Transcript Highlights:

• Chair Andrade, I noticed that for DCF, there's, well, overall in the HHS silo, there's a reduction in

Summary: The House convened with prayer, a moment of silence for former Senator Don Childers, the Pledge of Allegiance, and recognition of Officer Antonio Richardson as law enforcement officer of the day. The chamber announced it would take up 11 budget conference committee reports, with no third-reading bills or special-order calendar items. Members were reminded that conference reports were subject to debate but not amendment, and that the required review periods had been satisfied. The first major action was on HB 7031E, the tax package. Representative Duggan explained that the conference report included a mix of retained, modified, and new tax provisions, including sales tax holidays, property tax and homestead-related changes, reductions in certain gaming and carbon-related taxes, changes to child care and documentary stamp tax credits, a new refund process for public works construction tax paid by universities and colleges, and other tax administration changes. Debate focused on the bill’s consumer impact, the reduction of the child tax credit from three years to one, the inclusion of firearm accessories in a sales tax holiday, the absence of gas tax relief and combined reporting, and the homestead exemption provision for certain deployed diplomatic and foreign service personnel. Critics argued the package favored niche or corporate interests over broad affordability relief, while supporters said it provided targeted tax relief and reflected conference negotiations. The House adopted the conference report and passed HB 7031E by a vote of 88-11. The House then began presenting the conference report for HB 501E, the state budget, which totaled $114.5 billion for fiscal year 2026-27 and was described as below the prior year’s spending level while maintaining reserves. Subcommittee chairs outlined major budget areas: pre-K-12 funding included an increase in FEFP, salary increases for veteran teachers, stabilization funding, and support for declining enrollment; higher education included full Bright Futures funding, workforce programs, college operating support, university initiatives, and school guardian expansion; IT funding focused on Palm, ACCESS, APD’s I-Connect replacement, corrections systems, emergency management systems, and cybersecurity grants; health care funding covered Medicaid, nursing home rates, waiver provider increases, ADAP funding and restructuring, child welfare, and behavioral health; transportation and economic development included housing, cultural grants, jobs and rural infrastructure, Visit Florida, Space Florida, highway patrol equipment, and local transportation projects; justice funding included correctional construction, juvenile justice facilities, law enforcement grants, and clerk and due process reimbursements; state administration included fire stations, constrained counties, building maintenance, and Safe Florida Home; and agriculture/natural resources funding emphasized Everglades restoration, water quality, land acquisition, Florida Forever, state parks, and citrus research. Members then began questioning the budget details, including school voucher accountability, school funding formulas, public defender parity, prison technology, wastewater monitoring in prisons, ADAP policy, SNAP fraud controls and AI-assisted verification, Florida Forever funding, school lunch funding, and coral reef restoration. No final vote on HB 501E appears in the transcript excerpt.

Transcript Highlights:

• .<00:56:16.079> Um, Would you believe I had a conversation on Tuesday with the United States HHS

Keywords: 1191, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• representatives from the governor's office, two representatives from OMB, two representatives from HHS

Keywords: 908, all

Summary: The committee first approved the December 10 minutes and then received a DEQ base budget summary and agency overview. DEQ staff explained that the agency is largely federally and special funded, with major ongoing costs in salaries, operating expenses, grants, and continuing appropriations. Director Dave Glatt and accounting director Beth Jacobson highlighted core programs, the move to a new chemistry laboratory, the new state fuel inspection program, wastewater-related funding from HB 1577, and implementation of SB 2267 for on-site wastewater rules. They also noted the agency’s spending patterns, possible federal EPA cuts, and the likelihood of some fee adjustments or program changes if federal support declines. Members asked about DEQ’s travel, field offices, future staffing, and how the agency would respond to reduced federal regulation. DEQ said most staff are based in Bismarck, with field offices in Fargo, Sawyer, and Gwinner, and that travel is driven by inspections and spill response. Glatt said the agency would continue to rely on science and law, and that any future federal retrenchment could mean more state responsibility but likely not a wholesale increase in FTEs. The committee also discussed a feedlot enforcement case in the Minot area, with DEQ explaining its role in ensuring compliance, permitting, and animal-waste management standards. The Department of Health and Human Services then presented on FTE block grant reporting, TANF balances, child care transfers, and the Rural Health Transformation Program. Donna Ockland explained that no line-item transfers had occurred yet for the new rural health work, but about 33 positions were planned and some current staff time could be reimbursed through approved cost allocation. HHS also reviewed TANF’s frozen eligibility and block grant structure, the transfer of up to 30% of TANF funds to child care, and recent program changes that increased benefits and raised the income limit. Staff said the department is using TANF more strategically to support child care and other allowable uses, while still carrying over unused funds as many states do. Finally, Pat and HHS staff gave an update on the Rural Health Transformation Program, saying the first funding opportunity was being posted and that the state is on track to obligate the federal funds within the required timeline. They described priorities such as workforce retention, preceptor development, technical assistance for critical access hospitals, community wellness projects, and ambulance upgrades. Members asked about rural versus urban eligibility, immigrant recruitment, evaluation of year-two funding, and how the program would address varied local workforce needs. The meeting then shifted to an Office of Management and Budget update on the new State Hospital project, where Lindsay Ashley reported continued construction progress, updated cost information, and selected alternates, with photos and details showing work underway in multiple building sections.

Transcript Highlights:

• Screw Worm Directorate is doing is working across the interagency with the Department of War. or with HHS

Keywords: 1184, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• administrative strain on HHSC staff, allow for more complete and meaningful data, and it's just an HHS

Bills: HB163, HB216, HB721, HB2035, HB2038, HB3057, HB3153, HB3233, HB3595, HB3801, HB3812, HB4076, HB4129, HB4377, HB4535, HB4666, HB4730, HB4743, HB4903, HB5149, HB5155, HB1534

Keywords: epinephrine, healthcare, emergency response, administration, medical policy, health care, itemized billing, patient rights, provider regulations, Texas Health and Safety Code, cost disclosure, insurance, benefit plan, administrators, chemical dependency, treatment facilities, minor admissions, parental notice, mental health, medical licensing

Summary: The committee met without a quorum at first, then established a quorum with five members present. Members heard and left pending several House bills, including HB 4743 on allowing hospitals to license mobile stroke units under a hospital license, HB 4129 on earlier DFPS enforcement tools for single-source continuum contractors in community-based foster care, HB 4903 creating a Quad Agency Child Care Initiative to coordinate child care regulations across state agencies, HB 3812 revising the gold card/prior authorization process for physicians, HB 4535 requiring written informed consent before COVID-19 vaccination and a standardized state information sheet, and HB 4666 reducing the frequency of some HHSC reports to the legislature. The chair also noted HB 35 would be voted on later after a subcommittee back was received, and that a large number of bills would be heard the next day. Most of the testimony focused on HB 4535 and HB 4730. On HB 4535, supporters argued the bill would strengthen informed consent for COVID vaccination by requiring written consent and clearer state-level information about risks, manufacturer liability protections, and adverse-event reporting; opponents, including a pediatrician and medical groups, said existing federal and state informed-consent materials already cover these topics and warned the bill could create duplicative paperwork and penalties. On HB 3812, the Texas Medical Association supported changes that would extend the gold-card evaluation period to one year, raise transparency, and make prior authorization exemptions easier to administer, while health plans said they were neutral and viewed the bill as a balance between reducing burden and preventing fraud or unsafe care. HB 4730 drew extensive testimony from adoption professionals, birth mothers, adoptive parents, and child welfare advocates. The bill would require DFPS to create a relinquishment form, train child-placing agency staff, and extend the minimum waiting period for voluntary relinquishment from 48 hours to seven days. Supporters of the current law argued the 48-hour period aligns with hospital discharge, allows informed decisions, and helps birth parents and adoptive families begin healing and bonding without pushing children into foster care or creating legal and Medicaid complications. The author said the bill would be revised and that the seven-day provision was a work in progress. No votes were taken on the bills during the meeting; each bill was left pending after public testimony closed.

Transcript Highlights:

• In addition, of the audits that have been done by HHS, 68 out of 90 have shown illegal diversion of 340B

Bills: HB712, HB722, HB946, HB1687, HB1809, HB1899, HB2528, HB2583, HB2741, HB2750, HB3021, HB3150, HB3265, HB3658, HB3812, HB3960, HB4392, HB4432

Keywords: prostate cancer, health benefit plans, insurance coverage, cost sharing, preventive health care, auto insurance, total loss evaluation, disclosure, insurance materials, vehicle appraisal, HB 946, Texas Insurance Code, automobile insurance claims, oral release, written release, settlement agreement, claim release, property damage, bodily injury, psychological injury

Transcript Highlights:

• Anderson, and then of course Matt Freeman from the Association of Minnesota Counties, and he's the HHS

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• HHS is running a little long today.”

Keywords: 1191, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• The last time I testified in the interim session for the Senate HHS Committee, it was after Hurricane
• HHS will be designing four new transparency reports.

Keywords: 1185, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• None of us have a real background in HHS, and so when we got into the nitty-gritty about how to redesign
• None of us have a real background in HHS, and so when we got into the nitty-gritty about how to redesign

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• Um, so that HHS can come up with a uniform manner in which to do that.
• Chief of Staff at HHS under President Trump during his first term.

Bills: HB3902, HB4420, HB3269, HB469, HB336, HB316, HB5396, HB993, HB1342, HB5216, HB2046, HB2188, HB2450, HB2813, HB2857, HB4075, HB2911, HB4682, HB3117, HB3253, HB3442, HB4820, HB4336, HB5356, HB3669, HB3428, HB5465, HB3662, HB2590, HB2288, HB1886, HB3458, HB5603, HB5620, HB1489, HB4101, HB4990, HB5685, HB4950, HB4980, HB5684, HB3507, HB3566, HB4487, HB4462, HB4876, HB4915, HB4663, HB5570, HB2929, HB5261, HB2920, HB4642, HB4746, HB1609, HB5403, HB5453, HB3844, HB2336, HB1572, HB 1226, HB2806, HB2617, HB2827, HB3948, HB3945, HB4266, HB4542, HB3319, HB1772, HB2496, HB1970, HB3434, HB5545, HB5577, HCR59, HCR135, HB4, HB46, HB3221, HB1403, HB3892, HB4234, HB722, HB4105, HB4413, HB170, HB551, HB3053, HB3142, HB3180, HB3722, HB1794, HB1784, HB1581, HB2530, HB4308, HB1896, HB2974, HB3359, HB4580, HB2458, HB2215, HB3332, HB2278, HB3015, HB3151, HB1368, HB40, HB 101, HB 112, HB146, HB214, HB413, HB1523, HB493, HB521, HB594, HB557, HB305, HB549, HB854, HB 1057, HB 1052, HB842, HB3174, HB3196, HB824, HB 1039, HB2529, HB2713, HB4936, HB4995, HB4830, HB4864, HB5219, HB5263, HB5154, HB2674, HB5525, SB529, SB541, SB2004, SB1012, SB2269, SB1886, SB1236, SB693, SB2308, HB2486, HB4862, HB4689, HB4520, HB2225, HB168, HJR218, HB4921, HB5623, HB2494, HB2545, HB2587, HB2625, HB5520, HB5436, HB4926, HB1573, HB5165, HB4811, HB5081, HB4755, HB3179, HB4310, HB4611, HB2159, HB4626, HB3637, HB3153, HB3066, HB2786, HB2966, HB638, HB640, HB876, HB497, HB5539, HB4809, HB5308, HB4687, HB4070, HB4421, HB4412, HB3284, HB3369, HB3420, HB3449, HB4098, HB4281, HB4120, HB4504, HB4370, HB 1106, HB2370, HB2404, HB3863, HB2407, HB2253, HB2273, HB2040, HB1586, HB3788, HB3993, HB4690, HB4309, HB4696, HB2308, HB 1142, HB1533, HB1621, HB2242, HB2012, HB2193, HB2442, HB2464, HB2348, HB2313, HB2289, HB1942, HB2011, HB1629, HB2993, HB3592, HB3824, HB4076, HB4535, HB4623, HB4773, HB 1091, HB5115, HB5515, HB3372, HB5659, HB 127, HB386, HB 115, HB2868, HB 1249, HB4766, HB3720, HB4656, HB4879, HB 105, HB5383, HB4621, HB5431, HB5678, HB5534, HB4174, HB4212, HB3954, HB3966, HB3636, HB3918, HB1422, HB4765, HB4732, HB4742, HB5122, HB4518, HB5084, HB3986, HB4045, HB4144, HB3911, HB3976, HB4473, HB3425, HB3641, HB3642, HB3475, HB3509, HB3424, HB3383, HB4744, HB4531, HB4539, HB3159, HB5228, HB5370, HB4359, HB4398, HB4443, HB4466, HB3861, HB3849, HB4240, HB4706, HB4685, HB5354, HB5141, HB5686, HB3629, HB3554, HB3567, HB2015, HB3575, HB5381, HB1431, HB3514, HB4614, HB4546, HB4683, HB5681, HB5673, HB5663, HB4271, HB4350, HB4035, HB3807, HB3812, HB3552, HB3540, HB3715, HB3710, HB3664, HB4196, HB4233, HB4173, HB1998, HB3333, HB3510, HB4222, HB2070, HB2854, HB2347, HB 113, HB983, HB4847, HB1449, HB3833, HB5151, HB265, HB1845, HB782, HB 108, HB1960, HB158, HB1954, HB1955, HB2512, HB605, HB2581, HB2803, HB627, HB2667, HB1738, HB636, HB3679, HB2638, HB2655, HB871, HB2438, HB 1107, HB1765, HB1822, HB2153, HB4099, HB3732, HB3171, HB3178, HB3182, HB3749, HB2814, HB3977, HB4204, HB4207, HB4449, HB1820, HB1876, HB1939, HB1347, HB2593, HB2136, HB2132, HB2658, HB2413, HB2757, HB2080, HB3154, HB3063, HB3009, HB3448, HB3006, HB2844, HB3241, HB3680, HB3169, HB2078, HB2507, HB4559, HB3946, HB3460, HB3405, HB475, HB3463, HB3441, HB3520, HB2060, HB4731, HB4991, HB1991, HB5596, HB2014, HB2142, HB2673, HB2731, HB2417, HB2399, HB2301, HB3335, HB3234, HB3320, HB5573, HB4848, HB4748, HB4769, HB4795, HB2086, HB2234, HB2203, HB4916, HB5624, HB4505, HB139, HB5093, HB5302, HB5402, HB5606, HB2333, HB4630, HB4701, HB2583, HB2983, HB4924, HB3339, HB3793, HB3631, HB4882, HB5509, HB5499, HB5430, HB5561, HB5611, HB5043, HB5064, HB3733, HB3781, HB3219, HB32, HB4515, HB5348, HB3902, HB4420, HB3269, HB469, HB336, HB316, HB5396, HB993, HB1342, HB5216, HB2046, HB2188, HB2450, HB2813, HB2857, HB4075, HB2911, HB4682, HB3117, HB3253, HB3442, HB4820, HB4336, HB5356, HB3669, HB3428, HB5465, HB3662, HB2590, HB2288, HB1886, HB3458, HB5603, HB5620, HB1489, HB4101, HB4990, HB5685, HB4950, HB4980, HB5684, HB3507, HB3566, HB4487, HB4462, HB4876, HB4915, HB4663, HB5570, HB2929, HB5261, HB2920, HB4642, HB4746, HB1609, HB5403, HB5453, HB3844, HB2336, HB1572, HB 1226, HB2806, HB2617, HB2827, HB3948, HB3945, HB4266, HB4542, HB3319, HB1772, HB2496, HB1970, HB3434, HB5545, HB5577, HCR76, HCR127, HCR9, HCR40, HCR118, HR559, HCR59, HCR135

Keywords: Medicaid, reimbursement, nursing facilities, ownership change, healthcare policy, mental health, psychiatric beds, inpatient psychiatric treatment, acute psychiatric care, bed availability, bed capacity, hospital reporting, HHSC, Health and Human Services Commission, state hospitals, private mental health facilities, civil commitment, competency restoration, not guilty by reason of insanity, jail diversion

Transcript Highlights:

• That's the HHS jurisdiction, you know, and so—but I'm glad you're bringing that up because I want you
• It's in the HHS side of it, but you're... it's good.

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• equip on a bipartisan basis information that we can get to the bottom of this and hopefully, because HHS
• equip on a bipartisan basis information that we can get to the bottom of this and hopefully, because HHS

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• So I discussed it with the Medicaid department at HHS.
• the Medicaid discussed it with um the Medicaid department<01:46:42.000> at<01:46:42.320> HHS
• agreed<01:46:44.000> to<01:46:44.239> just<01:46:44.639> do department at HHS
• . we agreed to just do department at HHS. we agreed to just do the<01:46:45.199> Medicaid<01:46
• I'm going to have to leave it to HHS to walk through that.

Keywords: 1189, house, all

Keywords: U.S. House of Representatives Floor Proceedings on Monday, April 7, 2025, 1012, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• So that’s on lines 15 and 16 of this amendment, where it reads from general funds appropriated to HHS
• Um, Representative Priest, I know this is after the fact, but is there someone from HHS who could give
• after the fact, but is is there someone after the fact, but is is there someone from<01:46:46.119> HHS
• 01:46:48.159> a<01:46:48.480> number Representative Priest asked whether someone from HHS

Keywords: 928, house, all

Summary: The Division 3 work session focused largely on amendment 1176 to HB 2, which would have incorporated the substance of HB 548FN, a House-passed bill creating a direct-pay or membership-based model for health care facilities. Representative Mlan described the proposal as a way to increase competition in health care by extending the direct-care model used in primary care to facilities, arguing it could encourage innovation and that concerns about widespread harm to critical access hospitals were overstated. He pointed to Oklahoma’s long-standing Surgical Center model as evidence that the approach had not spread broadly or displaced hospitals there. Several members and witnesses raised concerns. Representative Stringham questioned whether the model would shift profitable services and patients away from existing hospitals, potentially worsening their finances and affecting Medicaid-related funding. David Ross, speaking for county nursing homes, opposed the language because it also removed moratoriums on nursing home, skilled nursing, inpatient rehabilitation, and self-pay beds, warning that it could increase pressure on Medicaid rates and undermine community-based care. Ben Bradley of the New Hampshire Hospital Association said the proposal appeared to create a separate regulatory framework for direct-pay facilities and raised concerns about patient safety, CMS participation rules, and a separate patient bill of rights. The chair concluded that, because HB 548 was already moving through the Senate, the HB 2 process was not the best vehicle for the policy and that the issue should be left to the Senate’s more deliberative committee process. Representative Ferski moved to not accept or remove amendment 1176 from the agenda, and the committee approved the motion by roll call, 9-0, withdrawing the item from HB 2.

Transcript Highlights:

• What I'd like to do today, and just what we've done in the past, we've had HHS in here and we had Henry
• /c><03:10:01.920> past,<03:10:02.240> we've<03:10:02.560> had<03:10:03.200> HHS
• <03:10:03.840> in We've done in the past, we've had HHS in here and we had Henry Lipman explain

Keywords: 928, house, all

Summary: The committee first took up SB 209, which would require schools seeking building aid for construction or reconstruction projects to use an owner’s project manager. The chair explained an amendment that would remove the bill’s requirement that the manager be engaged before application and instead revert to current law, while updating the project threshold from the older $1 million figure to a more current amount and clarifying that the manager’s role is to protect the project owner’s interests. Members asked about the cost of hiring a project manager over several years before a project is funded, the 1.5% fee in rule, and whether the rules already define the manager’s duties. The chair said the amendment addressed those concerns by leaving the timing to current law and relying on existing administrative rules for qualifications and responsibilities. The committee then voted 18-0 to adopt the amendment and 18-0 to recommend SB 209 OTPA, placing it on the consent calendar. The committee then moved to SB 99, which concerns allowing students enrolled in career and technical education programs at receiving comprehensive high schools to take additional academic courses there. The chair said the bill was intended to make it easier for students to access CTE without being blocked by scheduling conflicts in their sending schools, and to clarify how agreements between sending and receiving districts would work. He described concerns about the bill’s cost formula, transportation, part-time versus full-time status, and whether the proposal could unintentionally create open-enrollment or athletic-transfer issues. He said the amendment would mirror existing treatment for homeschool and charter school students, use a familiar funding model, and limit participation to students already enrolled in one or more CTE classes at the receiving school. The chair also emphasized that comprehensive high schools already have a statutory definition and that the bill would help more students participate in CTE, which he said currently reaches only a relatively small share of students statewide. He noted that transportation would be covered only when a CTE bus is available, otherwise students would be responsible for arranging travel as under current practice. After brief discussion, the committee voted 18-0 to adopt the amendment and 18-0 to recommend SB 99 OTPA, also placing it on the consent calendar.

Transcript Highlights:

• Would HHS be able to play an important role in ensuring supply on the Big Island?
• looking at thank you um would HHS C be looking at thank you um would HHS C be able<01:54:23.000> to

Keywords: 910, house, all

Summary: The joint hearing opened with House Bill 1462 on crisis services. Testimony from the Department of Law Enforcement, the Community Alliance on Prisons, and the Department of Health supported expanding behavioral health crisis services as an alternative to arrest or incarceration. Witnesses said additional crisis sites would help divert people in mental health crisis to appropriate care, and the Department of Health described its current crisis center in Ewa, including the need for renovations such as a padded room and the time required to get the facility operational. In response to questions, the department estimated the Ewa center’s budgeted cost at about $4.3 million, not including rent or startup repairs, and said a second site’s cost would depend on whether it was freestanding or attached to an existing facility. The committee then heard House Bill 700 on cognitive assessments. The Executive Office on Aging supported the bill’s intent but asked that it be amended to make assessments optional rather than mandated, to pilot the program first, and to allow flexibility in handling HIPAA-protected data. SHPDA also supported the measure but said it should not be mandatory and suggested that payers reimburse for assessments when requested by patients, families, or physicians. The Alzheimer’s Association and caregivers strongly supported standardizing cognitive assessments to improve early detection and access to newer treatments, while noting the existing opt-out provision. The Hawaii State Council on Developmental Disabilities supported the bill but asked that the age 65 threshold be removed because cognitive decline can begin much earlier for people with Down syndrome, autism, traumatic brain injury, stroke, and related conditions. In response to a question, the Office on Aging said a pilot project could likely be done for about $150,000, with data security being the main added cost. The final bill discussed was House Bill 237 on peer support programs. Testimony from Family Hui Hawaii, Early Childhood Action Strategy, peer support workers, and families described peer-to-peer programs as a cost-effective way to reduce isolation, strengthen families, and provide long-term community support. Speakers said these programs help parents and caregivers navigate crises, child welfare involvement, addiction recovery, and other challenges, and can have lasting benefits for children’s development and family stability. Several witnesses tied the bill to broader state goals, including infant and early childhood mental health, trauma-informed care, and child welfare reform. Written testimony from about a dozen organizations and individuals was also noted in support.

Transcript Highlights:

• I guess I was under the impression that we would have, like, the department heads of HHS here for if

Summary: The Tribal and State Relations Committee met at Standing Rock and heard extensive comments from tribal council members, state legislators, and tribal program leaders about ongoing state-tribal coordination issues. Early discussion focused on the committee’s purpose, the need for better communication, and frustration that the meeting agenda and time allotted did not include enough state department heads or program experts to address child welfare, ICWA, Medicaid, and other human services concerns. Tribal leaders emphasized that Standing Rock wants more direct, regular communication and more practical follow-through from prior meetings. A major theme was health and human services, including concerns that the state’s rural health transformation efforts and human service zone structure do not fit tribal needs, especially for a direct-service tribe that relies on federal funding and Indian Health Service. Members also raised foster care delays, housing shortages that force children off-reservation, substance abuse treatment capacity, and the need for cultural competency in child welfare and education. Other issues included missing and murdered Indigenous people, law enforcement cooperation, extradition and banishment ordinances, cross-deputization, roads, water and sewer infrastructure, census accuracy, and the need for updated lists of tribal liaisons and bills affecting tribes. Economic development and sovereignty issues were also discussed. Standing Rock leaders raised concerns about e-pull-tabs and charitable gaming, saying state regulation has reduced tribal gaming revenue and that e-tabs should be treated as Class III gaming. They also objected to county-issued fireworks and liquor permits that affect reservation communities, arguing that state and county authority often conflicts with tribal sovereignty. In response, legislators said e-tabs and charitable gaming were likely to return as legislative issues and suggested possible solutions such as restricting e-tabs near tribal lands. The committee also discussed the need for more information on tribal-related bills and for legislators to receive cultural and treaty training. Several tribal projects and programs were presented. Joseph McNeil described Sage Development Authority’s 235-megawatt wind project, which is paused because of federal permitting delays, and asked for state support to move it forward. Dave Arshambo described Wojou’s land regeneration, buffalo, food sovereignty, youth, and wellness programs. Later, Cheryl Carey of Sacred Pipe Resource Center introduced the needs of the urban Native population in Bismarck-Mandan and statewide, noting that many Native people live off-reservation and often fall through the cracks in state-tribal discussions. The committee adjourned for lunch and planned to continue with additional presentations afterward.

Transcript Highlights:

• I guess I was under the impression that we would have, like, the department heads of HHS here for if

Summary: The Tribal and State Relations Committee met at Standing Rock with tribal council members, state legislators, and agency representatives to discuss state-tribal coordination and local priorities. Early discussion focused on process concerns, including the short agenda time and the need for better communication, more advance notice, and more relevant state department staff at future meetings. Tribal leaders asked for lists of state tribal liaisons and bills affecting tribes, and state members said they would follow up, share grant and deadline information, and plan another meeting in Bismarck with program experts and agency staff. A major portion of the meeting centered on health, child welfare, law enforcement, housing, infrastructure, and sovereignty issues. Tribal speakers said rural health transformation funding and other state programs often do not fit direct-service tribes or IHS-funded systems, and they raised concerns about Medicaid, ICWA, foster care delays, human service zones, housing shortages, and the placement of Native children off-reservation. They also discussed missing and murdered Indigenous people, search-and-rescue cooperation, cross-deputization, extradition and banishment ordinances, and the need for stronger law enforcement partnerships that respect tribal sovereignty. Other concerns included poor roads, water and sewer needs in Sioux County communities, census accuracy, and the impact of data centers and other development on water and health. Economic development and regulatory issues were also discussed. Standing Rock representatives raised concerns about charitable gaming and e-pull tabs, saying the machines function like Class III gaming and have harmed tribal revenue while spreading into local businesses. They also described problems with county-issued fireworks permits and state/county liquor licensing rules that they said undermine tribal authority within reservation boundaries. In response, legislators said the committee would continue to look at these issues, and one member suggested possible legislation such as limiting e-tabs near tribal lands. The committee also heard from Joseph McNeil of Sage Development Authority about a 235-megawatt wind project on tribal, allotted, and fee land; he said federal permitting delays have stalled the project and asked for state support to help move it forward. The meeting concluded with a presentation from Dave Archambo of Wojou, a nonprofit focused on land regeneration, buffalo, food sovereignty, cultural programming, and youth wellness. He described the organization’s work on buffalo processing, gardening, fishing, hunting, language, and arts programs, and framed it as a response to historical trauma and community healing. The committee then broke for lunch and planned to resume with the Wojou presentation after the recess.