Transcript Highlights:

• The Washington Data Center Refresh Program is a proven job creator.
• This program has changed communities and changed lives.
• This program has proven its value time and time again.
• At Big Bend, I was enrolled in a new Data Centers Technicians program.
• The state has seen firsthand the effects of this program going away.

Committee: House Finance

Keywords: 904, all

Transcript Highlights:

• <00:13:06.480><c> um</c> cities um cities um together<00:13:08.880><c> for</c><00:13:09.200><c> any</
• I think it's the with small children.
• </c> colleagues with foster care programs colleagues with foster care programs already<01:17:04.640><
• </c><01:57:18.400><c> niche</c> vendors are, that this is a small niche vendors are, that this is a small
• add a small amount onto the if they add a small amount onto the donation<02:21:39.200><c> that's</c>

Committee: Senate Energy and Natural Resources

Keywords: 1191, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• We have from my district, from the city of Atlanta, Bella Baker.
• city manager, City of Sykeston; John Gilmore, who is a director of progress with partnership and also
• city manager, City of Sykeston; John Gilmore, who is a director of progress with partnership and also
• The great city of Washington and the great county of Franklin.
• Louis City, to speak on the bill. Proceed. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Summary: The House convened with prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance, then approved the House Journal by roll call vote, 114-1. Members spent a large portion of the morning introducing guests and recognizing visitors, including career and technical education students, FFA and FCCLA groups, school leaders, interns, a physician of the day, and a Black History Month personal privilege honoring inventor Alice H. Parker and her early central heating design. The chamber then took up several bills for perfection and printing. House Bill 1847, the Missouri Dental and Dental Hygienist Compact, was presented as a workforce and access-to-care measure; members cited dental shortages and broad professional support, and it was ordered perfected and printed. House Bill 1866, dealing with peace officer licensure, was presented as allowing the Department of Public Safety to deny applicants whose licenses were revoked or suspended elsewhere and to require U.S. citizenship; an amendment to allow lawful permanent residents who honorably served in the military to qualify was debated at length but failed 95-52, and the bill was then ordered perfected and printed. House Bill 1908, with a companion bill, was described by its sponsor as ending a Missouri rule that delays divorce when a spouse is pregnant; supporters framed it as a due process and safety issue, especially for abuse survivors, and it was adopted and ordered perfected and printed. House Bill 1961, creating temporary licensure and a compact for dietitians, and House Bill 2180, changing Department of Revenue notice delivery options for blind pension recipients and taxpayers to include first-class mail and electronic delivery, both drew support as workforce or accessibility measures and were ordered perfected and printed after amendments. House Bill 2591, which would let speech-language pathologists count clinical fellowship experience completed in any state toward Missouri licensure, also passed perfection and printing. The House then moved to announcements and recessed until 2 p.m.

Transcript Highlights:

• Is that prison or do certain programming. So, prison or do certain programming.
• It prohibits access programs.
• Uh we view this as a programs.
• </c> pronounced in small and rural agencies. pronounced in small and rural agencies.
• Thank you, Chair. access program. The notion here to access program.

Committee: Senate Judiciary and Public Safety

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> agree that this is um a good program. agree that this is um a good program.
• The city had grown to the grown.
• store, the small person.
• Fix the fraud in the Medicaid program. Stop making it an entitlement program.
• Stop making it an the Medicaid program. Stop making it an entitlement<03:52:58.239><c> program.

Keywords: 981, all

Transcript Highlights:

• So it's not like it's a new program or a new issue for me.
• John Kenning, and I am the Water Quality Program Manager at the Department of Ecology.
• I talked to the mayor of the city of Montesano.
• and a small tree farmer.
• and a small tree farmer.

Summary: The House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee heard public testimony on House Bill 2598, which would create a Salmon Advisory Commission made up of tribal leaders, state agencies, legislators, and local governments to develop recommendations on salmon and steelhead recovery. Prime sponsor Rep. Lekanoff described the bill as a way to bring executive, legislative, and tribal leaders together on salmon recovery and treaty obligations. Staff noted a fiscal note of roughly $35,000 in out years. Supporters emphasized salmon’s cultural and treaty importance and the need for coordinated leadership, while the lone public testifier, Todd Myers of Washington Policy Center, opposed the bill as another statewide layer of bureaucracy and argued that recovery efforts should focus more on local, watershed-level action. The committee noted 10 signed in pro, 886 con, and one other, but no vote was taken on the bill in the hearing. The committee then heard House Bill 2620, which would repeal the recently adopted Forest Practices Board rule expanding riparian buffers on non-fish-bearing streams and impose new standards for future riparian buffer rulemaking, including an economic viability standard for the timber industry and additional consensus and alternative-analysis requirements. Rep. Dent said the bill was intended to restore communication and collaboration in the forest practices process. Testimony was sharply divided. Tribal representatives and environmental advocates said the rule was the product of a long, science-based adaptive management process under the Forest and Fish framework and was needed to protect water quality, salmon habitat, and treaty rights; they argued the bill would undermine that process and conflict with Clean Water Act compliance. Forest industry and small forest landowner witnesses supported the bill, saying the process had lost trust, ignored alternatives, and imposed significant economic harm on rural communities and family tree farms. DNR and Ecology testified in opposition, saying the rule was based on science and that the bill would weaken water-quality protections and jeopardize HCP compliance. The committee recorded 592 signed in pro, 489 con, and one other, with no vote taken during the hearing. After the public hearings, the committee moved into executive session on five bills. Staff briefly described House Bill 2104, which would make permanent the Aviation Assurance Funding Program for wildfire response; House Bill 2348, a DNR request bill on land and material sales advertising; House Bill 2544, which would require an adjudication process for the Upper Columbia River with a proposed substitute; House Bill 2554, which would repeal Initiative 456 concerning state declarations on tribal natural resource management; and House Joint Memorial 4009, urging federal action on wildland firefighting consolidation. The committee then recessed briefly for caucus and began executive action, starting with a motion to report House Bill 2104 out of committee with a do pass recommendation.

Transcript Highlights:

• But at the center of the Human Space Flight program here in this country, we flow 9 successful massacre
• So we're full steam ahead on our march program to we're developing a larger cut by the name of starship
• We have a much, much spaceport improvement program.
• And this We have a much, much spaceport improvement program.
• And I'm excited about this program and what it offers for the state and for the industry.

Keywords: 999, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> resident of the west side of Wahu small resident of the west side of Wahu small business<00:25:17.000
• I agree that let's do a pilot program.
• I agree that this is a good program with good results.
• <c> in</c> recipients of this program remain in recipients of this program remain in Hawaii<02:58:32.560
• </c> to know what they're considered small to know what they're considered small purchases<06:00:26.080

Keywords: 910, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• So there isn't a discount built into the program or built into the software.
• It's not built in up front in the program; it's calculated when the payment is received.
• Well, I'm not sure I fully understand the back-end programming side of it either.
• Can you revert to the programming before the last meeting?
• And we had a sampling of small in-house versus those that do... ...sampling of small in-house versus

Summary: The subcommittee met with a quorum, approved the prior minutes, and focused primarily on property tax statement issues tied to the primary residence credit and the 5% early-payment discount. North Dakota Association of Counties representatives said the current special-session language creates problems because the discount is being applied even when no taxes are ultimately owed, and because the discount is calculated before the PRC funds are actually received. They recommended reverting to the prior law so the discount is applied after the PRC, and noted that all four programmers said they could revert the software to the earlier version if needed. The committee also reviewed a bill draft to remove the legislative tax relief line item from the required contents of the property tax statement. Members agreed the current line item is not especially accurate or useful on the statement, and several members said the committee should go further by adding clearer taxpayer education, such as a pie chart or other supplemental breakdown of where property taxes go. County officials said some counties already provide supplemental charts or explanatory material, but others would need help with printing, mailing, or formatting. To support that idea, staff presented a second bill draft creating a grant program, administered through the Association of Counties with OMB as a pass-through, to reimburse counties for supplemental property tax statement information and related administration. After discussion, the committee voted unanimously to combine the two bill drafts into one recommendation and forward it to the full Tax Reform and Relief Advisory Committee. The subcommittee then voted to adjourn after directing staff to prepare its summary and recommended bill draft for the interim report.

Transcript Highlights:

• For decades, this program has made ownership more affordable and ensured that This program has made ownership
• Programs to offer social connections to keep people connected.
• I bring this AG request bill to help us with our Lemon Law program.
• It's a consumer-friendly program.
• It's an important program.

Summary: The Senate considered and passed a series of tax, economic, judicial, education, and health-related bills, often after adopting technical or clarifying amendments. Major measures included Engrossed Senate Bill 6347, which restores recent estate tax changes while preserving last year’s increase in the exclusion amount and inflation adjustment; Substitute Senate Bill 6289, directing the Department of Commerce to create a statewide economic development and competitiveness strategic plan; and Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 6162, expanding and simplifying senior citizen property tax relief. Senators supporting these bills emphasized tax administration, economic growth, and relief for seniors, while opponents raised concerns about regressivity, revenue losses, and tax shifts to other taxpayers. The chamber also passed bills extending or clarifying tax preferences and fees, including Senate Bill 6244 (extending a hazardous substance tax exemption for agricultural crop protection products), Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 6113 (technical corrections to Department of Revenue tax law guidance, after removing a disputed section on advertising tax invalidation), Senate Bill 6114 (defining “fixture” and “affixed” for real estate excise tax purposes), Senate Bill 5970 (making a senior citizen center property tax exemption permanent), Senate Bill 5832 (raising the motor vehicle arbitration fee to support the Lemon Law program), and Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 6262 (expanding the vehicle weight threshold for transportation benefit district fees). Debate on these measures centered on whether they were modest administrative updates or additional burdens on taxpayers and businesses. Several non-tax bills also advanced. Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 6086 strengthened security for judicial officers and court personnel, with amendments clarifying terminology and adding industrial appeals judges to the definition of judicial officers. Substitute Senate Bill 5961 transferred early literacy programs, including Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library and Reach Out and Read, from DCYF to OSPI. Senate Bill 5868 added one superior court judge each in Skagit and Yakima counties, and Substitute Senate Bill 5923 reclassified a Skagit County hospital as a critical access hospital to improve reimbursement and help it remain viable. The Senate also passed Substitute Senate Bill 5520, revising the Wrongly Convicted Persons Act to improve compensation procedures, despite debate over whether to include civil detention-related claims. Most bills passed by constitutional majorities, with a few recorded nays and one division vote on an amendment; the Senate then adjourned until the next scheduled session.

Transcript Highlights:

• </c><00:20:26.559><c> STARS</c><00:20:27.640><c> program</c> of Alternative Programs STARS program of
• program.
• program.
• program.
• </c> cycle as traditional programs. cycle as traditional programs.

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Program, and the Law Enforcement Recruitment Bonus Program.
• The Hallmark State Rental Program is a State Apartment Incentive Loan Program, known as SAIL, financed
• Another new program in the Live Local Act was a tax credit contribution program.
• And, of course, the last program is the SHIP program, State Housing Initiatives Partnership.
• Our largest element in our program is the recurring work program.

Summary: The committee met to review agency program funding as it prepared to build the budget, hearing brief presentations from six agencies and then taking member questions. Florida Division of Emergency Management highlighted its role in response, preparedness, recovery, and mitigation, describing a largely federal pass-through budget, major technology investments, and large disaster and preparedness grant activity. The Department of Commerce, Department of State, Florida Housing Finance Corporation, Department of Transportation, Department of Military Affairs, Florida State Guard, and Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles also summarized their budgets, staffing, and major programs, including workforce and economic development, elections and arts funding, housing assistance, transportation work programs, military readiness, state guard expansion, and highway safety and motorist services. Members focused questions on several issues: arts and library grant funding and whether award criteria had changed; Commerce’s rural infrastructure and job growth grants and why funds were not being disbursed faster; Florida Housing’s use of SAIL, Live Local, Hometown Heroes, and SHIP funds and how smaller agencies learn about and access funding; and DOT’s work program gap between agency and governor proposals. The most extensive questioning was directed to Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles about long DMV lines, vacancies, overtime, staffing shortages, and the ability to shift funds between divisions. The department said staffing and pay constraints, especially in South Florida, were driving service delays and vacancy rates, and that overtime was being used because troopers were leaving for better-paying jobs. The Florida State Guard was also questioned about its spending and procurement pace, including aircraft purchases and facilities. Its director said long procurement timelines explained the low initial spending and that obligations had risen sharply as contracts matured. Members also asked about the department’s public opposition to Amendment 3 and whether agency resources were used in that effort; the director said no contracts or purchases were made to influence the vote and said the colonel’s comments were made off the clock. The meeting ended with the chair asking agencies to respond promptly to unanswered questions, and the committee adjourned without any recorded votes or formal actions beyond receiving the presentations and questions.

Transcript Highlights:

• Thank you for being here and for all your efforts. internship program, providing high internship program
• Now, this document does not program.
• A great uh starting point ed programs.
• </c> education program. education program.
• :06:18.239><c> even</c> very small and potentially even very small and potentially even shrinking<02:

Keywords: 916, all

Transcript Highlights:

• But these programs do have a mixed record.
• But these programs do have a mixed record.
• clearly target this federally regulated program.
• these programs are doing what it intended to do, which were basically programs where we have a partnership
• We are building this program in real time.

Committee: House Labor and Employment

Keywords: 988, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• This is just not a workable program.
• c><00:19:05.559><c> could</c><00:19:05.760><c> be</c> program and a program that could be program and
• </c><00:19:16.520><c> um</c> this is just not a workable program um this is just not a workable program
• It seems like an unusually small...
• programs.

Keywords: 928, house, all

Summary: The committee first took up HB 129, which would redefine “evidence-based” in public education. The Department of Education testified that the bill’s definition would conflict with federal definitions and be very restrictive, potentially affecting a wide range of instructional methods, curriculum materials, teacher training, civics requirements, suicide prevention training, and other programs. The department said the bill could force a broad overhaul of school practices, create local implementation burdens, and require at least one new state position, with a fiscal note estimating roughly $118,000 in FY 2026 rising in later years. Members also raised concerns about possible impacts on federal pass-through funding and whether the bill was workable. Representative Papovich moved to retain HB 129, and the motion passed 7-0. The committee then heard HB 133, a Department of Safety/DMV bill involving follow-up when a person votes using an out-of-state license or non-driver ID and then does not obtain a New Hampshire credential within the statutory timeframe. DMV officials said the bill would require a $40,000 technology upgrade plus a new full-time position, and that the fiscal note did not include postage or fully account for the manual work needed to match records, send notices, and review responses. They said the proposal also raised broader tracking issues because it would apply not only to voters but to anyone who had not obtained a New Hampshire license within 60 days, and they questioned whether DMV was the proper agency to make those inquiries. Committee members pressed the department on how the 60-day clock would be determined, whether the bill could amount to a kind of poll tax or raise privacy concerns, and whether voter ID cards or other exceptions would avoid that problem. The department explained that New Hampshire offers a free voter identification card through town clerks for people without a license or state ID, but said the bill did not exempt those cards and that the DMV would still be asked to investigate status after voting. Officials also said the bill would be difficult to enforce, that some cases would be ambiguous, and that any response from the DMV would likely amount to a request for information rather than an enforceable consequence. No vote on HB 133 was taken in the portion provided.

Transcript Highlights:

• We have some targeted programs like the WIC program, the Women, Infants, and Children feeding program
• We also have some targeted programs like the WIC program, the Women, Infants, and Children feeding program
• We also have some targeted programs like the WIC program, the Women, Infants, and Children feeding program
• The speaker said they would talk a little bit about it on slide 43 and then moved to a small program
• Um, in our Comprehensive Cancer Program, this is another place where we have a small amount of general

Keywords: 928, house, all

Summary: The Finance Division III work session focused on the Department of Health and Human Services’ Division of Public Health Services budget. Department staff said Public Health has a relatively small budget compared with other DHHS divisions, is supported mostly by federal and other non-General funds, and contains nearly 100 accounting units and more than 50 federal grants. They emphasized that the governor’s budget did not include significant cuts, but that federal funding uncertainty and the winding down of pandemic-era resources were major factors affecting the division. The division also explained that some apparent budget growth reflects reorganizations, including moving the Bureau of Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Recovery and some programs from other DHHS divisions into Public Health. The presentation described Public Health’s mission as serving the entire state through food and water safety, disease surveillance, emergency response, maternal and child health, chronic disease prevention, WIC, community health center support, and public health data collection. Members asked about bird flu, and staff explained that human-health response would involve Public Health’s lab, infectious disease, and emergency preparedness units, while animal-health issues are handled with the Department of Agriculture; they also noted ongoing milk testing requested by FDA and USDA. The division said its organizational structure includes bureaus for Family Health and Nutrition, Infectious Disease Control, Public Health Protection, Emergency Preparedness, Prevention and Wellness, Statistics and Informatics, and Public Health Laboratories, with about a 15% vacancy rate. Committee members questioned whether the division’s budget and staffing had really grown since pre-COVID, and staff responded that full-time authorized staffing is about the same as in 2018, with the increase largely due to federal pandemic funding that has since receded and to program transfers between divisions. They said Public Health’s General Fund share is about $24 million out of roughly $1.1 billion in DHHS General Fund spending, or about 2.2% of the department total. Members also asked about the 3,000-position cap and unfunded positions; staff explained that the cap remains in chapter law through June 30, 2025, that 394 positions were unfunded in the governor’s budget, and that the division expects flexibility to move money from personnel lines and fill unfunded positions to manage changing needs. No votes or formal actions were taken in this portion of the work session.

Transcript Highlights:

• Small... ...escalation rather than cooperation. It is dynamically unstable.
• Small allegations can trigger disproportionate procedural cascades. It is chaotic.
• Let's fix these and be honoring our small businesses that have to fill them out and stuff and honor the
• I think small governments, counties in this situation, are doing a lot with very little.
• There are critics of the LLT program, and so it has its pros and its cons.

Summary: The Civil Rights and Judiciary Committee held a public hearing on House Bill 2735, the “Troxel 2” bill relating to establishing a constitutional floor in family law cases. Staff explained that the bill would add legislative findings and intent to Chapter 26.09 RCW, emphasizing parental fitness, equal standing for similarly situated parents, and a duty to cooperate. The prime sponsor and public testifiers largely supported the bill, arguing that family courts too often restrict fit parents’ access to children without sufficient due process and that the bill would restore constitutional protections and reduce conflict. Some testimony also framed the proposal as a way to improve child safety, stability, and outcomes. No action was taken on the bill during the hearing. The committee then moved into executive session on multiple bills. It advanced bills on garnishment forms (ESSB 5865), child hearsay/testimony rules (SSB 5169, amended), immigration-enforcement policies for health care and related facilities (ESSB 5906, amended), compensation claims for wrongly convicted persons (SSB 5520), reinstating the Indigent Defense Task Force (ESSB 5912), preserving streamlined administrative and land-use review procedures (SSB 6009), authorizing court security threat assessments (ESSB 6086), adding superior court judges in Skagit and Yakima counties (SB 5868), requesting reinstatement of the limited license legal technician program (SJM 8006), expanding personality rights to digital likenesses (SSB 5886), and liability protections for certain children’s item donations, including car seats (ESSB 6087). Several bills were amended before passage out of committee. Votes were recorded on each measure, with most passing on strong bipartisan margins. Notable split votes occurred on SSB 5169 and ESSB 5906, reflecting concerns about balancing child protection, due process, and immigration-related enforcement issues. The committee concluded by thanking staff and adjourned after reporting all listed executive-session bills out of committee with do pass recommendations, some as amended.

Transcript Highlights:

• We'll be putting them at a disadvantage for several reasons, including getting information on programs
• on their own personal accounts that help them make a more informed decision when deciding on programs
• This bill suppresses free speech, harms small businesses, and disadvantages Texas and Texans compared
• And creating a petition process that could be weaponized by small groups with political agendas.
• There were five cities in the study with similar findings.

Bills: HB186 , HB201 , HB229 , HB796 , HB1506 , HB2702 , HB2885 , HB3225 , HB3909 , HB4285 , HB5138

Committee: Senate State Affairs

Keywords: social media, children, account verification, data privacy, parental control, financial crime, card fraud, motor fuel theft, law enforcement, criminal activity, skimmers, prevention, training, biological sex, government information, definitions, sex-based distinctions, public health, federal directives, state authority

Transcript Highlights:

• It does contribute to general obligation bonds in a small amount, but mostly it provides support for
• So significant investments in state programming, but I think of particular interest to this committee
• Um, evaluating program performance.
• I think we've got problems in River City. I'd like to see what that looks like.
• Um, and then you have the state support fund, which is a really small player.

Committee: House Revenue Stabilization & Tax Policy Committee

Transcript Highlights:

• These efforts include the California Wildfire Mitigation Program, a program primarily focused on home
• the programs for the first level?
• the pilot program, but I... ...program in terms of the funding for the pilot program, but I question
• This program is working.
• And so I go to: to what end do we keep doing this program and expanding this program?

Keywords: 988, house, all