Transcript Highlights:

• Uh, technical adjustments item one is to amend rider to the capital budget, and this would increase the
• But one, adopt the technical adjustments.
• Texas Military Department, technical adjustments item one would be amended Rider to, the capital budget
• adjustment authorized by the governor.
• So first is adopt all the technical adjustments.

Transcript Highlights:

• I'm noticing that this is tiered, similar to the other cost-of-living adjustment bills.
• I'm curious if maybe this was a cost-saving adjustment or whether it was a fund-saving adjustment.
• I'm curious if maybe this was a cost-saving adjustment or whether it was a fund-saving adjustment.
• Representative, there are some of these COLA bills that do future adjustments to or do current adjustments
• Would you believe that the last COLA adjustment that was made in 2020 was also a tiered adjustment of

Bills: SB1365 , SB2139 , SB1595 , SB1303 , SB2180 , SB2072 , SB1772 , SB1209 , SB137 , SB1944 , SB372 , SB1636 , SB1256 , SB1827 , SB2104 , SB1226 , SB1876 , SB1966 , SB80 , SB1148 , SB1147 , SB1149 , SB1161 , SB1162 , SB1164 , SB1159 , SB1165 , SB1174 , SB1156 , SB1158 , SB1163 , SB1175 , SB1176 , SB1166 , SB1167 , SB1157 , SB1146 , SB1481 , SB1144 , SB1145 , SCR20

Summary: The House opened with prayer, the Pledge of Allegiance, and several gallery introductions, including the Oklahoma Elks Lodge Association, Guthrie Day visitors, students from Sanger Ridge Elementary and Stillwater, and multiple honored guests and athletic teams. The chamber also heard a farewell speech from Representative Dale Kerbs reflecting on his 10 years in the House, his committee work, staff, family, and major policy changes during his tenure. A concurrent resolution recognizing the YMCA on its 175th anniversary was also adopted. The bulk of the meeting focused on a series of Senate bills carrying joint committee reports, many of them appropriations or retirement-related measures. The House passed bills providing COLAs or related benefit changes for judicial retirees (SB 1148), firefighters (SB 1147), police retirees (SB 1146), public employees (SB 1145), and teachers (SB 1144), along with a one-time stipend for a small group of retired police and firefighters who missed prior increases (SB 1149). Members asked questions about pension solvency, tiered COLA structures, and whether any bills reduced state contributions; the sponsors generally said the systems were stable or that future legislatures would retain oversight. The House also passed limits bills for the Health Care Authority (SB 1161), State Department of Health (SB 1162), Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (SB 1164), Department of Human Services (SB 1163), Public Safety (SB 1165), Agriculture (SB 1166), and the Oklahoma Water Resources Board (SB 1175 and SB 1176). Several other measures were approved with little or no debate, including appropriations for remediation assistance (SB 1159), a Pardon and Parole Board pay increase (SB 1156), funding for the Office of Juvenile Affairs to ensure juveniles receive prescribed medication (SB 1158), a new OSBI cybercrimes and fraud unit (SB 1157), and OMES provisions for Pay for Success and a public contract-spending database (SB 1167). The House also passed a school bill adding 20 minutes of recess for K-5 students, with members joking about recess for legislators as well. Most bills passed with strong bipartisan margins, and several emergency clauses were adopted by the required two-thirds vote. The House then recalled HB 1933 from engrossing and enrolling and adjourned until Monday, April 20, 2026.

Transcript Highlights:

• relating to fingerprinting requirements for applicants for an insurance producer license or insurance adjuster
• The next is the Insurance Commissioner to promulgate a legislative rule regarding insurance adjusters
• The next is the insurance commissioner to promulgate a legislative rule regarding insurance adjusters
• First, it provides $6 million to the existing Emergency Medical Services Salary Enhancement Fund, which
• This strike-and-insert amendment makes clear that these funds may not be used on salary enhancements,

Committee: Senate Finance

Transcript Highlights:

• This could involve us having to make material audit adjustments.
• instances when they do not perform the reconciliations, we extend our procedures, determine all the adjustments
• instances when they do not perform the reconciliations, we extend our procedures, determine all the adjustments
• office hiring practices, controls needed to be enhanced over bonuses, relocation, and other negotiated salary
• can correct me if I'm wrong, they're performing an audit during normal banking hours within their salaried

Summary: The Joint Legislative Auditing Committee received a presentation from Auditor General staff on recurring findings from audits of district school boards, colleges, and universities. For school districts, the main issues discussed included missing or outdated safe-school officer training documentation, weak purchasing-card controls, vendor banking-change fraud risks, incomplete background screenings and disqualification-list procedures, missing website budget disclosures, excessive or untimely IT access, late deactivation of former employees’ access, missed emergency drill deadlines, inaccurate capital outlay and resiliency education records, weak tangible property inventories, adult education reporting errors, untimely bank reconciliations, and improper use of workforce development funds. The auditors said many of these issues are repeated from prior years and are summarized in their annual report on significant findings and financial trends. For universities and colleges, the auditors highlighted similar control weaknesses, including vendor information change controls, IT access issues, cash and investment reconciliation problems, purchasing and procurement deficiencies, personnel and compensation issues, and student fee compliance concerns. Specific examples included a UF consulting contract totaling about $6 million, FAU underreporting carry-forward balances by about $77 million, UCF’s payment loss of about $107,000 from an email scam tied to vendor changes, and a North Florida College unauthorized transfer involving a few hundred thousand dollars. The committee asked questions about the UF consulting work, the FAU carry-forward issue, and whether the listed findings meant every named entity had every issue; auditors clarified that the lists reflected entities with findings in those categories, not necessarily each specific problem. The committee then turned to enforcement for entities with long-standing uncorrected audit findings. Staff reported 144 entities with 197 findings repeated in three or more successive audit reports and recommended sending letters requesting updated corrective-action status, including for late-filed 2022-2023 reports where appropriate. The committee approved the staff recommendation and directed letters to be sent. The meeting ended with members emphasizing the importance of audit oversight and taxpayer accountability.

Transcript Highlights:

• Everything else has been evolving and adjusting over time.
• So for us, 87% of our budget goes to salaries and benefits.
• So for us, 87% of our budget goes to salaries and benefits.
• So if we're asked to absorb another one point, our budget goes to salaries and benefits.
• We are currently making budget adjustments. Our salaries and benefits are up 28% in this biennium.

Bills: SB6251 , SB6259 , SB6325 , SB5978 , SB6209 , SB6217 , SB6227 , SB6235

Committee: Senate Higher Education & Workforce Development

Keywords: medical school, medical education, letter grades, grading system, pass/fail, tiered grading, student assessment, curriculum, University of Washington, Washington State University, School of Medicine, physician training, academic standards, coursework evaluation, RCW 28B, SB 6259, Washington, state financial aid, higher education, public college

Transcript Highlights:

• How many of us have ever had our salary reduced?
• How many of us have ever had our salary reduced?
• How many of us have ever had our salary reduced?
• How many of us have ever had our salary reduced?
• </c> had our salary had our salary reduced<01:51:40.520><c> and</c><01:51:40.679><c> does</c><01:51:40.880

Committee: Senate Education Policy

Transcript Highlights:

• come on up and testify, or hopefully don't testify, please, by all means, feel free to use that to adjust
• Specifically, we found that the department failed to adjust agricultural rental rates to reflect market
• But as of November 2023, the department had not adjusted its agricultural rental rates since 2006.
• Uh, do you have an approximate or a ballpark figure that you think are used for employee salaries?
• Uh, do you have an approximate or a ballpark figure that you think are used for employee salaries?

Summary: The Joint Natural Resources and House Natural Resources, Energy and Water Committees of Reference heard the Arizona Auditor General’s sunset review of the Arizona State Veterinary Medical Examining Board. The audit found the board generally met some licensing requirements, but it did not timely investigate and resolve 49 of 159 complaints in fiscal year 2024, and it did not fully comply with conflict-of-interest disclosure and filing requirements. The Auditor General also identified weaknesses in continuing-education verification and other sunset-factor areas, and the board agreed to implement all 21 recommendations. Board staff said complaint volume has risen sharply since the pandemic, that the board’s process is slower because every case goes through an investigative committee and then the full board, and that it has already corrected some conflict-of-interest issues and is adding tools to improve continuing-education audits. The committee then heard testimony from the board’s executive director and from the Arizona Veterinary Medical Association. The executive director emphasized the board’s public-protection mission, described the shortage of veterinarians and veterinary technicians, and said the board is working to improve efficiency through a new e-licensing system and staff training. Members asked about the shortage of large-animal veterinarians, complaint backlogs, and whether the board could do more to recruit rural practitioners; the board said it lacks direct recruiting authority but supports multiple licensure pathways and loan-assistance efforts. The veterinary association supported the board’s oversight and said it is also working on rural and large-animal workforce issues through partnerships and advocacy. The committee then voted to recommend continuing the board for eight years, until July 1, 2034. The committee next took up the Arizona State Land Department, beginning with the Auditor General’s presentation on the department’s sunset review and prior special audit. The audit found the department had not updated its required five-year disposition plan since 2011, had sold more than 48,000 acres without an active plan, had allowed agricultural rental rates to go unchanged since 2006 despite market increases, and had not consistently inspected mineral-related leases or properly managed reclamation bonds. The Auditor General said these issues created risks of lost revenue, reduced transparency, and public-safety hazards, and recommended 18 corrective actions in the main review plus 34 additional recommendations on other issues; the department agreed to most recommendations but declined to adopt a written policy for commissioner-initiated land sales. Commissioner Robin Sahid said the department is working through audit recommendations, has created a rules team, improved its customer portal, and is pursuing new policies on water use, transportation-basin leases, and disposition planning. Members questioned the department about agricultural leases, groundwater valuation, the Fondomonte leases and reimbursement for improvements, the canceled Coyotes land auction, backlog and processing times, and the use of consultants and administrative funds. The commissioner said the department had over 2,000 applications in queue when she arrived, that it has made progress reducing the backlog, and that it is conducting stakeholder outreach on water-efficiency standards and lease addenda. No final vote on the land department continuation was taken in the portion provided.

Transcript Highlights:

• As mentioned, they moved the LFC recommendation and then added some additional money for salaries and
• We don't divert money from salaries and benefits.
• We put money into salaries and benefits if we need to.
• We have a very low reversion rate in salaries and benefits. I think it was 0.24 last year.
• That's to bring up people's salaries. The HB 2 does not include a special for that.

Committees: Senate Senate Finance , Senate House Appropriations & Finance

Transcript Highlights:

• Have we looked at any of the charter school operating budgets for salaries?
• The charter schools that I've seen have comparable salaries to superintendents.
• the experience that they were requesting next year, but how will we know in 10 years that those salaries
• The salaries of most personnel are in the P.E.D. operating budget.
• It's the Hispanic Education Act where their salaries are still being paid out of that non-registered

Committee: Senate Senate Education

Transcript Highlights:

• To make some adjustments.
• adjustment.
• adjustment.
• adjustment.
• “Let’s make some adjustments.

Transcript Highlights:

• curious, because you showed us the slide with lots of teachers, and yet in your finances, teacher salaries
• , teacher salaries, And yet in your finances, teacher salaries make up less than one half of your entire
• Let me just jump back, if I could, to teachers and salaries, because that's another question that we're
• submitted to LSO in the summer, that breaks out that number and has the average part-time teacher salary
• I do believe, as you look at the bill coming forward on adjusting IDLA's funding and trying to reflect

Committee: House Education

Transcript Highlights:

• As you well know, judges, cabinet members, and legislators' salaries are determined by the salary commission
• So, state librarian salary bargaining.
• and the librarian superintendent salary and the librarian salary<01:37:03.840><c> in</c><01:37:04.000
• A lot of salary in the legislature.
• Salary discussions, they say, are always challenging.

Summary: The committee heard testimony on HB 2485, which would require cardiovascular screening for student athletes. The Department of Education and Department of Health said they support the bill’s intent but noted that many screenings are already part of existing school-entry and well-child exams. The Attorney General’s office asked for clarifying language on who performs the screenings, where results go, how “positive findings” are defined, how referrals would work, and whether funding would be appropriated if DOE must hire health professionals. The American Heart Association strongly supported the bill, citing the risk of sudden cardiac arrest in young athletes and arguing that sports physicals are an effective opportunity for early detection. No vote was taken, and the committee moved on after testimony. The committee then heard HB 89, concerning a school psychologist working group and possible licensing or credentialing of school psychologists. The Department of Education and Board of Psychology supported the measure. The Hawaii Psychological Association said it supports licensing school psychologists but asked to be included in the working group, arguing it is an important stakeholder. The Hawaii Association of School Psychologists opposed including HPA, saying the issue is between school psychologists and DCCA and that HPA is not part of their organization. Testimony and discussion focused on the long-running disagreement over whether school psychologists should be regulated under the Board of Psychology or another mechanism, and on title protection and scope of practice. No action was reported during this portion. The committee also took up HB 2445, relating to standardized emergency responses for immigration enforcement at or near schools. The Department of Education said it already issued internal law-enforcement guidance and questioned whether the bill was necessary, while also raising concerns about the bill’s 1,000-foot buffer language and the limits of school authority over activity off campus. The Board of Education echoed those concerns and suggested the bill may need clearer definitions. Supporters, including the White Coalition for Immigrant Rights, the Legal Clinic, and an attorney testifying on Know Your Rights training, argued that recent federal changes have increased ICE activity near schools and that a law is needed to ensure clear, public protocols, staff training, and family protections. A student testifier said the measure was a top priority of the state student council. The transcript ends during testimony, with no vote or final committee action shown.

Transcript Highlights:

• . >> It's not the total salary, right?
• </c> didn't correctly classify the salaries didn't correctly classify the salaries or<02:23:46.560><c
• </c> or the actual salary paid? or the actual salary paid?
• . >> It's not the total salary, right?
• We never get 100% of the collective bargaining adjustment.

Transcript Highlights:

• Senator and Representative, can you tell me about the future rate adjustments?
• This provides them with greater access to capital and makes a modest adjustment for timelines, allowing
• It increases the salary that a retired member may earn without the suspension of their retirement.
• OK, Senate Bill 343 is about changes to teacher salary rates.

Committee: House House Appropriations & Finance

Transcript Highlights:

• This was a review, a 10-year review of prior period adjustments, which tend to fluctuate, and the two
• The adjusted capital gains tax distributions, this is the same that was in both passed budgets.
• The reversion percentage reversion adjustment is the same as was in the House-passed budget and also
• year 29, and the adjusted capital gains tax distribution that James described, among other resource
• So that includes the additional prior period adjustments, the revenue legislation including 63-46 in

Summary: The conference committee on Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 5998 met to review the operating budget conference report. House and Senate budget coordinators walked through comparison documents showing the Senate-passed budget, House-passed budget, and the conference proposal, including statewide totals, agency detail, revenue assumptions, transfers, and the four-year outlook. They said the conference budget uses the February 2026 ERFC forecast, includes an $880 million transfer from the budget stabilization account to the general fund, and reflects a four-year net near-general-fund impact of about $800 million, with an ending fund balance of $231 million in 2025-27 and $563 million in 2027-29. They also noted that future collective bargaining agreements are not included in the outlook beyond those already settled. The briefing highlighted major policy items across the budget, including Working Families Tax Credit expansion, a proposed city and county fiscal health account, changes to Working Connections child care attendance payments, behavioral health facility and staffing adjustments, long-term care funding for certain non-citizen residents affected by federal changes, Apple Health and other health-related responses to H.R. 1, K-12 changes such as free school meals contingent on related legislation, Running Start and transportation depreciation adjustments, higher education administrative reductions, corrections staffing and bed changes, wildfire response funding, and state employee compensation agreements. Members also discussed the budget’s reliance on revenue measures and transfers, including legislation referenced as 2487, 6228, 6231, and 6346. After the presentation, Senator Robinson moved adoption of the conference report and passage of the bill as recommended by the committee. In discussion, supporters said the budget protected core services and responded to federal H.R. 1 impacts, while opponents criticized the size of the budget, the use of reserves, future outlook assumptions, and reductions in some K-12 and other programs. The committee then voted 4-2 to recommend the conference report and ESSB 5998 to the legislature, with Representatives Gregerson and Ormsby and Senators Robinson and Stanford in favor, and Representative Couture and Senator Gildon opposed.

Transcript Highlights:

• Von, Madam Chair, Representative Ric, yes, definitely the red flag of salaries at the nonprofit level
• Von, Madam Chair, Representative Ric, yes, definitely the red flag of salaries at the nonprofit level
• They might have gone for salaries, they might have gone for food; we don't know.
• I think about salaries at the NGO level.
• I think about salaries at the NGO level.

Committee: House Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Policy

Transcript Highlights:

• Now, as this bill moves forward, we may need some slight adjustments to some words in a House committee
• The cost of their salary does not disappear when they're deployed.
• So I received my salary with the city of St.
• Louis, and I received my salary from the National Guard during that time.
• He said employers often use a multiplier of about 1.36 to 1.5 on top of starting salary for ancillary

Committee: House Veterans and Armed Forces

Transcript Highlights:

• This includes salaries, benefits, and expenses associated. $48 million to DEX.
• This includes salaries, benefits, and expenses associated with establishing new sworn law enforcement
• , because we're going to go ahead and give them a salary bump.
• How in this bill are we recognizing law enforcement for a salary increase?
• How in this bill are we recognizing law enforcement for a salary increase?

Summary: The Senate Appropriations Committee met to hear SB 2-C, a major immigration enforcement bill sponsored by Senator Gruters and co-introduced by Senator Fine. The sponsor described the bill as a response to federal immigration priorities and said it replaces a single immigration officer with a State Board of Immigration Enforcement, expands local-federal cooperation, increases penalties for crimes committed by unauthorized immigrants, requires detention in certain cases, broadens information sharing, funds detention-bed expansion and law-enforcement training, and ends in-state tuition waivers for undocumented students. The bill also includes provisions related to sanctuary policies, voter fraud, transport of unauthorized aliens, and driver’s license-related offenses. The sponsor said the bill appropriates roughly $300 million overall, including $250 million for grants and $48 million for the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services for interdiction and border-related enforcement work. Committee members questioned the bill’s scope, costs, and implementation. Senators focused heavily on the tuition-waiver repeal, asking how many students would be affected and whether the bill would harm students who have long lived in Florida. They also pressed on whether the bill should include stronger E-Verify provisions, how sanctuary-policy enforcement would work, whether local officials could be penalized for policy choices, and how immigration status would be verified in court and jail settings. The sponsor and Senator Fine said the tuition waiver would be removed for undocumented students, that the bill does not address E-Verify, and that the measure is intended to make immigration status a factor in detention and sentencing. Questions also addressed detention-bed capacity, reimbursement rates, and whether corrections staff would receive bonuses or salary increases; sponsors said bonuses are included for participating law enforcement, while broader salary issues would be handled in the regular budget process. Public testimony was sharply divided. Supporters and information-only witnesses, including Sheriff Bob Gualtieri and former officials, said the bill would help Florida coordinate with federal authorities, expand bed space, and close loopholes in existing immigration enforcement. Opponents from the Southern Poverty Law Center, ACLU of Florida, Florida Policy Institute, labor groups, and immigrant advocates argued the bill is unconstitutional, likely to trigger litigation, and harmful to families, schools, and the economy. They warned that the pretrial detention provisions could lead to wrongful detentions and that the tuition changes would reduce access to higher education and cost the state tuition revenue. No final vote is reflected in the transcript excerpt, but the committee continued through public comment and extended the meeting to complete the agenda.

Transcript Highlights:

• Have all the school districts been able to reach the minimum salary of $47,500 for all teachers?
• So does the allocation of $100 million for teacher salaries mean that for some schools it will be able
• Actually, the individual universities set their own salaries.
• It's specifically up to the university to set their salaries. We don't dictate what they can do.
• Retirees in the special risk class will receive an alternative cost-of-living adjustment of 1.5% after

Committee: Senate Appropriations

Transcript Highlights:

• Section 5 is salaries and wages for the block grants and provides a report to the budget section on a
• So they need to be able to adjust that and come back to us if we undershot it.
• And the language did say may implement any adjustments, and we changed that to report any findings and
• so that the legislature would make any adjustments the next time.
• Section 42 designates the salaries and wages in operating capital for the CCBHCs, State Hospital, and

Committee: Senate Appropriations

Summary: The committee first took up House Bill 1012, the Department of Health and Human Services budget. Senator Dever walked through the amended budget, highlighting a roughly $5.85 billion all-funds total, major one-time items for IT, child care, housing, behavioral health, juvenile justice, rural EMS, and supportive housing, along with funding for Medicaid expansion, CCBHCs, opioid settlement uses, and several studies and reporting requirements. Members discussed the provider inflation increase, with Senator Mathern urging a 2%/2% rate instead of 2%/1.5%, but the committee adopted the subcommittee amendment and then passed the amended bill 15-0 with a do-pass recommendation. Senator Dever was named as carrier. The committee then considered House Bill 1540, a school choice/education savings account-style bill. Senator Shibley explained the subcommittee amendments, including clarifying the Bank of North Dakota as administrator, adding a means test at 400% of the federal poverty guideline, and adjusting the fiscal note to about $21.7 million for the second year. In debate, members raised concerns about the bank being assigned duties outside its normal role, the lack of DPI involvement, and whether the means test should be tiered rather than a hard cutoff. The committee rejected a do-not-pass motion 5-10-1, then approved a do-pass motion on the amended bill 9-6-1, with Senator Wobama noted as the likely carrier. The meeting ended with the chair announcing the committee would adjourn and reconvene the next morning.