Bills: SCR56, SCR79, SCR85, SCR120, SCR129, SCR181, SCR63, SCR112, SCR194, SCR195, SCR196, HB202, HB963, HB1050, HB1511, HB1546, HB1550, HB1553, HB1643, HB1656, HB1658, HB1664, HB1667, HB1682, HB1700, HB1721, HB1810, HB1823, HB1824, HB1878, HB1969, HB2005, HB2078, HB2152, HB2246, HB2270, HB2279, HB2289, HB2385, HB2417, HB2429, HB2503, HB2599, SB253, SB847, SB1142, SB1432, SB2043, SB2050, SB2074, SB2102, SB2135, SB2138, SB2140, SB2320, SB2340, SB2386, SB2396, SB2397, SB2398, SB2433, SB2446, SB2521, SB2544, SB2567, SB2578, SB2580, SB2595, SB2601, SB2645, SB2673, SB2706, SB2727, SB2802, SB2852, SB2892, SB2929, SB2972, SB3007, SB3069, SB3073, SB3076, SB3136, SB3138, SB3157, SB3204, SB3234, SB3247, SB3302, SB3324, SB3325, HB1815, HB2592, HCR32

Keywords: lifeguards, first responders, public safety, ocean safety, emergency response, community wellbeing, invasive species, octocoral, Pearl Harbor, environment, Navy responsibility, marine ecosystem, ecosystem preservation, shoreline maintenance, civil service, classification review, compensation systems, labor shortage, employee retention, department collaboration

Transcript Highlights:

• This bill sets the excess spending threshold, and the goal is to ramp school spending down to the point
• This is the excess spending threshold, and when...
• And when you go into the foundation formula, there's a limit.
• And so we have limited the tuition spending for 2 years till we get to the foundation formula.
• Pressure by ramping down that excess spending threshold will lower spending overall, and that will have

Keywords: 927, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• It has a higher income limit. The House wants to make it universal.
• It has a higher income limit. The House wants to make it universal.
• It has a higher income limit. The House wants to make it universal.
• It has a higher income limit. The House wants to make it universal.
• This thing... they spend their EFA dollars wherever they spend their EFA dollars wherever they<00:44:

Keywords: 1191, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Although, under this proposal, the state's exemption would remain relatively limited.
• Spending authority increase, and this is to increase the FTB's spending authority for the asset forfeiture
• And really, because there's a couple of parameters that limit it.
• The problem is that SSI has a very, very strict limit.
• The limitation from our perspective... perspective, is just a programmatic limitation, is that outreach

Keywords: 988, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• That has the higher net worth limit on it as well.
• That has the higher net worth limit on it as well.
• That has the higher net worth limit on it as well.
• That has the higher net worth limit on it as well.
• That has the higher net worth limit on it as well.

Bills: HF770, HF857, HF38, HF1500, HF43

Keywords: HF770, Rural Finance Authority, RFA, capital investment, state bonds, general obligation bonds, bonding bill, agricultural loans, farm loans, beginning farmer, new farmer, seller-sponsored loans, loan restructuring, agricultural improvement loans, livestock expansion, modernization loans, rural development, Minnesota agriculture, farm credit, chapter 41B

Transcript Highlights:

• <00:05:08.520> on total figures of how much we spend on total figures of how much we spend
• <00:15:06.199> in as an increase in state spending in as an increase in state spending in
• links to um the forecast and spending links to um the forecast and spending data<00:31:48.919>
• <00:35:24.599> across decrease in projected spending across decrease in projected spending
• <01:02:53.039> these to spend these to spend these resources<01:02:54.839> uh<01:02

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• But I will say that there is a limit to that, and that limit is if your pacing requires a certain number
• stay at the current limits.
• I mean, you can stay within the minority ownership limits if you want.
• Are we limited?
• it to North Dakota would limit potential.

Keywords: 908, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Assault weapons ban, high-capacity magazine limits, which I think would go a long way, frankly.
• High-capacity magazine limits would go a long way, frankly.
• the state's current spending patterns. the state's current spending patterns.
• The sooner we begin looking spending.
• But talk to me about the push to ban NDAs or at least limit them.

Keywords: 918, senate, all

Summary: The program covered three main topics: Minnesota’s February economic forecast, gun violence prevention efforts, and the growing debate over data centers. Minnesota Management and Budget reported a stronger-than-expected outlook, replacing a projected deficit with a $3.7 billion surplus for FY 2026-27 and a projected positive balance for FY 2028-29, though officials warned the state still faces a structural imbalance and possible federal funding losses tied to Medicaid reimbursements and fraud-related federal actions. Lawmakers also discussed affordability concerns, with Senate Republicans promoting a tax-relief package focused on property taxes, vehicle tab fees, and ending taxes on tips and overtime. A lengthy segment focused on gun violence prevention, including a Capitol rally by Annunciation Catholic Church families, students, and advocates. Senator Ron Latz said an interim working group he co-led with Senator Zeinab Mohamed gathered public and expert input and helped shape ideas for the session. He said there is no single solution, but cited measures such as red flag laws, universal background checks, an assault weapons ban, high-capacity magazine limits, safe-storage requirements, ghost gun and binary trigger bans, and more school counseling and wraparound mental health supports. Latz emphasized that he sees these as compatible with the Second Amendment and said he hopes to build bipartisan support, especially around school counseling and other “common-sense” measures. Latz said the short session and narrow margins mean compromise will be necessary, and that if a package does not pass this year, lawmakers will return to the issue next session while voters should hold legislators accountable in future elections. The final segment introduced the data center discussion, with Senator Bill Liske describing how data centers have grown from small server rooms into large industrial facilities and noting that some communities are considering moratoriums or restrictions because of neighborhood impacts.

Transcript Highlights:

• Two points I forget what's the limit? Yeah, yeah.
• No, we are here because we spend too much. We have an addiction to spending in California.
• revenues have been up 62%, but spending has been up over 77%.
• For every 62 cents we get, we spend 77 cents.
• It's because you spend more money than we take in.

Keywords: 987, senate, all

Summary: The Senate took up a series of bills focused on consumer protection, housing, worker safety, privacy, and local fiscal authority. Measures discussed included SB 1312 on abandoned cemeteries, SB 1112 on towing fee notices, SB 877 on insurance claim transparency after wildfire losses, SB 1046 on Cal/OSHA standards for Tijuana River Valley pollution exposure, SB 1091 on anti-displacement housing preservation, SB 951 on notice and protections when AI displaces workers, SB 1030 repealing the “man in the house” rule for public assistance, SB 1218 tying vehicle registration to unpaid illegal dumping fines, SB 1013 regulating automated license plate reader data, SB 1116 making technical changes to the starter home housing law, SB 1201 protecting veterans from food assistance cuts, and SB 1164 strengthening state voting rights protections. The Senate also considered SCR 171, declaring May 20, 2026, California Nonprofits Day, and welcomed Berkeley Mayor Adina Ishii during floor introductions. Debate was often divided along policy and fiscal lines. Supporters of the local tax authorization bill AB 1768 argued it would let voters in Los Angeles and Contra Costa counties decide whether to backfill major health and human services cuts tied to federal changes, while opponents said it would raise costs, bypass normal tax-policy review, and worsen affordability. SB 1013 drew strong support from senators who said ALPR data needs tighter safeguards, but opposition warned the bill would hamper law enforcement investigations. SB 951 on AI-related layoffs received support as a worker-protection measure, while SB 1164 drew opposition over concerns about litigation and expanded Attorney General oversight. SB 1030 was framed as a long-overdue repeal of a discriminatory welfare rule, and SB 1201 was presented as a way to shield vulnerable veterans from federal food assistance cuts. Most measures passed on strong bipartisan votes, often unanimously. SB 1312, SB 1112, SB 877, SB 1046, SB 1091, SB 1030, SB 1218, SB 1116, SB 1201, SB 1164, and SCR 171 were adopted, and AB 1768 passed as an urgency measure after extended debate. SB 951 also passed, with some no votes. The Senate then announced committee meetings for budget subcommittees and adjourned until the next floor session.

Transcript Highlights:

• You're spending the secondary spending limit in 27.
• spending limit.
• secondary spending limit.
• and it's the secondary spending limit. and it's the secondary spending limit.
• So you secondary spending limit.

Keywords: 924, joint, all

Transcript Highlights:

• New spending in 26-27 of $2.687 million and new spending of $2.928 million in 28-29 from the general
• New spending in 26-27 of $2.687 million and new spending of $2.928 million in 28-29 from the general
• 687 million uh in 2627 and new spending 687 million uh in 2627 and new spending of<00:25:40.880>
• Again, there's a corresponding revenue on line 120 that funds this new spending, but new spending from
• liability<00:45:24.480> company company or a limited liability company company or a limited

Keywords: 919, house, all

Summary: The Agriculture Conference Committee met for an initial organizational and comparison session on House File 2446, the agriculture broadband and rural development bill. Members introduced themselves, noted that no conference target had yet been set, and agreed to begin with a side-by-side review of House and Senate positions. No oral testimony was taken; instead, the chair listed written testimony submitted by a wide range of agricultural, environmental, local government, food bank, and industry groups. Nonpartisan fiscal staff walked through the major funding differences. Both bills included some shared items such as operating adjustments, wolf and elk damage compensation, and certain technical changes, but they differed on several major appropriations. The House generally proposed larger increases for meat inspection, local food purchasing, and the Board of Animal Health, and added items such as county inspector grants, biofertilizer innovation, a biosolids/PFAS-related study, a soil health study, broadband installation study funding, an Agri Works program, an Agri Support program, a milk grant program, and several House-only transfers and grants. The Senate included items such as a climate coordinator position, biofuel-related reductions and policy changes, livestock processing funding, farm-to-school and urban agriculture changes, MARL funding, cottage foods licensing updates, and several Senate-only pass-through grants and transfers. Staff also noted differences in the agriculture emergency account transfer approach and in how the two bodies handled the Second Harvest Heartland and related food distribution provisions. House Research then reviewed the policy language differences in the bill. The House language included provisions allowing more flexible use of grant administration funds, unpaid prior-year claims, county inspector grants, and updates tied to its own policy article, while the Senate language included the climate coordinator, PFAS-related commercialization language, cooperative development grant permissive language, and other Senate policy changes. The committee did not take any votes or final actions at this meeting; the session was informational and focused on identifying differences for later negotiation.

Transcript Highlights:

• It limits it within the one-year prescriptive period.
• And it limits the amount that you can pay a for-profit organization. ...period, and it limits the amount
• We are not trying to run to spend money. That is a pool set aside.
• I just, I'm not sure how we continue to advocate for them to spend, for us to spend dollars like this
• I just, I'm not sure how we continue to advocate for them to spend, for us to spend dollars like this

Summary: The Commerce and Tourism Committee heard and favorably reported several bills. SB 1672 removed duplicative state provisions related to labor pools; CS/SB 940 prohibited third-party sale of restaurant reservations without the restaurant’s consent; and CS/SB 1820 made changes to motor vehicle manufacturer and dealer franchise law, including disclosure of performance measures, anti-retaliation protections, and limits on franchise termination or nonrenewal. The committee also approved CS/SB 324, creating a revolving loan program to help small businesses affected by prolonged public works construction, and SB 936, which creates a recurring three-year study of the effects of AI, robotics, and automation on Florida’s workforce and economy. SB 1322, the Florida Rural Jobs Act, was amended and reported favorably to encourage private investment in rural small businesses through a state tax credit program. The committee also reported favorably on CS/SB 910, which regulates for-profit veterans’ benefit assistance services, and CS/SB 656, which extends protections from extraordinary collection actions to all bill-of-care payment actions by hospitals and ambulatory surgical centers. The committee spent substantial time on CS/SB 1264, a broad Department of Commerce agency bill. The strike-all amendment added or revised provisions on Secure Florida, the RISE venture capital tax credit program, data center tax exemptions, business development classifications, military land transfers, and other economic development matters, while also repealing regional planning councils from statute. That repeal drew extensive opposition from local officials and regional council representatives, who argued the councils are important for emergency management, grant writing, planning, and support for small and rural communities. Supporters of the amendment said the councils could continue locally without state statutory involvement. After debate, the amendment was adopted and the bill was reported favorably, though Senators Davis and Smith voted no. The committee also considered CS/SB 1238, which would tighten reemployment assistance rules by disqualifying claimants who fail to meet job-search requirements or refuse work, and by adding verification and reporting requirements. Supporters framed it as adding guardrails and preventing fraud, while opponents argued Florida’s unemployment system is already difficult to access and that the bill would add unnecessary barriers and costs. Despite opposition from labor and advocacy groups, the bill was reported favorably, with Senators Smith and Arrington voting no. Finally, the committee unanimously recommended confirmation of Alexis Yarborough and John Gilbert to the Board of Supervisors of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District.

Transcript Highlights:

• <00:18:09.120> personal such as by limiting personal such as by limiting personal information
• I'll admit this one pushes the limit.
• always a fan of necessarily spending always a fan of necessarily spending more<01:09:26.480>
• Members, this bill spends $95 million per biennium.
• And the reality is we spend 95% of our time outside of here.

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• <00:09:55.920> that this because I don't want to spend that this because I don't want to spend
• He said they would immediately see reduced spending.
• So spend a little time there for the education of the members. Yes.
• can help these plans get a better spend can help these plans get a better spend or<00:42:46.559>
• analysis of this is what we're spending analysis of this is what we're spending here<00:46:52.000

Keywords: 928, house, all

Summary: The working session focused on the New Hampshire Prescription Drug Affordability Board’s budget request and its recent work. Early discussion centered on a technical question about a statutory dedicated fund for donations: members asked why the budget did not show a line item for accepting donations, and DHHS CFO Nathan White explained that the statute already authorizes the fund, but because no revenue has been received yet, it does not appear in the budget. He said any future donations would go through the normal process under RSA 14:30-a, with fiscal committee and Governor and Council approval and a memo to the Department of Revenue Administration. The chair clarified that the account was not a prerequisite to soliciting donations, and White said the fund would supplement, not replace, General Fund support. Kirk Williamson, the board’s executive director, then presented the board’s mission and budget. He said the governor’s budget provides about $256,500 in the first year and slightly more in the second, all General Funds, and that the board had distributed a technical amendment to continue the executive director position. He described the board’s role as analyzing prescription drug costs, identifying savings opportunities, monitoring market trends, promoting transparency, and making recommendations to the legislature and public payers. He also emphasized that the board operates publicly, with live-streamed meetings and a stakeholder advisory council that includes unions, state agencies, Medicaid, corrections, higher education, and other stakeholders. A major topic was the board’s estimate of $6 million in potential savings, based on Medicare’s newly negotiated prices for 10 drugs. Williamson explained that the board used those federal negotiated prices as a benchmark to estimate what New Hampshire public payers might be missing by not having similar leverage, and said the board is trying to build evidence for future recommendations rather than directly setting prices. Members asked how those potential savings could become actual savings, and Williamson said the board is sharing findings through its advisory council and feedback loops, though it has not yet sent a formal recommendation letter to specific purchasers. He also discussed the difference between pharmacy-benefit spending, which relies heavily on PBM-negotiated rebates, and medical-benefit spending, which is administered differently and is being added to the board’s next report. Williamson highlighted other work, including a model on Humira and a pending legislative effort to improve biosimilar competition, plus a proposed state-backed pharmacy savings card that would be no cost to the state and could save users about $240 per prescription based on Connecticut’s experience. No votes were taken during the session.

Transcript Highlights:

• No, this bar wants to allow them to spend it on their agency operations. Okay.
• Just give them kind of a—because there's no limit on there.
• So as we say other state funds, what is that limited to? Can that be...
• And they think they can spend it by the end of the district. Mr.
• They can spend it. I'm hearing something completely opposite.

Bills: SB241, SB145

Keywords: child care, child care assistance, child care subsidy, early childhood education, early childhood care, daycare, preschool, pre-K, Head Start, Early Head Start, Children's Code, early childhood education and care department, ECECD, child care facilities, licensed child care, registered child care, copayments, waitlist, subsidy, federal poverty level

Transcript Highlights:

• We want to spend more spend more money.
• the previous bill by reducing spending the previous bill by reducing spending overall.<00:33:10.080
• <00:36:08.320> $100 spending and we might be spending $100 spending and we might be spending
• education funding total we're spending education funding total we're spending about<00:57:27.440
• compared to the billions that we spend compared to the billions that we spend on<01:11:39.640>

Keywords: 928, house, all

Summary: The Finance Committee first took up Senate Bill 63, which Representative Maguire described as a straightforward bill setting funding for the Division of Travel and Tourism. He said it was not controversial. The committee voted to retain the bill by roll call, with one no vote and one member absent, and the motion passed 23-1-1. The committee then considered Senate Bill 74, dealing with annual reporting requirements for state departments that issue permits. Representative Maguire explained Amendment 2282 would shorten the reporting burden by requiring summary data on delayed permits rather than listing every permit, and would delay the first report until 2027 so agencies would not have to reconstruct old data. The amendment was adopted by voice vote, and the bill was then approved as amended by a 24-1 roll call vote. Next, the committee heard Senate Bill 241 on construction of a public pier at Hampton Beach. Representative Sweeney moved inexpedient to legislate, saying the project was ambitious and lacked public support. The motion passed unanimously 25-0, sending the bill to consent. Division Two then took up Senate Bill 145, a replace-all amendment to the education freedom account bill. Supporters said the amendment clarified the bill, kept the policy intact, removed a reimbursement program and an open-ended appropriation, and established a cap of 10,000 students with priority for current students and certain other groups. Opponents argued the measure was still a major expansion, would increase spending after crossover, and that the cap was not meaningful. After discussion, Amendment 2301H was adopted and the bill was approved as amended by a 25-0 vote, with members noting it could go on consent because no money remained in it.

Transcript Highlights:

• They can't spend that money.
• And you can't spend everything out of reserves, and you can't spend everything out of your funds to try
• I mean, if we're giving more money to people to spend, they're probably going to spend it. $2,600 to
• And they'll probably spend it.
• How much did we spend last year on film tax credits?

Transcript Highlights:

• Ballot to limit the growth of property tax spending as it relates to school spending locally.
• That's the spending problem we have. We spend more than 40 other states.
• spending, right? Consumption. spending, right? Consumption.
• They're limiting state spending, and they're putting those surplus dollars into permanent rate reductions
• They're limiting state spending,<03:18:48.800> and<03:18:48.920> they're<03:18:49.040><

Keywords: 1189, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• and you came up with a way of spending and you came up with a way of spending it<00:11:29.440>
• of spending of spending it<00:11:37.279> if<00:11:37.440> you<00:11:37.639> saved
• those nonprofits are eligible to spend those nonprofits are eligible to spend in<00:18:41.760>
• are are prevented from spending can't uh are are prevented from spending an<00:24:09.559> our<
• have been able to go then spend have been able to go then spend 277<00:30:36.080> million

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• If you have the time to spend with him on that front. All right. Okay.
• We're spending over two million dollars this year.
• Are they limited in what they can pick out?
• Grants are short term; they're limited.
• So many more questions, but I will spend some time reading this.