Transcript Highlights:

• sure that and everybody by the way since I got on this committee and before everybody talks about how Smart

Committee: Senate Foreign Relations Committee

Transcript Highlights:

• didn't know they had tons of dairy, and it turns out they got gobs, and so this has been really, really smart

Committee: House Agriculture & Livestock

Transcript Highlights:

• And so I think being smart about how you look at those dollars is very helpful, but I hope that you don't

Committee: House Appropriations - S/C on Articles VI, VII, & VIII

Summary: The committee met with a quorum present to hear Article VI Natural Resources agency budget recommendations, beginning with the Railroad Commission. LBB staff summarized the commission’s 2026-27 base recommendation at $458.7 million, down from the prior biennium, with an increased FTE cap. The presentation highlighted reduced federal IIJA funding, volatility in oil and gas regulation account 5155, continued support for IT modernization, and rider changes. The commission’s major exceptional items were then presented, including requests for produced water and injection data reporting, an authorized pit registration system, regulatory filing/permitting upgrades, an underground injection well investigation team, site remediation support, and especially $100 million for orphan well plugging. Members asked about biennium-to-biennium comparisons, salary biennialization, the scale of orphan well risks, federal funding delays, bonding, and whether the state should rely more on industry or general revenue for plugging costs. Commission leadership explained that orphan wells can threaten water and public safety, that plugging costs have risen sharply, and that current funding is insufficient to keep up with emergency wells and the backlog; they also said the agency is moving to cloud-based systems with cybersecurity protections and that the proposed performance measure may need adjustment if funding does not increase. The Railroad Commission testimony was followed by LBB and agency testimony for the Texas Animal Health Commission. LBB described a $42 million recommendation for 2026-27, an increase overall, but with a reduced FTE cap due to turnover and salary reallocation. The recommendation maintained funding for cattle fever tick work, chronic wasting disease, lab testing through an MOU with Texas A&M’s veterinary diagnostic lab, and a new $5 million spay-and-neuter pilot program, while deleting a capital budget rider and adjusting riders tied to entry point inspection stations and clinical trials. Agency leadership then outlined the commission’s mission to protect livestock health and the state’s $22 billion animal industry, and described major disease threats including highly pathogenic avian influenza, cattle fever ticks, New World screwworm, and chronic wasting disease. Their exceptional items focused on recruiting and retaining veterinarians, replacing fleet vehicles, creating an ectoparasite identification lab, adding field staff and IT support, improving records and epidemiology reporting, strengthening central administration, supporting secure food supply planning, expanding chronic wasting disease work, and staffing the new spay-and-neuter program. Members asked about field identification of ticks, the use of disinfectants and PPE, fleet management, the scale of cattle fever tick risk, and chronic wasting disease; the agency explained its current inspection and lab-confirmation process, its reliance on field disinfecting and biosecurity, and the need for more staff and better data systems to keep pace with growing workloads and disease threats.

Transcript Highlights:

• The threats are organized and smart. They look for ways to attack us using the least effort.

Committee: Senate State and Local Government

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• through Texas AgriLife Research to the State Board for producers as incentives to implement climate-smart

Committee: Senate Water, Agriculture and Rural Affairs

Keywords: 1185, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Congratulations, I think, from OIR about the amount of money that's been proposed to bring in smart actuaries

Summary: The Insurance and Banking Subcommittee received a lengthy presentation from Citizens Property Insurance Corporation CEO Tim Serio, with Insurance Commissioner Michael Yaworski also answering questions. Serio reviewed Citizens’ role as Florida’s insurer of last resort, its statutory funding structure, eligibility rules, depopulation program, reinsurance obligations, and the surcharge/emergency assessment mechanisms that can be used if Citizens runs a deficit. He emphasized that recent legislative reforms, combined with lower litigation and improved market conditions, have helped the private market recover and reduced Citizens’ policy count from a peak of about 1.41 million in 2023 to 936,182 at the end of 2024, with a projected drop to about 771,000 by the end of 2025. He also said the reforms reduced Citizens’ rate need and helped avoid an emergency assessment after the 2024 storms. Members asked about Citizens’ rate increases, why Citizens still seeks higher rates despite lower litigation, how the 20% eligibility threshold works, whether Citizens should be wind-only, and whether the state or federal government could help with deficits. Serio explained that Citizens is still charging below actuarially sound rates in most areas, that rate filings reflect reduced litigation and lower reinsurance exposure, and that assessments on all Florida property policyholders are the reason Citizens tries to build surplus and depopulate. He said the depopulation program is working better than in the past, with less than 2% of takeout policies returning to Citizens, and that the Office of Insurance Regulation has been vetting takeout companies more carefully. A substantial portion of the discussion focused on claims handling after Debby, Helene, and Milton, including flood-versus-wind disputes and Citizens’ use of the Division of Administrative Hearings for some claim disputes. Serio said Citizens had received 76,625 claims from the three storms and had paid nearly $823 million in indemnity and expenses as of January 7, 2025. He said many closed-without-payment claims were either below deductible, withdrawn, duplicate, or flood-only, and that Citizens had asked its internal audit function to independently review the claims data and denials. He also described Citizens’ storm outreach, catastrophe response centers, managed-repair program, and claim review process, and said the corporation remains focused on paying valid claims while minimizing the risk of assessments on the broader Florida market.

Transcript Highlights:

• To say so is to underestimate the American people; they are smart, they see through it, and they support

Committee: Senate Foreign Relations Committee

Transcript Highlights:

• the H-1B visa debate, we're importing so much talent from other countries, and yet we have so many smart

Summary: The Education Administration Subcommittee held an introductory meeting focused largely on member introductions and “homework” reports about education issues in each district. Members raised a wide range of concerns and priorities, including early childhood care and VPK access, school choice and school closures, teacher recruitment and retention, conflict resolution and school safety, early literacy and preparedness, technology and AI/STEM instruction, attendance and mental health, ESE services, dual enrollment and career/technical education, caregiving youth, and real-time student enrollment/funding tracking. Several members also emphasized local challenges such as housing-driven teacher turnover, disaster-related attendance problems, and funding inequities across counties. The committee then heard a detailed presentation on Florida’s early learning system from Chancellor Carrie Miller of the Department of Education’s Division of Early Learning. She outlined the structure and funding of School Readiness, VPK, and the Gold Seal Quality Care program, the role of early learning coalitions and DCF, and the state’s quality and accountability measures. She highlighted the importance of kindergarten readiness, teacher quality, and the new School Readiness Plus program, which helps families transition off subsidy more gradually. Additional panelists from the Children’s Forum, the Early Learning Coalition of Miami-Dade/Monroe, and a Tallahassee child care provider discussed workforce shortages, low wages, provider turnover, the TEACH scholarship program, Help Me Grow, local coalition operations, and the need for more providers and more consistent regulation. During questions, members asked about wait lists, special needs services, teacher retention, provider onboarding, and DCF regulation. The panel said Miami-Dade’s wait list was about 4,000 children and described priority categories for service; they also said children with disabilities are screened and referred for support, though not given a separate priority category. Panelists reported that TEACH has helped reduce turnover through education support and service commitments, but said wages and career pathways remain major issues. Members also pressed for clearer, more consistent licensing standards and more support for new providers entering the field. No formal votes or committee actions were taken in the meeting.

Transcript Highlights:

• We're not that smart. With engineers, we're just focusing on the funding.

Committee: Senate Regulated Industries

Summary: The committee on Regulated Industries convened with a quorum and began a panel discussion focused on condominium milestone inspections and structural integrity reserve studies (SIRS), with members framing the topic as part of Florida’s post-Surfside condo safety reforms. The chair and panelists reviewed how the state got here, emphasizing that the problems predated Surfside and were driven by long-term deferred maintenance, underfunded reserves, and aging buildings. Panelists included representatives from Florida Realtors, engineering and reserve-study firms, a CPA, a community association attorney, and Broward County’s building safety official, all of whom described their roles in inspections, reserve planning, and code enforcement. Testimony centered on what inspectors are finding in the field. Panelists said the most common problems are not subsidence but wear-and-tear and maintenance failures, especially in stairways, balconies, roofs, parapet walls, waterproofing, and corrosion. They described examples of buildings with hidden deterioration, hurricane-exposed damage, and associations that were underfunded despite prior inspection regimes in Miami-Dade and Broward. Dr. Barbosa explained that Miami-Dade’s recertification program began in the 1970s and Broward’s in 2005, with current timelines generally requiring notice, a first milestone review, and then time to begin substantial repairs; she said the program has improved compliance but that SIRS has added confusion. Members also raised concerns about the cost and implementation of SIRS, including whether reports are being used to generate unnecessary work, whether contractors or firms have conflicts of interest, and whether the law’s use of “fully funded” is being misunderstood. Panelists said the statutory reserve requirement is better understood as baseline funding, not having all money in the bank immediately, and suggested clearer definitions and possibly changing the terminology to “adequately funded.” They also discussed the need to separate required structural items from optional or cosmetic items in reserve reports, improve transparency for buyers and lenders, and ensure associations provide documents through websites and other portals. No votes were taken. The committee used the meeting as an information-gathering session and signaled that more panels and discussion would follow, with members and witnesses agreeing that the state may need further clarification, education, and possible statutory adjustments to reduce confusion while preserving building safety.

Transcript Highlights:

• And I realize I've got guys waiting outside of the locked hallway into my office with stacks of pictures
• waiting<05:03:46.958><c> outside</c><05:03:47.440><c> of</c><05:03:47.600><c> the</c><05:03:47.760><c> locked
• </c><05:03:48.160><c> hallway</c><05:03:49.440><c> um</c> waiting outside of the locked hallway um waiting
• outside of the locked hallway um into<05:03:50.560><c> my</c><05:03:50.798><c> office</c><05:03:51.200

Keywords: 981, all

Transcript Highlights:

• The dealer in the casino who is earning their own tips, putting it in their lock box, um, they ought
• /c> their own tips, putting it in their their own tips, putting it in their their<01:13:24.560><c> lock
• </c><01:13:24.840><c> box,</c><01:13:25.800><c> um</c> their lock box, um their lock box, um they<01:

Committee: House Labor, Industrial and Rehabilitative Services

Keywords: 1189, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Black caucus member, not around here just creating new crimes for people that look like me to get locked
• look like<02:45:34.080><c> me</c><02:45:34.240><c> to</c><02:45:34.479><c> get</c><02:45:34.560><c> locked
• </c><02:45:35.200><c> So</c><02:45:35.439><c> that</c><02:45:35.680><c> ain't</c> like me to get locked
• So that ain't like me to get locked up.

Keywords: 981, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Uh, in gender-related cases, early school support acts as an active intervention that locks in confusion
• support acts as an active<02:14:42.880><c> intervention</c><02:14:43.360><c> that</c><02:14:43.679><c> locks
• </c><02:14:44.000><c> in</c> active intervention that locks in active intervention that locks in confusion

Committee: Senate Health and Human Services

Keywords: 1191, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• There's a distinct open enrollment period for the plan year, and then it's locked out.
• year and enrollment period for the plan year and then<01:45:20.719><c> it's</c><01:45:20.960><c> locked
• c> Um,</c><01:45:22.480><c> so</c><01:45:23.360><c> what</c><01:45:23.600><c> we're</c> then it's locked
• Um, so what we're then it's locked out.

Bills: HB20 , HB2612 , HB2404 , HB2459 , HB2194 , HB1880 , HB2284 , HB1969 , HB2458 , HB1546 , HB2161 , HB1721 , HB1641 , HB2137 , HB1782 , HB2360 , HB1965 , HB1897 , HB1513

Committee: House Consumer Protection & Commerce

Keywords: lava insurance, homeowners, insurance market, subsidy, Hawaii, mortgage, debt, secured transactions, real property, Hawaii Revised Statutes, cooperative associations, electric utility cooperatives, agricultural cooperatives, mutual help, food innovation, agribusiness, food safety, market access, branding, economic diversification

Summary: The committee heard testimony on HB 20, which would create a lava zone insurance subsidy/fund. The Insurance Division opposed the bill, arguing that lava zones 1 and 2 are the highest-risk areas, that a subsidy would not reduce the underlying risk or loss costs, that it could invite similar subsidy requests for other hazards, and that the bill may conflict with HICV by diverting funds from the CRF. Members discussed the lack of authorized homeowners insurance in those lava zones, the role of HPIA and the surplus market, and the difference between the proposed lava-zone subsidy and the Hawaii Hurricane Relief Fund. The chair noted 37 submitted testimonies in support and one in opposition, and the committee then moved on without taking a vote on HB 20 in the portion provided. The committee then took up HB 2612, relating to mortgages, which would clarify that a mortgage does not exist independently of the debt it secures and is not independently enforceable from that debt. The Hawaii Credit Union League and Hawaii Financial Services Association opposed the bill, while several individuals testified in support, arguing it would restore Hawaii’s long-standing lien-state rule and prevent so-called “zombie mortgages” after the Hawaii Supreme Court’s White decision. Supporters said the bill would protect borrowers from delayed foreclosures and predatory lending practices, while opponents and the Insurance Division emphasized that foreclosure actions still require proof of standing and possession of the note, and that lenders generally pursue foreclosure without seeking deficiency judgments. Committee members questioned the Insurance Division about how the current market works, whether lenders could wait out the statute of limitations and then foreclose only on the mortgage, and whether equitable tolling or later defaults could allow refiling. The division said it is still trying to attract authorized insurers back into the lava-zone market, but has seen little progress. No vote or final action on HB 2612 was taken in the excerpt provided.

Transcript Highlights:

• It's a lock box and there seems there's nothing we can do about it.
• It's<00:48:46.800><c> a</c><00:48:46.960><c> lock</c><00:48:47.200><c> box</c><00:48:47.520><c> and</
• c><00:48:47.760><c> there</c><00:48:48.079><c> seems</c><00:48:48.400><c> there's</c> It's a lock box
• and there seems there's It's a lock box and there seems there's nothing<00:48:48.880><c> we</c><00:48

Committee: Senate Commerce

Keywords: 1191, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Well, I can show you the envelope, which is in a vault, in a lock box, in a safe, in a vault.
• 01:40:58.239><c> a</c> the envelope which is in a vault in a the envelope which is in a vault in a lock
• c><01:40:59.599><c> a</c><01:40:59.719><c> safe</c><01:40:59.960><c> in</c><01:41:00.080><c> a</c> lock
• boox in a vault in a safe in a lock boox in a vault in a safe in a vault<01:41:01.159><c> um</c><01:

Committee: House Finance

Keywords: 910, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• you on two days of the week, Friday and Sunday, and it's usually on our interstates, and they are locked
• interstates and and it's usually on our interstates and they<02:19:49.280><c> are</c><02:19:49.520><c> locked
• </c><02:19:49.880><c> up</c><02:19:50.160><c> for</c> they are locked up for they are locked up for hours

Keywords: 928, house, all

Summary: The committee first heard House Bill 119-FN, which would allow rental companies registering a rental fleet to choose New Hampshire as their base jurisdiction under the International Registration Plan. The DMV witness said the state already has this capability under the IRP and did not support the bill, adding that no additional staffing should be needed. Committee questions focused on whether the bill would change where registrations are done, what implementation would require, mileage tracking, decals, and inspection requirements. A representative of the Motor Transport Association also said the bill was unnecessary because the option already exists, while noting some related truck-registration and property-tax issues. The chair then closed the public hearing on HB 119-FN with no further speakers. The committee next heard House Bill 612, which would let youth operators renew up to 30 days before turning 21 and receive a temporary license so they can transition to a standard horizontal license without an extra DMV trip. The sponsor and DMV director strongly supported the bill, describing a long-standing problem where early online renewals can trigger another vertical youth license, forcing a duplicate transaction and fee after the birthday. The DMV said the change would reduce confusion and workload, and estimated a one-time system update cost of $48,000. Members asked about whether the proposal was effectively a 30-day extension, how law enforcement would view the temporary status, and whether the system could handle printing and mailing the new horizontal license; the director said the DMV could manage it and that the bill was the best approach. The chair closed the hearing after no one else testified. Finally, the committee heard House Bill 209, which would exempt new vehicles from inspection in the second year after purchase, effectively allowing two years before the next inspection. The sponsor argued the bill would save taxpayers money and reduce unnecessary trips for owners of new vehicles. Supporters said newer vehicles are already maintained through warranties and routine service. Opponents, including the New Hampshire Auto Dealers Association and a service manager from a dealership, argued the bill was not limited to truly new cars, would weaken safety by delaying inspections on vehicles that can still develop tire, brake, and other defects, and could raise costs for everyone else if inspection volume drops. The Motor Transport Association clarified that commercial motor vehicles remain subject to annual federal inspection requirements. No vote was taken in the transcript, and the hearing remained open with testimony continuing.

Transcript Highlights:

• You can say locking them up is public safety, but in reality, if they don't come back in prison, that's
• The funding dedicated to educational programs ensures that we are not just locking people up, but providing
• get you the information on the breakdown, but it's roofing, its elevators, it's security equipment, locks
• Kelsey Vela: ...it's roofing, it's elevators, it's security equipment, locks and gates, and things like

Bills: SB 1

Committee: Senate Finance

Keywords: campground safety, youth camp regulations, flood safety, emergency evacuation, health and safety standards, 1185, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• I would also love to try to lock in on a typical day because I run an establishment that's open seven
• I would also love to try to lock in on a typical day because I run an establishment that's open seven
• I would also love to try to lock in on a typical day because I run an establishment that's open seven
• I would also love to try to lock in on a typical day because I run an establishment that's open seven

Keywords: 928, house, all

Summary: The meeting was an introductory organizational session for the House Legislative Administration Committee. Chair Greg Hill and Vice Chair Vanessa Sheen welcomed members, introduced the new clerk and committee staff, and described the committee as generally nonpartisan and focused on bills on their merits. They also noted that many bills are handled on a consent calendar after discussion, and that the committee often works closely with staff, House counsel, and the House clerk on procedural matters. A substantial portion of the meeting focused on committee operations and expectations: how committee reports should be prepared and submitted, the use of electronic submissions, scheduling hearings, and the need for clear bill placards at the witness table for livestream viewers. Members discussed the committee’s calendar, including a proposed conflict with the governor’s budget address, and ultimately settled on moving the remaining hearings to February 19. The chair also emphasized advance notice for absences or amendments, and said executive sessions can be scheduled as time allows under current rules. House Clerk Paul Smith testified about his role as a nonpartisan officer and said he would be providing informational testimony on a bill affecting a law he sponsored years ago, as well as on a forthcoming PSLF-related bill for legislators. He also spoke about legislative customs, precedents, and the value of parliamentary procedure. The chair concluded with guidance on decorum: arrive on time, avoid interruptions during testimony, keep food out of the room, use electronic devices discreetly, and route questions through the chair for clarification rather than debate.

Transcript Highlights:

• I think that would be a smart move for us as a body. My vote will be no on this bill.
• I think that would<02:08:44.640><c> be</c><02:08:44.760><c> a</c><02:08:44.840><c> smart</c><02:08:45.360
• </c> would be a smart move for us as a body. would be a smart move for us as a body.

Keywords: Senate streaming session for Monday, March 23, 2026, 960, senate, all