Transcript Highlights:

• And part of this is, you know, they also have their hours over in Iraq.
• And part of this is, you know, they also have their hours over in Iraq.
• hours and somewhere in the 40-plus years of counseling.
• hours and somewhere in the 40 plus years of counseling.
• He added that he probably got all 2,000 hours of counseling just from him.

Committee: Senate Commerce and Human Resources

Keywords: 989, all

Transcript Highlights:

• So let me say before we part, so much of me is made of what I learned..." "...much of me is made of what
• And I believe that you operate in the spirit of Esther. You have the wisdom to confront.
• Are there examples of some of our local governments kind of acting in bad faith as it kind of necessitates
• They would not, so they have to meet all of the criteria of concurrency or any of those types of things
• They would not, so they have to meet all of the criteria of concurrency or any of those types of things

Keywords: 999, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• But we would have to look at camp prices, membership prices, field trip rates, hours of operation, special
• But we would have to look at camp prices, membership prices, field trip rates, hours of operation, special
• But we would have to look at camp prices, membership prices, field trip rates, hours of operation, special
• But we would have to look at camp prices, membership prices, field trip rates, hours of operation, special
• > in</c> limited number of hours of daylight in limited number of hours of daylight in the<01:35:33.719

Committee: House Environment and Natural Resources Finance and Policy

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• And one of the big challenges for us is we are operating in the marketplace of the United States, right
• are operating in the marketplace<00:29:44.159><c> of</c><00:29:44.320><c> the</c><00:29:44.480><c> United
• At least 85% of the employees shall complete a one-hour training session to qualify the business as dementia
• At least 85% of the employees shall complete a one-hour training session to qualify the business as dementia
• 85% of the employees shall complete<01:15:17.600><c> a</c><01:15:18.000><c> one-hour</c><01:15:18.640

Keywords: 910, house, all

Summary: The joint hearing covered several bills focused on economic development, tourism, business climate, and related policy areas. On HB 1943, which would support a DBEDT office in Korea, DBEDT and the Retail Merchants of Hawaii testified in support, emphasizing Korea’s importance as a market for investment, trade, and tourism and the value of helping small and midsize Hawaii businesses access Asian markets. A later witness also tied the proposal to broader free-trade and APEC-related goals. The committees heard no opposition on that measure. The committees then heard HB 1612 and HB 1614, both supported by multiple organizations and agencies. Testimony for HB 1612 stressed Hawaii’s weak business climate and the need for policies that improve economic growth and competitiveness; the Hulamua Collaborative cited survey results showing only 19% of respondents viewed Hawaii as a good place to do business. HB 1614 also drew support, with HTC saying its focus is on economic growth. For HB 1968 and HB 1967, the Office of Planning and Sustainable Development, the University of Hawaii, the Chamber of Commerce, and Hulamua Collaborative largely stood on written testimony in support; the hearing notes reported nine supporters and one opponent on HB 1968, and seven supporters with one comment on HB 1967. A substantial portion of the hearing focused on HB 1589, a bill to create dementia training and recognition for businesses. Testifiers included a private citizen sharing a personal family story, the Alzheimer’s Association, and DBEDT. Supporters said the measure would help families affected by dementia, reduce stigma, and make businesses more dementia-friendly. DBEDT said the issue would be better handled by an agency with dementia expertise, while the Alzheimer’s Association said it could provide training at no cost and suggested amendments to shift implementation toward the Executive Office on Aging and to use the term “dementia business champion.” The final major topic was HB 1608, involving a space-related project and financing. Phoenix Space testified that the bill would help launch responsive space access operations at Hilo International Airport, create local jobs, and support partnerships with Hawaii institutions, while another supporter said the project could diversify the economy. A committee member raised a timing concern, noting bond cap capacity was already allocated through 2028, and the witness said they were willing to work on a solution. The hearing also included HB 1850 on capital gains taxation, where supporters argued the bill would make the tax system fairer by increasing taxes on investment income, while the Chamber of Commerce opposed it. No votes or final committee actions were taken during the hearing.

Transcript Highlights:

• operations all of the maintenance and operations will<00:36:36.160><c> be</c><00:36:36.240><c> part</
• You mentioned an example of somebody paying $2,500 an hour.
• So, there's the two-hour time limit of blood draws.
• ><c> limit</c><01:45:30.159><c> of</c><01:45:30.400><c> blood</c> there's the 2-hour time limit of blood
• time limit of an into the two-hour time limit of an officer<01:46:03.398><c> [clears throat]</c><01:

Keywords: 958, all

Summary: The committee first approved the April 13 minutes and then turned to a large agenda of contracts. Chairman Douglas said there were 52 contracts totaling about $369.3 million, and noted that most vendors were registered with the Secretary of State except for item 118 on the routine personal services green list and item 19 involving Morehead State University and Kentucky State University. The committee voted to defer item 118 to the June 26 meeting and later also deferred the Kentucky State University contract on the deferred list to the June 26 meeting. The main discussion centered on a deferred personal services contract for the Kentucky Board of Optometric Examiners, involving outside legal counsel. Senator Meredith raised concerns about KRS 320 and whether the board had authority to hire outside counsel when the statute says the Attorney General shall provide legal services to the board. Dr. Mary Beth Morris, the board president, and Christopher Thacker of the Attorney General’s office testified after being sworn in. Thacker explained that the statute and related law allow both Attorney General assistance and independent counsel, and argued that outside counsel is appropriate for day-to-day legal work because it avoids conflicts, especially on open records issues, regulatory advice, and disciplinary hearings. Senator Meredith said he agreed with approving the contract but questioned how the board had reached this point and whether the current statutes reflect modern practice. He raised concerns about transparency and accountability, referencing a prior advisory opinion involving the board’s handling of exam requirements during COVID and saying the board should have consulted the Attorney General before acting. Thacker responded that the Attorney General’s office serves the Commonwealth as a whole, not as counsel to one board, and that the board’s use of outside counsel is a reasonable and economical arrangement. The exchange ended with Meredith suggesting that broader legislative action may be needed to clarify reporting relationships and oversight for the board.

Transcript Highlights:

• She is the great niece of House member Stafford and also a guest of Representative Jacqueline Times.
• Please stand to the flag of the United States of America, to the Republic for which it stands, one nation
• a week, 75 hours a year. three hours a week, 75 hours a year.
• They do a... people entering, and they do a lot of damage to some of our buildings.
• Speaker, I move adoption of the bill. The question for the body is the adoption of the bill.

Keywords: 1136, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Seven of our students were taken during this surge, and six of them were taken within hours, flown to
• Seven of our students were taken during this surge, and six of them were taken within hours, flown to
• Many of these schools are already operating on thin margins.
• The last two hours of my life were pretty emotional.
• The last um two hours of my life face.

Committee: Senate Education Finance

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Those are primarily your 1200 lines in most operating budgets, while a majority of the operating budget
• </c><00:34:46.000><c> the</c> budgets um while a majority of the budgets um while a majority of the operating
• some other aspect of a district's operating budget?
• ><c> District's</c> some other aspect of a District's some other aspect of a District's operating<00:
• </c><01:18:13.560><c> model</c> um sort of has been the operating model um sort of has been the operating

Keywords: 928, house, all

Summary: The committee first heard HB 295, which would make school building aid funds non-lapsing/non-APS. Representative Cahill said the bill was intended to keep any unused building aid money available for future projects, potentially helping move projects up the priority list or provide a little more funding for school construction. Members asked about how much money has lapsed in past years, whether the education trust fund and building aid are separate, and whether any lapsing dollars could be used to pay down debt. Department of Education official Jim Carney said about $29.1 million would be available if building aid is funded to the $50 million maximum in FY26, confirmed that the fund currently lapses, and said the department would gather historical lapse data. Committee members also discussed whether a dedicated fund structure could achieve the same goal, and the chair noted that the education trust fund statute includes school building aid as one of its uses. No vote was taken; the hearing was closed and the committee said it would later hold a work session after receiving more information. The committee then took up HB 237, introduced by Representative Dan McGuire, which would prohibit the use of special education state funds and differentiated aid for students not receiving special education services. The New Hampshire School Boards Association, through Becky Wilson, opposed the bill as written, saying it was unclear, potentially unnecessary, and difficult to implement because adequacy and differentiated aid are distributed as part of a districtwide lump sum rather than as student-specific dollars. She explained that special education costs are embedded across district budgets, including staffing, training, transportation, and instruction, and that some staff and services benefit both special education and general education students. Wilson also said differentiated aid is not tied to a specific pupil and is used at the district’s discretion, though it is intended to support students with greater needs. Committee members pressed on whether the bill would require districts to track money by individual student, whether it could conflict with federal special education law, and whether it would affect least restrictive environment requirements. Wilson said making the funds student-specific could create privacy and accounting problems and could make it difficult to staff inclusive classrooms, though she did not give a definitive legal opinion on federal compliance. She agreed that students who are not eligible for special education would not be included in the separate catastrophic/special education aid reimbursement program. The discussion continued into the second section of the bill, with members exploring how adequacy aid and differentiated aid are used in practice, but no action was taken during the portion provided.

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> work and school having even a few hours work and school having even a few hours of<00:39:18.839>
• of unpaid caregiving 18 billion hours of unpaid caregiving each<00:40:52.839><c> year</c><00:40:53.839
• ><c> to</c> 4,968 hours of respit was provided to 4,968 hours of respit was provided to caregivers<01
• Is that an accurate assessment of how this program operates?
• of operation and I explore other modes of operation and I think<03:52:27.120><c> the</c><03:52:27.319

Committee: House Health, Human Services & Elderly Affairs

Keywords: 1189, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• of Corrections, that they not—and they could use operations or their funds that they do receive.
• And one of those items was the funding of the Division of Ag. So this has been going on for years.
• This is an amendment for reallocation of $23,000 from operating expense to conference and travel.
• This would be an increase of $5,000 in new overtime and an increase of $10,000 in their operating expenses
• rising supply costs and support continuous 24-hour casino operations.

Committee: All JOINT BUDGET COMMITTEE

Summary: The committee first filed a report on the executive protection detail and then reviewed a long list of House and Senate bills that were ready for action, with members instructed to hold any items they wanted removed. The committee then took up several agency requests to amend bills: the Auditor of State’s request for a $370 increase for special deputy expense allowance, the Administrative Office of the Courts’ requests for additional funding for court interpreters and substitute court reporters, and requests tied to local sales tax refunds, county property tax redistribution, emergency medical and law enforcement support, and Northwest Arkansas Community College tornado-related repairs. All of those amendments were adopted, and one amendment on House Bill 1034 was held over at Senator Johnson’s request. A major portion of the meeting focused on an amendment for the Department of Corrections to fund a pilot program using mobile technology to identify and disable illegal inmate cell phones at Varner and Cummins prisons. The bill sponsors and Corrections officials described the problem as a serious public safety issue, saying inmates use contraband phones for criminal activity, trafficking, scams, and outside coordination. Members asked about FCC rules, procurement, whether the system would jam or only identify phones, whether it would affect staff or nearby users, how quickly it would work, whether it would be a one-time or ongoing cost, and whether the department had existing budget authority. Officials said the proposal would require an RFP, that current funding was not available in the department’s budget, and that the technology would be a two-year pilot. The committee ultimately adopted the amendment and then gave the underlying bill a do-pass recommendation. The committee also considered an amendment for the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture, which sought a $4 million increase in appropriation authority. Senators discussed the division’s role in county extension offices, 4-H, research, and salary competitiveness, while others questioned why the division needed more appropriation room when it already had about $10 million in headroom and had requested a different funding level through higher education. Division representatives said the increase would help with salaries and provide flexibility for future funding, and Higher Education staff clarified the original request and recommendation amounts. After extensive discussion, the committee adopted the amendment and gave it a do-pass recommendation. Finally, the committee began acting on governor’s letters, adopting amendments for a homestead property tax credit increase, insurance department conference travel, property appraisal analysis support, career and technical education professional development, regulatory and casino gaming appropriations, a new program integrity line for the Department of Inspector General, consolidation of licensing board appropriations, deletion of a completed Fort Chaffee Readiness Center appropriation, and a revised reappropriation package for prison expansion that included special language limiting use of the funds. Members asked several questions about the prison reappropriation, including whether it still related to the earlier Calico Rock project and whether special language should be considered separately; the committee moved the governor’s letters forward for drafting and further action.

Transcript Highlights:

• you were in the Appropriations Committee yesterday, some of you voluntarily, for all six hours.
• G, allowing ad valorem to fund the operations administration of county officers and expenditures they
• patience yesterday in our committee, our six-hour-long committee, where many of us, myself included,
• Conspicuously absent yesterday in that long six hours or six and a half hours that we had, none of the
• It takes me four hours to get here, as it takes a lot of us a lot of time to get here.

Keywords: 999, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• So I know of Operation Nightingale by what's available publicly.
• Adjunct faculty, we're starting at $40 an hour at the end of 2020.
• Now there are upwards of $55 and $60 an hour for faculty.
• Those are the realities that schools have to be... of $55 and $60 an hour for faculty.
• It's the same number of clinical hours. So the tuition is roughly the same.

Summary: The subcommittee met to examine Florida’s nursing education pipeline and the state’s persistently low NCLEX passage rates. Chair Tuck opened by noting the projected nurse shortage and Florida’s ranking near the bottom nationally for first-time NCLEX pass rates. The Department of Health explained the Board of Nursing’s approval process for nursing programs, including application requirements, probation standards, and termination for programs that repeatedly fail passage-rate benchmarks. The Florida Center for Nursing then presented statewide data showing Florida has more test takers than most states, but still trails the national average; the gap has narrowed in recent years, though Florida remains below average. Members focused heavily on why the state continues to underperform, with discussion of faculty shortages, clinical placement constraints, accreditation, student preparedness, and the large share of newer private for-profit programs among those placed on probation. Committee members asked about how probation works, what happens when programs improve, and whether the board requires corrective plans. They also questioned the relationship between program type and outcomes, the effect of Operation Nightingale, and how many students fail and retest. The Florida Center for Nursing said first-attempt pass rates are the standard measure and that students who fail are expected to remediate and retest, though costs vary. The center also said Florida’s data shows accredited programs outperform approved or probationary ones, and that the state’s nursing workforce challenges are tied to broader issues such as faculty vacancies, clinical site competition, and student demographics, including many students balancing work, family, and language barriers. A panel of nursing school leaders from public, private nonprofit, and private for-profit institutions then described strategies used to improve outcomes. These included transparent recruitment, early orientation, tutoring, success coaching, stronger faculty development, curriculum mapping to NCLEX standards, higher course benchmarks, mandatory remediation, simulation labs, and commercial NCLEX prep tools such as ATI, Kaplan, and HESI. Several panelists said their programs had improved after probation or had very high passage rates, and they emphasized that student success depends on academic preparation, clinical experience, and support services. Members also asked about tuition, program length, translation into other languages, and faculty recruitment; panelists said costs vary widely, faculty hiring is difficult because hospitals pay more, and some schools are considering medical Spanish and immersion options rather than full curriculum translation.

Transcript Highlights:

• Most of our work is actually ahead of us in this regard.
• A close connection between the acquirer and the operator, a robust and diverse network of industry partners
• If I were to add one thing on top of that, it's really bringing acquisition closer to the operators,
• That's kind of... The reality of it.
• This has been one of the most informative two and a half hours that I've ever had as a member of this

Committee: Senate Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Personnel

Transcript Highlights:

• Ruidoso experienced that with eight inches of rain in four and a half hours.
• It adversely affects the ability of billboard companies to operate in New Mexico.
• hours of the day and night, including motion lights.
• And these locations, because of the nature of the activity, have 24-hour operations, heavy machinery,
• Could you address the concerns with these industrial locations in their 24-hour operations?

Committee: Senate Senate Conservation

Transcript Highlights:

• of driving hours as spent um any number of driving hours as a<00:32:55.760><c> teen</c><00:32:56.320
• </c><00:41:36.000><c> That's</c> of how you operate your business.
• That's of how you operate your business.
• and I would sit here, I think most hours and I would sit here, I think most of<01:41:23.440><c> us</
• Tom, I could give you a couple hours and I would sit here, I think most of us would, and just listen.

Keywords: 958, all

Summary: The Intelligence Task Force met with a quorum present and approved the minutes from the August 14 meeting. The first presentation was from the National Retail Federation on artificial intelligence in the retail sector. NRF described AI use cases in three areas: consumer-facing tools such as chatbots, product descriptions, and marketing; employee-facing tools such as company-specific apps trained on employee manuals; and internal uses such as supply chain forecasting, inventory planning, fraud detection, cybersecurity, and coding support. The presenters said retail has been among the top deployers of AI and emphasized that the goal is to improve both customer and employee experience. NRF also outlined its principles for responsible AI use, organized around governance and risk management, customer engagement and trust, workforce applications, and business partner accountability. The group said retailers should maintain strong internal oversight, be transparent with customers, ensure compliance with existing laws, closely review workforce-related uses because they can be high-risk, and clearly define responsibilities between retailers and third-party developers. In policy discussion, NRF urged a tiered approach focused first on high-risk uses such as hiring, health care, financial, mortgage, and rental decisions, warned against fragmented rules that could favor only the largest firms, and encouraged voluntary standards and worker upskilling incentives. In response to a question about dynamic pricing, NRF said its members do not target consumers based on pricing and offered to follow up with more information. The committee then moved to a follow-up discussion on energy policy and data centers, hearing from Bartley Cleland of NetChoice. He explained that AI runs largely in data centers and that cloud computing shifts processing and storage away from individual devices, which he argued improves efficiency and can reduce costs. He said electricity demand has been rising over time and that AI will increase compute-related electricity use, but framed electricity as a normal input to economic growth. No votes or formal actions were taken after these presentations.

Transcript Highlights:

• The GLO is currently operating two different types of funding from HUD: CDBG-DR and CDBG-MIT, both of
• And so the university operations, I can't tell you off the top of my head out of the 26 there, which
• And I thought maybe this helped fund the operations of the entire system, so some kind of breakdown on
• The operating part of the tax rate could go beyond that, but the debt part of the tax rate has to go
• water district operations, designed to strengthen directors' knowledge of water district operations,

Committee: House Land & Resource Management

Keywords: 1184, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• It is a direct operator of major public services and infrastructure.
• But total operating revenues are, you know, north of a billion dollars, 1.3.
• Chair Hutchinson: So, with that, um, that setup kind of brings me to uh kind of the internal operations
• </c> internal operations of the Met Council. internal operations of the Met Council.
• </c><01:33:31.480><c> Bus</c><01:33:31.680><c> Operators</c> of the Minnesota School Bus Operators of

Committee: Senate Transportation

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• The League of Women Voters of New Mexico supports The League of Women Voters of New Mexico supports a
• kids and needs of these kinds of services.
• So to be eligible for this credit, the preceptor would have to do 120 hours of preceptorship.
• As many of you know, particularly Representative Jones, clinical hours are required by most health care
• And social work is definitely a service of heart that, if you probably calculated all of their hours,

Committee: House House Health & Human Services

Keywords: 996, all

Transcript Highlights:

• We have crisis centers operating across the state, coordinated systems of care, and we now have a newer
• lot of work to do and a lot of budgets to get out of here.
• of bills.
• We have an adult priority of payment system in code already in 3101I, but we've been operating under
• President, I move that the Senate adjourn until the hour of 11 a.m. Tuesday, March 3, 2026. Mr.

Keywords: 989, all

Transcript Highlights:

• ><00:17:14.199><c> the</c> open for operation by the end of the open for operation by the end of the
• He's a busy father of six hours.
• c> are</c> the curriculum of the thousand hours are the curriculum of the thousand hours are actually
• But we can definitely take, because it's a minimum of 2,000 hours in 2 years.
• It also requires, I think, 150 hours each year of education.

Committee: Joint Licensing, Occupations, & Administrative Regulations

Keywords: 00:00 Call to Order 02:45 Roll Call 05:25 Cosmetologists 13:48 Barbers 01:16:06 Adjournment, 958, all