Transcript Highlights:

• We manage almost half of the state's total budget, and so we have a big job, as you all have said, and
• Complementing that experience, Heather has developed her abilities in managing the agency's budget and
• a widespread issue of budgeting or employing people in your department?
• closely evaluate. our vacancies and fill based on the funding that's allowed within our operating budget
• Our revenue does not accept any fund money, and our revenue is no longer supporting our operating budget

Committee: Senate Senate Rules

Transcript Highlights:

• The Information, Technology, Budget, and Policy Subcommittee will now come to order.
• A few of them include legislative analysis, budget proposal reviews, constituent services, and issue-specific
• day, and just a little foreshadowing as we continue as a joint committee covering both policy and budget
• Budget.
• You're all in charge of these policies and budgets and these orders, these asks that are coming of you

Summary: The subcommittee met to hear a panel discussion on artificial intelligence and automation in Florida government. Panelists from Worldwide Technology, OpenAI, the James Madison Institute, and the Florida Digital Service described AI as a tool to improve efficiency, constituent services, fraud detection, translation, HR workflows, public safety, and regulatory review, while emphasizing that AI should supplement rather than replace workers. They also stressed the importance of data readiness, workforce training, governance, and having existing technology systems and policies in place before broader deployment. Members asked about public records concerns, vendor vetting, model integrity, and how to balance innovation with privacy and security. Chief Schoonover said agencies are already using or exploring AI in areas such as Medicaid analysis, environmental data, emergency management, tax forms, and child support, and noted that the Digital Service publishes prohibited vendor and application lists. OpenAI discussed its red teaming, safety evaluations, privacy controls, and government products such as ChatGPT Gov, and said it does not train on personal data or target users with ads. The committee also discussed concrete examples of efficiency gains, including reduced call times, faster translation turnaround, and streamlined HR classification work, as well as concerns about job disruption and constituent access. In closing, members raised data center infrastructure and energy needs, with panelists noting that AI depends on substantial compute, power, cooling, and utility capacity. The chair concluded by encouraging continued dialogue and noting that future AI legislation should be targeted to specific problems rather than overly broad.

Transcript Highlights:

• All right, the Transportation and Economic Development Budget Subcommittee will come to order.
• number three in automobile... ...to construct and erode, and certainly construct it on time and within budget
• , the requirements are the long-range plan, a unified planning work program, which is a work-task budget
• So right now our annual budget is $15 billion a year. If you look...
• So right now, our annual budget is $15 billion a year.

Summary: The Transportation and Economic Development Budget Subcommittee heard an overview from FDOT Secretary Jared Perdue on the state’s transportation work program, with emphasis on the Moving Florida Forward initiative, major roadway projects, workforce needs, seaports, airports, spaceport infrastructure, and the role of MPOs/TPOs in planning. He said the $4 billion general revenue investment in Moving Florida Forward has been leveraged into a roughly $7 billion-plus program, with 20 projects underway and about 70% of the initiative expected to be under construction by year’s end. He highlighted I-4 as the centerpiece, describing a new procurement approach, phased delivery, and added lanes intended to provide congestion relief during construction. He also discussed a projected 38% growth in transportation workforce needs and proposed a Florida Transportation Academy and a research institute to support training and innovation. Tiffany King of the Florida Airports Council said Florida’s 128 public-use airports have about $5.7 billion in unfunded projects through 2029, and stressed that airport priorities include not only terminals and passenger capacity but also safety, security, gates, and environmental work. Michael Rubin of the Florida Ports Council said Florida’s 16 deepwater seaports now have a $195.9 billion economic impact, support about 1.2 million jobs, and generate $7.4 billion in state and local taxes; he noted that ports still have about $4 billion in project needs, including dredging and intermodal connections. Jeff Sheffield of the North Florida TPO described the value of regional, community-based planning and said his four-county TPO has helped align local priorities with FDOT funding. Members asked about whether the state is planning for advanced air mobility and “flying cars,” whether Moving Florida Forward bypassed MPOs, how long major projects take, cost escalation, regionalization of MPOs, port governance, airport governance, and the contractor qualification system. FDOT and the witnesses said the state is working on policy and planning for advanced air mobility, that Moving Florida Forward did not bypass MPOs because the projects were already locally prioritized, and that the main delay is funding rather than the planning process. They said long-range plans are updated regularly and can be amended when priorities change, and that regional MPO structures can improve coordination. The committee took no formal vote; the meeting concluded after questions and comments, including discussion of workforce training opportunities for incarcerated individuals and a motion to adjourn by the ranking member.

Transcript Highlights:

• The Health Care Budget Subcommittee will come to order. Connor, will you please call the roll?
• A quorum being present, I want to welcome everyone to the Health Care Budget Subcommittee today.
• So, when the Governor's recommended budget, there is $30 million also for something called an incubator
• So when the governor's recommended budget, there is $30 million also for something called an incubator
• That's actually a $21 million hit on our budget, right?

Summary: The Health Care Budget Subcommittee held a panel discussion on Florida’s cancer research and funding programs, including the Casey DeSantis Cancer Research Program, the Florida Cancer Innovation Fund, the James and Esther King Biomedical Research Program, the Bankhead-Coley Research Program, and Live Like Bella. Dr. Ladapo and leaders from Moffitt, Sylvester/University of Miami, UF Health, and Mayo Clinic described how state funding has helped Florida’s four NCI-designated cancer centers expand research, recruit faculty, increase clinical trials, and build collaborations. They emphasized that the programs are intended to improve cancer care statewide, support innovation, and encourage more institutions to pursue NCI designation. The Governor’s budget recommendation was noted as including additional funding, and members asked about the cost and requirements of becoming NCI-designated and eventually comprehensive. Panelists said NCI designation requires major infrastructure, compliance, research, and training investments, with de novo development estimated at about $1 billion. They described Florida’s collaborative model as unusual nationally, with annual symposia, shared pilot funding, and joint projects across the four centers. Members also asked about rural access, home-based care, and recruitment/retention. Mayo described its “Cancer Care Beyond Walls” home-treatment model and said it could expand to rural counties within months; Moffitt and UF discussed mobile screening, satellite sites, and affiliations with local hospitals and practices. Several members raised concerns about workforce shortages, licensure delays, and the need to reach underserved areas. The discussion also covered outcomes, data reporting, and the broader economic impact of the cancer centers. Panelists cited growth in jobs, federal research funding, and clinical trial enrollment, and highlighted advances in immunotherapy, CAR-T, TIL therapy, carbon ion therapy, AI-driven screening, and the firefighter cancer initiative. They said the Florida Cancer Data System is being expanded to track recurrence and quality-of-life measures. Members also asked about philanthropy, medical tourism, and federal funding risks, including possible indirect cost reductions that could affect research budgets. The meeting ended with general support for continued investment, while some members noted an ongoing policy debate over whether future cancer research dollars should be concentrated in the four NCI centers or spread more broadly across the state.

Transcript Highlights:

• Or otherwise we're going to be at the point that's saying when we're doing your budget, you better come
• We discovered last year that there was a shortfall in the budget.
• The really long-term implications... ...budget section.
• Within a legislative budget, so a separate appropriation may not be necessary at this time.
• And there is a consultant line item in our budget.

Committee: Joint Legislative Management

Keywords: 908, all

Transcript Highlights:

• </c><00:32:07.279><c> So,</c><00:32:08.080><c> um,</c> actual increase in the budget.
• So, um, actual increase in the budget.
• And I'm going to take from the fiscal note that there is no impact to the budget.
• </c> to the budget. to the budget.
• </c> budget hearings at 1. budget hearings at 1.

Keywords: House streaming session for Thursday, February 19, 2026, 957, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• So our operational budget for the past fiscal year.
• We've already spent over 62% of the FY25 budget in its first year.
• And if our operating budget does not improve, I can't pay people more.
• We'll be going in to look at some federal budget cuts to our And we know our food banks have been hit
• I know our CEO has reached out to discuss the budget cuts overall.

Committee: House Economic & Rural Development & Policy Committee

Transcript Highlights:

• It remains essential for our economy and family budgets.
• State, local, and family budgets.
• Now, we have the Governor's budget.
• budget.
• ><c> on</c> of the Governor's budget starting on of the Governor's budget starting on the<01:24:19.480

Bills: HF3373 , HF4449 , HF3486 , HF4180 , HF4227 , HF2505

Committee: House Transportation Finance and Policy

Keywords: transportation, interchange, funding, bonds, St. Paul Park, transit, Metropolitan Council, Twin Cities, metro area, high-frequency transit, bus rapid transit, busway, guideway, transportation policy plan, transit performance measures, regional transit benchmarks, transit-oriented development, TOD, zoning, land use

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> boards to make difficult ongoing budget boards to make difficult ongoing budget decisions.<00:08
• The cost will be our limited budget.
• </c><00:36:28.079><c> on</c><00:36:28.320><c> mental</c><00:36:28.640><c> health</c> small budget on
• They are failed by legislators that cut budgets for decades and property tax systems that concentrate
• for decades and property tax budgets for decades and property tax systems<00:38:50.880><c> that</c><

Committee: Senate Education Finance

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• And so I think the budget process will work itself out.
• And so I think the budget process will work itself out.
• No, this is not anything close to the $7.59 that the governor had in her budget.
• No, this is not anything close to the $7.59 that the governor had in her budget.
• So I say $2 million for school meals in the budget. I am a no. Representative Puffer?

Bills: SB1041 , SB1088 , SB1118 , SB1128 , SB1168 , SB1176 , SB1189 , SB1207 , SB1250 , SB1272 , SB1274 , SB1286 , SB1428 , SB1457 , SB1461 , SB1503 , SB1519 , SB1537 , SB1582 , SB1618 , SB1654 , SB1713 , SB1827 , SCR1012 , SCR1020

Committee: House Appropriations

Keywords: electronic monitoring, nursing care, assisted living, resident rights, privacy, consent, surveillance, cybersecurity, homeland security, artificial intelligence, state appropriation, VPN security, zero trust, housing, zoning, middle housing, urban development, duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes

Transcript Highlights:

• Good morning, representatives, and welcome to the sixth day of the 68th Wyoming Legislature budget session
• I do want to thank the committee that looked at the budget all summer for their work on this and the
• The premise is to limit what they can do with that money if this is to support their budgets.
• That would set a new record, but tomorrow is all budget, and so we need to do what we can.
• That would set a new record, but tomorrow is all budget, and so we need to do what we can.

Keywords: 916, all

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> we were looking at the governor's budget we were looking at the governor's budget and<00:31:30.640
• Usually around, oh, a third of the budget is spent on pavements. So it's a big deal.
• When you've got the pavements being a third of the budget, that's the gorilla in the room, and that's
• , that's the gorilla in the of the budget, that's the gorilla in the room<01:24:27.840><c> and</c><01
• </c> together and get a really good budget together and get a really good budget for<01:41:10.719><c>

Committee: House Transportation Finance and Policy

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• , and it was a one-time program that's not ongoing, so it will not be counted as part of any base budget
• part<00:24:05.720><c> of</c><00:24:05.880><c> any</c><00:24:06.200><c> base</c><00:24:06.760><c> budget
• So hopefully we can work it into your budget, Chair Rest, your challenging year that you'll have.
• So hopefully we can work it into your budget, Chair Rest, your challenging year that you'll have.
• Today we are a bustling nonprofit with a $2.5 million expense budget and a $25 million income budget.

Committee: Senate Taxes

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> budget rather than raise property taxes. budget rather than raise property taxes.
• </c><00:46:04.640><c> and</c> tool boards use to balance budgets and tool boards use to balance budgets
• </c> more money back in the family budget. more money back in the family budget.
• ,</c> weight of unsustainable school budgets, weight of unsustainable school budgets, would<00:52:02.520
• </c> September of 2027, the next budget September of 2027, the next budget writers<04:02:43.960><c> will

Keywords: 1189, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• And the base budget going into this budget was $92 million. you could kind of speak to that. you could
• <00:02:42.239><c> budget</c><00:02:42.640><c> was</c><00:02:43.040><c> $92</c> budget going into this
• budget was $92 budget going into this budget was $92 million.
• </c> going to be put back into the budget. going to be put back into the budget.
• ,</c> going to pass back into the budget, going to pass back into the budget, people<01:00:50.559><c>

Committee: Joint Select Committee on Tribal Relations

Keywords: 916, all

Transcript Highlights:

• I also have questions about what is the long-term pressure on the state budget.
• One of the first things I learned in my first year when we were discussing the budget and I wanted to
• It's part of the budget.
• our budget reality to do that.
• And so what happens every time we add additional items to their budget?

Keywords: 981, all

Transcript Highlights:

• , the entirety of the cumulative revenue excess may be used to develop the clerk's total combined budget
• One Big Beautiful Bill bonus depreciation, it was slightly north of a $3.5 billion impact to our budget
• Senator Brandes and I got kicked off of the committee when it came around budget time because we were
• Senator Branis and I got kicked off of the committee when it came around a budget time because we were
• I'll say what I said on the floor when we passed our budget: we are blessed with the hardest-working,

Summary: The Appropriations Committee considered a large agenda of bills and reported several measures favorably. Early action included SB 6, a settled claim bill involving the Department of Children and Families and a trust for Leila Estrada and Sapphire Williams, and CS/CS/SB 1266, which creates a cybersecurity experiential learning and clearance-readiness program through the Department of Commerce and Cyber Florida. The committee also approved SB 532 on clerks of court funding, allowing clerks to retain all excess Article V revenue rather than returning half to the state and clarifying foreclosure sale procedures. In addition, the committee passed CS/CS/SB 1602 and CS/CS/SB 1604 to create and fund a pilot housing program for veterans through the Florida Housing Finance Corporation, and CS/SB 1110 to expand Medicaid and private insurance coverage for medically necessary orthotics and prosthetics, including testimony from affected families and advocates. The committee also adopted an amendment and then favorably reported CS/CS/SB 1012 on inmate services, removing the bill’s medical-services compensation provisions while retaining changes to the inmate welfare trust fund and related facility uses. It also adopted a delete-all amendment and then favorably reported CS/CS/CS/SB 1614, which was narrowed to remove a provision allowing local governments to use excess fees to construct new buildings. The committee spent substantial time on CS/SB 17, a Medicaid oversight and transparency bill. The sponsor said the measure would create a joint legislative Medicaid oversight committee, authorize the Legislature to retain its own actuary, modernize Medicaid statutes, strengthen managed-care performance standards, and increase accountability for pharmacy benefit managers and related entities. After amendment, the committee adopted changes removing several PBM-related provisions while retaining the broader oversight framework. Testimony from supporters emphasized transparency, fraud prevention, and cost control, while a PBM trade association asked to continue working on affiliate-manufacturer, network, and payment issues. The bill was reported favorably. The most extensive discussion centered on CS/SB 1758, which proposes major changes to Medicaid and SNAP. The sponsor described five reforms: stronger fraud and overpayment recovery authority, a Medicaid work requirement for certain able-bodied adults, expanded behavioral-health services through Medicaid waivers, pharmacy-program changes to obtain rebates and reduce institutional costs, and SNAP/EBT reforms including photo IDs and work requirements. The committee adopted two amendments: one adding a transitional “glide path” for people who gain employment but risk losing Medicaid, and another exempting hospice patients with six months or less to live. Supporters argued the bill would reduce fraud, improve accountability, and encourage work, while opponents warned it would increase administrative burdens, push eligible people off coverage, and conflict with federal law or guidance. The bill remained under debate with extensive public testimony from advocates, providers, and affected families, and the transcript ends before final disposition on the measure.

Transcript Highlights:

• the entire budget.
• This is required for the budgets, as you heard during the staff report.
• There may be changes in a floor amendment; it just depends on where the budget lands.
• There may be changes in a floor amendment; it just depends on where the budget lands, but I'm asking
• That will be budget neutral, and so I urge your support. Thank you, Representative Dye.

Summary: The committee first received staff briefings on amendments for a series of bills, including measures on child care workforce standards, homelessness programs, community preservation authorities, domestic violence survivor relief, public defense funding, student behavioral health supports, water system ownership changes, nonprofit health carrier surplus assessments, 340B drug pricing reporting, Secretary of State filing fees, step housing, campaign security reimbursements, digital equity programs, a Boys and Men’s Commission, a waste-to-energy facility’s Climate Commitment Act obligations, 6PPD tire substitutes, and an early education scholarship. Staff described the policy changes and, where available, the expected fiscal effects of each proposed substitute or line amendment. The committee then went into caucus before returning for executive session. In executive session, the committee voted out House Bill 1073, then adopted a Couture line amendment to House Bill 1128 exempting private K-12 schools with licensed child care programs from the child care employer definition before reporting the bill out as Second Substitute House Bill 1128. House Bill 1316, 1408, 1591, 1592, 1634, 1906, 1960, 2073, 2145, 2248, 2266, 2301, 2333, and 2365 were also reported from committee, with several amendments adopted along the way. Notable actions included adopting an emergency clause for House Bill 1408, rejecting proposed amendments to House Bill 1591 that would have narrowed relief for survivors and removed retroactivity, adopting a narrower amendment to House Bill 1592’s public defense funding formula, and adopting a substitute to House Bill 2145 that limited 340B reporting to hospitals. The committee also debated and rejected several amendments to the step housing bill, House Bill 2266, including proposals for larger school/daycare buffers, more local oversight, and broader local government authority; the bill still advanced on a 16-13 vote. House Bill 2073, which requires nonprofit health carriers to contribute surplus funds to Cascade Care Savings, advanced over concerns about using one-time money for an ongoing program. House Bill 2248 advanced after an amendment redirected annual license fee deposits to the state treasury rather than the Secretary of State’s revolving fund. House Bill 2333 was narrowed to allow use of campaign funds for personal security reimbursements, and House Bill 2365 advanced with some amendments adopted and others rejected as the committee began discussing additional digital equity oversight provisions.

Transcript Highlights:

• We gave, well, in our budget last year, we approved $15.5 million for DES.
• These folks end up on already existing programs that eat up what, 20, 25% of our annual budget already
• These folks end up on already existing programs that eat up what, 20, 25% of our annual budget already
• Chair, is that if you took out $100 today and you’re on a budget, obviously, if you don’t have $100,
• So now you’re short on that paycheck for what’s budgeted for utilities or rent or food or medicine.

Bills: HB2118 , HB2181 , HB2308 , HB2309 , HB2402 , HB2476 , HB2682 , HB2698 , HB2875 , HB2877 , HB2903 , HB2910

Committee: House Commerce

Keywords: mobile food vendors, licensure, food safety, statewide regulations, health standards, zoning, temporary vendors, HB2181, death certificate, death certificates, vital records, funeral establishment, funeral home, human remains, medical certification of death, death registration, state registrar, local registrar, county medical examiner, alternate medical examiner

Transcript Highlights:

• We are under the Department of Budget and Finance. Oh, okay.
• Normally, a department's budget, uh, the department head would communicate with the executive branch,
• I mean, we're in that budget process currently. >> Thank you so much for the question.
• 01:02:28.319><c> their</c> department's budget uh the their department's budget uh the their department
• </c><01:02:50.559><c> process</c> executive is in that budget process executive is in that budget process

Keywords: 910, house, all

Summary: The Committee on Public Safety held an informational briefing on findings from the deportation data project and possible policy responses to increased federal immigration enforcement in Hawaii. In opening remarks, the chair said the committee was concerned about changing federal executive orders, policies, and enforcement actions, and framed the issue as one involving due process and public safety. The chair and presenters described reports of ICE activity on multiple islands, including raids, courthouse presence, and fear in immigrant communities, and said the committee was considering whether state policies should be advanced more quickly. Mandy Fernandez of the ACLU of Hawaii presented updated deportation data and argued that increased immigration enforcement is creating fear, reducing crime reporting, and potentially making state and local agencies extensions of the federal immigration agenda if they accept federal funding with conditions. She said the deportation data project, housed at UC Berkeley Law with UCLA’s Center for Immigration Law and Policy, uses FOIA requests and its latest data runs through late July 2025. She reported 153 ICE arrests in Hawaii from January through July 2025, up from 41 in the same period in 2024; 96 removals, up from 15; a federal detention center average daily population of 91 in June 2025 versus 31 in June 2024; and 111 ICE detainers issued in Hawaii from September 2023 through July 2025, with 49 issued in 2025. She also cited an immigration court backlog of 1,144 pending cases as of August 2025 and noted that about one in five Hawaii residents were born outside the United States. Haley Chang of the Office of the Public Defender said her office is seeing a marked increase in ICE presence around courthouses and more ICE contacts with clients, including reports of people being detained after court appearances or while on supervision. She emphasized that the office is not an immigration law office and that much of its information is anecdotal, but said the pattern appears new compared with prior years. In response to committee questions, she explained that ICE detainers are requests, not judicial warrants, and said local law enforcement is generally not required to honor them unless accompanied by a judicial warrant or other legal authority. She also said the public defender’s office had not yet seen new criminal charges arise solely from an ICE detention or failure to appear tied to immigration enforcement, though cases could be affected if defendants are removed from the criminal process.