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AZ

Arizona 2026 Regular Session

02/05/2026 - House Rural Economic Development

Rural Economic Development

Transcript Highlights:
  • by construction is in the tens of millions of dollars.
  • the high cost of housing there, the shortages of housing?
  • Not affordable in terms of no more than 30% of your...
  • All of the above.
  • All of the above.
Bills: HB2388 , HB2804 , HB2926
NM

New Mexico 2026 Regular Session

House - Judiciary Feb 2nd, 2026 at 02:11 pm

House Judiciary

Transcript Highlights:
  • My name is Matthew Stackpole, on behalf of the Greater Alberta Chamber of Commerce, in support of House
  • My name is Matthew Sackpole, on behalf of the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce, in support of
  • I think that's more of just a generalization of the bill.
  • Of merit in all of that legislation, I thought.
  • hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Bills: HB9 , HB50
WA

Washington 2025-2026 Regular Session

House Community Safety Jan 12th, 2026 at 01:30 pm

Community Safety

Transcript Highlights:
  • Briefly, for context, under current law, the Office of Public Defense is generally prohibited from providing
  • By way of background, the Attorney General has concurrent authority to investigate and prosecute crimes
  • Only the authority of the delegating agency can transfer to the Attorney General under that statute.
  • There were some questions about what sorts of training the Attorney General investigators have.
  • There were some questions about what sorts of training the Attorney General investigators have.
Bills: HB1982 , HB2156
TX

Texas 89th Regular

State Affairs May 19th, 2025

State Affairs

Transcript Highlights:
  • I have lost count of the number of attorneys.
  • Do you review that plaintiff's payment of child support as part of your review of their request for access
  • But at that point, the state of Texas, be it the Attorney General or state law enforcement,... ...the
  • state of Texas, be it the Attorney General or state law enforcement, solicits at the parallel level
  • Some of the things that are in it are kind of a backward look, and some of the things in it could open
Bills: HB46 , HB272
Summary: The Senate Committee on State Affairs heard several House bills and took no final votes, leaving each bill pending after testimony. HB 272 would align venue and evidentiary rules for fraudulent use or possession of credit/debit card information with existing credit card abuse law; the sponsor said it would improve prosecutions, and the Texas Financial Crimes Intelligence Center supported it. HB 1661 would increase penalties for certain election-related offenses, including failure to distribute election supplies and early release of election results; no substantive opposition was heard. HB 551 would protect the residential addresses of people who receive campaign expenditures on public Texas Ethics Commission reports, similar to donor privacy protections, and a witness from Texas Eagle Forum later indicated support for the privacy change. The committee also heard HB 2820, which would raise the amount charitable bingo organizations may keep in operating capital from $50,000 to $100,000. The sponsor and a Texans for Charitable Bingo representative said inflation and operating costs have made the current cap too low and that the bill would help charities maintain stable operations without expanding gaming. HB 3181 would impose stronger consequences for repeated denial of court-ordered child possession and access, including limiting probation and requiring attorney’s fees after multiple contempt findings; a family court judge and a parent testified in support, while another witness argued the bill should be paired with stronger criminal enforcement and that parents already face high costs. HB 4157 would update Texas law for commercial spaceflight by recognizing liability waivers and preserving workers’ compensation rights; no one testified against it. The committee also heard HB 4145, which would let health care providers satisfy a timely billing requirement by sending bills to a patient’s legal representative in a personal injury case, closing what supporters described as a loophole in letter-of-protection situations. Finally, HB 46, relating to the Texas Compassionate Use Program, drew the most extensive discussion: supporters said it should expand access for legitimate medical cannabis patients and add more delivery methods and conditions, while opponents warned against broader marijuana expansion and questioned adding chronic pain and other conditions. The sponsor said he still supports the program and wants a balanced, regulated expansion, but noted the bill is still being worked on. All bills were left pending at the close of the hearing.
AL

Alabama 2026 Regular Session

Alabama House Ways and Means General Fund Committee Mar 11th, 2026

Ways and Means General Fund

Transcript Highlights:
  • Chair Reynolds told the committee that the general fund would likely be moved out of the Senate that
  • Um, there'll be a fee of $175,000 for the filing of the petition for approval of a storage facility.
  • Um, there'll be a fee of $175,000 for the filing of the petition for approval of a storage facility.
  • Um, there'll be a fee of $175,000 for the filing of the petition for approval of a storage facility.
  • </c> fee of $25,000 for the filing of the fee of $25,000 for the filing of the petition<00:25:54.640>
Bills: HB179 , HB354 , SB57 , SB137 , HB431 , HB179 , HB354 , SB57 , SB137 , HB431
AL

Alabama 2026 Regular Session

Alabama House Ways and Means General Fund Committee Feb 18th, 2026

Ways and Means General Fund

Transcript Highlights:
  • Title 16, Code of Alabama 1975, or Chapter 29 of Title 36, Code of Alabama 1975.
  • I'm out of fuel. I'm out of labor.
  • I'm out of fuel. I'm out of labor.
  • Well, that essentially was the general of the bill. Yes, sir.
  • </c><00:53:46.160><c> 1975R</c> uh of the code of Alabama 1975R uh of the code of Alabama 1975R place
Bills: HB185 , HB378 , SB28 , HB400 , SB155 , HB312 , HB185 , HB378 , SB28 , HB400 , SB155 , HB312
AL

Alabama 2026 Regular Session

Alabama House Ways and Means General Fund Committee Feb 11th, 2026

Ways and Means General Fund

Transcript Highlights:
  • This is no new money coming out of the general fund.
  • This is no new money coming out of the general fund.
  • This would take some pressure off of the general fund.
  • take some pressure off of the off of<00:13:27.760><c> the</c><00:13:28.240><c> general</c><00:13:28.560
  • And then it creates of the general fund.
Bills: HB304 , HB285 , HB312 , HB311 , SB60 , HB304 , HB285 , HB312 , HB311 , SB60
TX

Texas 89th Regular

Local Government May 12th, 2025

Local Government

Transcript Highlights:
  • the bill till June of 2026.
  • I am fully aware of that. I am new to this process. Wade Cannon was one of my firefighters.
  • I am fully aware of that. I am new to this process. Wade Cannon was one of my firefighters.
  • When you consider an average of a $500 cancer screening compared to the hundreds of thousands of dollars
  • and a lot of good stuff.
Summary: The Committee on Local Government heard and discussed a series of House bills dealing with municipal structure, tax payment timing, local provider participation funds, firefighter cancer screenings, sunset review of the Trinity River Authority, replacement certificates of occupancy, and open meetings enforcement. HB 303 would remove the 501-resident floor so very small type A and B municipalities can convert to type C cities; HB 2742 would give property owners a later first split-payment deadline when tax bills are mailed after November 30; HB 3305 and HB 3348 were local provider participation fund measures with committee substitutes; HB 198 would require political subdivisions to offer occupational cancer screenings for firefighters; HB 1535 was a sunset bill for the Trinity River Authority; HB 4753 would allow a municipality-issued proof of a certificate of occupancy to substitute for a lost original; and HB 3711 would treat certain Open Meetings Act violations as offenses against public administration and require public explanation when prosecutors decline to act. Testimony was generally supportive or limited, with several witnesses and senators emphasizing practical fixes, firefighter health and cost savings, local government transparency, and administrative cleanup. For HB 198, firefighter representatives gave emotional testimony about cancer deaths and the value of early screening. On HB 3711, a witness supported the bill but urged stronger enforcement and broader application. Several senators raised policy concerns on HB 2715 about routing removal proceedings through a regional presiding judge rather than the local county, arguing it could politicize the process. The committee took no public testimony on most bills and repeatedly left them pending subject to call of the chair before later voting them out. HB 21, HB 30, HB 1535, HB 1520, HB 198, HB 303, HB 2742, and HB 4753 were reported to the full Senate, generally by unanimous or near-unanimous votes, and several were also recommended for the local and uncontested calendar. HB 30 passed on a 5-1 vote, while the other reported bills were approved unanimously or with no recorded opposition. The committee then recessed subject to the call of the chair.
KY
Transcript Highlights:
  • I've probably met with quite a few of you over the years to talk about SEEK in general.
  • And then, so the factor being 15%—that is 15% of the amount that's generated from their overall tax base
  • The Commonwealth generates 39 times more revenue by collecting tax debts instead of collecting university
  • Uh we uh the commonweight uh kind of Uh we uh the commonweight uh kind of generates<00:36:58.320><c>
  • universities, universities, if you keep or get to give back to the general fund, either way, 25% of
Summary: The committee met with a quorum, approved the minutes from the September 17 meeting, and heard a presentation from Kentucky Department of Education staff on SEEK school funding and KDE on-behalf payments. KDE explained recent SEEK changes, including the guaranteed base per-pupil amount, attendance-based calculations, second-month and January growth, the 2022 change funding kindergarten at 100% instead of 50%, and the existing add-ons for at-risk students, exceptional children, limited English learners, home/hospital instruction, and transportation. Staff also reviewed tier one funding, noting the 2024 increase from 15% to 17.5% and explaining that eligibility depends on local tax effort and property wealth. They also described Senate Bill 6 from the 2025 session as a reporting proposal to include on-behalf costs in education spending totals. KDE staff then outlined on-behalf payments made for districts, including roughly $458 million for Teachers Retirement System contributions, $942 million for health insurance, about $12 million for technology costs, and additional SFCC debt service outside KDE’s appropriation, for a total of about $1.5 billion. Members asked how a future Senate Bill 6 would affect local contributions and whether folding on-behalf payments into SEEK would shift costs among districts. KDE and Senator Gibbons clarified that the bill was intended only as a reporting mechanism and would not change local contribution or district payments; it would simply present a broader total of state education investment. The discussion also noted that Kentucky’s reported SEEK amount alone does not capture all state education spending. Members raised questions about home and hospital instruction data, saying local concerns suggest growth in some communities even if statewide numbers appear stable. KDE said the statewide figure has been relatively consistent but offered to provide district-level trend data. Co-Chair Petrie also asked about the accuracy of SEEK projections and on-behalf calculations, referencing prior concerns from the Office of Education Accountability. KDE responded that it works with the state budget director’s office in a consensus forecasting process and has been reviewing demographic and property-assessment data, including exceptional child counts, to improve forecast accuracy.
KY
Transcript Highlights:
  • Uh, the General Assembly decided any type of Medicaid-related services bills need to come through for
  • type um the general assembly decided any type of<00:10:30.240><c> Medicaid</c><00:10:30.720><c> related
  • >> Schools do the billing with generally the support of a third-party billing company.
  • added limitations on the passage of House Bill 6 that this General Assembly passed in 2024.
  • House Bill 6 that on to the passage of House Bill 6 that this<00:52:49.839><c> general</c><00:52:50.400
Summary: The Medicaid Oversight Board met on March 9 with a quorum present and no minutes to approve. The chair reordered the agenda to hear House Bill 689 first. Representative Amy Neighbors presented HB 689, which would authorize Kentucky to seek CMS approval for a Medicaid state-directed payment program for physician and non-physician professional services delivered through qualifying hospital-affiliated groups, beginning January 1, 2026, with retroactive payments for that year. She said the bill is intended to improve access to care in rural and underserved areas, support workforce retention, and generate about $29 million annually in federal Medicaid funds without using general fund dollars. Representatives from Owensboro Health and St. Elizabeth Healthcare testified in support, describing staffing and subsidy pressures, lower Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement, and the importance of the program for maintaining access and quality in rural and safety-net settings. Committee members noted the bill had already passed the House Health Services Committee unanimously and discussed broader concerns about Kentucky’s low reimbursement rates and the need to consider other systems not covered by the proposal. The board then heard Senate Bill 2011 from Senator Donald Douglas and Cody Hunt of the Kentucky Medical Association. The bill would address a Medicaid coding issue by ensuring that coverage limits do not reduce payment to fewer than two evaluation and management service units per provider, per patient, per day. Douglas argued the current one-visit, one-issue limitation forces multiple visits, increases no-shows, and prevents providers from treating the whole patient. Hunt explained that the bill is meant to correct a longstanding regulation that limited E&M services to one per physician per recipient per date of service, which can prevent providers from coding additional medically necessary work during the same visit. He said DMS has already filed a regulatory amendment to fix the problem, but a statutory change is still needed to prevent the issue from returning. He also said the bill is not intended to change reimbursement policy, only coding rules, and that MCO payment practices vary. Members generally supported the concept. Senator Berg asked about fiscal impact and private-payer billing; Hunt said there should be no fiscal impact because the bill does not change payment policy, only coding. Representative Moore said the proposal could reduce costs and improve convenience by avoiding extra visits. Chairman Meredith said the bill illustrated problems with fee-for-service care and supported moving toward a more holistic delivery model. Dr. Schuster raised a drafting concern about the bill summary language, and Hunt responded that the regulatory amendment should address the issue generally for providers. No votes were taken on either bill during this portion of the meeting.
KY
Transcript Highlights:
  • The Office of the Inspector General, they do annual audits on the labs as well as random.
  • The Office of the Inspector General, they do annual audits on the labs as well as random.
  • The Office of the Inspector General, they do annual audits on the labs as well as random.
  • </c><01:14:01.440><c> Thank</c><01:14:01.520><c> you,</c> of the full general assembly.
  • And to the point of local control, local control is generally a good idea.
Summary: The committee met for its sixth meeting, established a quorum, and approved the minutes from the October 21 meeting. The main agenda item was a presentation from Kentucky Association of Counties (KACo) leaders and county officials on jail funding and jail-system reform. Speakers said county jail costs have reached crisis levels, citing large and rising general-fund subsidies in counties such as Hardin, McCracken, and Warren, and noting that county general-fund contributions to jail funds have increased by 76% since 2019. KACo outlined a three-part legislative approach for the upcoming session: incentivizing regional jails, clarifying responsibility for pre-trial felony detainees, and redefining the model for housing state inmates in county jails. On regional jails, they proposed one-time state construction funding, statutory changes to allow former county jails to serve as 96-hour holdover facilities, broader participation of jailers on regional jail authority boards, an increased supplement for closed county jails, and a one-time payment for counties that close local jails and join regional facilities. Union County Judge Adam Onan described his county’s savings from contracting with Webster County and said regionalization can reduce costs where feasible. Harlan County Judge Executive Dan Mosley focused on pre-trial felony detainees, saying counties bear the full cost of housing people awaiting trial for long periods, sometimes years, and that pre-trial time is later credited toward state sentences. He argued the state benefits from that credit and referenced prior bills that would have reimbursed counties for time-served credit. Shelley Hampton then proposed replacing the current per diem model for state inmates with contracts requiring the Department of Corrections to pay actual housing costs and to support programming such as substance abuse treatment, cognitive behavioral programming, re-entry services, workforce training, and academics. No votes were taken on the jail proposals, and the meeting ended with the presentation and discussion of the county recommendations.
HI

Hawaii 2026 Regular Session

Senate Floor Session 02-25-2026 11:30am

Hawaii Senate Floor Meeting

Transcript Highlights:
  • Council, Hawaii chapter, and authorship of numerous publications circulated across our country.
  • Council, Hawaii chapter, and authorship of numerous publications circulated across our country.
  • Council, Hawaii chapter, and authorship of numerous publications circulated across our country.
  • Council, Hawaii chapter, and through authorship of numerous publications circulated across our country
  • Judge Char is a graduate of the University of Denver, from which she received her Bachelor of Arts degree
HI

Hawaii 2026 Regular Session

Senate Floor Session 02-24-2026 11:30am

Hawaii Senate Floor Meeting

Transcript Highlights:
  • c><00:03:17.280><c> part</c><00:03:17.440><c> of</c><00:03:17.760><c> national</c> Hawaii are part of
  • </c><00:03:32.959><c> those</c> have folks from two of those have folks from two of those organizations
  • </c> In addition to the Council of State Governments, we're also really fortunate to be a part of the
  • <00:09:28.800><c> service</c> draft 1 relating to purchase of service draft 1 relating to purchase of
  • </c> belated one from all of us. Good health. belated one from all of us. Good health.
AL

Alabama 2026 Regular Session

Alabama House Ways and Means Education Committee Feb 18th, 2026

Ways and Means Education

Transcript Highlights:
  • Bill<00:19:20.320><c> of</c> Bill of Bill of &gt;&gt; the<00:19:20.960><c> committee</c> &gt;&gt; the
  • people and they need an infusion of people that have money that can spend it because that circulates
  • of some sort of it's set to some sort of some sort of median<00:36:55.760><c> income,</c><00:36:56.320
  • </c> part of that would be the front door of part of that would be the front door of the<00:44:21.119
  • </c> entire state of Alabama. entire state of Alabama.
Bills: SB62 , HB361 , HB244 , HB377 , HB411 , HB422 , HB423 , HB425 , SB16 , HB452 , HB354 , SB62 , HB361 , HB244 , HB377 , HB411 , HB422 , HB423 , HB425 , SB16 , HB452 , HB354
KY

Kentucky 2026 Regular Session

House Standing Committee on State Government (2-12-26)

State Government

Transcript Highlights:
  • eyes in terms of the, um, Attorney General on those settlements before those could be paid out.
  • eyes in terms of the Attorney General on those settlements before those could be paid out.
  • Well, but I just putting the Attorney General sort of above or oversight over the governor just doesn't
  • Well, but I just putting the Attorney General sort of above or oversight over the governor just doesn't
  • Well, but I just putting the Attorney General sort of above or oversight over the governor just doesn't
OK

Oklahoma 2026 Regular Session

Judiciary Apr 7th, 2026 at 01:30 pm

Judiciary

Transcript Highlights:
  • Senator Rosiño, will there be questions of the authoring and will there be debate?
  • So it's part of budget negotiations.
  • We're just kind of waiting for the floor leader.
  • I know everybody's favorite bill other than the general appropriations.
  • Yeah, basically it's the caseload side of it.
Committee: Senate Judiciary