Transcript Highlights:

• known as phase design-build.
• This enables us to enter into a contract with a team, a builder and a designer.
• So that was phase design-build. We’ve taken it a step further and done modified phase design-build.
• They've really been integral in helping us design the system.
• So these are the trucks that are driving interstate—kind of the long-haul truckers.

Committee: Senate Appropriations Committee on Transportation, Tourism, and Economic Development

Summary: The committee met to receive a base budget overview for agencies under its jurisdiction, which include the Division of Emergency Management, Department of Commerce, Department of State, Department of Transportation, Department of Military Affairs, and Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. Staff explained the budget format and noted that the Legislature appropriated more than $20.2 billion to these agencies in the current fiscal year, a 66.7% increase over 10 years. The Department of Transportation then presented on the Moving Florida Forward initiative, describing it as a $7 billion effort to advance 20 major congestion-relief projects statewide. Secretary Jared Perdue said the department is ahead of schedule, with 14 of 20 projects expected to be underway by the end of the calendar year. He highlighted major projects including I-4 in Polk and Osceola counties, I-75 improvements, Southwest 10th Street in Broward County, Fruitville Road, Capital Circle in Tallahassee, and I-275, and discussed innovations such as aggregate supply grants, modified phase design-build, workforce hiring events, and voluntary acceleration. Senators asked about business impacts from construction, tourism-related transit funding, aggregate sourcing, and labor shortages; the secretary said FDOT works with local businesses and that additional revenue sources for transit would require legislative action. The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles reviewed motorist services, revenue collection, licensing, vehicle titling, specialty plates, insurance compliance, driver safety, and commercial driver licensing. Officials said the department collected about $2.9 billion in revenue in fiscal year 2023-24 and described modernization efforts, including electronic verification systems, Real ID compliance, mobile licensing units, and a planned digital driver license. Members asked about the driver license backlog in Miami-Dade and Broward, and the department said service delays were driven by growth and staffing constraints but should improve with $7.5 million in recent funding and the eventual transition of services to county tax collectors. Questions also addressed temporary paper licenses and birth certificate fraud prevention. The Department of Commerce presented on the Job Growth Grant Fund and Visit Florida. Commerce said the grant fund, created in 2017, has awarded $257 million to 70 projects in 37 counties since 2019, with demand exceeding supply about four to one. Officials emphasized that the program supports targeted industries and workforce and infrastructure projects, and they highlighted examples in CDL training, semiconductors, advanced manufacturing, and health care. Senators raised concerns about small businesses affected by transportation construction, and Commerce said it has an Office of Small Business Innovation and other tools, though the grant fund is limited by statute to targeted industries. Visit Florida then described its public-private tourism marketing role, saying the state’s $80 million appropriation is matched by private investment and that the latest EDR review found a $3.30 return in tax revenue for every state dollar spent. Visit Florida reported record visitation and tourism spending, along with hurricane recovery marketing and rural promotion efforts.

Transcript Highlights:

• </c><00:17:32.960><c> Ted</c> burdensome for interstate commerce.
• Ted burdensome for interstate commerce.
• So they are designing a money they make.
• </c><00:51:05.440><c> of</c> Stevenson expressed about the design of Stevenson expressed about the design
• </c> issues and the problems of the design. issues and the problems of the design.

Summary: The committee took up House File 3117, which would impose an excise tax on social media companies based on Minnesota monthly users and data-mining activity, and adopted an A1 amendment that added clarifying language identifying social media platforms. Chair Gomez described the bill as a way to tax companies profiting from data mining and social media use, citing concerns about child bullying, misinformation, and wealth concentration. The bill was laid over for possible inclusion in the 2025 taxes bill. Supporters testified that the measure would help raise revenue from a highly profitable industry and better align the tax code with the social costs of data collection and social media use. Pastor Julie Thompson, MAPE representative Tanner Fritzinger, Council Member Sue Bud, and Eric Bernstein of We Make Minnesota all backed the bill, arguing that social media companies extract value from users’ data, contribute to mental health and social harms, and should pay more toward public needs. Bernstein also framed the tax as a way to broaden the tax base and fund schools and other services. Opponents warned that the bill could sweep in local broadcasters, newspapers, and other businesses that use digital platforms and collect some user data, and that costs would likely be passed on to consumers. Wendy Pollson of the Minnesota Broadcasters Association said the definitions were too broad and could unintentionally include local media. Deb Peters, speaking for Americans for Digital Opportunity, argued the tax would raise costs for small businesses and consumers, create legal risks, and amount to double taxation. Several members echoed concerns about regressivity, administration, and whether the bill actually addresses online bullying or data privacy, while supporters said it is a first step toward taxing a new, lightly taxed industry.

Transcript Highlights:

• Forty percent of flood insurance claims come from outside special flood areas that are designated by
• Madam Chair and Senator Rizel, the funding goes to the Acequia and Ditch Infrastructure Fund at the Interstate
• And are these projects overseen by the Interstate Stream Commission?
• Madam Chair, Are these projects overseen by the Interstate Stream Commission?
• is there is an audit as indicated on the LFC table, and these projects are fully overseen by the Interstate

Bills: SB154 , SB187 , SB193 , SM3

Committee: Senate Senate Conservation

Keywords: insurance, wildfire, flood damage, natural disasters, property coverage, water projects, appropriation, New Mexico, finance authority, infrastructure, New Mexico Finance Authority, funding, SB193, acequia, community ditch, irrigation works construction fund, water infrastructure, ditch infrastructure, irrigation, New Mexico water law

Transcript Highlights:

• to a temporary pilot to extend hours of liquor licenses and to allow for public consumption in designated
• It also allows municipalities to establish designated public consumption districts for expanded alcohol
• And as gut-wrenching lawsuits and firsthand accounts reveal, interstate travel has also become a necessity
• a temporary pilot to extend the hours of liquor licenses and to allow for public consumption in designated
• a temporary pilot to extend the hours of liquor licenses and to allow for public consumption in designated

Summary: The House first adopted several resolutions from the Committee on Rules, including congratulations to four Eagle Scouts and recognition of Sturbridge on the 250th anniversary of the United States. The chamber then took up a series of bills reported by Ways and Means and other committees, repeatedly suspending the rules to move them forward. These included the Massachusetts Consumer Data Privacy Act, a Fall River land conveyance bill, a Belmont alcohol licensing bill, a Reading senior property tax exemption bill, and a Linfield funding transfer bill, with each measure advancing by amendment or being passed to a third reading or engrossment. A major portion of the session focused on the Massachusetts Consumer Data Privacy Act, with multiple members speaking in support. Supporters described the bill as a broad consumer privacy framework that would limit data collection, require consent for sensitive data, ban the sale of precise location data, restrict targeted advertising to minors, create consumer rights to access, correct, delete, and opt out of data uses, and provide enforcement tools for the Attorney General and, in limited cases, a private right of action. Several members emphasized protections for reproductive health, immigrant communities, and neural data, while others argued the bill would not burden small businesses and would instead hold large data holders accountable. The House adopted the Ways and Means amendment and ordered the bill to a third reading, then later passed the bill to be engrossed and enacted. The House also considered and enacted Senate 2563, a bill updating language in the laws concerning individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Members described the measure as removing outdated and offensive terminology and replacing it with person-first language without changing substantive law. After debate, the House adopted an amendment, passed the bill to be engrossed, and then enacted it by roll call. In addition, the House enacted the fiscal year 2026 supplemental appropriations bill, House 5470, and approved a bill extending deadlines for Middleton and Milton, both by roll call votes with no opposition. Later, the House took up a temporary summer 2026 local-option pilot allowing municipalities to extend liquor license hours and permit public consumption in designated districts. Supporters framed it as an economic development and tourism measure tied to major upcoming events, and the House adopted an amendment, passed the bill to be engrossed, and then concurred with the Senate version. The session ended with the House adopting an adjournment order and adjourning to meet again the following Monday in informal session.

Transcript Highlights:

• and interstate supply chain, including goods and trade. ...cargo theft moving through the interstate
• This result appears to be by design.
• It is the process working as it was designed to by this legislature.
• Disability Rights California is California's designated protection and advocacy agency.
• Disability Rights California is California's designated protection and advocacy agency.

Committee: Senate Public Safety

Summary: The committee met without a quorum and operated as a subcommittee while hearing several bills, with members repeatedly noting that votes would be taken later once a quorum was established. Early in the meeting, the committee heard SB 1446 on parole en banc review and SB 1278 on elderly parole eligibility for certain sex offenses. SB 1446’s author said the bill would give commissioners more discretion in en banc review, make votes public, and allow referral for sexually violent predator evaluation in certain cases; supporters included the California District Attorneys Association, while opponents from Uncommon Law, the Ella Baker Center, and public defender groups argued it would add confusion, create constitutional and litigation concerns, and duplicate existing safeguards. SB 1278 would exclude certain rape, child sexual abuse, and habitual/serial sex offense convictions from elderly parole eligibility; district attorneys and police chiefs supported it as a victim-safety measure, while civil rights and defense organizations opposed it as unnecessary, costly, and inconsistent with evidence on aging and recidivism. Both bills were discussed but not voted on due to the lack of quorum. The committee then heard SB 1354, which would bar out-of-state military or law enforcement personnel from entering California to perform such functions without the Governor’s permission. The author and supporters framed it as protecting state sovereignty and limiting unauthorized armed incursions; the committee accepted an amendment removing a criminal penalty and leaving enforcement to the Attorney General. No opposition testimony was offered, and members expressed support, but no vote was taken because quorum was still lacking. The committee also heard SB 926, a bill to fund implementation of Proposition 36. Supporters, including sheriffs, district attorneys, probation officials, and the League of California Cities, said local agencies need funding for treatment, supervision, and administration; opponents argued the proposal was fiscally reckless, lacked accountability, and overemphasized incarceration. Amendments removed a specific appropriation and shifted funding decisions to the budget process, but the bill was also held pending quorum. Later, the committee heard SB 874, which would require background checks for unlicensed providers of Medi-Cal behavioral health treatment services, create a stakeholder workgroup, and direct DHCS to issue guidance and report on program integrity. Support came from local health plans and behavior analysis providers, who said the bill would improve safety and consistency; there was no opposition testimony. The committee then heard SB 1210, which would extend CalGang oversight and due process protections to local gang databases as well as shared ones. Supporters described privacy abuses, racial disparities, and personal harm from inaccurate gang labels; law enforcement opposition argued the bill would impose CalGang standards on informal investigative files and would significantly change the gang definition. The author said the bill closes a loophole and preserves prior reforms, but no vote was taken. The committee also began hearing SB 1019 on creating a California Cargo Thief Task Force, with strong support from BNSF, trucking, shipping, port, and supply-chain representatives who described organized, multi-jurisdictional cargo theft and rail sabotage; no opposition was heard, and members indicated support, but action was deferred pending quorum. The meeting then moved to SB 1217 on a non-consensual intimate image clearinghouse, with the chair and author describing privacy-related amendments and the bill’s focus on helping survivors remove exploitative images; the transcript cuts off as that presentation began.

Transcript Highlights:

• They're also 30 planning agencies identified as the designated Office planning Agency for an area to
• So we looked at committee is I send our designs for the smoking in tracking services can be looked at
• try real, it does carry the equivalent of an entire line of capacity in both directions of our interstate
• actually relieve congestion on the parallel as it can actually relieve congestion on the parallel interstate
• Also serve as the chief executive officer for Sunrail while FDOT is the designated operating agency.

Transcript Highlights:

• And, like I said, that contractor-designer relationship is what's known as the design-build team there
• </c> with the contractor and the designer with the contractor and the designer works<00:05:43.919><c>
• </c> said, that that uh contractor designer said, that that uh contractor designer relationship<00:05
• And that's design build team there.
• ,</c> And so then you have specialized design, And so then you have specialized design, construction<

Summary: The Budget Review Subcommittee on Transportation met without a quorum, so it could not approve the minutes. The chair announced an Eastern Kentucky University health forum later that day and then proceeded with testimony on alternative delivery methods for road projects. Jason Sawala of the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet and Chad Laroo of the Kentucky Association of Highway Contractors were sworn in and introduced themselves. Sawala explained KYTC’s use of alternative delivery tools, including design-build, construction manager/general contractor (CMGC), and public-private partnerships (P3s). He said the cabinet’s goal is to deliver the best value to taxpayers in terms of quality, cost, and time, and emphasized that alternative delivery is most useful on projects with special circumstances such as innovation needs, specialized technology, complex constructibility, schedule pressure, or early contractor input. He cited the cabinet’s wrong-way driving prevention project as an example where design-build helped evaluate technologies and coordinate with stakeholders such as EMS and first responders. He also outlined the main tradeoffs: alternative delivery can improve collaboration and sometimes accelerate schedules, but it also brings risks related to right-of-way acquisition, utility relocation, changing scope, and the need for dedicated staff and compressed decision-making. He stressed that these methods are not a cure-all and are not appropriate for every project, while noting that traditional design-bid-build remains effective for most of KYTC’s work. Representative Branscum responded favorably, saying early contractor involvement is valuable and consistent with his experience in the vertical construction world. No votes or formal actions were taken because the committee lacked a quorum.

Transcript Highlights:

• The dormant Commerce Clause prohibits state legislation that discriminates against interstate commerce
• The measure authorizes state agencies to implement automatic voter registration if designated by the
• As an example, Halawa is designed to hold about 697 inmates.
• Earlier, someone mentioned our design capacity versus operational capacity.
• </c> earlier someone mentioned our design earlier someone mentioned our design capacity<01:48:47.199>

Committee: House Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs

Summary: The committee heard testimony on several bills. HB 655 would limit collection of unpaid motor vehicle taxes, fees, and penalties to the most recent five consecutive years of delinquency. The Department of Transportation opposed the bill, saying it could significantly affect state and county revenues and that the fiscal impact was hard to estimate. The Tax Foundation noted the bill would shorten the existing collection period, while an individual testifier supported it as a narrow measure that would help owners of old or inherited vehicles. In questioning, the department said it could not quantify the cost but suggested it would prefer case-by-case flexibility rather than a fixed five-year limit. HB 697 would authorize Department of Transportation and Department of Law Enforcement personnel to inspect and certify evidence from automated speed enforcement systems and would appropriate funds for the program. The Department of Transportation supported the measure, citing the workload created by the red-light camera pilot and the need to assist police and prosecutors. The Department of the Attorney General supported the concept but recommended technical amendments so the verification language would apply consistently across the chapter and allow the appropriate reviewing entity to act. The committee also heard support from the AAHU Metropolitan Planning Organization and opposition from three individuals. HB 711 would require defendants convicted of causing the death of a parent or legal guardian of a minor child while driving under the influence to provide financial support to the surviving child. The Office of the Public Defender opposed the bill, arguing that criminal restitution must be tied to verified losses and that this type of long-term support is better handled in civil court, where trusts, conservatorships, and insurance claims can be addressed. The Department of Transportation supported the bill as a deterrent to impaired driving, and police, prosecutors, and an injury prevention group also submitted support. Members questioned whether the measure was better suited to civil litigation, and the public defender agreed that the civil system was the proper venue. HB 108 would allow direct shipment of beer and distilled spirits by certain licensees and require county liquor commissions to adopt rules. The Attorney General raised constitutional concerns, saying the bill’s different treatment of out-of-state manufacturers could violate the dormant Commerce Clause and recommended revisions. Brewers and distillers testified in support, saying the bill would put beer and spirits on a similar footing with wine direct shipment, help small producers reach consumers, and support the local economy without increasing underage access. They also said the bill should be amended to address grandfathering language. No final votes or committee actions were taken in the portion of the hearing provided.

Transcript Highlights:

• This bill prevents unintended consequences that could hinder carbon capture efforts or disrupt interstate
• By supporting this bill, you uphold the integrity of interstate commerce, ensure continued access to
• By supporting this bill, you uphold the integrity of interstate commerce, ensure continued access to
• commerce law so I I think interstate commerce law so I I think that's<00:18:04.880><c> those</c><00:
• commerce clause and um that interstate commerce clause and um that seems<00:18:17.320><c> to</c><00:

Transcript Highlights:

• and interstate supply chain, including goods and trade. ...cargo theft moving through the interstate
• This result appears to be by design.
• It is the process working as it was designed to by this legislature.
• Disability Rights California is California's designated protection and advocacy agency.
• Disability Rights California is California's designated protection and advocacy agency.

Committee: Senate Public Safety

Transcript Highlights:

• It also authorizes the designation of regional trade hubs across California to connect local businesses
• environments in the country, facing high energy prices, increasing regulatory complexity, and intense interstate
• Regulatory complexity and intense interstate competition for investment and jobs.

Summary: The Assembly Committee on Economic Development, Growth, and Household Impact heard several bills focused on trade, affordability, and public finance. AB 2745 (Fong) would update California’s international trade and investment strategy, add a public advisory process, and allow regional trade hubs; supporters from the California Asian Pacific Chamber of Commerce and California Forward said it would help California compete globally and attract investment, while no opposition testified. AB 2366 (Avila Farías) would require state agencies to analyze cost-of-living impacts when adopting regulations and direct the LAO to develop guidance; supporters from the New California Coalition and the California Manufacturers and Technology Association argued it would improve transparency and help address affordability, while members noted concerns about implementation and unintended consequences. The committee also heard AB 2243 (Haney), which creates a commission to study whether California should establish a state public bank and how it might be structured. Supporters from the California Public Banking Alliance, climate groups, and other organizations said a public bank could reduce borrowing costs and finance housing, climate, and small business needs; the California Bankers Association and credit unions opposed the bill, arguing it could compete with private banks, duplicate prior studies, and raise unresolved regulatory and cost issues. Several committee members said they would support the study concept but wanted the bill amended so any final decision would return to the Legislature, and the author agreed to clarify that point and remove language related to extending local public bank licensing timelines. The committee also took up consent items AB 2048 (Calderon), AB 2583 (Hoover), and ACR 129 (Haney), which were approved without opposition. After quorum was established, the committee voted AB 2366 out on a 7-0 basis to Judiciary, AB 2745 out on a 7-0 basis to Appropriations, and AB 2243 out on a 7-0 basis to Finance, with the consent calendar also approved.

Transcript Highlights:

• It also authorizes the designation of regional trade hubs across California to connect local businesses
• environments in the country, facing high energy prices, increasing regulatory complexity, and intense interstate
• Regulatory complexity and intense interstate competition for investment and jobs.

Committee: House Economic Development, Growth, and Household Impact

Transcript Highlights:

• 1431 prohibits a municipality from interfering with the home buyer’s right to choose certain home design
• displays, and devices lawfully placed on a military property to be placed or maintained along an interstate
• displays, and devices lawfully placed on a military property to be placed or maintained along an interstate

Summary: The caucus reviewed a long list of Senate bills and memorials across several policy areas, with most items presented as consent or third-read measures and little debate. Topics included special license plates for the Arizona Space Commission, local land-use and housing restrictions, liquor regulation updates, limits on municipal delays in permitting and exactions, election equipment security and timekeeping requirements, precinct committeeman vacancy procedures, assisted living and deed-fraud measures, a Freedom of Speech Monument committee, renaming Wesley Bolin Plaza, and a ban on gender transition procedures for minors. Members also discussed health and human services bills on behavioral health technician standards, Medicaid billing during ownership changes, breast cancer screening cost-sharing, naturopathic IV administration authority, safe-haven newborn surrender at hospitals, and access claim-processing timelines. The Judiciary portion covered probation limits for dangerous crimes against children, a civil cause of action related to prohibited gender reassignment surgery on minors, elimination of the statute of limitations for failure to register as a sex offender, probation incentive calculations, victim-rights expense recovery, unlawful flight penalties, vulnerable adult theft definitions, motor fuel theft, unlawful alerting, and evidence rules in sexual-assault-related hearings. In discussion, members asked for clarifications on several bills, including the definitions of “malicious” delay, internet access on election equipment, the scope of the breast screening bill, and the meaning of unlawful alerting. Supporters repeatedly described bills as common-sense, fraud-prevention, patient-access, or public-safety measures, while one member noted a no vote on extending the Vulnerable Adult System Study Committee. Additional measures in land, agriculture, water, public safety, and transportation included foreign-entity restrictions on land transactions, limits on transporting Mexican gray wolf puppies, water reuse and groundwater fee extensions, a larger water supply revolving fund loan cap, congressional memorials on EPA authority and the San Carlos irrigation project, expanded traumatic event counseling coverage, reimbursement of legal costs for certain disciplined law enforcement officers, data sharing with the federal government on unauthorized aliens, roadable aircraft registration, motor vehicle booting rules, military-property sign placement, a towing and impound study committee, photo enforcement penalties, and highway renaming memorials. No roll-call votes were described in the transcript, and the meeting ended after the transportation items and memorials were completed.

Transcript Highlights:

• This bill would enact the interstate... Committee has before it House Bill 5087.
• This bill would enact the interstate cosmetology licensure compact.
• In the House hearing on this, the committee heard testimony that this bill is designed to prevent individuals

Committee: Senate Government Organization

Transcript Highlights:

• The United Nations General Assembly designated January 27th as the International Holocaust Remembrance
• revising the requirements for shielding outdoor light fixtures, adding exemptions and safety signs on interstates
• relating to military... ...children, correcting a reference to a United States Code provision in the Interstate

Transcript Highlights:

• But I can tell you that generally what happens with this bill is that a trade port district is designated
• There is an entire process before you can even be designated as a trade port.
• Speaker, the criteria for designation.
• I understand there will be a designated trade district, correct?
• It has lots of designations to it.

Committee: House House Taxation & Revenue

Transcript Highlights:

• A bill enacting the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact, providing for the appointment of New Mexico
• Compact Commissioners, requiring the public posting of Interstate Commission bonds, laws, rules, and
• enacting new sections of the Medical Practice Act, and providing for a contingent repeal of the Interstate
• An act relating to licensure, enacting the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact. of New Mexico Compact
• Commissioners of the Medical Practice Act, providing for a contingent repeal of the Interstate Medical

Transcript Highlights:

• While oversight corridors were designed to facilitate legal freight movement, bad actors have exploited
• The problem is when they're overweight and they don't stay on their designated route.
• And so when you look at Mexican cargo tanks, they're designed to carry more weight.
• What that's designed to do is increase the volume of their load for sales.
• If you get an overweight corridor designation, it's $120,000 for five pounds.

Bills: SB2199 , SB2200 , SB2201 , SB2949 , SB2332

Committee: Senate Border Security

Transcript Highlights:

• </c><01:14:46.159><c> Teacher</c> Senate File 72, the Interstate Teacher Senate File 72, the Interstate
• And so he asked if I would take a look at this interstate teacher mobility compact.
• I stand in support of Senate File 72, the interstate teacher compact.
• I stand in support of Senate File 72, the interstate teacher compact.
• </c><01:37:05.840><c> I</c> the interstate teacher compact. I the interstate teacher compact.

Bills: SF0035 , SF0090 , SF0072

Committee: Senate Education

Transcript Highlights:

• to a temporary pilot to extend hours of liquor licenses and to allow for public consumption in designated
• It also allows municipalities to establish designated public consumption districts for expanded alcohol
• officials determine it is appropriate for their community and allows communities to determine where designated
• And as gut-wrenching lawsuits and firsthand accounts reveal, interstate travel has also become a necessity
• a temporary pilot to extend the hours of liquor licenses and to allow for public consumption in designated