Transcript Highlights:

• If they ask for a tuition increase, the Board of Finance will approve that or not approve it.
• So, tuition increases go through the Board of Finance. I did not understand that.
• We don't directly approve tuition increases; sometimes those increases are in place to issue debt, and
• Kathy has worked across the nation as a consultant, assisting states and communities in designing and
• All the Regents advocate for those, and we really appreciate your assistance.

Committee: Senate Senate Rules

Transcript Highlights:

• The assistant principal, I'll talk more about that in the budget, but Dr.
• for a lot of the people that can't afford the... the people that can't afford the tuition.
• There was an additional stipend that was available to principals and assistant principals that were in
• Um, line 442, this is physician… Um, line 442, this is for physician-assisted autism diagnostic clinic
• This will allow for these physician-assisted diagnostics to happen statewide, and we think that's a very

Bills: SB113 , SB114 , SB305 , SB111 , HB600 , SB112 , SB150 , SB109 , SB122

Committee: House Ways and Means Education

Keywords: education funding, appropriations, local education boards, school safety, workforce development, Alabama, technology, higher education, career technology centers, public institutions, grants, local education agencies, RAISE Act, student outcomes, public schools, accountability, weighted allocations, special education, English language learners, gifted students

Transcript Highlights:

• Assistant state attorneys receive an increase of $10,000 to their base rate of pay.
• For the Department of Military Affairs, we increase funding for tuition assistance for members of the
• , and the compensation for a new assistant public defender...
• I think both assistant state attorneys and assistant public defenders both work incredibly hard, have
• Did not fund the premium assistance program. We did not restore that.

Transcript Highlights:

• I don't know what tuition expansion you're talking about.
• The tuition expansion is something that the committee should review.
• One's the tuition program, one's the prioritization program.
• One's the tuition program, one's the prioritization program.
• Flight scholarship to full tuition, which is a significant jump.

Committee: House Higher Education and Workforce Development

Transcript Highlights:

• Wilson County Clerk Genevieve Martinez, City of Floresville Mayor Gloria Cantu, City of Floresville Assistant
• HB 290 by Lopez-A-Barr relating to assistance for tuition and fees of post-secondary educational institutions
• So not only does this bill have a rider to help fund the tuition, but I believe industry is also going
• This bill has a rider to provide funding tuition for up to 4,000 students.
• It's not, a tuition cost can run around $8,000 or $9,000 a year.

Bills: HB 120 , HB20 , HB150 , HB6 , HB 100 , HB 124 , HB210 , HB215 , HB1393 , HB1587 , HB 1151 , HB 1268 , HB142 , HB451 , HB39 , HB 102 , HB 126 , HB290 , HB300 , HB2143 , HJR2 , HB147 , HJR6 , HB 120 , HB20 , HB150 , HB6 , HB 100 , HB 124 , HB210 , HB215 , HB1393 , HB1587 , HB 1151 , HB 1268 , HB142 , HB451 , SB1

Summary: The House convened with prayer, pledges, and several ceremonial recognitions, including Wilson County Day, San Antonio Mission Indian Descendants Day, and Blue Ribbon Lobby Day, along with acknowledgments of visiting groups and a birthday greeting. The chamber also announced committee meetings and then moved into floor business, including conference committee action on Senate Bill 1, the state budget. A series of motions to instruct House conferees on SB 1 were debated and voted on. One motion sought to restore salary for Attorney General Ken Paxton after his impeachment-related suspension; it passed 88-56. Another, from Rep. Olcott, directed conferees to support amendments requiring data collection on the costs of undocumented immigrants in hospitals and prisons; after extended debate and a failed amendment from Rep. Martinez Fischer to also study immigrants’ economic contributions, the motion passed 86-61. The House also adopted instructions to eliminate Texas Lottery Commission funding, to support amendments restricting public education institutions from affirming gender identities inconsistent with biological sex, and to seek an additional $4 billion in property tax relief, with each motion passing on recorded votes. The House then took up a supplemental calendar and passed several bills, including HB 39 on veteran death data, HB 102 on priority registration for certain students entering military service, HB 126 on student-athlete compensation and representation, HB 290 on tuition and fee assistance for members of the Texas military forces, HB 300 on Texas Armed Services Scholarship Program updates, and HB 2143 naming a highway in honor of Army Specialist Joey Lins. The chamber also postponed consideration of HJR 2 and HJR 6. Later, the House considered HB 120 on career and technology education pathways and HB 20 on applied science pathway programs for high school students. HB 120 received a perfecting amendment and was advanced after discussion about workforce preparation. HB 20 prompted extensive questioning about transportation, costs, and how students would access partner campuses such as community colleges and TSTC sites; debate continued as the transcript ended, with members examining how the program would operate and whether approval authority would rest with TEA.

Transcript Highlights:

• understand that many families today face the impossible task of sending their child to college as tuition
• That people are not either kicked off state assistance because of that additional income.
• This bill reserves a portion of the state's home purchase assistance program specifically for individual
• Approach by providing targeted assistance to individuals who families were historically excluded from
• As much help as we can, the intent of the CalVet program is to give these individuals free tuition.

Transcript Highlights:

• They do pay a portion of the tuition, but trying to make sure that this, you know, the tuition isn't
• </c><00:01:07.000><c> but</c> pay a portion of uh the tuition but pay a portion of uh the tuition but
• </c><00:03:03.599><c> piece</c> that the farmers have a tuition piece that the farmers have a tuition
• Those who wish to enroll pay the tuition necessary to engage at the level they want.
• Those who wish to enroll pay the tuition necessary to engage at the level they want.

Transcript Highlights:

• The rest of it's for tuition.
• The rest of it's for tuition.
• The rest of it's for tuition.
• And of course, we're prorating our tuition at 56% of 75% which we're required to provide.
• The rest of it's for tuition.

Summary: The commission to study the cost of special education met, confirmed a quorum, introduced members and guests, and approved the minutes from the October 29 meeting. Members noted the commission’s mandate under Senate Bill 57 and emphasized the need to focus on recommendations and findings by July 1, 2026. The chair also distributed additional handouts, including materials related to the Education Freedom Account (EFA) program and administrative rules tied to differentiated aid and disability determinations. The main discussion centered on how students qualify for differentiated aid under the EFA program. Matt Sutherton of the Children’s Scholarship Fund explained that the organization, which contracts with the state to administer EFAs, accepts either school-district/IEP documentation or a medical certification of disability (MCD) from a licensed medical professional. Members questioned how this process relates to the state’s special education rules and whether the school-district examiner standards in ED 107/1107.04 apply to EFAs. Sutherton said the MCD form, created with the department, requires the medical professional to sign that they are qualified to make the determination and to identify the disability. Several members expressed concern that the EFA process is less rigorous than the school-district IEP process and may be inflating disability counts. One member argued that the administrative rules cited are primarily for school districts, not EFAs, and said the Department of Education may not know how many of the roughly 890 EFA students receiving differentiated aid came through school-district documentation versus the MCD pathway. Another member said the EFA system appears more generous than the school system and raised concerns about oversight, auditing, and whether the program’s data are accurate. Sutherton said the organization reviews signed documentation, credentials, and diagnosis information, and may request additional records to help adjudicate expenses. No votes or formal actions were taken beyond approving the prior minutes.

Transcript Highlights:

• $28.5 million in tuition exemptions.
• $28.5 million in tuition exemptions.
• $28.5 million in tuition exemptions.
• $28.5 million in tuition exemptions.
• $28.5 million in tuition exemptions.

Summary: The House Finance Committee held an informational briefing with the University of Hawaiʻi, led by new President Wendy Hensel and Vice President for Budget and Finance Calbert Young. Hensel outlined the university system’s scope, student demographics, research activity, and campus missions, emphasizing four strategic priorities: serving Native Hawaiians and Hawaiʻi, student success, workforce development, and economic diversification through innovation and research. She highlighted the system’s enrollment, research funding, and the roles of Mānoa, Hilo, West Oʻahu, the community colleges, and specialized institutions such as JABSOM and the Cancer Center. Young then reviewed the budget request, focusing largely on making prior one-time appropriations permanent and supporting recurring needs. Items included funding for Mānoa athletics, the Hawaiʻi Institute for Marine Biology, K-12 teacher education, Pamantasan Council support, Hilo programs, Windward’s mental health technician certificate, Maui’s practical nursing bridge program, and student support positions such as financial aid and admissions counselors. He also described workforce-related requests tied to nursing expansion at Mānoa and West Oʻahu, as well as facilities support at West Oʻahu. A major portion of the testimony addressed the university’s two Kakaʻako medical facilities. Young explained that declining tobacco settlement and cigarette tax revenues are no longer sufficient to cover debt service for JABSOM and the Cancer Center, so the governor’s budget includes general fund support to supplement those obligations. He also described a regents-approved request not included in the governor’s proposal: expanding the Hawaiʻi Promise financial aid program to the four-year campuses, estimated at about $11–12 million. No votes or formal committee actions were taken during the briefing.

Transcript Highlights:

• </c><01:13:12.640><c> This</c> Rural Hospital Assistance Fund. This Rural Hospital Assistance Fund.
• Uh, I would encourage you to look at that bill and some other bills regarding capping tuition as well
• Uh, I would encourage you to look at that bill and some other bills regarding capping tuition as well
• Uh, I would encourage you to look at that bill and some other bills regarding capping tuition as well
• Um, if this is for offers of assistance, we are continuing with that this time.

Summary: The House convened with 97 members present, declared a quorum, approved excusing absent members, and suspended the rules to allow co-sponsorships and vote modifications. The journal for February 25, 2026 was approved. The clerk also reported that the Senate had passed Senate Bills 98 and 122 and requested concurrence. The House then received second-reading reports on a range of bills, including measures on prison educational programs, respiratory care, dietitians, wildlife depredation, temporary structures, military families, civil rights, local boards of education, light pollution, controlled-substance prescribing licenses, youth health services, class sizes for exceptional children, the athletic trainer compact, limited commercial driver’s licenses, and Senate Bill 145 relating to the Department of Agriculture and Alcohol Beverage Control. Committee reports moved several bills forward, including the main budget bills House Bill 500 and House Bill 504, along with measures on workforce investment, data centers, domestic violence, guardians ad litem, domestic relations, health delivery and “food is medicine” initiatives, state personnel, open records, and fish and wildlife resources. House Bill 500 and House Bill 504 were taken from the Rules Committee and placed on the orders of the day. House Bill 500, the executive branch budget bill, was then taken up for third reading and explanation. Members presented extensive floor explanations of House Bill 500 and House Committee Substitute 1, describing it as a “good first draft” of the executive budget. Supporters said the proposal emphasizes restrained spending growth, base reductions with exemptions for key areas, employee salary increments, and deposits to the Budget Reserve Trust Fund for future one-time investments. They highlighted funding for K-12 education, postsecondary aid and workforce training, Medicaid and behavioral health, public health infrastructure, pensions, veterans, public safety, economic development, tourism, and state technology and facility maintenance. The budget substitute was adopted by voice vote, and the discussion continued with detailed descriptions of the bill’s provisions; no final passage vote was shown in the excerpt.

Transcript Highlights:

• As legislators, we need to do everything we can to assist them, especially now.
• As legislators, we need to do everything we can to assist them, especially now during these times.
• We're investing in it in all sorts of other ways with first-time home-buying assistance, and yet we're
• And to let everybody know what CalHFA actually is, it provides financing and down payment assistance
• The DFA is a direct program of assistance, which is much more appropriate for funding for homebuyer's

Summary: The Assembly Committee on Revenue and Taxation met as a subcommittee and announced that all bills on the agenda had revenue impacts placing them on the suspense file, so none were eligible for immediate vote. The chair also reviewed procedural rules, including the deadline for position letters and the suspense-file threshold, and later established a quorum before proceeding through the agenda. Most measures were presented, heard, and then referred to suspense without committee votes. Several bills focused on tax credits or exclusions tied to housing and property. AB 1606 proposed a five-year tax credit for small businesses facing cleanup costs from illegal dumping and encampments; AB 1971 would clarify that home-hardening retrofits are not assessable for property tax purposes; AB 2394 would create a capital gains exclusion to encourage long-term homeowners to sell and downsize; AB 1714 would offer a credit for sellers who complete required repairs for CalHFA-assisted first-time buyers; and AB 2389 would extend the property tax exclusion for newly installed solar systems. Supporters generally framed these bills as targeted relief or affordability measures, while opponents raised concerns about revenue loss, policy effectiveness, or implementation. The committee also heard a series of agriculture-related bills. AB 2427 proposed a tax credit for qualified agricultural producers to offset labor, equipment, infrastructure, and production costs, and AB 2192 would extend the state’s farm equipment sales tax exemption to local sales taxes with a General Fund backfill for local governments. Supporters argued both measures would help preserve California agriculture, jobs, and food security amid rising costs and regulatory burdens; opponents questioned the need for the subsidies and the size of the fiscal impact. Both bills were referred to suspense. Other measures included AB 1611, which would end a tax break on capital gains from single-family home sales for large corporate investors to discourage investor competition with homebuyers; AB 2522, which would exempt over-the-counter medications from sales tax; AB 2444, which would add a state deduction for ScholarShare 529 contributions and align California law with federal Roth IRA rollover rules; and AB 1550, which would allow deductions for tips and overtime. Each drew support from sponsors and allied groups, while tax reform and local government representatives opposed several bills over revenue and policy concerns. All of these measures were also sent to the suspense file, and the committee adjourned after completing its agenda.

Transcript Highlights:

• As legislators, we need to do everything we can to assist them, especially now.
• As legislators, we need to do everything we can to assist them, especially now during these times.
• We're investing in it in all sorts of other ways with first-time home buying assistance.
• And to let everybody know what CalHFA actually is, it provides financing and down payment assistance
• The DFA is a direct program of assistance, which is much more appropriate for funding for homebuyer's

Committee: House Revenue and Taxation

Transcript Highlights:

• Assistant, please call the roll. On the consent calendar: Senator Smold-Quevas: Aye.
• Assistant, thank you. Assistant, please call the roll.
• Assistant, please. Can we get a motion on that file item number two, please?
• Assistant, please call the roll. On the consent calendar, Senator Cortese, aye. Senator Durazo.
• All right, assistant, please call the roll. All right, assistant, please call the roll.

Summary: The committee heard a series of bills focused largely on labor, education, workforce, and public employment issues. AB 65 would provide public school employees up to 14 weeks of leave with full benefits for pregnancy and pregnancy-related health issues; supporters said current rules force educators to exhaust sick leave and suffer long-term retirement penalties, while the bill’s author noted it mirrors budget trailer language. AB 1818 would change HEERA procedures for CSU bargaining by shifting certain renegotiation disputes to PERB; Teamsters and other labor groups supported it as a way to stop CSU from unilaterally refusing agreed raises, while CSU moved from opposed to neutral after amendments. AB 1940 would explicitly reference menopause, perimenopause, and postmenopause in workplace protections; supporters said it would clarify rights and improve awareness, while business opposition argued existing reasonable-accommodation law already covers these issues and warned of expanded liability. AB 1534 would add guardrails for new short-term Workforce Pell programs, including tuition caps, limits on income-share agreements, and transparency around partnerships with unaccredited entities; the author later said the bill would be amended to include private institutions. AB 1896 would bar people who participated in immigration enforcement from holding California public jobs during a specified period; supporters framed it as a public-trust measure, while police and public-safety groups opposed categorical exclusion and urged a more individualized vetting approach. AB 2300 would streamline distribution of WIOA workforce funds and reduce delays in local workforce board contracting, with supporters emphasizing faster service delivery and no reduction in accountability. AB 2223 would require CDCR to report standardized data on contracted medical and mental health staffing, vacancies, and costs, following an audit that found heavy reliance on contractors and poor transparency. AB 2483 would create a pathway and certification for formerly incarcerated firefighters to move into firefighting careers after release, with strong support from the author and witnesses who described the work as a real career path and reentry opportunity. AB 2142 would require temporary classified school employees working more than 75% of the school year to receive permanent-employee benefits and protections; school administrators and community college groups opposed it as too rigid for grant-funded and fluctuating positions. AB 2367 would require quarterly reporting from state-run health care facilities on vacancies, overtime, registry/contract staffing, and missed staffing minimums, building on state auditor recommendations; health care workers supported it as a transparency and accountability measure. Several measures were voted out of committee or placed on call. AB 1818, AB 1534, AB 2300, AB 2483, and AB 2223 all received do-pass votes to the Senate Appropriations Committee, though each was placed on call after roll call. AB 65 and AB 1940 also advanced on do-pass motions but were placed on call. AB 2142 received a do-pass vote with opposition and was placed on call. S.J.R. 15, a resolution urging Congress to protect California employers from higher federal unemployment taxes tied to the state’s UI debt, drew divided testimony: business groups supported it, while labor and some members argued California should solve the problem itself and keep the unemployment system solvent; the resolution was also placed on call. The transcript also included committee discussion about working with authors on amendments, especially for AB 1940 and AB 1534, and several members noted support or co-authorship while raising concerns about implementation details and fiscal impacts.

Transcript Highlights:

• Members, this bill relates to the exemption of tuition and laboratory fees at public institutions of
• Members, this bill relates to tuition and fee exemptions at public institutions of higher education for
• Assist may only be needed at this district for this one or two hours, and do we keep that person from
• I share it to you if you could assist with that last vote. Absolutely. Good morning, everybody.

Committees: Senate Education , Senate Education K-16

Transcript Highlights:

• colleagues, who welcomed me to this historic institution on my first day and offered their steadfast assistance
• Chair would like to take this opportunity to introduce guests of the Second Assistant Majority to Frank
• Nickerson, their assistant coach, Ellen Grillenis, Eric Scott, the athletic director, Robert Parga, the
• principal, and Paul Catino, the assistant coach.
• We also do another $35 million for low-income heating and fuel assistance.

Transcript Highlights:

• responsible for implementing are school Readiness Program are School Readiness program provides financial assistance
• Meaning every family that applied for school readiness plus funding is in a school and getting tuition
• assistance because it it it's continuous, right?
• students who do have IPs, who participate in the summer program and how the Summer bridge program assists
• just curious as to to piggyback off of Vice Chair Trabulsy is question if you know, transportation tuition

Transcript Highlights:

• I don't know what tuition expansion you're talking about.
• The tuition expansion is something that the committee should review.
• One's the tuition program. One's the prioritization program.
• So all the hard funding in the fiscal note is in the tuition program.
• scholarship to full tuition, which is a significant jump.

Committee: House Higher Education and Workforce Development

Summary: The Committee on Higher Education and Workforce Development met in executive session and first took up House Bill 2585. The committee adopted a House Committee substitute and a separate amendment, both described as clerical and technical changes to align the bill with Department of Higher Education workflow and state and federal law. The substitute for HB 2585 was then approved do pass by a 10-0 roll call vote. The committee then held a public hearing on House Bill 1627, which would revise the Career and Technical Education Advisory Council by adding the Commissioner of Higher Education or designee, increasing business and commerce representation, shortening member terms, reducing required meetings, and adjusting reporting requirements. Representative Haley said the changes would better reflect workforce needs and strengthen ties between education and industry. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education testified in support, saying the changes were recommended by the advisory group. No opposition testimony was offered. Finally, the committee heard House Bill 2123, a broader higher education funding proposal that also includes a Bright Flight scholarship increase to full in-state tuition. Representative Black and Representative Shields described the bill as an effort to modernize Missouri’s long-standing base-plus funding model by moving toward a metric- and performance-based system tied to workforce needs, with a phased testing and approval process before implementation. Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development staff, the Missouri Community College Association, and the Council on Public Higher Education testified in support of continuing the work, though the council urged removing bill language that was too specific about the consultant’s model and timeline. Some members raised concerns about fiscal impact, implementation, and whether the model could be rolled out without harming institutions or students. The hearing on HB 2123 concluded without any vote taken.

Transcript Highlights:

• It has nothing to do with economics, who pays tuition, who doesn't.
• So now I know it's a good bill, but I think it's a good bill. ...with economics, who pays tuition, who
• But that can create a burden on non-publics for families with tuition costs whenever we start to make
• They are paying the tuition, and I will be honest, they know exactly as they walk through the school
• They are paying the tuition, and I will be honest, they know exactly as they walk through the school

Bills: HCR47 , HB628 , HB737 , HB1008 , HB1062 , HB1079 , HB1112

Committee: House Education

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> problem by allowing resident tuition problem by allowing resident tuition rates<00:03:26.480><c>
• </c> student tuition resident tuition rate. student tuition resident tuition rate.
• . tuition. tuition.
• tuition, which put pressure on instate tuition.
• Wouldn't that be a tuition?

Bills: HF3432 , HF3411

Committee: House Higher Education Finance and Policy

Transcript Highlights:

• pilot program to establish in either Merrimack or Strafford County a forensic liaison position to assist
• :22:24.640><c> liaison</c><00:22:25.520><c> position</c><00:22:26.440><c> to</c><00:22:26.760><c> assist
• </c><00:22:27.320><c> in</c> forensic liaison position to assist in forensic liaison position to assist
• I am a Senior Assistant Attorney General.
• This is strictly about the cost of tuition for a specific degree program, so I suppose that could impact

Summary: The House Judiciary Committee opened with a hearing on CACR 7, a proposed constitutional amendment to explicitly state that defendants are innocent until proven guilty in all cases and suits brought by the state. The prime sponsor argued the amendment would strengthen due process, prevent government overreach, and extend the presumption of innocence beyond criminal cases into civil and administrative matters such as forfeiture and family court proceedings. In testimony and questioning, the sponsor cited New Hampshire constitutional provisions, historical examples, and concerns about courts shifting burdens onto individuals. Committee members raised questions about the amendment’s wording, its relationship to existing law, and whether it would have practical effect if current statutes already place the burden on the state. The hearing was then closed without further witnesses. The committee next moved to executive session on House Bill 480, which establishes a procedure for restoring competency and creates a pilot forensic liaison position in Merrimack or Strafford County to assist with that process. After discussion about prior concerns, including an email from the Disabilities Rights Center and whether enough members were present, the committee voted to adopt Amendment 2025-61H and then voted ought to pass as amended. The amendment passed unanimously, and the bill passed on a 10-1 roll call, with Representative Andrew voting no. The chair noted the bill would not go on consent and that no minority report was planned. Finally, the committee opened a hearing on House Bill 666-FN, which would add restitution for violations of library-use confidentiality and expressly include library cards and membership status among confidential records. The sponsor said the bill was intended to strengthen privacy protections after a local dispute and to provide a remedy and deterrent for improper disclosure. Committee questions focused on whether the restitution penalty would apply to accidental disclosures, how the bill interacts with existing exceptions such as court orders or investigations, and whether the language was consistent with current confidentiality law. The hearing remained open at the end of the transcript.