programs?
• </c> for residential programs. for residential programs.

Keywords: 928, house, all

Summary: The Ways and Means Committee held a public hearing on Senate Bill 291, which would update religious land-use and property tax exemption rules for church-owned parsonages, parish houses, and similar properties. Senator Tim Lang, speaking for the sponsor, said the bill was intended to address situations where former parsonages are no longer occupied by clergy and are instead used for church-related purposes such as housing staff, religious education, or congregate living tied to ministry, including addiction recovery. He emphasized that the bill was not meant to create commercial rental housing and that it also preserves reasonable zoning and environmental regulations. Committee members pressed the sponsor on how the bill would be applied, especially the meaning of “religious purposes,” the six-unit limit, the “same lot” language, and whether churches could use the exemption to rent units for revenue. The sponsor said the six-unit cap was added to prevent large-scale commercial rental use, that congregate housing would be limited and defined, and that the bill was meant to cover uses like substance abuse recovery, homes for unwed mothers, and religious education, but not apartments converted for ordinary rental. He also said churches would still file annual exemption paperwork and towns could challenge claims they believed were commercial. Questions also raised concerns about whether the bill treated religious and nonreligious housing trusts differently; the sponsor responded that the bill was aimed at church-owned property used in pursuit of a religious mission. Several witnesses testified in support. Representative Mark Pearson, an active clergyman, said the bill would not remove additional property from the tax rolls because clergy housing allowances typically lead clergy to buy taxable homes elsewhere, while the church-owned parsonage remains exempt. Nick Taylor of Housing Action New Hampshire supported the bill as a modest expansion that could help create more attainable housing by allowing better use of existing religious land and structures, though he noted his organization would support even broader use. The hearing ended without a vote or final action, and the chair closed questions after the testimony.

Transcript Highlights:

• The 340B program is a federal program.
• The 340B program is federal programs. Sometimes.
• The thought, the 340B program is the federal programs.
• We have done this with nursing assistants and several other medical professionals.
• This program is excellent, so please vote yes. Okay, any further discussion?

Summary: The Health Care and Wellness Committee heard executive action on seven bills, with discussion focused on prior authorization, the 340B drug pricing program, biosimilars, HIV drug coverage, exchange certification criteria, and hearing/speech board authority. Members also considered several amendments, including a date change to prior authorization reporting in SB 5395, a large striking amendment and multiple policy amendments on SB 5981, and market-criteria amendments on SB 6210. Testimony and debate centered on transparency, administrative costs, rural access, patient care spending, market stability, and the balance between state authority and federal law. SB 5395 on prior authorization received Amendment 247, which moved the carrier reporting deadline to the Office of Insurance Commissioner from January 1, 2027 to October 1, 2026, and was then reported out with a due pass recommendation. SB 5981 on 340B drug pricing adopted a striking amendment creating reporting and fee structures, but rejected amendments that would have removed filing fees, required 90% of revenues to go to direct patient care, limited additional contract pharmacies to rural or underserved areas, or delayed the bill’s effective date; the bill then passed out of committee 11-7. Supporters emphasized transparency and safety-net funding, while opponents raised concerns about federal preemption, litigation, costs, and administrative burden. SB 5594 on biosimilar substitution, SB 5877 on certified anesthesiology assistants and the physician health program, and SB 6183 on coverage of FDA-approved HIV antiviral drugs without utilization management all advanced with broad support and due pass recommendations. SB 6210 on health benefit exchange market factor criteria adopted a striking amendment but rejected amendments that would have limited updates to every two years, narrowly defined “meaningfully different,” or changed implementation timelines; it also passed 11-7. SB 6226 on the Board of Speech and Hearing adopted Amendment 313 to expand standards-of-care authority for hearing aid fitting and dispensing, then passed 17-1 after debate about patient safety, tele-audiology, and access to care.

Transcript Highlights:

• So, it requires the destruction of firearms in the buyback program in the gun buyback program.
• Right now, gun buyback programs be run.
• ,</c><00:38:35.400><c> which</c> don't like gun buyback programs, which don't like gun buyback programs
• </c> &gt;&gt; nursing home residents are in Medicaid.
• &gt;&gt; nursing home residents are in Medicaid.

Keywords: House streaming session for Monday, April 13, 2026, 957, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• lensure application nurse assistant lensure application materials.
• home or skilled nursing facility.
• </c> a nursing home or skilled nursing a nursing home or skilled nursing facility.<02:08:50.400><c> The
• These are not nursing homes or Medicaid-dependent institutions.
• These are not nursing homes or Medicaid-dependent institutions.

Keywords: 1191, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• And nurse case managers can be doing that as well.
• It'll be a staff person or a PA or some nurse that would then look at it and communicate that to the
• They can then continue on to complete the full apprenticeship program after they graduate, or, if they
• The bill does not create a new program.
• They will be participating in already approved apprenticeship programs.

Summary: The House Labor and Industrial Relations Committee met on May 7, 2026, and first deferred several measures, including House Bill 460, Senate Bill 322, Senate Bill 32, Senate Bill 22, and House Bill 561. The committee then took up House Bill 819 by Chairman Cruz, which would replace Louisiana’s current workers’ compensation medical treatment schedule with the Official Disability Guidelines (ODG) by MCG as the primary guideline, while keeping the existing variance and appeal process. Cruz and MCG representative Troy Prevo argued that ODG is more comprehensive, updated more frequently, and used in many states, and said it could reduce delays, disability duration, and costs. Dr. Jason Picard, the state medical director, testified that Louisiana already uses ODG as a secondary reference in many cases because the state schedule lacks coverage for some body parts and treatments, and said the bill would not otherwise change the appeals process or care delivery. Committee members focused heavily on whether the bill would delay care or improve it. Several members questioned the private-company nature of ODG, the $400 annual subscription cost, and whether Louisiana doctors would be forced to rely on an out-of-state guideline. Rep. Glorioso and others raised concerns about preauthorization delays and proposed amendments to create tacit approval when treatment follows the schedule, require payment within 30 days, and make the carrier prove by clear and convincing evidence that care was not medically necessary to challenge it. Chairman Cruz said he was willing to work with those ideas, and the committee also discussed adding an on-ramp or legacy language so current patients would not be disrupted. Opposition testimony came from injured-worker advocates and representatives of medical and labor groups, including Joseph Jola St. and Robin Krumholt. They argued that Louisiana’s current guidelines are already working, that rates have fallen over time, and that the real problem is delay in approval rather than the content of the schedule. They said ODG is overly rigid, cost-driven, and can lead to denials that shift costs to workers, Medicaid, or private health insurance. They urged the committee to keep Louisiana’s existing system and instead adopt tacit approval under current law. The bill was still under discussion at the close of the transcript, with amendments being read and no final vote shown.

Transcript Highlights:

• Budgets are underwater, staff's being cut, and programs are shrinking.
• </c> programs are shrinking. programs are shrinking.
• Yeah, so the you know, the the program, program, program, um um um the<00:15:43.760><c> Minnesota</c>
• </c> counties are running Medicaid programs counties are running Medicaid programs on.<00:19:13.919><
• The governor's budget cut—he again goes at nursing homes, disability services.

Keywords: 918, senate, all

Summary: Minnesota Senate Republicans held a press event focused on school safety, student performance, and relief from what they described as burdensome mandates on districts. Sen. Zach Duckworth promoted the SHIELD Act, which would provide grant funding through the Minnesota School Safety Center for security upgrades such as access controls, ballistic-resistant materials, mass notification systems, and staff training. He also highlighted other education bills, including measures to require parental and teacher notification of violent incidents within 24 hours, allow short removals after serious incidents in K-3 classrooms, expand retention and intervention policies for students not meeting grade level, and increase parental access to curriculum materials and consent for sex education. Duckworth said the school safety proposal has bipartisan support and argued schools should have flexible, locally driven tools to protect students. Sen. Julia Coleman and other Republicans framed the agenda as a response to classroom violence, learning loss, and a lack of transparency. Coleman said teachers and parents are seeing serious problems firsthand and argued that schools should not hide violent incidents. She described Senate File 676 as a notification and anti-retaliation bill, and said Senate File 4023 would give schools a brief reset after serious incidents in early grades. She also backed the transparency bill requiring parental review of curriculum and written consent for sex education. The group repeatedly argued that schools, parents, and teachers should be prioritized over what they called political secrecy or overreach. Sen. Jason Rarick focused on school finance, saying new state mandates have left districts in deficit despite prior funding increases. He discussed bills to expand safe school aid to nonpublic schools, increase staffing at the Minnesota School Safety Center, expand counselor funding for nonpublic students to K-6, and conform state law to federal tax credits that could support scholarships and tutoring. Sen. Carla Nelson Housley argued that more than 60 unfunded mandates have strained districts and said Senate File 3361 would temporarily let districts transfer funds between accounts and opt out of certain new mandates from 2023-24, with public board discussion and votes. In the question period, Republicans also discussed the governor’s supplemental budget, fraud enforcement, possible bonding for IT upgrades, and potential tax and child care credit changes, while emphasizing they want bipartisan cooperation on fraud and school safety but oppose new taxes and what they called harmful mandates.

Transcript Highlights:

• program and administration.
• program and administration.
• program and administration.
• So the increase to the program is very significant over the existence of the program.
• So the increase to the program is very significant over the existence of the program.

Committee: House Education Finance

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• existing law, certain individuals serving a term of confinement are eligible for temporary release programs
• such as work release. ...release programs such as work release.
• Yet, she finds herself in a work release program, walking around.
• states that individuals are assigned to suitable participation in formalized institutional treatment programs
• Senate, the difference in the two bills is that Senator Weaver put an amendment that would not allow nurses

Bills: SB210 , SB176 , SB167 , SB244 , SB218 , SB9 , SB153 , SB9

Committee: House Judiciary

Keywords: hospital liens, medical billing, government healthcare, insurance claims, patient rights, controlled substances, unlawful distribution, marijuana, violent offense, sentencing guidelines, criminal justice, aggravated theft, employee benefits, retirement funds, criminal penalty, state law, overdose, failure to render aid, public health, Alabama Athletic Commission

Transcript Highlights:

• We have the certified nurse aide license, the nursing home administrator license, and the psychiatric

Committee: All ALC-OCCUPATIONAL LICENSING REVIEW SUBCOMMITTEE

Summary: The Occupational License Review Committee met and, without objection, moved consideration of the Fire Protection of Lasting Board and the Licensing Protection Board to the March meeting. The committee then heard a report from the Department of Human Services, Division of Provider Services and Quality Assurance, which oversees three occupational licenses: certified nurse aide, nursing home administrator, and psychiatric residential treatment facility licenses. DHS said these licenses are intended to protect the health and safety of people living in residential facilities. Members asked about the nursing home administrator license fund balance, noting it was around $800,000 compared with relatively small annual expenses. The chair questioned whether fees could be reduced or the money used more effectively rather than remaining unused. DHS responded that the statute limits use of those fees to training, and that the division contracts with the Arkansas Health Care Association to provide training classes. No further questions or other business were raised. The committee thanked the witness and adjourned.

Transcript Highlights:

• We have the certified nurse aide license.
• We have the nursing home administrator license, and we have the psychiatric residential treatment facility

Committee: All ALC-OCCUPATIONAL LICENSING REVIEW SUBCOMMITTEE

Summary: The Occupational License Review Committee met and first approved, without objection, moving the Licensing Protection Board item to the March meeting. The committee then heard a report from the Department of Human Services, Division of Provider Services and Quality Assurance, which oversees three occupational licenses: certified nurse aide, nursing home administrator, and psychiatric residential treatment facility licenses. The division said these licenses are needed to protect the health and safety of people in residential facilities. Members asked about the nursing home administrator license fund balance, noting it was around $800,000 compared with relatively small annual expenses. The division responded that the statute limits use of those fees to training, and that it contracts with the Arkansas Health Care Association to provide training classes. A member suggested considering ways to reduce fees or otherwise use the accumulated funds more effectively. No further questions or business were raised, and the committee adjourned.

Transcript Highlights:

• We have Marshall Stevenson, Vice President of Nursing and Ricardo Medrano, ECMO specialist, and in the
• HB 1536 by Craddock relating to the Rural Community-Based Piling Program or for the of the committee
• HB 1557 by Moody relating to the waiver programs for certain veterans provide by toll project entities
• , dual language immersion programs, and special language programs are for the committee on public education
• HB 1662 by Cunningham, relating to the grant program for public school.

Keywords: 1184, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• HB 5129 protects the personal identifying information of occupational license holders such as nurses,
• function to other occupational licensure compacts, which Texas is already a member of, including nursing
• function to other occupational licensure compacts, which Texas is already a member of, including nursing
• Your understanding is correct: in our implementation rules for the TEF programs, there is no exclusion

Bills: HB111

Committee: Senate Business & Commerce

Summary: The committee heard a long series of House bills, with most measures laid out by Senate sponsors and then left pending after brief public testimony. Early bills focused on construction and licensing issues, including HB 305 on prompt payment for public construction audits, HB 5093 on restoring public access to notary contact information, HB 2037 on updating landlord-tenant repair and security deposit rules, HB 4214 on a centralized public information request contact database, and HB 5435 exempting higher education institutions from a 90-day notice requirement for certain public-private partnership projects. Testimony was generally supportive on these bills, and no votes were taken; each was left pending. The committee also considered several transparency and regulatory bills. HB 111 would expand the Public Information Act to certain nonprofit state associations and narrow some attorney-client and working-paper exceptions, with supporters arguing it would improve oversight of public funds and critics questioning the scope and thresholds. HB 5129 would protect occupational license holders’ personal identifying information from disclosure without consent, HB 4350 would allow peace officers to redact personal information from online real property records, HB 4748 would authorize multiple-award state purchasing contracts, and HB 4765 would clean up code enforcement officer licensing rules. HB 4134 would allow motor vehicle creditors to charge limited fees for electronic payment options while requiring a free alternative, and HB 1043 would direct a study of blockchain-based property title records; both drew testimony, with some concern about the practical effects and vendor implications of the blockchain study. Several bills addressed insurance, workforce, and digital-asset regulation. HB 3520 would reduce the insurance coverage required for transportation network companies during the period when a driver is en route to pick up a passenger, drawing support from Texans for Lawsuit Reform and opposition from trial lawyers who argued the higher coverage better protects the public. HB 3320 would create a self-insurance pool for religious institutions, with TDI explaining it would still be regulated but operate under a special statutory framework. HB 4233 would modernize rules for digital asset service providers by removing certain auditor-access requirements and updating reporting and licensing provisions. HB 3923 would reduce bachelor’s-degree requirements for some state jobs, though Every Texan argued low pay, not degree requirements, is the main driver of turnover. HB 4518 would create a legal structure for decentralized unincorporated nonprofit associations tied to blockchain governance; business law experts opposed it as unnecessary and potentially risky, while crypto advocates supported it. Finally, HB 1803 would join an interstate compact for dentists and dental hygienists, with supporters citing workforce shortages and opponents saying Texas already licenses quickly and that the compact could weaken state oversight. Throughout the hearing, the committee repeatedly closed testimony and left bills pending, and a quorum was eventually established before later items were heard.

Transcript Highlights:

• go through months, if not years, of talk therapy before they actually get placed on this hormone program
• That maybe in, let's say, like a nursing home, did it stop working?
• Nursing home or, you know, something like that where they don't have access to that medication, that
• And it could be because of a nursing facility, it could be a different kind of insurance, it could be

Bills: HB 1239 , HB1990 , HB1748 , HB1749 , HB2578 , HB2986 , HB1970 , HB3163 , HB2733 , HB1922 , HB 113 , HB 1088 , HB1938 , HB3004 , HB2637 , HB2960 , HB113

Committee: House Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence

Keywords: public health, access to healthcare, insurance reforms, medical expenses, healthcare providers, mental health, protective custody, preliminary examination, detention period, emergency circumstances, emergency detention, legal framework, detention, healthcare, liability, landowners, nonagricultural land, trespassing, public safety, interpreters

Transcript Highlights:

• But the final leg program is a program that was added several years after they had started that.
• And whereas since 1987, as part of the final leg program of the law enforcement torch run, law enforcement
• But we also have our nurse of the day, Lee Fasio, she is here as well. Thank you.

Keywords: 1204, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Requirements for nursing assessments and the frequency of medical reviews move to Section 305.
• I'm the program supervisor with the residential assisted living program for licensing.
• And I think that the department has a really good relationship with the ombudsman program and with facilities

Summary: The Senate Health and Welfare Committee reviewed several Idaho Department of Health and Welfare administrative rule dockets, mostly zero-based rewrites intended to reduce duplication, simplify language, and align rules with current statutes or federal guidance. On the reportable diseases docket, the department said the rewrite cut the chapter by about 40 percent, added viral hemorrhagic fevers as reportable diseases, and lowered the lead-reporting threshold to 3.5 micrograms per deciliter to match CDC standards. Members asked about incorporation by reference, the history of using federal guidelines, and why COVID was not listed; department staff explained that COVID was handled under broader public health authority and extraordinary-occurrence provisions rather than the reportable disease list. That docket was approved by voice vote after some discussion about whether more health policy should be placed in statute versus rule. The committee then approved the radiation control rules, which were rewritten to shorten the chapter substantially, remove incorporation by reference, and require out-of-state licensees to register within 30 days. Next, members considered a consolidated chapter for developmental disability agencies and related provider types, including residential habilitation agencies and adult residential care providers; the department said the rewrite would streamline licensing requirements and had broad stakeholder support. The committee approved that chapter, then approved a repeal docket for residential habilitation agencies because those provisions had been moved into the new consolidated chapter. The final docket covered residential assisted living facilities. The department said the rewrite reorganized application, resident activity, discharge, and medical review requirements, removed duplicative statutory language, and eliminated a separate NFPA building standard reference because the International Fire Code already covers it. Senators focused on discharge protections for vulnerable residents, asking about emergency discharges, nonpayment, Medicaid-related placement issues, and the role of the ombudsman and appeal rights. Department staff said residents generally receive written notice, often 30 days, and can access appeals and ombudsman assistance; immediate discharge can occur in limited situations such as nonpayment or inability to meet care needs. The committee approved the docket by voice vote and then adjourned, with a note that budget presentations would likely begin the following week.