Transcript Highlights:

• lawsuit resulted, um, from, um, Identifying the systemic issues, the lack of community-based mental health
• Or an employee of CYFD violated child's rights, operated with disregard for the health and safety of
• That was the operating money that was vetoed.
• Mental health providers, advocates, the navigators, case managers, and forensic interviewers.
• I'm serving as the vice chair of the Legislative Health and Human Services Committee.

Committee: House Courts, Corrections & Justice Committee

Transcript Highlights:

• The Senate Health and Welfare Committee will come to order at this time.
• They're concerned about affording health care expenses in retirement.
• Director Sharon, Juliet Sharon from the Department of Health and Welfare.
• So I think it is central, I think it is paramount to our operations.
• Did we actually improve an Idahoan's health?

Summary: The Senate Health and Welfare Committee approved the January 21 and January 22, 2026 minutes, then heard a presentation from AARP Idaho on aging issues. AARP described Idaho’s growing 50-plus population, emphasizing concerns about Social Security, affordable health insurance, caregiving, housing, transportation, and fraud/scams. The presenter highlighted AARP’s age-friendly community work and grant program, and said older Idahoans are a major voting bloc whose needs should be considered across policy areas. In response to questions, AARP discussed education efforts on scams, including scam jams and outreach with law enforcement, and noted support for measures such as a bill targeting fraud through crypto kiosks. The committee then received a detailed Department of Health and Welfare update from Director Juliet Sharon on program integrity, fraud, waste, and abuse prevention. She said the department had recently created a department-wide fraud policy, an anonymous reporting line, a compliance committee, and mandatory staff training, and launched “impact reviews” to evaluate whether programs are still solving the intended problems. She also described ongoing fraud work in Medicaid, self-reliance programs, and the Idaho Child Care Program, including a 360-degree review of 775 child care providers that had already led to nine terminations and further investigations. Sharon said the department has limited staff and backlogs, and asked for additional resources, including five new child care staff and a contractor to assist with Medicaid provider reviews. Members raised concerns about child care providers receiving public funds while not registered with the Secretary of State, recovery of overpayments, and the visibility of recovery data. Sharon said the department is working with the Tax Commission and plans to codify child care program requirements and create a broader Title 56 program integrity chapter. She said recovered funds are returned to the appropriate program bucket, with federal shares returned as required, and that the department is working to improve public reporting. The committee also discussed single audit findings, the use of technology and possible AI tools to improve oversight, and the department’s efforts to reduce compliance problems before they become public issues. No votes were taken beyond approval of the minutes, and the meeting adjourned after questions concluded.

Transcript Highlights:

• And I'll show you which operators stepped up.
• And what you'll note is, if you go back to that top operator slide, these are the top operators, not
• And if you're a Bakken operator, you get X many years.
• If you're not a Bakken operator, you get X many years.
• So they have quite an operation going there.

Summary: The Budget Section Leadership Division met with a quorum and approved the March 18 minutes before hearing a series of informational updates. The Petroleum Council reported that North Dakota oil production is expected to remain relatively flat at just under 1.2 million barrels per day, with activity shifting northward in the Bakken as technology improves and three- and four-mile laterals boost well performance. The presentation also discussed oil and gas prices, gas taxation, flaring concerns, the importance of pipelines and other linear infrastructure, and enhanced oil recovery pilot projects supported by state and federal funding. Members asked questions about gas production taxes, natural gas liquids, and the outlook for drilling rigs and future production. The Office of State Tax Commissioner then reviewed the federal “big beautiful bill” and its estimated effect on North Dakota individual and business income tax collections. Staff explained that most of the individual income tax impact comes from the permanent increase in the standard deduction, while temporary provisions such as senior deductions, tip and overtime exclusions, and auto loan interest deductions have smaller or limited-term effects. They also noted that business tax changes, especially depreciation and expensing provisions, create a larger near-term cash impact, and that some FY25 collections likely reflected one-time oil field transactions that may have inflated the baseline used in earlier estimates. OMB provided updates on major capital projects and facility funding. For Capitol grounds improvements, officials described plans for 18th-floor renovations, wayfinding upgrades, public seating, lighting, tree management, and possible restroom and lobby reconfiguration, while also noting the governor’s residence security project and the discovery of human remains on the Capitol grounds. OMB and its consultants also reported on the state facility maintenance fund, including window replacement, boiler work, roof and foundation repairs, and a new facility conditions assessment covering more state buildings. Updates were also given on the new state hospital in Jamestown, the Minot state office building, and the use of federal state fiscal recovery funds, including possible future reallocations to the Department of Corrections. Finally, Legislative Council staff summarized the interim compliance report on legislative intent and trust fund activity, highlighting the status of lines of credit, Bank of North Dakota profit transfers, the statewide litigation pool, the new Office of Guardianship and Conservatorship, corrections planning, HHS program updates, and a likely future general fund request for the unemployment insurance modernization project. No formal votes were taken beyond approval of the minutes; the meeting was primarily informational, with members asking clarifying questions throughout.

Transcript Highlights:

• That Reflects our actual operating needs, not growth.
• We've been operating with a negative cash balance going into elections.
• Technically, we're a 68 fully funded FTE, but we're operating at 60.
• She had some family health issues that she had to take care of.
• Operational costs, higher facilities, utility, hardware.

Committee: Senate Senate Finance

Keywords: 996, all

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> unlock some significant rural health unlock some significant rural health care<00:02:32.200><c>
• </c><00:13:32.360><c> Should</c> operation that we have here. Should operation that we have here.
• </c> to contribute to chronic health issues. to contribute to chronic health issues.
• </c> on treating those chronic health on treating those chronic health conditions,<00:20:49.280><c> the
• The speaker said the debate is circling around health care, that people want better health, and wished

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> bill for that um through public health bill for that um through public health that<00:41:02.400>
• Uh, this is our Board of Animal Health. >> Board of Animal Health.
• for operational expenditures; 9,677 318 to the Department of Health for local provider innovation grant
• </c> deferring eligible operation expenses. deferring eligible operation expenses. 7,621815 7,621815
• and</c> behavioral mental health needs and behavioral mental health needs and operational<00:58:36.720

Committee: Joint Appropriations

Keywords: Appropriations - Room 216, 18 February, 2026; 11:00 AM, 925, all

Transcript Highlights:

• ACEs are linked to long-term consequences and chronic health conditions in children.
• It does not entail a review of prior safety practices or prior performance by the detention operator.
• They could still operate. Grande, and there's Fort Bliss.
• They could still operate in the state of New Mexico if they were solely federal, correct?
• And policies addressing detention operations indirectly.

Committee: House House Consumer & Public Affairs

Keywords: 996, all

Transcript Highlights:

• of our previous public health meetings, and we're hearing from not just those in health care but law
• We're a community mental health center and a grant-funded certified We're a community mental health center
• This is a health care matter, and I think kind of...
• It's a health care matter, and health care is messy.
• They still navigate the health care system very poorly.

Summary: The committee first approved a motion, then heard a lengthy presentation on homelessness in Arkansas, with a focus on unsheltered homelessness, untreated mental illness and substance use, public safety, and the role of local law enforcement and shelters. Presenters from law enforcement, homeless service providers, mental health, and policy groups discussed federal Continuum of Care funding, the need for better data and accountability, and proposals such as statewide camping enforcement, stronger treatment access, and consolidating or reworking the continuum-of-care structure. Much of the discussion centered on the Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC) model, with witnesses describing it as a way to expand crisis services, treatment, and coordination with housing and justice systems. They also discussed homelessness among sex offenders, family homelessness, workforce supports, and how to scale successful local programs statewide. No formal action was taken on the homelessness proposals during the discussion. The committee then reviewed several Department of Energy and Department of Health/Board of Nursing rules. The energy rule updated solid waste post-closure cleanup thresholds from $50,000 to $2 million to match Act 791 of 2025. Nursing-related rules added fees for the new dialysis patient care technician registration created by Act 198 of 2025, updated contact-information requirements, implemented APRN authority under Act 862 of 2025, clarified durable medical equipment language under Act 431 of 2025, and incorporated delegation changes from Act 959 of 2025. Additional nursing rules updated certified medication assistant training and duties under Act 265 of 2025, and corrected rules for full independent practice to include clinical nurse specialists under Act 872 of 2023. Each rule was reviewed without objection. At the close of the meeting, members received an update that UAMS had completed its NCII designation submission for the Winthrop Rockefeller Cancer Institute, which was described as a major milestone. The committee then adjourned.

Transcript Highlights:

• This division is responsible for the general operation. Our administration division.
• Page 13 is our insurance operations.
• All across the board: health, life, auto—I mean, you run the gamut.
• So we have entities that are operating in Missouri for reinsurance.
• Page 30 is our core for health insurance counseling.

Committee: House Budget

Keywords: 959, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Speaker, your Health and Human Services Committee has been referred Senate Health and Public Affairs
• provide abortion health care.
• A reproductive health care facility includes many health care options for individuals, including Certainly
• And on health care in our community.
• I really care about health care, Mr.

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> 2458, including uh uh operating 2458, including uh uh operating adjustment<00:21:17.760><c> to</
• :03.440><c> the</c> Members, I'm operating with the Members, I'm operating with the assumption<00:23:
• could operate under their single<00:36:20.800><c> license.
• So for Minnesota Department of Health.
• </c><00:40:08.640><c> in</c><00:40:08.800><c> a</c> a an operator is com is operating in a a an operator

Committee: Senate Agriculture, Veterans, Broadband, and Rural Development

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Welcome to the Assembly Committee on Health and Human Services on this May 31st, almost to the end of
• in counties that do not have health districts, or in health districts that request NDA perform these
• This is for rural health authority oversight. Am I correct in that?
• And I have been meeting with representatives of both health districts to address that.”
• For the record, my name is Joelle Gutman-Dotson with Northern Nevada Public Health.

Keywords: 909, all

Transcript Highlights:

• </c><00:04:22.720><c> in</c> significant modifications operating in significant modifications operating
• And just last pool for health benefits.
• </c> recovery from operation metro surge. recovery from operation metro surge.
• They would refer this not as Operation Metro Surge.
• There were mental health grants.

Committee: Senate State and Local Government

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• The hour of nine o'clock having passed, we will call the House Health and Welfare Committee to order.
• in foster care can clearly understand and receive basic safety protections, also related to their health
• And then also on the contractor side, on the behavioral health side, they were excited to participate
• So we did a quality care oversight by the department and how that would operate.
• So we did a quality care oversight by the department and how that would operate.

Summary: The House Health and Welfare Committee met with a quorum, approved the minutes from February 11, 12, and 16, and removed House Bill 578 from the agenda pending more information. The committee then introduced RS 33422, brought by Representative Wheeler, which would establish a foster youth bill of rights to clarify safety, health, placement, visitation, and basic needs protections for children in foster care without creating new causes of action or requiring an appropriation. The committee also introduced RS 33310 C1, presented by Representative Erickson, a measure developed over several years in response to concerns in residential care facilities and a related study. The bill would add quality care oversight, individualized service planning and documentation requirements, a youth bill of rights, and critical incident reporting rules, including prompt notice to parents or guardians. Representative Burgoyne objected to the concept of a youth bill of rights, arguing that children’s rights should remain with parents, while Erickson said the state acts as guardian when children are in state care and described serious abuse and restraint incidents as the reason for the bill. Both RS 33422 and RS 33310 C1 were introduced by committee vote. The meeting also included a lighthearted sendoff for the committee page, who said she planned to join the Army as a nurse, and members offered comments and a gift before the committee adjourned.

Transcript Highlights:

• health transformation.
• for rural health care.
• health care.
• On the health care providers, is it the immediate health care provider? Is it the chief of staff?
• care, to provide for certain prohibitions on duties of health carriers and health care...

Summary: The Senate convened with a quorum present, approved the journal, and moved through routine orders before taking up committee reports, gubernatorial messages, House messages, and first and second reading calendars. Several bills were advanced, including appropriations measures and enrolled bills transmitted to the House, Governor, or Secretary of State. The chamber then proceeded to third reading and final action on a series of bills, with debate focused largely on budget priorities, Medicaid, firearms preemption, medical education funding, rural health, and kratom regulation. The Senate passed Senate Bill 1420, creating a dedicated funding source for medical education beginning in 2028; Senate Bill 1430, strengthening state firearms preemption enforcement and authorizing penalties and injunctions against local violations; Senate Bill 1432, an appropriation for Health and Welfare indirect support and related modernization items; Senate Bill 1433, a large Medicaid enhancement budget with discussion of MMIS procurement, estate recovery, program integrity, hospital assessment fund alignment, and population/cost growth; Senate Bill 1434, the Division of Welfare budget reflecting SNAP administrative cost changes and Medicaid eligibility system updates; Senate Bill 1437, an appropriation for Idaho State Police tied to DNA collection for sexual battery and domestic violence offenses; Senate Bill 1439, delaying a school facilities model report deadline to 2027; and Senate Bill 1264 as amended, creating a rural health transformation account and legislative oversight committee for federal rural health funds. Most of these measures passed on party-line or split votes, while SB 1437 and SB 1439 passed unanimously. The most extended debate centered on Senate Bill 1264, where supporters said the bill would give the Legislature oversight over already-awarded federal rural health money and help ensure sustainable uses, while opponents argued it would deepen federal debt and create a process that could still leave control with the executive branch. Another major debate was on Senate Bill 1418, the kratom consumer protection bill, which would restrict sales to adults 21 and older, set product limits and labeling standards, and allow inspections and enforcement against synthetic or adulterated products. Supporters framed it as a consumer protection and harm-reduction measure; opponents raised concerns about warrantless inspections, lack of pharmacy board support, and whether the bill would effectively normalize kratom. The transcript ends during continued debate on SB 1418, before a final vote is taken.

Transcript Highlights:

• , the state-operated behavioral health care system.
• These measures are essential to DCT's operations.
• They will allow us to share operations.
• Health plans continue to operate in those states successfully, which demonstrates that timely review
• </c><00:41:12.079><c> and</c> people facing mental health and people facing mental health and substance

Bills: HF729

Committee: House Human Services Finance and Policy

Keywords: human services, provider enrollment, medical assistance, healthcare, housing stabilization, substance use disorder, vulnerable adults, fraud prevention, 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• </c><00:19:08.480><c> Frontier</c> Frontier Behavioral Health Frontier Frontier Behavioral Health Frontier
• ><c> Burke</c><00:19:11.640><c> uh</c> Behavioral Health and Jessica Burke uh Behavioral Health and Jessica
• efficiently, can operate fairly, and that the Medicaid system can operate the way it was intended to
• efficiently, can operate fairly, and that the Medicaid system can operate the way it was intended to
• operate.

Keywords: 958, all

Summary: The committee first took up Senate Bill 27, as amended by committee substitute, which would create a Kentucky Parkinson’s disease research registry. The sponsor said the substitute was developed with UK, U of L, the Michael J. Fox Foundation, and Parkinson’s in Motion to better define a movement disorder center, add Parkinson’s experts from both universities to the advisory committee, require automated reporting, and delay implementation until 2027. Testimony emphasized the need to track diagnoses and testing while protecting confidentiality and allowing people to opt out. The committee adopted the substitute and then voted unanimously to pass SB 27 with a favorable expression. The committee then heard Senate Bill 93, dealing with hearing aid coverage for children. A parent described the high cost of hearing aids for her son and the financial burden created by insurance limits, while a pediatric audiologist explained that early identification and treatment improve language outcomes and that families can spend about $30,000 on hearing aids from birth to age 18. The committee substitute removed adults from the bill and added an in-network requirement for pediatric audiologists, along with a replacement interval consistent with Medicaid guidelines and repair/loss coverage provisions. After questions about costs, replacement timing, and insurer practices, the committee voted unanimously to pass SB 93 with a favorable expression. Finally, the committee considered Senate Bill 153, a transparency and due-process bill concerning Medicaid prepayment review. The sponsor and witnesses from Addiction Recovery Care and Frontier Behavioral Health said prepayment reviews can be imposed with little notice or explanation, disrupt cash flow, and burden rural and smaller providers; they argued the bill would require clearer notice, reasons, and timelines without stopping legitimate reviews. Members asked about managed care organizations, contract issues, and whether the bill would conflict with existing agreements, and the sponsor said it would not. After discussion and an explanation of vote from Senator Douglas, the committee voted to pass SB 153 with a favorable expression.

Transcript Highlights:

• This board has been operating since 2019. This board has been operating since 2019.
• But where the operating budget was paying for higher education, WEA funds were used because the operating
• We recruit students from challenging health care environments.
• Fully funded compensation is essential for our operations.
• Fully funded compensation is essential for our operations.

Summary: The committee began with a work session on the Workforce Education Investment Act (WEA) Oversight Board, hearing from board co-chair Jane Broome and Joel Anderson of WASAC. They described the account’s origins as a public-private partnership intended to supplement, not replace, existing higher education funding, and emphasized the board’s role in oversight and outcomes. Members discussed the need for better data, especially outcome-based data, and concerns that recent budget actions have used WEA funds to supplant general fund support for higher education, particularly at the University of Washington. The presenters said WASAC staffing has improved transparency, but they urged the committee to preserve the original “do not supplant” intent and to keep WEA focused on high-demand programs, financial aid, and student success. The committee then held public hearings on three bills. SB 6251 would require public medical schools to use letter grades or a tiered grading system; the sponsor said the bill was meant to standardize grading, while both Washington State University and UW Medicine testified in opposition, arguing that pass-fail and competency-based systems better support collaboration, student mental health, and residency competitiveness. SB 6259 would make students ineligible for state aid and require repayment of aid if they are found by a court to have caused major damage to a public institution; the sponsor framed it as accountability for serious vandalism, while the lone testifier from WSU student government supported free speech but opposed the bill’s penalties as inequitable for lower-income students. SB 6235 would address the higher education “fund split” by requiring state funding of compensation and central services to return to 2023-25 levels over time and directing a study on essential student services; nearly all testimony from university, faculty, and community college leaders supported the bill, saying the current approach shifts costs to tuition, creates instability, and forces cuts to classes, staffing, and student services. In executive session, the committee advanced several bills. It adopted proposed substitutes and gave do-pass recommendations to SB 5978, SB 6209, SB 6217, and SB 6227, sending them to the Ways and Means Committee. The committee did not take action on SB 6235 in executive session. The meeting then adjourned.

Transcript Highlights:

• We build on the strengths of the University of Minnesota together with Essentia Health to lead and operate
• </c> with Essentia Health to lead and operate with Essentia Health to lead and operate this<01:11:30.000
• and leadership, health technology, psychology and mental health, and research discovery and cures.
• in health.
• /c><01:53:08.960><c> our</c> Minnesota's health and the health of our Minnesota's health and the health

Committee: Senate Higher Education

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Bless them and their families with wisdom, peace of mind, good health and prosperity.
• Dovetailing into that, my favorite part of the bill is the adult day health care provision.
• The local government doesn't have a say in how this will be operated in their municipality?
• I have great confidence this is going to operate much like the other 13 libraries that operate in the
• We would meet families operating those hotels and they lived in the community.

Keywords: 998, house, all