Transcript Highlights:

• And I think it's important to remember that those dollars from a finance, those are revolving dollars
• And I think it's important to remember that those dollars from a finance, those are revolving dollars
• And I think it's important to remember that those dollars from a finance, those are revolving dollars
• And I think it's important to remember that those dollars from a finance, those are revolving dollars
• so I just like to remind tractor pool so I just like to remind everyone<00:21:34.919> that's<

Keywords: 00:00 Meeting Start 00:45 Attendance Roll Call 01:50 Introduction of New Members 07:10 Discussion of HB 24 09:36 Roll Call Vote 12:20 Discussion of HB 216 19:25 Roll Call Vote, 958, all

Summary: The Agriculture Committee met for its first meeting of the 2025 session, with the new chair opening the meeting, confirming a quorum, announcing the House’s 24-hour rule for committee substitutes and amendments, and welcoming several guests and new committee members. The chair also emphasized agriculture’s importance to Kentucky’s economy, citing crop revenue and the broader economic impact of the sector. The committee first considered House Bill 24, which would raise the audit threshold for conservation districts from $750,000 to $1 million. Supporters said the bill updates an outdated threshold and helps reduce the burden of costly audits amid inflation. The bill received a motion and second, no opposition was raised, and it passed by roll call vote. The committee then took up House Bill 216, presented by the vice chair and Brandon Reed of the Kentucky Office of Policy. The bill would allow certain Department of Agriculture employees to apply for grants or loans while preserving the existing prohibition for employees who oversee those programs. Testimony explained that the office’s funding comes from tobacco master settlement dollars, with a formula that directs money to agriculture and other purposes, and members discussed the importance of keeping those funds in Kentucky. The bill passed with favorable expression by roll call vote. Before adjournment, members made additional welcoming remarks for local officials and guests, and the chair noted the National Farm Machinery Show and tractor pull as a major event for Kentucky agriculture. The committee then adjourned.

Transcript Highlights:

• And the risk pool that's being established, do you think is, uh, sufficient for the entire state?
• I think the risk pool is.
• There's not enough burners for a private insurance pool to start.
• That's the pool we live in. So thank you. Yes, ma'am. Representative Morgan, thank you.
• the risk pool.

Bills: HB139

Keywords: ad valorem tax, tax rates, voter-approval, taxing unit, property tax, local government

Transcript Highlights:

• kind of in a pool kind of in a pool where<00:08:36.919> everyone<00:08:37.400> who
• We moved it to the Finance Committee, where they haven't had the bandwidth to hear it yet.
• It's possible in Finance they strip out the finance and send the policy aspects of this bill to the floor
• uh I'm not a member of the Finance uh I'm not a member of the Finance Committee<00:36:58.680>
• out the possible in Finance they strip out the finance<00:37:16.720> and<00:37:16.840> send

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• conflicting issue is that there are 4 members on the dais that are, that are subcommittee chairs with finance
• The trust company also manages the Texas Treasury pool account, which averages $79 billion generated
• Investments include cash equivalent funds such as the Treasury pool and separately managed.
• In the blockchain and digital innovation sector, we are investing around decentralized finance, AI-driven
• Then we will invest those just like we do the overall pool. So your, your office wouldn't be.

Bills: SB 21, SB 72, SB 140, SB 262, SB 370, SB 372, SB 495, SB 627, SB 703, SB 764, SB 842

Keywords: cryptocurrency, bitcoin, investment reserve, economic resilience, financial security, vehicle rental, damage waiver, consumer rights, business regulations, refund policy, telephone solicitation, telemarketing, text message marketing, SMS marketing, robotext, spam text, consumer protection, deceptive trade practices, DTPA, Business & Commerce Code

Transcript Highlights:

• of eligible applicants for this um pool of eligible applicants for this um and<00:26:33.799> in
• chair that without some of the finance chair that without some of the overhead<00:33:11.320> cost
• So this would have a bigger pool of revenue.
• <02:05:54.480> committee discussion and to ask finance committee discussion and to ask finance
• <02:09:07.440> as to pass this bill over to finance as to pass this bill over to finance as

Keywords: 910, house, all

Summary: The House Committee on Higher Education met at the University of Hawaiʻi’s Bachman Hall and heard testimony on several UH-related bills. HB 542 would expand the Hawaiʻi Promise Program to provide unmet-need scholarships at four-year UH campuses. UH system officials, the UH Student Caucus, and a Honolulu Community College student testified in support, emphasizing college affordability, student retention, and workforce needs. Committee members asked about current program data, eligibility, transfer patterns, and cost; UH said it had data available, noted about 10% of current Hawaiʻi Promise students transfer to four-year campuses, and estimated the full expansion would cost about $12 million. UH also suggested a possible alternative of focusing on transfer opportunities from two-year to four-year campuses. The committee then heard HB 840, which concerns athletics appropriations for UH. UH Mānoa and UH Hilo supported the bill. UH officials said the funding would help cover recurring athletics operating costs, women’s sports travel and recruiting, Austin Awards, and a new nutrition fueling station, while Hilo said the money would help with travel, per diem, and conference-related costs. Members asked about the history of the athletics funding, the difference between Austin Awards and special talent waivers, NIL planning, and whether the appropriation should be restored to the base budget. UH explained that a $4 million athletics appropriation was originally made in 2018 or 2019, later removed from the base, and has been reappropriated annually since then. Finally, the committee heard HB 842, which would fund three additional permanent mental health practitioner positions at UH Mānoa’s Counseling and Student Development Center. UH supported the bill, and Academic Labor United and a high school student testified in favor, citing student stress, overwork, and the need for more counseling access. In questions, members discussed the current counselor-to-student ratio, recruitment challenges in a tight labor market, and strategies for hiring, including looking at candidates on soft-money grants who may be seeking stable employment. No votes or final committee actions were taken during the portion of the meeting provided.

Transcript Highlights:

• I call this meeting of the Health Finance and Policy Committee to order.
• We are doing today a walk-through of the Health Finance and Policy Omnibus followed by public testimony
• Article 1 is the Department of Health finance article beginning with Section 1.
• Sections 3 and 18 modify requirements for spa pools.
• Moving on to Article 5, which is the health care finance article.

Bills: HF2435

Keywords: healthcare, dementia services, public health funding, opioid prevention, women's health, community health boards, mental health

Transcript Highlights:

• Rachel Kemetz, who is our new finance director, is here.
• We have our finance division, our IT division.
• The next one we had was the new and vacant FTE pool.
• So some of those litigation fees are on the litigation pool as well.
• Some of the litigation pool went to fund some efforts to defend that statute.

Keywords: 908, all

Summary: The committee met to hear the Attorney General’s budget and related agency presentations. Legislative Council first reviewed the compliance with legislative intent report and the base budget worksheet, highlighting current and ongoing appropriations, FTE changes, one-time funding items, continuing appropriations, and major special and federal funds. Members asked about items such as the Missing Indigenous People Grant Fund, the Internet Crimes Investigation Fund, and the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit grant funding, and staff explained the funding sources and status of those programs. Assistant Attorney General Clare Ness then outlined the Attorney General’s office structure, staffing, and budget pressures. She emphasized the office’s broad statutory duties, the value of its legal and investigative work for state and local governments, and concerns about attorney salary competitiveness, the new and vacant FTE pool, and the impact of the 3% operating budget reduction on BCI, IT, and the crime lab. Members also discussed AG opinions, boards and commissions training, and the office’s litigation and settlement recoveries. Ness and committee members raised the possibility of broader attorney salary benchmarking across state government. The crime lab director described severe space and infrastructure constraints, including overcrowding, shared workspaces, glycol leaks, air handling limits, and aging fire and burglar alarm systems. She said the 2024 study projected a much larger facility would be needed and that a new building on the current health department site would best address the lab’s needs. She also reported that backlogs have improved significantly in DNA, drug, fingerprint, and firearms work, though toxicology had a recent delay after an air compressor failure. The Medicaid Fraud Control Unit director described the unit’s fraud, abuse, and neglect work, noted federal-state funding and recent federal scrutiny, and said the unit needs more staff. The gaming division reviewed charitable gaming growth, e-tabs, trust accounts, and compliance issues, while BCI covered its caseload, cybercrime and child sexual abuse material investigations, the missing indigenous person task force, and the use of lottery funds for drug task forces. No formal votes or budget actions were taken during the meeting.

Transcript Highlights:

• A pooled surety program for small operators works out well.
• The federal partners do not allow a pooled approach.
• Our federal partners, due to current federal law, are unable to allow a pooled approach.
• My name is Eric Danitz, and I'm a financial consultant with Zion's Public Finance.
• Finance, Bonn and Collins, and Conan Kinghorn.

Keywords: 985, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Welcome to today's Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 3 on Education Finance.
• Jody Lieberman with the Department of Finance.
• Hello again, Jody Lieberman with the Department of Finance.
• This, this is Jody Lieberman from the Department of Finance.
• For finance, there are currently no assessments at this time.

Keywords: 988, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• A swimming pool wouldn't be ever defined as a pond or lake, right?
• about a pond or lake something that has a bigger storage capacity that's more of an impact than a pool
• to fill it and someone say, well, you can't fill your pool.
• I know you know a whole lot more about pools than I do, but I know that that's not the their intent or
• It may not be more gallons than even a small swimming pool. Yeah.

Bills: HB1523, HB2109, HB2694, HB3525, HB3898, HB4646, HB5188, HB5219, HB5320, HB5651, HB5655, HB5659, HB5662, HB5672

Keywords: aquifer conservation, Class V injection well, environmental regulation, groundwater protection, municipal water supply, temporary prohibition, water management, reservoir construction, state water plan, Texas Water Code, environmental impact, Brazoria Drainage District, commissioners, elections, vacancies, resignation, HB 3525, North Texas Groundwater Conservation District, groundwater permit, permit amendment

Transcript Highlights:

• We'll call the Senate Finance Committee. We'll call the Senate Finance Committee to order.
• :07:48.080> leave<00:07:48.319> a Senate finance proposal will leave a Senate finance proposal
• I had not first time on Senate Finance.
• <00:21:49.760> drinking in the deep end of the pool drinking in the deep end of the pool drinking
• uh maybe we'll work together on finance uh maybe we'll work together on finance again again again

Keywords: 1191, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• And we can talk about how small these pools are.
• And we can talk about how small these pools are.
• And we can talk about how small these pools are.
• And we can talk about how small these pools are.
• And then we have, you know, this risk pool set up for teachers, and then we have this risk pool for us

Bills: HF3388, HF400

Keywords: HF3388, Minnesota premium security plan, reinsurance, health insurance, group health carriers, MCHA, MNsure, individual market, premium stabilization, carrier assessment, health insurance assessment, premium security plan account, state innovation waiver, high-risk pool, reinsurance payments, healthcare premiums, insurance carriers, deferral of assessment, financially impaired condition, HF400

Summary: The committee approved the minutes from the prior day and then heard House File 400, a bill described as a defrayal measure for health insurance mandates. Representative Perryman said the bill would not block future mandates, but would require the state to pay the added costs of any new mandated benefits so those costs would not be shifted to premium payers. She and supporters framed the bill as a way to protect affordability for Minnesota employers, workers, and families, especially in the fully insured market. Testimony in support came from the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce and the Minnesota Council of Health Plans. They argued that Minnesota has a high number of mandated benefits, that each new mandate adds cost to premiums, and that businesses—especially small and midsize employers—are already struggling with rising health insurance costs. The health plans representative said the bill would use the existing Commerce defrayal process to reimburse plans for eligible mandate-related claims, allowing those costs to be removed from premium rates. Several members echoed support, saying the bill would improve transparency by showing the fiscal impact of proposed mandates and help prevent people from being priced out of coverage. Members also explored how mandates apply in the market and how premiums are set. Deputy Commissioner Julia Dryer explained that, unless otherwise specified, mandates generally apply to the individual, small group, and fully insured large group markets, while self-insured ERISA plans and other markets are generally outside that scope. Representative Elkins noted that the affected market is relatively small and said small businesses are increasingly moving to self-insured plans because of cost. He and others raised concerns about affordability, while Representative Smith argued that mandates often ensure needed care and that the bill shifts costs to taxpayers rather than insurers. Representative Bacham added a personal example from tribal self-insurance, saying preventive physicals had saved lives and asking whether other factors besides mandates are driving insurer costs. No amendments were offered, and the bill was laid over for possible future consideration.

Transcript Highlights:

• Vassin who is the city's finance Vassin who is the city's finance director<00:54:58.480> um
• Jeremy Msina, finance director for the city of Baxter.
• So that has been helpful in the city's financing of it.
• <01:31:49.360> And tax increment financing. And tax increment financing.
• relates to this tax increment financing relates to this tax increment financing district.<01:33:

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Vice Chair Osgood: Senators, we will now take up Tab 13, SB 112 on Labor Pool by Senator Garcia.
• SB 1112 is relating to the Florida Labor Pool Act.
• Senator Garcia: Pool are reluctant to pay the placement fee, at times of thousands of dollars.
• Part number two requires annual registration of labor pools operating.
• Senator Garcia: Barriers to permanent hiring and improving accountability in labor pools.

Keywords: 999, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• So if you look on each of these budgets now, you'll see a line that says new and vacant FTE pool.
• When I was crunching numbers, I wasn't really looking at the vacant FTE pool as a change.
• Representative Vigesaa: So that's the amount that's going into the pool.
• We did, then you got the new and vacant FTE pool that was kind of talked about here a little bit ago.
• House Finance and Tax will go in at 4 o'clock. House Finance and Tax will go in at 4 o'clock.

Keywords: 908, all

Summary: The House convened with prayer, the Pledge of Allegiance, and a quorum present, then approved journal corrections and recognized visiting students from Underwood School. The chamber also handled several conference committee appointments after failing to concur with Senate amendments on House bills 1022, 1049, 1229, and 1029, and after the Senate failed to concur on House amendments to Senate bills 2010 and 2113. The House then concurred in or passed a series of amended measures, including House Bills 1481 (dental insurance loss ratio and reporting), 1511 (physician guidance on abortion law, with an emergency clause), 1562 (mandated reporter training), 1197 (correctional facilities study), 1095 (child protective services liaison work group), 1317 (barber licensing board changes), 1549 (corrections facility grants and reentry-related provisions), 1354 (appraiser evaluations), 1374 (open meeting exemption for township supervisors during on-site inspections), 1355 (abbreviated notice for administrative rulemaking), 1025 (advanced nuclear energy study), 1470 (Game and Fish fee changes), 1592 (Lignite Research Council updates), and 1375 (alcohol service/photo ID provisions). Final passage votes were recorded on each bill, with most passing comfortably and some drawing notable opposition, especially HB 1470 and HB 1549. The House spent substantial time on Senate Bill 2011, the Highway Patrol appropriation. Members discussed shifting one-time funding from the general fund to the Electronic Motor Carrier Permit Fund, including body armor, preliminary breath tests, an emergency vehicle course, resurfacing, fleet costs, and handgun/taser replacement, while also noting a federal grant and no new FTEs. Questions focused on salary-line increases and the new-and-vacant FTE pool, with Appropriations explaining that those dollars had been moved back into agency budgets from OMB. The bill passed 84-6. The House also passed Senate Bill 2013, the Commissioner of University and School Lands appropriation, after discussion of Trust Lands operations, unclaimed property staffing, and distributions from the Common Schools Trust Fund; one member was excused for a conflict, and the bill passed 67-22. Senate Bill 2023, the Racing Commission appropriation, passed 65-25 after a brief explanation of the agency’s responsibilities and funding. A major policy debate centered on Senate Bill 2385, which revises mobile home park regulation. Supporters said it creates receivership procedures if a license is revoked, requires clearer tenant notices, limits certain fees, and strengthens protections against eviction and utility overcharges. Two members were excused from voting due to conflicts tied to mobile home park ownership, and the bill passed 84-4. Another extended debate occurred on Senate Bill 2159, which allows the State Energy Research Center to study nuclear-related projects with approval from the Industrial Commission and consultation with the radioactive waste advisory council. Supporters said it is meant to help study advanced nuclear energy while preserving existing prohibitions on high-level radioactive waste storage; opponents raised concerns that the language could weaken prior protections and open the door to waste-related research or storage. The transcript ends during that debate, before a final vote on SB 2159 is shown.

Transcript Highlights:

• I'm the Secretary of the Department of Finance and Administration.
• Committee and the Senate Finance Committee.
• You have been very generous to the Department of Finance and Administration.
• To those entities that maybe aren't doing very well with their finances.
• pool is going to get, and we'll start trimming that down slowly but surely.

Transcript Highlights:

• sliver of money out of that pool?"
• instead of the kiddie pool, so to speak.
• OGB standpoint, our pool is as big as it could be.
• It's a risk pool. And how does that risk pool, what alters that risk pool? Right.
• It's a classic 101 insurance risk pool. Yeah, but look, that was just...

Bills: HB165, HB175, HB198, HB272, HB457, HB488, HB566, HB603, HB763, HB902, HB909, HB971, HB981, HB1066, HB1125, HB1154, HB1231

Keywords: HB165, lottery proceeds, Lottery Proceeds Fund, Veterans Service Grant Fund, constitutional amendment, veterans, military veterans, veterans' benefits, veterans services, family support, state lottery, education funding, Minimum Foundation Program, problem gambling, compulsive gaming, state treasurer, ballot proposition, constitutional referendum, lottery revenue, Louisiana resident veterans

Transcript Highlights:

• The meeting of the Legacy Finance Conference Committee came to order. We have a quorum.
• Um it doesn't necessarily mean pool.
• And so if these applicants uh meet pool.
• Uh, Chair Her, Senator Pratt, the formula was constructed when the legacy bill went into the finance
• But the formula was constructed in the finance committee, which you are also a member of, and we did

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• <00:24:39.520> and report, the Department of Finance and report, the Department of Finance
• <00:24:50.480> and years, the Department of Finance and years, the Department of Finance and
• The financing for this is not general fund. We do not want to use general fund money for this.
• <02:06:22.520> for<02:06:22.680> rural<02:06:22.880> water the financing for
• Examples of this would be things like if a babysitter fails to watch a child in or around a pool, and

Keywords: MS Senate Floor - 10 February, 2026; 10:00 AM, 925, all

Summary: The Senate convened with a quorum present, received an invocation from Dr. Denise Pope, and led the pledge of allegiance. The body then dispensed with the reading of the journal, committee reports, and bill titles. Several guests were introduced, including the doctor of the day, student pages, Carthage Christian Academy, Mississippi Valley State University visitors, the University of Southern Mississippi’s DuBard School and related programs, and members of the Mississippi Association of Nurse Anesthetists. The Senate took up Senate Bill 2896, which revises the Department of Public Safety salary schedule for MHP and MBN officers. Senator Hopson explained it as the vehicle for possible pay raises for troopers, NBI, and MBN officers, and the chamber adopted the committee substitute and passed the bill by morning roll call. The Senate also passed Senate Bill 2917, a recurring appropriations cleanup measure; its main change would allow Mississippi Valley State University to use previously designated dormitory funds for repair and renovation instead. A reverse repealer amendment was adopted before final passage by morning roll call. Senate Bill 2825, the Mississippi Health Care Industry Zone Act, was then considered. Senator Harkins said the bill extends the repealer for the health care industry zone incentive program to 2028 and noted the program has generated significant investment and jobs statewide. An amendment requested by the Mississippi Development Authority was adopted to revise eligibility language, including replacing a CON requirement with a requirement that a hospital have at least 25 acute care beds and deleting a section under current law. The bill then passed by morning roll call. Finally, the Senate considered Senate Bill 2894 on local improvement projects and the return of unexpended funds and earned interest. Senator Harkins explained that the bill would require older local improvement project funds to be returned if projects were not moving forward, require reporting to DFA and the Legislative Budget Office, allow audits, and permit limited extensions, while also withholding a portion of other state distributions for noncompliance. Senators raised concerns about projects that are already obligated or delayed by workforce and engineering constraints, and Harkins said the bill would be refined with a reverse repealer to work with LBO and avoid disrupting active projects. The bill was discussed but not finally disposed of in the portion of the transcript provided.

Transcript Highlights:

• There's no way to director of budget and Finance on the director of budget and Finance on the OHA<00:
• <01:04:38.160> with finance with finance with comments<01:04:40.599> next<01:04:40.880>
• <01:08:40.319> is<01:08:40.440> not finance is not finance is not here<01:08:42.400>
• able to Avail yourself of this financing able to Avail yourself of this financing because<01:21:
• that's at the request of finance that's at the request of finance committee<01:48:13.599> uh<

Keywords: 910, house, all

Summary: The committee heard testimony on House Bill 410, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs’ biennium operating budget. OHA asked for a modest increase over its base budget, including $1.2 million to fund 13 new full-time positions for a strategy and implementation team tied to its long-term plan, with emphasis on housing, education, health, and economic resilience. OHA also described a broader effort to work directly with executive branch departments to improve outcomes for Native Hawaiians. Testimony was largely supportive, with several individuals speaking in favor and one testifier expressing strong frustration about Native Hawaiian rights and access to resources. The chair noted there were 38 additional written/supporting testimonies and three in opposition. Members asked about OHA’s funding sources and public land trust revenues; OHA said it is not receiving the full 20 percent share, described a public land trust working group and system issues, and said a related bill would seek funding to begin an inventory. No vote was taken in the portion provided. The committee then considered House Bill 304, which would make the Hawaiian version of a law binding when the law was originally drafted in Hawaiian and later translated into English. The Judiciary supported the bill, saying it reinforces Hawaiian as an official language and looks to the original language for legislative intent. The Attorney General supported the intent but recommended narrowing the bill with a proviso to avoid ambiguities, limiting it to laws originally drafted in Hawaiian that were not later amended, codified, recodified, or reenacted in English. Public testimony was generally supportive, though one speaker raised broader sovereignty concerns. Members questioned how many laws would be affected and whether the proposed amendment would undercut the bill; the Attorney General said the amendment was meant to address uncertainty in interpretation. No final action was reported. Finally, the committee heard House Bill 603, which would direct OHA to administer a Native Hawaiian business marketing program to promote Native Hawaiian-owned businesses through marketing and technical assistance. OHA supported the concept, saying a label or branding program could help consumers identify and support Native Hawaiian-owned businesses, but requested that funding be redirected to a working group to study program design, implementation, enforcement, and long-term viability. The chair noted four supportive testimonies had been received, and a member asked OHA to confirm that its programs serve all Hawaiians, not only those eligible for homelands; OHA said it serves all Hawaiians in the state. The transcript ends before any vote or further action on HB 603.