Transcript Highlights:

• Mitigation options have a capital cost with production materials, the transportation of materials, and
• the installation of materials.
• through design, materials, and also construction methods that reuse and reclamation.
• We have done an audit of our projects. There was a delayed effect for this to go forward.
• We have done an audit of our projects. There was a delayed effect for this to go forward.

Keywords: 919, house, all

Summary: The committee took up House File 748, a bill revising Minnesota’s transportation greenhouse gas and vehicle miles traveled (VMT) impact assessment requirements for trunk highway projects. The chair first moved and adopted the A2 author’s amendment and then the A3 amendment, which was described as adding implementation time and project exemptions when federal dollars are available. The bill author explained that the measure responds to concerns from stakeholders that the current law can force costly mitigation, delay or stop safety and capacity projects, and create uncertainty because key implementation details are still being developed by a technical advisory committee. Testimony was split. County and city engineers, county commissioners, the Minnesota Transportation Alliance, and the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities generally supported the bill, arguing that the current requirements can add 20% to 40% or more to project costs, are difficult to administer, and could jeopardize critical safety improvements, congestion relief, and federal funding. They cited examples such as Scott County and Trunk Highway 65, and said VMT mitigation is especially hard to quantify and fund. Opponents, including Move Minnesota and Sierra Club, argued that safety and climate goals are not in conflict, that reducing driving can save lives and reduce pollution, and that the bill would weaken an important tool for cutting transportation emissions. Members also asked about how GHG and VMT are measured, whether the required assessment was ready, and who would be responsible for mitigation assets and costs. After discussion, the committee held a roll call vote. The bill, as amended, passed 8-7 and was moved to the General Register.

Transcript Highlights:

• constitutional amendments, a voter assistance hotline, and the voting system automated independent audit
• We had an audit presentation in the Education Committee, and I just want to ask Senator Burgess, did
• to you: of that $6 million, $4.5 million is being used for the voting system automated independent audit
• They will also provide post-election voting system audits and post-certification of election results.
• than having to purchase those materials directly to receive an exemption from sales tax.

Keywords: 998, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• SB 1056 would extend the proven statutory framework already applied to child sexual abuse material to
• This bill applies that same principle to equally sensitive material involving adult survivors.
• Nicholas Shapiro, associate professor at UCLA and co-author of an audit comparing county audits of sheriff-coroner
• Author of an audit comparing county audits of sheriff-coroner structural and operational shortcomings
• This is to protect evidentiary value of those ballots for future investigations or audits.

Keywords: 988, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• HB 4585 by Spiller relating to the submission, payment, and audit of certain claims for and utilization
• HB 4608 by Morales of Harris, relating to the public access to the audit. records of certain governmental
• HB 5021 by Hopper ruling the standards of the public school library materials are for the committee on
• , ruling the prohibition of immunizations containing mRNA material for the Committee of Public Health
• HB 52 1823 by cane really in periodic comprehensive performance audit of certain operations of hospital

Bills: HB9, HB22, HB908, HB1392

Keywords: property tax, ad valorem tax, tangible personal property, income-producing property, business personal property, tax exemption, local government finance, appraisal district, chief appraiser, rendition statement, property tax relief, small business, commercial property, leased property, related business entity, unified business enterprise, tax situs, Texas Tax Code, local taxing unit, constitutional amendment

Transcript Highlights:

• The other thing it does is directs the department to make a list of high-quality curriculum and material
• curriculum and materials. curriculum and materials.
• <04:39:21.520> but assistant or an independent audit but assistant or an independent audit
• <05:21:25.600> The<05:21:25.760> audits Foundation 9990s are public.
• The audits Foundation 9990s are public. The audits are<05:21:26.320> public.

Keywords: 928, house, all

Summary: The committee held a hearing on House Bill 1571, which would direct the Department of Education to review and revise statewide academic standards and curriculum and make an appropriation. Representative Kristen Noble, the sponsor, said the bill is intended to update outdated standards, especially in math, and to have the department create a list of high-quality curriculum and materials aligned to the revised standards. She noted she would likely amend the bill to change a requirement that districts “shall” select from the list to “may,” and said a misplaced crossed-out section would need to be restored and moved by amendment. She also said assessments would need to be updated to match any new standards. Testimony from Marie Banfield strongly supported the bill and the move away from a mandate, arguing that current standards are outdated and that Common Core and related standards have not improved student outcomes. She criticized the math standards for emphasizing multiple strategies and written explanations over computation, and said stronger standards would better support students, including those with learning or communication challenges. She also argued that New Hampshire should follow examples such as Massachusetts, which she said used rigorous standards successfully. Nate Green of the Department of Education did not take a position on the bill but explained that the bill would affect statewide academic standards, state assessments, and potentially federal compliance. He distinguished academic standards from minimum standards in statute, said any standards revision would require work with content experts, State Board approval, and then a corresponding assessment update that could take about two years. He estimated assessment development costs could range from about $200,000 to $500,000 for minor revisions and $1 million to $2 million for a wholesale new set of standards. He also said the bill would apply to public and charter public schools, not private or homeschool students, and that the department does not currently provide a statewide list of curriculum materials because curriculum decisions have historically been local.

Transcript Highlights:

• For instance, an<00:02:50.720> audit<00:02:51.120> recently<00:02:51.519> found<
• that they've won an audit recently found that they've won the<00:02:53.120> most<00:02:53.440
• And depending on the size of the budget, sometimes a federal single audit is required, too.
• And we have audit is required, too.
• I mean, because there's a lot of material here for us to cover, and this really parses it down.

Bills: HF2354, HF1672, HF2389, HF2870, HF2743, HF1918, HF2551, HF1671

Keywords: medical assistance, fraud prevention, subpoena authority, criminal penalties, consumer protection, medical cannabis, medical marijuana, cannabis, cannabinoids, hemp, marijuana registry, patient registry, visiting patient, Tribal cannabis, Tribal medical cannabis program, Tribal sovereignty, Office of Cannabis Management, designated caregiver, home cultivation, adult-use cannabis

Transcript Highlights:

• operating and nonoperating expenses for three months, as calculated from the prior fiscal year's audited
• operating and nonoperating expenses for three months, as calculated from the prior fiscal year's audited
• <00:07:07.280> financial fiscal year's audited financial fiscal year's audited financial statement
• They will also defund and disband any student organizations that have been found to provide material
• country that our country materially country that our country materially supports<01:03:13.280>

Keywords: 958, all

Summary: The committee first took up Senate Bill 77, which would allow comprehensive universities to pursue doctoral programs under a new approval process and, in the original bill, would also change who may serve on the EPSB board for small colleges and universities. The sponsor and Council on Postsecondary Education representative explained that the committee substitute removed the current statutory prohibition on comprehensive universities offering certain doctoral degrees, but added eligibility guardrails: a 77% first-to-second-year retention rate, a 56% six-year graduation rate, and three months of unrestricted cash reserves. They said the thresholds were based on national data placing institutions in roughly the top quartile, and that CPE would still review proposals for mission fit, workforce need, fiscal impact, and, where applicable, programmatic accreditation and legislative appropriations. EKU President David McFaden supported creating a pathway for comprehensive universities, said Kentucky is unusual in having an explicit statutory prohibition, and urged the committee to keep the standards attainable and durable. The committee approved the bill and adopted a title amendment, with the motion passing unanimously. The committee then heard Senate Joint Resolution 55, which addresses antisemitism on postsecondary campuses. Senator Tichenor said the resolution responds to a rise in antisemitic incidents after October 7, 2023, and would require campuses to notify students each semester of Title VI rights, complaint procedures, existing harassment policies, and available Jewish student resources. It would also direct campuses to disband student organizations found to provide material support to known terrorist organizations, report such matters to law enforcement, and collect and report antisemitism data to CPE for posting on its website. A guest speaker from the Kentucky Jewish Council described a sharp increase in reported incidents, including harassment, threats, vandalism, and hostile campus activity, and argued that schools have often done too little to respond. He said the resolution was amended to protect free speech while ensuring Jewish students receive the same protections as other protected groups. The transcript ends while testimony on the resolution was still underway, before any committee vote on SJR 55.

Transcript Highlights:

• flags, and audit trails. flags, and audit trails.
• <01:18:47.560> and<01:18:47.920> labor, materials and labor, materials and labor, to<01
• The plan shall describe how materials The plan shall describe how materials will<03:27:50.480>
• are reported [snorts] by the material are reported [snorts] by the material recovery<03:30:55.440
• <03:31:01.320> type, tons, material type, tons, material type, and<03:31:03.360> what

Keywords: 926, house, all

Summary: The House first suspended the rules briefly to make announcements, including welcoming former representative Doug Gage to the gallery. It then returned to House Bill 211 on data brokers and personal information, where the Appropriations Committee explained a $50,000 appropriation to the Secretary of State for a consultant-led study on an accessible deletion mechanism for consumers to delete personal data held by data brokers, with interim and final reports due in 2027 and 2028. The committee reported a 9-0-2 vote in favor, and the House agreed to the Commerce and Economic Development Committee’s amendment and ordered third reading. Floor debate on H. 211 focused heavily on the bill’s deletion and exemption framework. Supporters argued the bill is needed to give Vermonters meaningful control over their data and to prevent data brokers from commingling information for unrelated uses. Opponents warned the bill could conflict with existing federal frameworks such as the Fair Credit Reporting Act, Gramm-Leach-Bliley, and the Driver’s Privacy Protection Act, and could make credit, banking, insurance, fraud prevention, and identity verification harder. In response, the sponsor said the bill uses use-case-based exemptions rather than broad entity-level exemptions, noted testimony from banks, insurers, a data broker, a former data broker employee, and the Attorney General, and said no constitutional concerns were raised. The House ultimately adopted the amendment and advanced the bill. After H. 211, the House moved to House Bill 577, establishing the Vermont Prescription Drug Discount Card Program. Committee reports from Health Care, Ways and Means, and Appropriations were read into the record, and the Colchester member described the bill as a way to lower prescription drug costs by joining the multi-state Array Rx program. The bill would let any Vermont resident obtain a free discount card for FDA-approved prescription drugs, with claimed savings up to 80% on generics and 20% on brand-name drugs. The House then proceeded to second reading on H. 577.

Transcript Highlights:

• So what this bill addresses is it simply moves the audits to after the recount portion.
• addresses is it simply moves the audits addresses is it simply moves the audits to<01:05:17.039>
• forwarded the same election material forwarded the same election material from<01:25:04.000>
• He said the audit is secondary to the recount, and the recount is why everybody was there.
• He said the audit is secondary to the recount, and the recount is why everybody was there.

Keywords: 928, house, all

Summary: The House Election Law Committee held an orientation and then opened a public hearing on House Bill 67-FN-A, which would make permanent the use of accessible voting machines in local elections and provide funding for additional systems. The chair outlined committee procedures, noting a heavy workload of roughly 70 to 80 bills, mostly Tuesday meetings, likely time limits on testimony, and a default of executive session unless a bill is specifically noticed. Members and staff were introduced, and the Secretary of State’s office described its election-related responsibilities, including voter registration, cybersecurity, ballot-counting equipment, and the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) program. Secretary of State David Scanlan and Deputy Secretary Aon Hennessy explained the current pilot program created by last year’s law, which requires accessible voting systems for local elections and allows the state to share machines with municipalities during the first half of 2025. They said the office has made hardware available, but towns have raised concerns about the speed of implementation and the cost of programming each election, especially for towns with multiple ballot questions. Scanlan said the state is also vetting longer-term options, including devices that could remain in polling places year-round, and suggested the committee consider delaying the bill’s effective date to January 1, 2026 to better align with implementation needs. Hennessy said the current state devices are older and complicated to reset for each election, and estimated programming costs could be about $600 for a small single-election ballot and much higher for towns with multiple elections. Supporters of the bill emphasized the importance of accessible voting for people with disabilities. Representative Robert Wy said the measure builds on 2024 law and would move the pilot into a permanent agreement, citing ADA concerns and prior testimony about discriminatory voting experiences. Fred Forier, a legally blind voter from Exeter, testified that accessible voting systems allow him to vote privately and independently and urged support for the bill. Committee members asked about the gap if the pilot ends before a permanent system is in place and about the cost range for programming. No vote was taken during the hearing, and the committee moved on after public testimony began.

Transcript Highlights:

• AND THAT IS THE PRESENTATION ON WHERE WE ARE IN THE AUDIT.
• THE OTHER THING THAT GIVES ME COMFORT IS THE AUDIT PERIOD WAS ALMOST THREE YEARS AGO.
• TO ANSWER SOME THINGS THAT ARE IN THE CURRENT AUDIT.
• THE DATA WILL COME TO YOU THEN WHO DOES THE AUDITING?
• AS PART OF THE AUDIT RESPONSES WE DID UPDATE OUR POLICIES AND PROCEDURES.

Transcript Highlights:

• The post-election audits are what we call false audits.
• We have our county election audits where we go in and audit individual counties.
• the hand count audit...
• Is it about audits? Do you want to talk about...? It is not about an audit. Okay.
• a risk-limiting audit.

Keywords: 1184, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• be taken down. the offending material be taken down.
• problematic material is removed. problematic material is removed.
• We're also facing the reality that a comprehensive audit, a fundamental responsibility of this role to
• Preservation is not secrecy, and this is what the AG is utilizing to delay an audit.
• Wellen Christian... audit. Security is not a barrier to audit.

Keywords: 910, house, all

Summary: The committee began with resolutions HCR 93 and HR 85, which ask the Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women, in collaboration with the Department of the Attorney General, to form a working group and report on ways to strengthen protections for survivors of image-based sexual abuse. The Attorney General’s office said it could support the effort as legal counsel to the commission but preferred not to be an active working-group member, and suggested the Legislative Reference Bureau could instead conduct a nationwide study for stakeholders. The Commission on the Status of Women supported the resolutions but urged broader scope to include prevention and intervention, expanded stakeholder membership, keeping the Attorney General involved, and adjusting the report deadline. Testimony in support also came from the Emoa Alliance, which emphasized the prevalence and harms of image-based abuse and the need for stronger protections. Members asked questions about current criminal and civil remedies, reporting barriers, and whether the commission could administer the effort without the Attorney General; no votes were taken on the resolutions during the excerpted discussion. The committee then heard HCR 113 and HR 106, supporting the Native Hawaiian Intellectual Property Working Group’s request for more resources and a timeline extension to fiscal year 2026-2027. The Office of Hawaiian Affairs testified in support, saying Native Hawaiian culture, traditional knowledge, and cultural expressions are increasingly being commercialized and exploited without adequate protection, and that the working group needs more time, resources, and community consultation to complete its work. The committee noted six supporters and no opposition or comments. The hearing also covered HCR 193 and HR 183, which would establish a court security and Department of Law Enforcement capacity working group to address staffing shortages and the use of private security at state courts. The Judiciary supported the intent, asked that the working group supplement rather than replace its budget request, and proposed allowing the chair to add members with relevant experience. In response to questions, Judiciary said it has requested $3.25 million for armed private security, which it said would cover about 18 contracted individuals, though with significant company overhead. The committee then moved through several bills: SB 2667, which restricts certain commercial vehicles and trailers from the far-left lane on multi-lane roads, received support from the Department of Transportation; SB 2851, which allows deaf vehicle owners to register a deafness designation for law enforcement access, drew testimony in support; SB 2521, which updates emergency vehicle rules and exempts EMS personnel from CDL requirements, received testimony from Honolulu Emergency Services; and SB 2466, which would make the Chief Elections Officer terminable only for cause, drew support from the League of Women Voters and opposition from Hawaiian Islands Republican Women, who argued the change could reduce accountability and create election disruptions if litigation over termination occurs.

Transcript Highlights:

• Our reading material includes Braille books for those who read by touch, audiobooks for those who listen
• reading to students in my community, and the Braille Institute Library helps me to get the same materials
• We know we still have problems with transfers, though, as we saw in the audit not long ago.
• So this has been in consultation with both the military department that does the audits as well as the
• And, like I said, people who are not state employees can't directly check out materials from us, but

Keywords: 988, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• We're not performing the audit. We would create the audit, put the audit together.
• We don't audit them.
• Their audits are the only thing we require in their audits is that they have audits for capital outlay
• They still have to do their audits. And then they're compiled into one audit.
• audit findings.

Bills: SB152, SB145, SB190, HB247

Keywords: telecommunications, low-income assistance, lifeline, broadband, rural broadband, universal service fund, public regulation commission, PRC, 911 surcharge, telecommunications relay service, VoIP, mobile service, internet affordability, digital equity, digital inclusion, rural internet, broadband infrastructure, eligible telecommunications carrier, ETC, tribal consent

Transcript Highlights:

• You know, I think an audit of that would help.
• Audit in Chapter 127.
• For elections subject to a risk-limiting audit, the post-election election hand count audit may begin
• in independent audit. independent audit board of some sort rather than having the election office doing
• We audit after every election.

Bills: SB16, SB76, SB310, SB311, SB396, SB505, SB827, SB964, SB1209, SB1210, SB1386, SB1470, SB2035, SJR37, SB 16

Keywords: voter registration, proof of citizenship, Election Code, criminal offenses, limited federal ballot, transportation, infrastructure, funding, public safety, state regulation, election, polling places, voter access, state oversight, electronic voting, voting, polling place, elections, countywide program, election integrity

Transcript Highlights:

• So I had two audit findings this year, which is unheard of for us, you know, over the last few years.
• Sheetrock versus manufactured home materials, the size of the doors, materials in the door frames—I mean
• The Board's FY25 audit report was unmodified, with no findings indicated.
• And from your budget, I do believe the IT and audit services are critical.
• And the audits have to be done all the time.

Keywords: 996, all

Transcript Highlights:

• state which means you know some material state which means you know some material would<00:11:19.200
• lunness or any type of adult material lunness or any type of adult material pornography<00:11:48.279
• particularly when evaluating if material particularly when evaluating if material is<00:12:47.279
• But it’s also been used to try to get material barred from being in schools.
• <00:30:11.039> in when there's objectionable material in when there's objectionable material

Keywords: 1191, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• MRAs are not currently equipped to do all of this auditing and review of the audits, so we would like
• MRAs are not currently equipped to do all of this auditing and review of the audits, so we would like
• And then number five— And then number five is that part about the audits that I talked about: they would
• be ensuring compliance through a third-party audit.
• Of course, these folks are going through audits, and so if you do provide misleading information, that

Bills: HB310, HB323, HM51, HB194

Keywords: museum, cultural affairs, lowrider, Espanola, appropriation, feasibility study, broadband access, low-income, rural areas, Indian nations, affordable internet, employment opportunities, detention centers, immigration, economic development, repurposing facilities, job transition, rural development, housing, affordable housing

Transcript Highlights:

• I think it was in the material, so I’m going to find it. 400 and something, I know.
• Chair, Representative, is it in these materials? I'm not sure that I have the current budget.
• Chair, Representative, is it in these materials? I'm not sure that I have the current budget.
• or some employee that has audit oversight.
• or some employee that towards auditing or some employee that has<01:09:17.319> audit<01:09:17.719

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• They needed to be audited—wasteful spending, diversion of funds—and I'm too am really pleased that, with
• I've been on the Internal Audit Committee since 2021, and I've been chair of the Audit Committee at TxDOT
• Paxton says in her material that a lot of her job is about listening and learning, and that's what I
• I greatly appreciate you joining us this morning and looking through the materials that you have provided
• Amazing things there, the research they're doing on materials, and the things they do with first-generation

Keywords: 1185, senate, all