Transcript Highlights:

• The first, as far as the Texas Nutrition Advisory Committee membership, we would recommend where it states
• More streamlined messages not just for schools but for the whole state of Texas.
• And since then, we've been able to work in probably 130 Texas counties and all states and 30 countries
• I, I'm still here for the Texas Pediatric Society and the Texas Medical Association, and, um, we are
• So, what you see in front of you is the state of Texas Ice Cream Company, which is Blue Bell, which I

Bills: SB 25 , SB 314

Committee: Senate Health & Human Services

Keywords: nutrition, health standards, food labeling, education, dietary guidelines, medical education, food safety, school meals, child nutrition, food additives, public health

Transcript Highlights:

• We do democracy work in many states across the US, but I am the Texas person, OK, one of the great Texas
• Yes, can you explain what a risk limiting audit is for the state of Texas?
• The state of Texas has our own requirement for it.
• The state of Texas requires counties to provide certain election information to the public.
• That's what this is, is let's online transparency about our elections in the state of Texas.

Committee: House Elections

Transcript Highlights:

• We're here today because President Trump and Republicans in Texas and other states are attempting to
• We're here today because President Trump and Republicans in Texas and other states are attempting to
• Trump is leading Republican-led states like Texas and Florida and demanding that they exert their state
• The minority party in both states gets about 40% of the vote. Democrats get about 40% in Texas.
• The minority party in both states gets about 40% of the vote. Democrats get about 40% in Texas.

Summary: The Assembly met after a quorum call, recess, prayer, and the Pledge of Allegiance, then moved into a highly procedural and contentious floor session centered on redistricting measures. Members debated a point of order raised by Assembly Member DeMaio challenging the constitutionality of SB 280, ACA 8, and AB 604; the Speaker ruled the point not well taken, and the Assembly sustained that ruling on appeal. The body also took up consent-calendar and procedural motions, including suspending rules to adopt late amendments on ACA 8 and to bring the measure up without reference to file. Several motions to re-refer or suspend rules on related measures failed, while the motion to adopt the late amendments on ACA 8 carried. The main substantive item was ACA 8, the Assembly Constitutional Amendment related to redistricting, presented by Assembly Member Berman as a response to mid-decade redistricting efforts in other states, especially Texas. Supporters argued the measure was a temporary, voter-driven response to protect democracy, counter partisan gerrymandering, and address broader threats tied to the Trump administration, including immigration enforcement and health care cuts. Opponents argued ACA 8 would undermine California’s independent citizens redistricting commission, violate the state Constitution, and amount to partisan gerrymandering or a power grab. Members on both sides framed the issue as a defense of democracy, but disagreed sharply over whether the Legislature should act or leave redistricting to voters and the existing commission. No final vote on ACA 8 is shown in the transcript excerpt, but the Assembly did vote on several procedural matters: the appeal of the Speaker’s ruling was sustained 58-18; the motion to adopt late amendments on ACA 8 passed 58-19; a motion to re-refer ACA 8 and SB 280 to Judiciary failed 19-58; and a motion to take up A.J.R. 21 without reference to file failed 19-58. The session remained focused on ACA 8 and related redistricting questions, with extensive floor speeches from both supporters and opponents.

Transcript Highlights:

• Okay, Library and Technology Committee has a 3:05 p.m. agenda.
• Okay, it's Friday, March 14th, 2025, Conference Room 224, Hawaii State Capitol.
• Okay, first we have the Hawaii State Council on Developmental Disabilities.
• I'm an intern with the State Council on Developmental Disabilities.
• Council in h um the Council the state Council in h um sorry<00:02:02.680><c> State</c><00:02:02.960>

Committee: Senate Labor and Technology

Keywords: 912, senate, all

Summary: The Library and Technology Committee met on March 14, 2025, to hear House Bill 430, House Draft 2, which would create an internship/on-the-job training program administered by the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, with the state serving as the responsible employer for workers’ compensation coverage and appropriations included. Testimony was uniformly supportive from the State Council on Developmental Disabilities, the University of Hawaii, the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, and the Department of Education. Supporters emphasized the value of internships as a high-impact educational and career pathway opportunity. The Department of the Attorney General supported the bill’s intent but raised a concern about the criminal history background check language, recommending that the bill be revised so DLIR may conduct checks “as appropriate” rather than requiring a mandatory check for all interns. The AG noted that juvenile records would remain confidential for 16- and 17-year-old interns under existing law and suggested deleting the more specific background-check language or replacing it with the more flexible wording. Several organizations submitted support, including business, health care, tourism, and industry groups. During decision-making, the committee discussed amendments incorporating the Attorney General’s recommendation, adding a 2.5 GPA minimum reference, and clarifying language about private or public sector organizations and placement of interns in state executive branch departments, agencies, or programs. The committee adopted the recommendation to pass the bill with amendments, and the meeting adjourned.

Transcript Highlights:

• After my time in the Senate, I was honored to be appointed Texas Secretary of State, and one of the duties
• of Texas.
• of Texas.
• And he served this state for over 50 years and knew the Constitution inside and out and read every Texas
• And Walter lived in Texas for Texas. Thank you all again for living with him too here in Texas.

Keywords: 1185, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Uh, Chercos John Siri, state representative, former state rep, our colleague.
• Projected over the next decades, Texas could potentially have up to 10 state veterans cemeteries total
• So the yellow ones represent Texas sites where we could potentially have a future state veterans cemetery
• So there's not gonna be another state, uh, another federal cemi, uh, federal veteran cemetery in Texas
• Accredited attorneys that are, that are here in Texas, that are based here in Texas, but any of those

Committee: House S/C on Defense & Veterans' Affairs

Transcript Highlights:

• Thank you for all the work you do for our community, and welcome to the State Capitol.
• Thank you all for your service to our great state. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
• This resolution recognizes the As Donate Life Month for the state of California.
• This is how we ensure that we become donors throughout the state of California.
• Thank you for coming to the State Capitol. Appreciate you guys.

Keywords: 988, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• to see that the Texas legislature is moving quickly to pass important legislation to protect Texas women
• Groups that support it include Texas Mary Elizabeth Castle: Values, Texas Pastor's Council, American
• San Jose State never told her.
• Women and girls Amy Ichikawa: definitely need this in the state of Texas and nationwide, really.
• So I really, really hope that the state of Texas will fully support this amazing bill.

Transcript Highlights:

• Just like other state agencies, my bill would allow SBOE employees to receive state employment and retirement
• While in theory, I am supportive of House Bill 2234's proposed Texas Commission on Texas Job Satisfaction
• It's insulting that once again the state of Texas is proposing solutions to a problem that has created
• Over the past 3 years, Texas AFT has surveyed and Texas teachers has surveyed Texas teachers and school
• House, members of the Texas Senate.

Committee: House Public Education

Transcript Highlights:

• This is a real-world situation that has happened in Brazos County, but also all across the state of Texas
• The FBI's 2024 Internet Crime Report ranks Texas as a top state for cybercrime complaints and losses,
• Members, currently in the state of Texas, two in five women and one in five men have been sexually assaulted
• Will Texas be the state that leaves survivors crawling? Or will you stand with us?
• I prosecuted in Bexar County, prosecuted quite a bit over the state of Texas.

Bills: HB75 , HB108

Committee: Senate Criminal Justice

Keywords: building standards, youth camps, floodplains, safety regulations, environmental policies, drainage utilities, flood management, land use regulation, county authority, drainage fees

Summary: The committee heard a series of criminal justice and public safety bills, with most measures focused on tougher penalties, victim protections, and procedural changes. Bills discussed included HB 75, requiring magistrates to make written findings when denying probable cause despite believing an arrestee committed an offense; HB 413, limiting pretrial detention so it cannot exceed the maximum jail term for the charged offense, with competency-related exceptions; HB 1422, expanding sexual assault survivor protections and increasing penalties for certain sexual offenses and voyeurism; HB 2073, increasing penalties for violating protective orders or bond conditions while armed; HB 2593, raising indecent assault penalties against elderly or disabled victims; HB 108, enhancing punishment when body armor is used during violent crimes; HB 3816, expanding cruelty-to-livestock offenses to include unlawful controlled-substance administration; HB 2854, requiring parole officers to notify hospitals or law enforcement when violent parolees visit hospital premises; HB 1871, increasing punishment for attempted capital murder of a peace officer and making such offenders ineligible for parole; HB 3463, clarifying notice methods in theft-of-service cases; HB 2348, allowing video-recorded depositions of elderly or disabled witnesses; HB 2594, expanding venue options for cybercrime and digital theft prosecutions; HB 2761, clarifying that children cannot be deemed to consent to prostitution-related offenses; HB 3185, authorizing administrative subpoenas in cybercrime investigations; HB 2017, increasing penalties for certain intoxication manslaughter cases involving undocumented immigrants with prior DWI convictions; HB 2306, making certain trafficking offenses ineligible for parole; HB 1607, allowing a rear-only license plate when a vehicle lacks a front bracket; HB 1828, creating a legislative leave pool for TDCJ correctional officers; and HB 3664, requiring prospective grand jurors to complete training and proposing additional changes to grand jury procedure in a future substitute. The committee also took up HB 3073, the Summer Willis Act, which would clarify consent in sexual assault law and address intoxication-related incapacity; the committee substitute narrowed the language to situations where the perpetrator knows the other person cannot consent because of intoxication or impairment, while removing withdrawal-of-consent and “reasonably should know” language from the House version. Several bills were laid out with committee substitutes adopted, including HB 3463, HB 2594, HB 3073, and HB 3073’s substitute, and most bills were left pending after no invited or public testimony or after hearing testimony. Public testimony was especially extensive on HB 3073, with survivors, advocates, and prosecutors supporting broader consent language, while some prosecutors said the substitute was an improvement but still favored the House version’s broader protections. HB 3664 drew significant opposition from district attorneys, who argued that mandatory transcription or recording of grand jury testimony would be costly, chill grand juror questioning, and complicate timely presentations; concerns were also raised about new-evidence requirements and grand jury shopping. No final votes were taken on the bills discussed in the transcript, and the committee recessed partway through to return to the floor before continuing its hearing.

Transcript Highlights:

• I'm John Foster with the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board.
• As you know, the state experienced historic flooding in Central West Texas and West Texas last month,
• the state of Texas.
• We were affiliated with Texas State University.
• I'm the State Registrar and Director of Vital Statistics at the Texas Department of State Health Services

Keywords: 1185, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• I live before you all who serve the state of Texas through this body, its senators and its staff represented
• And she has lived in Texas since 2000 and proudly calls this great state home.
• Today we are celebrating the designation of May as College Savings Awareness Month in the state of Texas
• Texas is home to 32 of the 47 bat species in the United States and encompasses the largest discovered
• This bill, of course, applies to all universities, all public universities in the state of Texas, but

Summary: The Senate convened with a quorum, offered an invocation, approved the previous day’s journal, and received a House message announcing passage of HB 4 on public school accountability and assessment. The chamber also recognized the Doctor of the Day, adopted SR 520 honoring Rosser Coke-Newton Sr. for his biography of former Governor Richard Coke, and adopted SR 518 recognizing Texas Moral Injury Awareness Day, with remarks focused on the impact of moral injury on veterans and first responders. The Senate later adopted SR 395 honoring the ninth class of Governor William P. Clements, Jr. Scholars, and several other resolutions were adopted by voice vote, including college savings awareness recognition and other member-sponsored recognitions. The body then took up several bills and resolutions on the floor. HB 3307, allowing online continuing education for arbitrators in property tax appeals, passed unanimously after suspension of the rules and the three-day rule. HB 913, renaming and reorganizing certain state hospitals, and HB 2970, governing the Gulf Coast Protection District and coastal barrier design, also passed unanimously. HJR 1 and HB 9 advanced a proposed constitutional amendment and statutory change to raise the business personal property tax exemption from $2,500 to $125,000; both measures passed, with HJR 1 receiving one no vote and HB 9 passing unanimously after a clarifying amendment. The Senate also passed HB 1151, which limits child removals and termination of parental rights based solely on parental medical treatment decisions, and HB 116, which revises grounds for involuntary termination of the parent-child relationship by removing the “O grounds” and requiring support from financially able parents whose rights were terminated. HB 1899 lowered the age for pyrotechnic operator licenses and fireworks display permits from 21 to 18. SB 1285, as amended, passed to protect bats by prohibiting entombment while preserving removal options from unoccupied spaces, and SB 2847 passed to promote innovations in core curriculum for faster bachelor’s degrees. On criminal justice, SJR 87, a proposed constitutional amendment requiring denial of bail for certain repeat violent felony offenders, passed after two floor amendments clarifying due process and representation language; Senator Eckhardt spoke against it on final passage, arguing it lacked judicial discretion and a clear-and-convincing standard. SB 3073, requiring magistrates to make written findings in certain criminal proceedings, also passed. Later, SB 128, requiring hospitals to report suspected child abuse-related information to HHSC, advanced on a divided vote, and SB 2619 and SB 2972 passed on public school accountability and expressive activities at public colleges, respectively, with Senator Eckhardt opposing SB 2972 as too restrictive on campus protest rights. The chamber also heard extended debate on HB 21, targeting “traveling” housing finance corporations and their use of tax exemptions for apartment projects, with supporters arguing it curbs abuse of the tax code and critics warning about unintended effects on affordable housing; the discussion continued with questions but no final action shown in the excerpt.

Transcript Highlights:

• families, Texas communities, Texas businesses, and the great state of Texas as a whole.
• May God bless you and may God continue to bless the great state of Texas and the United Kingdom, our
• great United States of America and this very, very special relationship.
• one state in exports to the United Kingdom.
• UK subsidiaries also employ about 120,000 people here in the great state of Texas.

Transcript Highlights:

• With other state agencies.
• Throughout that time period and across all of those states, we have seen that state and local law enforcement
• And once again, Texas is leading with this legislation.
• Other states must endeavor to follow Texas's lead. Mr.
• I'm a senior fellow, as previously stated.

Committee: House Homeland Security, Public Safety & Veterans' Affairs

Transcript Highlights:

• about your important work for the Commission and for the State of Texas.
• Will they inherit a prosperous Texas?
• Bar of Texas, but also on the State Bar of Texas Environmental and Natural Resources section, the Rocky
• Southern University, one of nine HBCUs across the state of Texas.
• Southern University, one of nine HBCUs across the state of Texas.

Committee: Senate Nominations

Summary: The Senate Committee on Nominations met with a quorum and first took up pending nominations from an earlier agenda. Members severed Douglas McReecken, nominated to the Texas Tech University System Board of Regents, from the rest of the list and then voted to report the remaining nominees to the full Senate by a 7-0 vote. The committee then voted on the severed nomination itself and reported Douglas McReecken to the full Senate as well, by a 5-2 vote. The committee heard testimony from Brooke Pop, reappointed as chair of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, and later from Commissioner Katarina Gonzalez, also of TCEQ. Questions focused on whether TCEQ rules comply with state law, ex parte restrictions, public transparency, concrete batch plant permitting, MUD approvals, water availability, illegal dams, enforcement, and the agency’s role in local environmental disputes. Both nominees said they follow the law as written, described internal legal review of rules, and emphasized transparency, public outreach, and enforcement; Gonzalez said she had already sent back two rules she believed did not comply with legislation. Members also discussed TCEQ’s authority limits and the need for clearer public communication about what the agency can and cannot regulate. The committee also considered Alethea Sullivan, nominated to the Texas Southern University Board of Regents. Questions centered on TSU’s status as an independent institution, the role of HBCUs amid DEI-related legal changes, and student outcomes. Sullivan said she would focus on ensuring taxpayer and student resources produce valuable credentials and noted concerns from her review of graduation and bar passage rates. The committee then heard from Benjamin Barkley, appointed chief executive and public counsel of the Office of Public Utility Counsel. Barkley said OPUC’s main need is additional funding to recruit and retain attorneys and expert witnesses, reduce turnover, and continue representing residential and small commercial consumers in utility rate cases; he said the office was involved in 73 contested cases and saved Texans $2.2 billion in FY 2024. No final action was taken on the later nominees, and the committee recessed with nominations left pending.

Transcript Highlights:

• There's actually laws in the state of Texas. There's a thing called House Bill 926.
• Texas, as you probably all know, leads the nation in rural hospital closures. It's a big state.
• Actually, not in Texas, because we have a state law that requires disclosure of those numbers.
• state of Texas.
• state of Texas.

Committee: House Health Care Affordability, Select

Keywords: 1184, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• House Bill 2, the first step of the Texas two step, does that.
• of Texas.
• To Texas public schools.
• of Texas.
• Texas students deserve our best, and this bill delivers.

Transcript Highlights:

• On the, uh, utility systems website and in the Texas Register maintained by the Secretary of State.
• In addition, a statewide posting through the Texas Register, where we often see state agency rules may
• The, the Texas register, I used to work at a state agency can be a time-consuming process.
• Uh, and, and so we, if we pass this into law, the state of Texas will only use the quote unquote HUD
• And one of the things that are, my counterparts and all these other states are looking at Texas and kind

Bills: HB303

Committee: House Intergovernmental Affairs

Keywords: jail standards, living conditions, Harris County jail, safety, inmate welfare

Transcript Highlights:

• of Texas, dispose... ...while not directly compete with the state of Texas, disposal wells, at least
• Just as a reference point, if the exact well had been in the state of Texas, I would have been given
• The state of Louisiana gave me 1,160, so not even half of what Texas allows.
• You reference that in Texas and other states, it’s more consistent in terms of the substructure, but
• My biggest concern is that the state of Louisiana ends up doing what Texas is doing, and they go in and

Summary: The committee heard House Bill 706 by Representative Riser, which would set a more detailed process for commercial saltwater disposal wells, including site-specific modeling and pressure review. Riser and industry witnesses argued the bill would provide clearer, more predictable rules for operators who have faced long delays and changing requirements, while Department of Conservation and Energy officials said they are already developing guidance and that any pressure standard must remain site-specific to avoid fracturing confining layers, protecting drinking water, and staying within EPA primacy requirements. The department emphasized that geology varies widely across Louisiana and that a fixed pressure number in statute could be unsafe in some locations. Members also discussed the fiscal note, the need for additional staff, and whether the bill would tie the department’s hands or force approvals; witnesses said the bill’s modeling requirements were conservative, but opponents warned the statutory pressure ranges could conflict with site-specific safety determinations. After a technical amendment was adopted, the committee voted on the bill and it failed on a 6-6 tie. The committee then took up House Concurrent Resolution 4 by Representative McCormick, which would suspend Louisiana’s deer baiting ban for 18 months in areas affected by chronic wasting disease (CWD). McCormick and Hunter Nation representatives argued that baiting bans have not stopped CWD in other states, that deer feeders and food plots are part of hunting culture, and that Louisiana should rely on science and a more flexible approach. They cited Wisconsin as an example where CWD spread despite long-standing feed bans and said there has been no proven human transmission. Department of Wildlife and Fisheries officials said bait bans are one of the few tools available to reduce artificial congregation of deer and help limit disease spread, and they explained that the department is also working with a CWD task force and another proposal that would tie restrictions to a 1.5% prevalence threshold rather than an across-the-board suspension. The discussion ended with the department providing information on the impacts of both measures, but no final action on HCR 4 was recorded in the transcript.

Transcript Highlights:

• We use the acronym TFC quite a bit here, and the work we do to support the state of Texas.
• This footprint supports 93 state agencies and 238 cities across the state of Texas.
• With a best-in-class team of 526 FTEs, we remain dedicated to serving the state of Texas with professionalism
• So, TFC's mission really is critical to the continued success. of Texas state government, and as we look
• In there, we'll have the State Office of Risk Management, the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation

Committee: House State Affairs

Keywords: 1184, house, all