Transcript Highlights:

• the limited resources we have and they will be more limited as we move forward, given what it looks
• So that means our focus in terms of how we allocate resources, although it's kind of erring right here
• So has azure, resources come in.
• So the current funding process allows lawmakers to allocate resources based on the evolving needs of
• The current process encourages strategic investment rather than uniform allocation.

Keywords: 999, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• If we are not throwing resources at building affordable housing, we must realize that energy costs are
• It wouldn't bar any resources. I apologize now that my microphone's working.
• The empirical basis for the allocation factors that determine who pays what, that's not there.
• costs between residential customers and industrial clients, the empirical basis for every allocation
• costs between residential customers and industrial clients, the empirical basis for every allocation

Keywords: 995, all

Summary: The House opened with the Pledge of Allegiance and then took up several procedural matters, including adopting a resolution recognizing the work of Ukraine Forward and suspending Joint Rule 12 for a number of petitions. The chamber also scheduled several bills for later consideration, including measures on unemployment insurance for fluctuating work schedules, the Medical Society mission statement, a youth training wage, bridge and intersection namings, handicapped parking fines, public-way safety, excavation restoration, motor vehicle safety, and a Newton police age requirement. Two engrossed local bills were passed to be enacted: one authorizing retired police officers as special police in Plainville and another allowing Orange to increase its Board of Selectmen membership. The main policy debate centered on House No. 5151, An Act relative to energy affordability, clean power, and economic competitiveness. Supporters described it as a broad affordability and clean-energy package that would cut costs for ratepayers, reform Mass Save, speed clean-energy procurement and interconnection, return a portion of alternative compliance payments to customers, and address biomass and other energy issues. Opponents argued the bill relied too heavily on long-term programs and new administrative structures while offering little immediate relief, and raised concerns about costs being shifted to consumers, impacts on natural gas, and the pace of implementation. Several amendments were debated and rejected, including proposals to shift public benefit charges away from peak hours, pause public benefit charges for a year, require greater utility disclosure before rate increases, and add a forest-clearing penalty for solar development. One amendment to the energy bill was adopted: a consolidated amendment that included budget-billing consumer protections for gas customers, requiring notice and conservation recommendations when usage rises significantly. The House also adopted an amendment to a separate conservation-restriction bill for Hanson, changing a figure in the underlying law, and passed that bill to be engrossed as amended. The energy bill’s consolidated amendment passed by roll call, while several other amendments failed by roll call votes. The House observed multiple moments of silence honoring Jaden Booker, Thomas Skip Karam, former Freetown Police Chief Carlton Abbott, and former Representative and Senator William Q. “Biff” McLean, Jr.

Transcript Highlights:

• , what that allocation should be.
• an allocation, what that allocation<00:28:58.960> should<00:28:59.120> be.
• resources? resources?
• >> Not tied to a centralized resource >> Not tied to a centralized resource system.<
• allocations.

Bills: SB2190, SB2338, SB2424, SB2356, SB2981, SB3028, SB3187, SB2378, SB2398, SB2192, SB2155, SB3219, SB3218

Keywords: affordable housing, employment contracts, salary caps, housing finance, public housing authority, executive compensation, parking minimums, off-street parking, transit-oriented development, TOD, housing supply, smart growth, redevelopment, adaptive reuse, micro units, rail transit, public transit stations, county zoning, land use, urban planning

Summary: The House Housing Committee heard testimony on a series of housing-related Senate bills. SB 2190 SD2 on inclusionary zoning drew support from HHFDC, Hawaii YIMBY, Grassroot Institute, Housing Hawaii’s Future, and Hako Seed Center, with opposition from OHA and Aloha Independent Living Hawaii. SB 2338 SD1, dealing with housing agency personnel authority, received comments from the Attorney General cautioning that the bill should be clarified to avoid conflicts with civil service and collective bargaining laws and recommending removal of a provision limiting employment contracts; HHFDC said its comments addressed those concerns and supported the measure. SB 2424 SD1, concerning HHFDC, received broad support from housing, business, and community groups, with one opposition. Testimony focused on changing the definition of “qualified resident” so people who already own an HHFDC-assisted unit could later purchase another if their housing needs change; HHFDC said the current rule forces people to sell before buying again and that the bill would help people move up the housing ladder and encourage more housing development. SB 2356 on parking also drew broad support from state agencies, housing advocates, business groups, and local officials, with Unite Here Local 5 in opposition. SB 2981 on land use had strong support from many organizations and 67 individuals, with Unite Here Local 5 opposing. SB 3028 SD2 on property conveyance generated the most detailed policy debate. Supporters, including Catholic Charities Hawaii, Hawaii Children’s Action Network, Indivisible Hawaii, and others, backed restructuring the conveyance tax into a marginal rate system and urged changes to revenue allocations, including dedicated funding for homeless services, DHHL, and the rental housing revolving fund. The Tax Foundation of Hawaii supported the marginal-rate concept but opposed dedicated special-fund allocations and criticized the bill’s blank sections. Committee members questioned the historical purpose of the conveyance tax, and the Tax Foundation explained it was originally a modest tax tied to property-value tracking when the state still ran the property tax system. The committee also heard SB 3187 SD2 on off-site construction, SB 2378 SD2 on housing permitting, and SB 2398 SD2 on residential housing utilities. OPSD supported SB 3187 but said it preferred the House version and wanted clarification that off-site certification should apply to factories in Hawaii, not out of state, to avoid outsourcing labor; it also suggested starting with a small scope. SB 2378 SD2 drew support from engineering, housing, and labor groups, with testimony that the House version included needed fixes to make the program insurable. On SB 2398 SD2, the Board of Water Supply opposed the bill, saying it could require disclosure of sensitive infrastructure information beyond ordinary water-availability assessments and raise critical-infrastructure and cybersecurity concerns; developers and housing groups supported the measure. No votes or final actions were taken in the portion of the hearing provided.

Transcript Highlights:

• So that is below the $10 million per year that's allowed to be allocated.
• could be a potential ask for a full allocation.
• The $10 million allocation, of course, is flexible. It is variable.
• This is what the office would need in terms of resources.
• This year, we actually didn't have enough money to allocate to everyone who needed it, so we allocated

Bills: AB568, SB90, SB133, SB147, SB229, SB233, SB240, SB245, SB280, SB378, SB393, SB417, SB434, SB494, SB495, AB62, SB104, SB119, SB132, SB193, SB262, SB422, SB431, SB435, SB468, SB503

Keywords: higher education, Nevada System of Higher Education, operational expenses, instructional expenses, public funding, education funding, teacher grants, classroom supplies, instructional support, specialized personnel, civics education, Nevada Center for Civic Engagement, funding, youth programs, civic involvement, Southern Nevada, Clark County, Las Vegas Valley, regional planning, economic resiliency

Transcript Highlights:

• I'd like to begin by thanking you for your ongoing commitment to ensuring the PUC has the resources needed
• It's going on to the um I know last session we We bumped up a lot of the resources that uh for the agency
• You have enough resources to respond to, let alone industry, but the, the public that expects highly
• Um, Quote, allocate reliability costs to generation resources that cannot guarantee their own availability
• And it was a problem in our area, so I just want to Make sure that You have the resources one, but you

Transcript Highlights:

• And we had $20 million allocated in our first... ...the counties, and we had $20 million allocated in
• By securing the requested resources, By securing the requested resources, which are outlined in the Governor's
• They were out of resources, resources our task force has already stretched thin on.
• It's a national board, and it is providing resources to not only children, not only providing resources
• And get connected to these resources.

Summary: The Assembly Budget Subcommittee on Public Safety heard several items focused on youth safety and law enforcement resources. The committee first took up tribal youth diversion programs, with the Legislative Analyst’s Office describing the Tribal Youth Diversion Grant Program and its two cohorts of grantees funded through the Board of State and Community Corrections. Tribal representatives from the Yurok Tribe and San Pasqual Band of Indians testified that diversion, tribal courts, school partnerships, mentoring, and culturally grounded services helped reduce truancy and justice-system involvement, but that short-term funding interruptions and limited capacity prevented them from serving all youth in need. Committee members discussed the importance of early intervention, tribal-state court collaboration, and possible misidentification of Native youth in the justice system. The committee then heard the California Highway Patrol’s overview of surge operations supporting local crime suppression, including organized retail theft. CHP reported that its surge teams have been used in response to mutual aid requests and cited arrests, stolen vehicle recoveries, and firearm seizures in Oakland, Bakersfield, and San Bernardino. Members asked about demand for these operations and whether CHP could meet requests without affecting other duties; CHP said requests have increased and are accepted when resources allow. The committee also heard CHP’s request for a $5 million General Fund augmentation and 12 positions for its Computer Crimes Investigation Unit to make child sexual abuse material and human trafficking investigations a higher priority. CHP cited rising cybertip volumes, a case involving AI-generated CSAM, and the need for more investigators and forensic capacity. A larger portion of the hearing focused on the Internet Crimes Against Children task forces and a separate $5 million ongoing General Fund proposal for Cal OES to continue the program. Task force commanders from Sacramento, San Diego, Silicon Valley, and Fresno described rapidly growing cybertip volumes, heavy caseloads, forensic backlogs, and the need for training and equipment for affiliate agencies statewide. They emphasized that the ICAC model relies on local partnerships, deconfliction, and subject-matter expertise to identify victims, execute warrants, and rescue children, and they gave examples of cases that led to arrests and child rescues. Members generally supported the work but raised questions about overlap between CHP and ICAC efforts, the need for broader statewide collaboration, and whether more resources should be directed to task forces and victim services. A public commenter also urged expansion of homeless youth exploitation services and the California Youth Crisis Line.

Transcript Highlights:

• In fiscal year 2022-23, the legislature allocated five...
• allocation for a more traditional on-prem model.
• We had a total of 83.6 million allocated, and we're currently at about 60% complete.
• or you have to go to market to actually acquire those resources.
• We have a significant footprint in IT resources. Representative Blanco.

Summary: The subcommittee first heard a panel on state cloud modernization efforts after canceling an LBR on the Department of Corrections’ OBIS project because the presentation materials were not submitted on time. Florida Digital Service, the Northwest Regional Data Center, and several agencies described how the state is assessing and migrating applications to cloud environments under the cloud-first policy. Northwest explained its 2023 cloud readiness assessment of 890 applications from 24 agencies, the criteria used to rate readiness and risk, and its recommendation to tackle lower-risk applications first. Agency updates covered the Department of Corrections’ modernization of 98 legacy applications tied to OBIS and cloud-native infrastructure, the Department of Elder Affairs’ Microsoft Power Platform modernization, the Department of Health’s health management and child protection systems, and FDOT’s large cloud program for transportation systems. Members repeatedly asked about costs, data ownership, disaster recovery, single sign-on, security tools, and whether cloud migration actually saves money; presenters generally said the focus is more on modernization, resilience, and efficiency than immediate savings, and that cost analyses are often application-specific rather than enterprise-wide. The discussion also covered governance and architecture questions. Florida Digital Service said agencies remain responsible for their own databases and cloud tenants, while FLDS provides advice and an enterprise architecture framework; it does not have statutory oversight over most projects, except for OBIS project oversight due to its size. Northwest said it is acting as a cloud broker for some agencies and is consolidating Azure and AWS payer tenants to seek better pricing, but agencies still make system-by-system decisions based on business needs, risk, latency, and total cost of ownership. Members raised concerns about fragmented data structures, the lack of a complete statewide application inventory, and the need for better interoperability and enterprise standards. Several agencies said disaster recovery is built into their cloud plans, and FDOT and Corrections described ongoing efforts to keep systems current through core platforms, training, and ongoing support. In the second half of the meeting, the Department of State presented two new technology requests. Secretary Byrd described the SunBiz corporate registry system as a 34-year-old platform supporting more than 3.5 million business entities and generating over $575 million in annual general revenue. He said the department had already virtualized the legacy hardware after earlier modernization efforts failed and is now seeking $800,000 recurring for password protection and $5 million nonrecurring to continue procurement for a replacement system. The department also presented the Florida Voter Registration System modernization request, noting that the current system is outdated and requires manual workarounds for some statutory changes. The department requested $2.4948 million nonrecurring and $44,000 recurring to procure a modernized FVRS solution, and staff said the feasibility study recommended a hybrid approach. Members asked about the study’s findings and about creating a database for voter eligibility information for returning citizens; the department said that would require data sharing with all 67 clerks of court and other entities such as DOC.

Transcript Highlights:

• $483 million appropriation recommendation for VPK operations, which increases the base student allocation
• receive the appropriate credentials. $3.9 million for the HIPPY Program to deliver high-quality resources
• that did. ...a total of $1.56 billion for teacher pay, an allocation that did not exist prior to this
• ; $190 million, which is an increase of $10 million for the mental health allocation; $12.5 million is
• When we're talking about mental health allocations and the increase, what does that include?

Summary: The Appropriations Committee on Pre-K-12 Education received a presentation from the Governor’s Office of Policy and Budget and the Department of Education on the Governor’s fiscal year 2026-27 education budget. Shelby Salmons outlined the overall budget framework, and Commissioner Stasi Kamoutsis highlighted major education investments, including $486 million for VPK, $30.6 billion for K-12 education, a $761.1 million increase in FEFP funding, the highest per-student funding level to date, and $201 million more for teacher pay flexibility. The presentation also emphasized school safety, mental health, civics education, and the Guardian Program, along with continued funding for TEACH, HIPPY, Help Me Grow, and civics debate and literacy initiatives. Members asked about how the mental health allocation would be used, counselor staffing ratios, school closures and whether the department intervenes, oversight of school choice and voucher-funded schools, and the Guardian Program’s pay structure and effectiveness. Senators also raised concerns about the FISH school capacity report, data collection, teacher pay, professional development, AI and tutoring technology, and whether the budget adequately supports mental health services and school safety. The Commissioner said many funding decisions are left to districts, that the department stands ready to assist, and that the Guardian Program has been successful and expanded over time. During public testimony, Pinellas County School Board member Laura Hine said her district spends far more on safety and mental health than it receives in state categorical funding, and urged the committee to consider full-day VPK funding, arguing it has improved third-grade reading outcomes in Pinellas. Senators followed up on district flexibility and local spending choices. The committee took no substantive vote on the budget presentation and adjourned after thanking the department for its recommendations and partnership.

Transcript Highlights:

• If a source of supply is over-allocated.
• And so we opted not to use that resource.
• or produced water resources.
• future of that resource.
• in water resources in Texas.

Keywords: 1184, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• <01:06:03.520> Um allocation flexibility at 80%. Um allocation flexibility at 80%.
• keep these resources in our classrooms. keep these resources in our classrooms.
• > some<01:25:47.320> students It's taken resources from some students It's taken resources
• these resources.
• resources to resources, additional resources to schools<01:34:31.680> effectively<01:34:32.560

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• It's taking money through a grant program to provide $3 million for Pregnancy Resource Centers and $1
• implies more than one option, and this will ensure that that happens with funding the Pregnancy Resource
• It's taking money through a grant program to provide $3 million for Pregnancy Resource Centers and $1
• implies more than one option, and this will ensure that that happens with funding the Pregnancy Resource
• <00:03:07.200> and Health in a different allocation and Health in a different allocation and

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• We're increasing the base student allocation by $50.
• So what the Senate is seeking to do with this allocation and an allocation to follow is to address those
• We also then allocate dollars specifically, well, through, we allocate dollars to different departments
• Be that as it may, what scarce resources we have allocated to that program, this bill seeks to revise
• I would say probably Probably 27,000% more than the capacity of the scarce resources we've allocated

Bills: S2500, S2502, S2504, S7028, S2506, S2508, S2510, S2512, S2514, S2516, S2518, S0482, S0678, S0984, S1016, S1074, S1706, S7030

Keywords: budget, appropriation, education funding, healthcare, environmental protection, infrastructure, local government, Appropriations Act, funding, education, rural development, economic assistance, collective bargaining, state employees, labor relations, impasse resolution, negotiations, retirement, elected officials, Deferred Retirement Option Program

Summary: The committee heard presentations on the Senate’s proposed 2026-2027 budget, SPB 2500, with chairs outlining major spending in K-12 education, higher education, health and human services, criminal and civil justice, transportation/tourism/economic development, and agriculture/environment/general government. Highlights included a $115 billion overall budget, pay raises for state employees and public safety workers, major K-12 funding increases and enrollment supplements, higher education workforce and nursing investments, expanded Medicaid/KidCare and behavioral health funding, corrections and law enforcement operational funding, transportation and housing investments, and significant environmental and water quality spending. Members asked about civic education funding, declining enrollment, professor retention, APD waiver waitlists, cultural grant allocations, and other line items. Public testimony also addressed HIV/AIDS drug assistance funding and prison air conditioning. SPB 2500 was adopted as a committee bill after amendment consideration and a roll call vote. The committee then took up implementing and related budget bills, including SPB 2502 (implementing the General Appropriations Act), SPB 2504 (state employee bargaining placeholder), SB 7028 (Florida Retirement System contribution rates and related retirement changes), SPB 2506 (fuel tax distributions), SPB 2508 (state agency law enforcement radio system surcharge), SPB 2510 (termination of an unused court trust fund), SPB 2512 (new judgeships), SPB 2514 (K-12 conforming changes), SPB 2516 (higher education conforming changes), and SPB 2518 (health conforming changes). Most were explained as technical or conforming measures tied to the budget, and all were reported favorably as committee bills, with SB 7028 amended to direct a portion of increased contributions to disability and line-of-duty death benefits in the FRS investment plan. The committee also heard and passed several member bills, including CS for SB 1074 on rounding rules for cash transactions in a world without pennies, CS for SB 678 restoring the alcohol loss deduction framework for distributors, and SB 964 on firefighter cancer benefits and prevention. SB 964 drew the most discussion, with questions about the one-year death-benefit window, the separate $25,000 cancer diagnosis payment, and whether the bill could create gaps in coverage for firefighters diagnosed or dying just outside the new time limits. Firefighter representatives testified in support, saying the bill would provide clearer protections for members and families. All of these measures were reported favorably.

Transcript Highlights:

• We're asking the committee to allocate $1.25 million.
• How can you justify allocating staff to this when there are so many other more high-risk inspections
• Although $55 million over two years was allocated, $45 million is planning to be spent.
• So we would like to see additional money allocated to scale up the program.
• That funding allocation has slowly declined.

Keywords: 988, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• <00:36:32.560> the resources that are allocated through the resources that are allocated through
• It just resources as they see fit.
• So there are robust teacher resources that are still being allocated.
• teacher resources that are still being allocated.<00:42:51.119> I<00:42:51.359> think<
• instructional resource in the style. instructional resource in the style.

Bills: HB0159

Keywords: student rights, free expression, K-12 education, speech protection, religious views, political speech, 916, all

Transcript Highlights:

• resource block grant model. resource block grant model.
• <00:30:33.840> are<00:30:34.080> allocated<00:30:34.720> for additional resources
• are allocated for additional resources are allocated for district-level<00:30:35.760> buildings.
• sparsely allocated across the state. sparsely allocated across the state.
• education resource block grant model. education resource block grant model.

Keywords: 916, all

Transcript Highlights:

• The state budgeting for the FES program for the 24-25 school year allocated approximately $2.79 billion
• For the 2024-25 school year, the state allocated approximately $2.79 billion.
• In addition, as state law provides for the department to adjust the amount of funds allocated to the
• to perform its critical duties. was not evident that the department had sufficient staff resources to
• I know we're on a time crunch, so I want to allocate 20 minutes to member questions.

Summary: The Senate Appropriations Committee on Pre-K-12 Education met for its first meeting of the 2025 session to hear the Auditor General’s operational audit on 2024-25 school funding accountability challenges, focused largely on the Family Empowerment Scholarship and its interaction with the FEFP. Deputy Auditor General Matthew Tracy described rapid growth in scholarship enrollment, timing mismatches between scholarship payments and public-school funding calculations, delayed membership survey processing, weak cross-check and recoupment procedures, inconsistent handling of parent survey responses, and limited documentation for withholding and returning funds. The audit said these issues contributed to funding inequities, duplicate-payment risks, and an unexpected draw on state education funds, and it recommended separating scholarship funding from the FEFP, aligning application windows with budget timing, strengthening controls and staffing, and creating clearer, documented recoupment and balance-limit processes. Committee members questioned whether current law gives the department and scholarship funding organizations enough authority and whether the system is effectively a pay-and-chase model. Several senators expressed concern about the lack of timely reconciliation, the size of the funds involved, and the absence of clear records showing how money was recovered or withheld. Adam Emerson, executive director of the Office of School Choice, said the department is working more closely with school districts and scholarship funding organizations, including pausing payments when districts identify students still enrolled in public schools, and said the office wants to improve the process. President Gates then previewed legislation he said would address the audit’s findings by funding Family Empowerment Scholarships as a separate FEFP categorical, expanding the Education Stabilization Fund, setting clearer application and acceptance deadlines, moving to monthly payments with eligibility verification before each payment, assigning student IDs for scholarship assistance, lowering SFO management fees, requiring annual audits, and requiring prompt return of audit-related funds. Public comment included a private-school attorney describing losses from unpaid scholarship amounts. Members generally supported the need for reform, with several senators saying the program should be preserved but better structured and more accountable. The committee adjourned after the discussion, with no vote taken on the legislation.

Transcript Highlights:

• for them and a scientific resource for them and a business<00:07:04.680> resource<00:07:05.120
• Minnesota's first round of allocation Minnesota's first round of allocation for<00:48:22.760>
• resources that have been allocated resources that have been allocated through<00:57:47.440> General
• dollars that we already have allocated dollars that we already have allocated out<00:58:23.599><
• allocate funding um we can allocate allocate funding um we can allocate funding<01:05:04.559>

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• Specifically, the two regulations come from the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and
• I have had an opportunity to Conservation, Natural Resources, and the Department of Agriculture.
• We note in the allocation to UNLV, in addition to the planning funds, also language specifying, quote
• We note in the allocation to UNLV, in addition to the planning funds, also language specifying, quote
• The Housing Division did testify that they would not need additional resources to carry this out and

Bills: SB6, SB62, SB74, SB90, SB104, SB119, SB132, SB133, SB135, SB182, SB185, SB193, SB207, SB217, SB229, SB233, SB260, SB262, SB280, SB281, SB300, SB306, SB378, SB382, SB393, SB403, SB422, SB427, SB431, SB434, SB442, SB452, SB456, SB468, SB472, SB487, SB503, SB6

Keywords: cloud seeding, Nevada, water conservation, agriculture, Desert Research Institute, victim compensation, hate crimes, property remediation, criminal justice, vulnerable persons, elections, voter registration, mail ballots, candidate eligibility, cybersecurity, education funding, teacher grants, classroom supplies, instructional support, specialized personnel

Transcript Highlights:

• We have ongoing outreach to gather resources for our veterans here on campus.
• We have had a dedicated Veterans Resource Center for approximately 12 years.
• Veterans and Military Resource Center to ensure that we're connecting students with different resources
• , reporting annually on tribal allocations.
• The money is there; the State of New Mexico has allocated funds.

Transcript Highlights:

• Members, any questions of our resource witness? Okay. Thank you. Appreciate you very much.
• All right, members, we have resource witnesses.
• Are there any other questions for our resource witnesses?
• Schools need more resources to provide support for kids in need.
• Senator Bentoncourt, do we need to bring our resource witnesses back up here?

Bills: SB568, SCR5, SB57, SB1447, SB27, SB24

Keywords: special education, funding, individualized education program, visual impairments, accessibility, support services, state education code, SCR 5, Senate Concurrent Resolution 5, Texas School for the Deaf, TSD, Robert Rives, gymnasium naming, building naming, honorary resolution, commemorative resolution, deaf education, hard of hearing, Gallaudet University, alumni hall of fame