Transcript Highlights:

• The bill requires the Alabama Department of Public Health to develop educational materials about postpartum
• These materials would be available for anyone to access on the Alabama Department of Public Health's.
• .. ...on the Alabama Department of Public Health website.

Bills: HB330 , HB336 , HB322 , HB346

Committee: House Health

Keywords: lead ban, plumbing codes, lead-free, public health, environmental management, respiratory therapy, interstate compact, licensing, military service members, healthcare access, regulation, postpartum depression, postnatal care, maternal mental health, perinatal depression, postpartum screening, new mother, birth mother, newborn discharge, hospital discharge materials

Transcript Highlights:

• environment and to Minnesota to our environment and to Minnesota to our parks<00:17:04.160><c> and</c
• </c> positions uh not just here in Minnesota positions uh not just here in Minnesota but<00:17:20.679
• and if not um it looks like Minnesota and if not um it looks like Minnesota<00:23:27.279><c> will</c
• Sustainable foraging in Minnesota.
• I'm a member of the Minnesota Mycological Society, and I've worked in government and public affairs for

Committee: Senate Environment, Climate, and Legacy

Transcript Highlights:

• It is utilized by us.
• is the commission on the commission is the commission voted<03:39:20.120><c> opposed</c><03:39:20.840
• It doesn't say anything about the commission. You've eliminated the commission.
• When I first joined the commission in 2017, I remember one of my first commission meetings.
• had</c><05:26:09.440><c> said</c> commission because a commission had said commission because a commission

Committee: House Fish and Game and Marine Resources

Transcript Highlights:

• to actually include a battery recycler to be on the commission.
• </c> recycler um it to be on the commission recycler um it to be on the commission um<00:02:26.920><c
• It's not going to Minnesota.
• :24:41.320><c> only</c> make its way to Minnesota it's only make its way to Minnesota it's only going
• </c><00:58:17.319><c> how</c> compare to a city like Minnesota how compare to a city like Minnesota how

Committee: Senate Energy and Intergovernmental Affairs

Summary: The joint committees heard testimony on Senate Bill 103, relating to electric vehicle batteries, and then moved to Senate Bill 995, relating to renewable fuel. On SB 103, the Department of Health and the State Energy Office supported the measure, and Redwood Materials said it supported the bill’s intent but requested an amendment to add a battery recycler to the commission. Other testimony on SB 103 included support from several individuals and organizations, with one opponent noted. A committee member also raised a possible deadline change requested by the Alliance of Automobile Innovation for future work on the measure. The bulk of the hearing focused on SB 995, which would create tax incentives for sustainable aviation fuel and related renewable fuel production. Supporters included the Hawaii Renewable Fuels Coalition, Pono Pacific, Hawaiian Airlines/Alaska Airlines, the Tax Foundation, PAR Hawaii, Pacific Biodiesel, and others. Supporters said the bill would help build a local SAF industry, encourage camelina and other feedstocks, and advance decarbonization goals. Several supporters also said they had proposed amendments or technical comments and stood on their written testimony. Opposition testimony argued the bill could allow toxic waste feedstocks, such as construction and demolition waste, into fuel production, and questioned whether the incentives would truly benefit Hawaii farmers or consumers. One opponent said the bill’s benefits could flow to the producer and to imported feedstocks rather than to local agriculture, and another questioned the scale of local land and water available for camelina production. Committee members pressed witnesses on acreage, water use, expected yields, the role of PAR Hawaii’s refinery investment, and whether the state would be subsidizing a business decision that might not produce significant local fuel. No vote or final action was taken in the excerpt provided.

Transcript Highlights:

• Let's go to Roz Peterson, CCIM public policy director, NAIOP Minnesota.
• Roz Peterson, CCIM public policy director, NAIOP Minnesota. Welcome to the committee, Ms. Peterson.
• Our mission is to identify and advance public policies to make Minnesota a place where everyone can thrive
• The Minnesota Minnesota Budget Project.
• </c><00:47:19.320><c> a</c> public policies to make Minnesota a public policies to make Minnesota a place

Bills: HF3127 , HF3524 , HF3525 , HF3754

Committee: House Taxes

Transcript Highlights:

• the public safety equipment training fund, and the public equipment fund is a fund that DPS has within
• the public safety equipment training fund, and the public equipment fund is a fund that DPS has within
• this funding and utilizing this resource.
• That got switched to the public safety equipment training fund, which can do all public safety, and,
• However, the commission that had the commission, they never met.

Bills: SB1161 , SB1215 , SB1270 , SB1400 , SB1537 , SB1538 , SB1580 , SB1584 , SB1627

Committees: House Public Safety & Law Enforcement , House House Public Safety & Law Enforcement Committee of Reference

Keywords: appropriation, public safety, Yuma County, funding exemption, family advocacy center, firefighters, occupational disease, workers compensation, cancer presumption, police officers, hazardous duty, SB1270, Arizona retirement system, public safety personnel, defined contribution plan, correctional officers, corrections officers, retirement contributions, supplemental contributions, retention incentive

Transcript Highlights:

• verification and public research verification and public research organizations<00:10:06.240><c> use
• But HB 67's publication ban would limit or end that type of public oversight and possibly open up legal
• These groups perform a public risk.
• There's a choice if a person wants their personal information public or not public.
• </c> your telephone number public. your telephone number public. &gt;&gt; Okay. &gt;&gt; Okay.

Bills: SB249 , SB259 , HB67 , HB214 , SB249 , SB259 , HB67 , HB214

Committee: Senate County and Municipal Government

Keywords: municipal tax, license fee, local tax increase, ordinance, public hearing, 30-day notice, municipal notice requirements, city council, town council, Alabama municipalities, Code of Alabama 1975, Section 11-45-2, open meetings website, newspaper publication, local government finance, tax transparency, fee increase, municipal ordinance procedure, University of South Alabama, Board of Trustees

Transcript Highlights:

• public notice requirements in House Rule 26A.
• I also agree that the voice of the public is incredibly important, and the voice of the public will be
• And utilizing, the goal is to utilize the same, whether you're learning to read in Spanish or any other
• The commission is directed to examine policy requirements and provided funding for public schools enacted
• The commission is directed to examine policy requirements and provided funding for public schools enacted

Bills: HB1295 , HB2007 , HB2262 , HB2636

Committee: House Education

Keywords: reading instruction, structured literacy, early literacy, dyslexia, phonics, phonological awareness, language comprehension, vocabulary, fluency, oral language, orthographic knowledge, multi-tiered system of supports, MTSS, screening assessments, intervention, reading intervention, elementary education, kindergarten, first grade, second grade

Transcript Highlights:

• As background, under the Open Public Meetings Act, meetings of a governing body must be open to the public
• As background under the Open Public Meetings Act, meetings of a governing body must be open to the public
• is limited due to a declared emergency if the public agency has not provided an option for the public
• The Public Disclosure Commission oversees these campaign finance laws and rules.
• Conservation districts support a public mission and often use public funds to do their work.

Bills: HB2235 , HJR4210 , HB2520 , HB2491 , HB2499 , HB2408 , HB2435

Committee: House State Government & Tribal Relations

Keywords: public records, concealed pistol licenses, firearm purchases, transfers, exemptions, transparency, Constitution amendment, legislative sessions, session duration, state legislature, governance, emergency meetings, public agencies, accountability, open government, HB2491, WaTech, Washington Technology Solutions, public disclosure, public inspection

Transcript Highlights:

• HB67 has a public hearing. He'll speak a little bit, and then we'll start the public hearing.
• When time we have to do... yeah, we have a public hearing to do.
• Okay, we're gonna start the public hearing. Clerk, you're going to have three minutes.
• Bathrooms and public spaces such as...
• Which struck me very much when you talk about public libraries and books and knowledge.

Bills: HB141 , HB161 , HB231 , HB67

Committee: House State Government

Keywords: HB141, Alabama, state employees, salary deductions, payroll deduction, State Comptroller, membership dues, voluntary contributions, insurance premiums, financial instruments, employee associations, state payroll, Code of Alabama 1975, Section 36-1-4.3, public employees, union dues, benefits administration, payroll withholding, financial products, deferred compensation

Transcript Highlights:

• What's it like for Minnesota?
• What's it like for Minnesota? Minnesota? Minnesota?
• that and keep Minnesota dollars in Minnesota,<00:54:10.079><c> keep</c><00:54:10.319><c> Minnesota</
• c><00:54:10.800><c> food</c><00:54:11.280><c> in</c> Minnesota, keep Minnesota food in Minnesota, keep
• </c><00:59:23.280><c> I</c> Minnesota have. We just don't know. I Minnesota have.

Bills: HF3718

Committee: House Agriculture Finance and Policy

Transcript Highlights:

• Item number three authorizes counties to impose a public utility tax with a maximum rate of 3%.
• This is in addition to the current exclusions for school districts and port and public utility district
• The Utilities and Transportation Commission and Department of Health have both estimated a fiscal impact
• So in our case, we are regulated under the Utilities and Transportation Commission, and so there's an
• So in our case, we are regulated under the Utilities and Transportation Commission, and so there's an

Bills: HB1069 , HB2091 , SB6355 , HB2104 , SB6003 , HB2441 , HB2124 , HB2610 , HB2338

Committee: Senate Ways & Means

Keywords: collective bargaining, retirement benefits, employee rights, public sector, supplemental benefits, public employers, employee information, bargaining representatives, labor relations, union representation, electric transmission, energy policies, infrastructure, regulatory framework, transmission systems, aviation, wildland fires, funding, disaster relief, emergency response

Transcript Highlights:

• Anecdotally, my daughter at one time worked for public health in Minnesota, and she was cautioned where
• Energy, water, and other public utility information is critical for state regulators, local siting authorities
• , utilities, and the public, as they also use these utilities.
• to be worked out because public safety and public security and making things known to the public are
• That's all part of the public docket, excuse me, public record.

Committee: Joint Legislative Management

Transcript Highlights:

• I want to get as much public testimony as possible, but I don't want any one person dominating public
• steps aside to public policy for the public benefit.
• steps aside to public policy for the public benefit.
• roads and public education.
• Thank you, members of the committee and the public.

Bills: HB4154 , HB4155 , HB4156 , HB4157 , HB4158 , HB4159 , HB4160 , HB4161 , HB4162 , HB4163 , HB4164 , HB4165 , HB4166 , HB4167 , HB4168 , HB4169 , SB1847 , SB1848 , SB1849 , SB1850 , SB1851 , SB1852 , SB1853 , SB1854 , SB1855 , SB1856 , SB1857 , SB1858 , SB1859 , SB1860 , SB1861 , SB1862

Committee: Joint Appropriations

Keywords: general appropriations act, budget, biennial budget, state spending, appropriations, fiscal year 2026, fiscal year 2027, state treasury, agency funding, operating budget, capital budget, public finance, state agencies, legislative budget, house appropriations, rules committee, HB4155, amusements, amusement industry, entertainment

Transcript Highlights:

• </c><01:42:01.760><c> both</c> commission and a commission meaning both commission and a commission meaning
• </c> commission the vote of the commission commission the vote of the commission was<01:49:01.719><c>
• We've had a gaming commission, or study, on a gaming commission ongoing for the past two years.
• that commission also.
• "Seeing none, I'll close the public hearing on HB 540. That concludes today's public hearings.

Summary: The committee held a public hearing on HB 135, introduced by Representative Michael Harrington. He said the bill would codify a portion of the New Hampshire Constitution to bar New Hampshire businesses from being required to collect sales or use taxes for other states unless Congress mandates it, arguing that the U.S. Supreme Court’s Wayfair decision created an onerous compliance burden for businesses. He described the patchwork of state and local sales tax rules, thresholds, and product exemptions as extremely complex and said the bill was intended to push the issue back toward Congress and the courts. Members questioned whether the bill’s reference to a “foreign government” would apply to other U.S. states, whether the proposal would conflict with the Supremacy Clause, and whether it would create standing for businesses to challenge Wayfair. Harrington responded that “foreign government” meant any government other than New Hampshire, that he believed the state could challenge the decision in court by passing a law contrary to Wayfair, and that businesses were already being harmed by compliance costs. Some members raised concerns about whether the bill was an unfunded mandate or simply a private compliance burden, and Harrington argued that the state itself would not be collecting the taxes, but businesses would still face recordkeeping and administrative costs. Sam Garland of the Department of Justice then testified. He said the department was not taking a formal position on the bill, but offered technical comments. Garland acknowledged that Wayfair created significant compliance burdens and noted that states have become somewhat more uniform, with all states now having a $100,000 economic nexus threshold, though not all use the 200-transaction threshold and local tax variation remains substantial. He said the department’s concerns were legal, describing the issue as uncharted constitutional territory involving both vertical and horizontal federalism. No vote or final action was taken during the hearing.

Transcript Highlights:

• I the future of policing in Minnesota.
• </c> chairs of commissions this morning. chairs of commissions this morning.
• And we want to thank you each for the work you do to advance public safety in Minnesota.
• </c> that supports public safety statewide. that supports public safety statewide.
• </c> worked with the University of Minnesota worked with the University of Minnesota what<00:47:22.960

Committee: Senate Judiciary and Public Safety

Transcript Highlights:

• So where in this schematic are there concerns regarding public health, public safety?
• This is public.
• We got enough in Minnesota. Yeah.
• of those mines did we shut down in Minnesota as an example?
• So we go out and work with utilities.

Summary: The meeting opened with remarks about the value of public engagement and the availability of presentation materials, then moved into a series of technical briefings from Idaho National Laboratory staff. Joe Renovitz described recent federal and DOE efforts to streamline nuclear regulation for advanced reactors, including NRC Part 53 and upcoming Part 57 rulemaking, DOE authorization updates, crosswalks between DOE and NRC requirements, and use of AI to speed licensing communications and document review. He emphasized that the goal is to align safety standards for advanced technologies, reduce rework for developers, and support deployment for commercial, defense, and research uses. In response to questions, he said there is no current plan to merge agencies, but there is more information-sharing and embedded NRC staff at DOE facilities; he also noted public outreach is supported through groups like GAIN and NEI. David Tolman then discussed the nuclear fuel cycle, covering uranium mining, conversion, enrichment, fuel fabrication, spent fuel storage, transportation, disposal, and recycling. He explained high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU), DOE’s HALEU Availability Program, and the need to expand domestic enrichment, deconversion, and transportation capacity to support advanced reactors and the 2050 nuclear growth goal. He also reviewed used fuel management, including on-site storage at operating and shutdown reactors, the Center for Used Fuel Research at INL, a high-burnup research cask project, and the long-term repository question, which he said is ultimately political as well as technical. He outlined reprocessing approaches—aqueous/Purex, pyrochemical, and fluoride volatility—describing INL’s work on electrochemical processing of EBR-II fuel and noting industry interest from several companies in recycling technologies. Ashley Shields presented on AI for nuclear applications, describing INL’s use of generative AI, high-performance computing, and digital-twin tools to accelerate reactor design, licensing, operations, and materials development. She highlighted the Prometheus effort to pursue highly automated reactor design and operation, the large documentation burden for reactor licensing, and ongoing work on autonomous control, remote operation, and AI-assisted materials qualification through the Vulcan challenge and related data platforms. In questions, she said AI tools are used under data-governance and security controls, with different models chosen for different tasks, and argued that software engineers and human oversight remain necessary. The session ended with a brief recess announcement and a transition to a later presentation on critical minerals and materials.

Transcript Highlights:

• I chaired the Minnesota Healthcare Access Commission that led to the legislative creation of Minnesota
• Minnesota. Minnesota.
• </c> bring to Minnesota. bring to Minnesota.
• The University of Minnesota is one of only a handful of public universities in the entire nation that
• University of Minnesota is one of only a handful of public universities in the entire nation that works

Committee: House Higher Education Finance and Policy

Transcript Highlights:

• All of our meetings are public.
• We can help them with moving costs, utility deposits.
• to try to do that type of a service in Minnesota.
• Next, we are at the Verde County Public Health.
• In Bismarck, public health serving in that role.

Committee: Joint Human Services

Summary: The Human Services Committee met in interim session and first approved the previous meeting minutes before receiving a series of presentations on homelessness and housing stability. Jennifer Henderson of the North Dakota Housing Finance Agency updated members on the new Interagency Council on Homelessness, describing its executive-order mandate to review resources, gather input from stakeholders, identify gaps, and develop recommendations. She said the council’s first work is building a statewide program matrix of existing homeless services and funding sources, with attention to youth, tribal communities, and other vulnerable populations. Members raised concerns about youth homelessness, homeless veterans, and how the council will stay focused on a practical framework rather than getting lost in details. The committee also discussed possible connections to the rural health transformation grant and agreed to continue the topic later in the spring. Beth Olson of Presentation Partners in Housing described the organization’s housing-first model in Cass County and Clay County, including homeless prevention/diversion, housing navigation, and Cooper House, a 42-unit permanent supportive housing building in Fargo. She said the organization focuses on people with long-term and chronic homelessness, many with mental health, addiction, health, domestic violence, and Indigenous identity-related barriers, and reported strong outcomes: 85 of 86 people housed in 2025, 91% still housed after one year, and major reductions in emergency room use, ambulance rides, jail stays, detox days, and shelter use. She also explained that state funding has grown from a small share of the budget to about $1.1 million in state-connected funding for fiscal 2026, largely through contracts tied to supportive services. Members asked about vouchers, rent contributions at Cooper House, length of stay, and whether similar projects could be expanded elsewhere. Andrea Olson of the Community Action Partnership of North Dakota outlined statewide homeless and housing-related services delivered through six community action agencies in all 53 counties. She explained the Community Services Block Grant structure, said housing was identified as the top need in the most recent statewide needs assessment, and described programs including Supportive Services for Veteran Families, North Dakota Homeless Grant services, and Home ARP supportive services. She emphasized that the end of North Dakota Rent Help has increased pressure on the system, that the current $2 million annual homeless grant is far smaller than prior rent-help assistance, and that community action is using case management and financial assistance to move households toward self-sufficiency. Members asked about funding formulas, rural service delivery, and coordination with Presentation Partners to avoid duplication. YouthWorks then began a presentation on youth homelessness, describing services for ages 12 to 24, the special needs of youth and former foster youth, and the organization’s use of federal and state funds to support transitional housing, emergency shelter, maternity housing, and diversion services.

Transcript Highlights:

• <00:01:20.640><c> Insurance</c><00:01:21.159><c> guarantee</c> Minnesota Insurance guarantee Minnesota
• <00:04:07.239><c> Insurance</c><00:04:07.799><c> guarantee</c> Minnesota Insurance guarantee Minnesota
• ><c> reported</c> 2017 Minnesota families have reported 2017 Minnesota families have reported among<00
• </c><00:34:53.359><c> we</c> country in the state of Minnesota we country in the state of Minnesota we
• </c> about what when we put this in Minnesota about what when we put this in Minnesota statute<00:41:

Bills: HF747 , HF1014 , HF320 , HF400

Committee: House Commerce Finance and Policy