Transcript Highlights:

• It was launched this last weekend, and it continues to work in the northbound lanes for 2026.
• Both maintenance and operations and preservation need to be fully funded.
• Both maintenance and operations and preservation need to be fully funded to keep the system running in
• We'd remind folks that the ports of Tacoma and Seattle launched the Northwest Ports Clean Air Strategy
• That's farmers, truck drivers, vessel operators, dock workers, and more.

Bills: HB2306

Committee: House Transportation

Keywords: transportation budget, capital budget, operating budget, appropriations, Washington State Department of Transportation, WSDOT, Washington State Patrol, Department of Licensing, ferry funding, state ferries, highway maintenance, road preservation, bridge replacement, tolling, express toll lanes, traffic safety, speed cameras, ignition interlock, transit grants, public transit

Transcript Highlights:

• It launched this last weekend, and it continues to work in the northbound lanes for 2026.
• Both maintenance and operations and preservation need to be fully funded.
• Both maintenance and operations and preservation need to be fully funded to keep the system running in
• Cities own and operate a significant part of the transportation system in the state, and they also face
• That's farmers, truck drivers, vessel operators, dock workers, and more.

Summary: The Transportation Committee heard a presentation from WSDOT Secretary Julie Meredith on the agency’s mission, 2025 accomplishments, and 2026 priorities. Meredith emphasized preservation, safety, emergency response, ferry reliability, culvert replacement, and major projects such as the I-5 Ship Canal Bridge work, North Spokane Corridor, Confluence Parkway, and the Interstate Bridge Replacement Program. She highlighted the state’s aging transportation assets, recent storm and flood damage, bridge strikes, and the need for additional preservation funding, including the governor’s proposed $1 billion investment in Washington State Ferries and continued work on the World Cup and future regional growth planning. Members asked about ferry service disruptions, rising IBR costs, staffing needs, aviation assets, and bridge-strike certainty tied to the Coast Guard’s upcoming decision on bridge clearance requirements. The committee then received a briefing on HB 2306, the governor’s supplemental transportation budget, which totals $16.7 billion and increases the enacted budget by about $1.2 billion, with most of the increase directed to WSDOT capital spending. OFM staff said the proposal is driven by preservation, maintenance, and ferry needs, and relies on about $3.1 billion in bonding against transportation revenues, while staying below the Treasurer’s coverage ratio. The proposal includes $2 billion for preservation, $164 million for paving this summer, $756 million for paving over 10 years, $250 million for maintenance, $150 million for preserving existing ferries, $15 million for Lower Columbia River dredging, and smaller investments for WSP communications, DOL access, and local road grants. Committee members asked about debt service, remaining bonding capacity, and the impact of office closures and ferry service reductions. Public testimony was largely supportive of the governor’s budget, especially its preservation and ferry investments. Local officials and associations backed ferry funding, local road grants, pavement and bridge preservation, and the Columbia River dredging match. Several speakers urged more support for cities and counties, while rail and transit advocates asked for more rail capital funding and less highway expansion. One ferry advocate criticized the cost of hybrid-electric vessel maintenance compared with diesel, and another witness warned against a pay-per-mile tax. The hearing ended without a vote, and the chair announced a short caucus before adjournment.

Transcript Highlights:

• We've partnered with Western Union to launch their new stablecoin, USDP.
• their new stable Western Union to launch their new stable coin<00:31:34.320><c> USDP.
• Because we issue this under Reg A, we maintain a PCAOB audit on our operations.
• So if it's peer-to-peer is all you operate in and that's all you're going to need it for.
• It's basically, you know, automating operational processes to get that there.

Summary: The commission met to review stable tokens, real-world asset tokenization, and blockchain-based trust, approved the agenda and December 12 minutes, and heard a presentation from Anchorage Digital after postponing a planned Bitco presentation because of its IPO quiet period. Anchorage’s Melinda Delos, Joe Mioli, and Kevin Wasaki introduced the firm, describing it as a global digital assets platform and the first crypto-native institution in the U.S. to receive a federal banking charter. They said their approach emphasizes security, regulated custody and trading services, and responsible innovation for institutional clients, banks, states, and sovereigns. The presentation focused on post-Genius Act momentum in the stablecoin market. Anchorage said the law provided regulatory clarity and helped spur activity with major clients, including Athena, Tether, and Western Union. The speakers highlighted Western Union’s planned stablecoin as especially significant because it reflects adoption by a long-established traditional payments company, and they said the project illustrates how stablecoins can support programmable, real-time, interoperable payments. They also noted that Anchorage is providing issuance infrastructure for the Western Union project. The commission and presenters also discussed government uses of tokenized assets, including reserve legislation, digital assets for tax collection and fees, and a Marshall Islands initiative to use a tokenized sovereign bond for direct citizen payments. In response to a question, Anchorage said it would follow up on which states are using digital assets for revenue collection, mentioning Louisiana and Pennsylvania as examples. The banking discussion centered on remittances, instant payments, and interbank settlement, with Anchorage arguing that stablecoins can reduce settlement time, fees, and foreign exchange risk while improving traceability and auditability.

Transcript Highlights:

• to ask too, on page 3, number 14, the first line there: Any member of a commission appointed or operating
• protection that businesses need to understand that there's a fair and just judicial system that they're operating
• But page 3, line 14, “any member of a commission appointed or operating under Article 5, Section 25D
• the Angelman Syndrome Clinic at Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, started by families who launched
• The clinic was started by families who launched a nonprofit called Maddie's mission and host a block

Committees: House Emerging Issues , House Emerging Issues and Professional Registration

Transcript Highlights:

• the disclosure of their own data for internships, jobs, or other opportunities as they prepare to launch
• without access to these resources is a disservice at a time when they already face challenges in launching
• Finally, the express addition of the broad private right of action subjects College Board and other operators
• Existing law appropriately accounts for foreseeable technical and operational constraints by allowing
• So from an operational perspective right now, you would probably need to withdraw your name from the

Committee: House Privacy and Consumer Protection

Transcript Highlights:

• So, we were prepared to launch the performing arts grants program.
• </c><00:24:27.120><c> the</c> were prepared to um launch the were prepared to um launch the performing
• [laughter] &gt;&gt; Please<00:39:45.920><c> cease</c><00:39:46.400><c> operations</c><00:39:47.280><c
• > and</c><00:39:47.599><c> leave</c><00:39:47.920><c> the</c> &gt;&gt; Please cease operations and leave
• Please cease operations and leave the building utilizing the nearest exit. Thank you, Gordon.

Transcript Highlights:

• Now, when Governor Patton launched launched launched his<00:09:21.800><c> reform</c><00:09:22.280><c>
• </c><00:20:06.400><c> in</c> 2008-2009 so we were really operating in 2008-2009 so we were really operating
• So, you can see that we to operate.
• So, a lot of things but was very much from the viewpoint of me operating a campus at the time.
• at the time. me operating a campus at the time.

Summary: The House Postsecondary Education Committee held its first-ever meeting and first meeting of the session, with Chairman Tipton outlining committee procedures, attendance rules, and the process for submitting committee substitutes. After a roll call confirmed full attendance, the committee heard a presentation from Senator David Givens on the history and purpose of Kentucky’s performance-based funding model for postsecondary education. Givens said the model was created to replace an older “shares” approach that distributed funds based largely on prior-year allocations, and argued the new system better aligns funding with student success and the state’s long-term educational attainment goals. Council for Postsecondary Education President Aaron Thompson and CPE staff then explained the model in more detail. They said the system was designed to address long-standing funding disparities among institutions, reward outcomes such as degrees, credit-hour progression, and completion in high-demand fields, and support the state’s “60 by 30” goal of having 60% of Kentuckians hold a postsecondary credential by 2030. Thompson said Kentucky is now at 56.2% attainment, above the national average, and highlighted gains in graduation and retention rates, lower student borrowing, and improved completion outcomes. He also emphasized that the model is part of a broader strategy that includes affordability, adult learners, low-income students, and wrap-around support services. CPE staff described the work group process that developed and periodically revises the model, noting that the General Assembly created the framework in House Bill 303 and later enacted Senate Bill 153 and Senate Bill 191 to codify changes. They explained that in 2016 the legislature carved out about 5% of institutional budgets, roughly $43 million, to be redistributed through the new model, and that the model has been reviewed every three years with changes made each time. Recent revisions included increasing the student-success weight, adding a premium for low-income students, creating a premium for adult learners, and redefining underrepresented students as first-generation college students. No votes were taken at this meeting, and the committee adjourned after the informational presentation and discussion.

Transcript Highlights:

• After our system launched in quarter two and quarter three, it's stabilized.
• After the quarter two Helms launch, the department's ratio was just at 62 percent, which means that we
• We saw approximately through quarter two when our new licensing system Helms was launched.
• After our system launched in quarter two and quarter three, it's stabilized.
• After the quarter to Helms launch, the department's ratio was just at 62 percent, which means that we're

Summary: The Senate State Government, Tribal Affairs & Elections Committee met on January 16, 2026, and took executive action on four measures before moving to public hearings on two bills. The committee held Senate Bill 5842 for further discussion, then considered Senate Concurrent Resolution 8406, Senate Bill 5825, Senate Bill 5863, and Senate Bill 5840. SCR 8406 would reestablish the Joint Select Committee on Civic Health and was advanced unanimously to the Rules Committee. SB 5825, which authorizes the Washington State Leadership Board to solicit gifts, grants, and endowments, was amended with a technical change and then advanced. SB 5863, extending the moratorium on destruction of Lakeland Village records and addressing access to certain historical records, also advanced without opposition. SB 5840, which changes campaign finance expenditure reporting schedules, was amended to adjust the implementation date to January 1, 2028 and then advanced after the committee waived the amendment publishing rule due to the short session timeline. The committee then heard Senate Bill 5827, sponsored by Senator Gildon, which would allow veterans to use a pre-discharge certification to claim civil service preference before receiving a DD-214. Staff explained the bill and clarified that the underlying qualifying discharge categories would remain unchanged. Senator Gildon said the bill was prompted by a constituent who could not access preference points before leaving active duty, and the Veterans Legislative Coalition testified in strong support. The hearing record noted 40 people signed in in favor and two opposed. Finally, the committee heard Senate Bill 5968, sponsored by Senator Krishna Dawson, which would codify and expand the governor’s executive order on permitting and licensing timelines, require agencies to publish processing deadlines, phase in coverage of all credentials by 2030, and authorize fee refunds if deadlines are missed. The sponsor and staff said the bill is intended to improve predictability, accountability, and customer service, while agency flexibility would remain through OIRA. Support testimony came from the governor’s office, cosmetology, labor, construction trades, ports, business, and the Department of Health, all emphasizing delays’ impacts on jobs, projects, and access to care. The Department of Health reported substantial recent reductions in licensing times and said it lacked authority to issue refunds without the bill. The hearing closed with 26 people signed in, including supporters and opponents.

Transcript Highlights:

• Today's hearing covers the Office of the State Public Defender and the Judicial Branch operations.
• And has going through this process helped the overall court operations?
• Has going through this process helped the overall court operations?
• Courts compete in the same labor market as counties, yet we operate at a structural disadvantage.
• It's only limited to their operations.

Summary: The Senate Budget Subcommittee on Corrections, Public Safety, Judiciary, Labor, and Transportation heard presentations on the Office of the State Public Defender, civil legal aid funding, and Judicial Branch operations. The State Public Defender requested permanent funding for positions that had been temporarily funded to implement the Racial Justice Act, explaining that the workload has grown substantially through retroactive capital-case briefing, habeas proceedings, data requests, and related statistical analysis. She also presented findings from a public defense workload and staffing report showing that California’s county-based public defense system is under-resourced, with too few attorneys, investigators, and support staff, especially in rural counties, and that statewide standards and funding are lacking. Committee members asked about the scope of racial bias claims, the impact of collaborative courts and Prop. 36, and the need for statewide cost estimates and phased funding options. The committee then heard from legal aid advocates and a Los Angeles Superior Court judge in support of increased civil legal aid funding. Witnesses described the Equal Access Fund, homelessness prevention services, health care access, and immigration detention defense as cost-effective ways to prevent evictions, stabilize families, and reduce downstream public costs. They requested a $50 million increase to the Equal Access Fund, $20 million to restart homelessness prevention services, and $10 million for health care access work, along with additional targeted investments from the California Access to Justice Commission. Testimony emphasized the severe shortage of legal aid attorneys, the high demand for immigration representation, and the role of legal aid in domestic violence, housing, and family law matters. Senators asked for more information on service locations, outreach, funding losses, and how the requested amounts were calculated. In the Judicial Branch overview, Judicial Council and trial court representatives supported the Governor’s proposed budget, including a $70 million increase for trial court operations, $21.7 million for employee health and retirement costs, and funding for appellate counsel and case processing. They said the money is needed to offset inflation, supply chain costs, and staffing pressures, and to preserve access to justice. Senators pressed the branch and Department of Finance on interpreter shortages, midyear funding flexibility, courthouse facilities needs, and judgeship needs in inland counties. Finance officials said they were aware of the broader facilities backlog, and the committee requested follow-up information on the full capital and maintenance needs, interpreter funding, and updated judgeship and workload data. No formal votes were taken during the hearing.

Transcript Highlights:

• We operate several funding programs that award grants to New Mexico startups, uh, and businesses establishing
• For example, uh, in FY 23, the EDD Office of Science and Technology operated only two grants, the SBIR
• and it was all about the programming that we have that you see here with running our new space, uh, launch

Transcript Highlights:

• Masking bans do not interfere with law enforcement operations.
• They apply to active undercover operations instead of just undercover operations, with no clarification
• They apply to tactical operations, not just regular operations, and there's a distinction and a difference
• operations in the same manner.
• We did not launch the Drive Right, Save Lives campaign to punish anyone.

Committee: House Public Safety

Transcript Highlights:

• ,</c><02:01:10.400><c> she</c> state and foreign operations, she state and foreign operations, she championed
• <c> to</c><02:50:09.040><c> have</c><02:50:09.120><c> an</c> operation are estimated to have an operation
• F-18s launch second strike package.
• <c> pi</c> launched first strike pi launched first strike pi package<02:58:20.439><c> and</c> thereafter
• Now all of this was intended launched.

Transcript Highlights:

• that were... ...to the tax credit only to those operations that were issued an IRB, industrial revenue
• We are an end-to-end space company that designs, builds, launches, and operates both rockets and satellites
• launch sides.
• Yet these assets operate in parallel rather than in concert.
• Yet these assets operate in parallel rather than in concert.

Committee: House House Commerce & Economic Development Committee

Transcript Highlights:

• New Orleans operates under a home rule charter, and so the parishes do as well. Good point.
• So as an example, if an adversary launched a nuclear weapon over, say, New York...
• If they launched it over California, over Dallas, it doesn’t matter.
• The two that serve Louisiana are the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, or MISO, and Southwest
• The two that serve Louisiana are the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, or MISO, and Southwest

Bills: HB241 , HB267 , HB467 , HB673 , HB744 , HB798 , HB1026 , HB1027 , HB1091 , HB1096 , HB1103 , HB1212 , HB1230

Committees: House Commerce , House Commerce, Consumer Protection, and International Affairs

Keywords: financial records, consumer protection, banking law, disclosure, service of process, home inspectors, board membership, licensing, term limits, Louisiana State Board, residential roof, coastal zone, fortified roof, building standards, construction code, insurance, hurricane resilience, safety, security cameras, abandoned property

Transcript Highlights:

• Justin brings to the role of executive director a rare combination of operational experience, business
• Right now, we're launching a project where we're trying to reinitiate Second Chance Pell Grants.
• The bill in question, the operative language that we're looking for, there's, I want to say, 35 pages
• The bill in question, the operative language that we're looking for, there's, I want to say, 35 pages
• The bill in question, the operative language that we're looking for, there's, I want to say, 35 pages

Bills: HB4125 , HB2951 , HB3082 , HB4142 , HB4106 , HB1752 , HB3268

Committee: Senate Public Safety

Summary: The Public Safety Committee met to consider several executive nominations and a series of bills. The committee advanced Joel Franks to the Polygraph Examiner Board, Julie Pittman to a full term on the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control Commission, and Justin Ferris to serve as Director of Corrections. Each nominee was introduced by a sponsoring senator, gave brief remarks, and was advanced on unanimous or near-unanimous roll calls. On legislation, the committee passed House Bill 4125, which would restore certain rights to nonviolent felons after completion of sentence and includes an expungement component; members focused heavily on whether the language could unintentionally allow firearm possession by people still on probation or deferred sentences, and the author said he would work with staff on clarifying language. House Bill 2951, as amended, renamed a correctional facility after Chief James Smith; House Bill 3082 barred sex offenders from serving as firefighters; and House Bill 4142 expanded the crime involving unlawful use of bombs or explosives to include conspiracy. All three advanced with little opposition. The committee also passed House Bill 4106, which lowers the grand larceny threshold by $100 and adds an escalator for repeated thefts, though the author struck the title to continue working with the Attorney General’s office on retail theft issues. Members debated whether the change conflicted with the voter-approved theft threshold and whether it would meaningfully deter crime. House Bill 1752 exempted the Attorney General’s Office and the District Attorneys Council from the OMES vehicle requisition process and passed unanimously. House Bill 3268 made knowingly displaying a false or fictitious license plate a felony; members questioned its scope, including whether it could affect temporary tags or other situations, and it passed on a 5-3 vote.

Transcript Highlights:

• -1207, Idaho Code, to establish provisions regarding a return-on-investment analysis of the Idaho Launch
• 1207, Idaho Code, to establish provisions regarding a return on investment analysis of the Idaho launch
• Many of those sewer districts operate out of our state and are used to some regulation by private or
• to emphasize this is an enhancement for 2027, but more importantly, it's the necessary tools and operations
• ensure that the Idaho Department of Transportation can provide for the maintenance and continued operations

Transcript Highlights:

• Just launched right in. I should have caught that. My apologies. Senator Gainer. Thank you, Mr.
• Just launched right in. I should have caught that. My apologies. Senator Gainer. Thank you, Mr.
• It says operating expenditures, Department of Commerce, and then Department of Ecology.
• It says operating expenditures, Department of Commerce, and then Department of Ecology.
• So just at a high level, districts have expressed some operational costs or operational concerns that

Summary: The Senate Local Government Committee waived the five-day notice rule and then took up two House bills. HB 2418 would tighten and expand permit-review timelines for residential projects, including requiring “procedural completeness” determinations, adding excluded time periods, extending timeline and refund requirements to certain fee-charging state and local entities, creating review deadlines for special purpose districts and public utility districts, and requiring local governments to designate a permit responsible official and a single point of contact. The sponsor said the bill was intended to improve predictability and reduce delays in permitting; builders and housing advocates strongly supported it, while sewer and water districts and county representatives raised concerns about incomplete referrals, staffing shortages, business-day versus calendar-day deadlines, and the cost of implementing the new contact requirements. The committee heard testimony but took no final vote on the bill in the transcript. HB 2451 would revise Washington’s local tax increment financing program. Staff explained that the bill adds guardrails and transparency, changes notice and hearing requirements, adjusts the assessed-value cap for increment areas, adds public safety facilities to eligible improvements, requires more detailed project analyses and annual reporting, and creates a negotiation/mediation/arbitration process for impacts to taxing districts. The sponsor said the measure was a carefully negotiated compromise intended to address junior taxing district concerns without creating an opt-out. Supporters from the Port of Tacoma, fire chiefs, cities, and counties said the bill improves the earlier TIF framework by strengthening the but-for test, notice, and participation rules, while counties still expressed concern about cumulative impacts and asked for future opt-out discussions. No final committee action was taken in the transcript.

Transcript Highlights:

• And those rules, procedures, and policies could depend on where you live, who operates your benefit,
• your benefit, who your who operates your benefit, who your worker<00:08:43.599><c> is.
• Allow us, DCT, to explore using operating security body scanners in its secure facilities.
• Last month, DHS announced a delay in the launch of Waiver Reimagine.
• We need to will theoretically launch.

Committee: Senate Human Services

Transcript Highlights:

• through 3,055 in Chapter 379 to protect homeowners, create the Missouri Disaster Mediation Act, and launch
• through 3,055, and chapter 379 to protect homeowners, create Missouri Disaster Mediation Act, and launch
• would spring to life, and that if you, the consumer, elect to perform in that mediation process operated
• But I will say But I will say that these programs have been in operation for several years.
• It is, at this point in time, operated and advertised as a discount program exclusively.

Committee: House Insurance and Banking

Summary: The Insurance Committee held public hearings on House Bill 3328 and House Bill 2324. HB 3328, sponsored by Rep. Castile, is a broad homeowners insurance package that would redirect insurance dedicated fund money into a Missouri Stronger Homes Fund, create a Missouri Disaster Mediation Act for disaster-related claims, update public adjuster regulation, strengthen fraud provisions, add consumer notices, and establish roof-hardening grant programs. The sponsor and the Department of Commerce and Insurance said the bill is still being revised in a committee substitute, especially on public adjuster language and fortified roof standards. Committee members asked about the dedicated fund, mediation benchmarks, the role of public adjusters, and how the program would affect disaster recovery in places like St. Louis. Testimony on HB 3328 was mixed. The Department of Commerce and Insurance and several insurance industry groups supported the bill’s consumer protections, mitigation funding, mediation process, fraud language, and assignment-of-benefits ban, but said the public adjuster fee cap would likely be removed and that the bill needs technical changes for mutual insurers and roofing standards. Public adjusters testified in opposition to the cap as written, saying their fees are typically 10-15% and are disclosed in contracts, and that they were working with the sponsor on revisions. A shingle manufacturer also opposed the fortified roof language as drafted because some of its products may not fit the current standard. The committee then closed the hearing on HB 3328. The committee next heard HB 2324, sponsored by Rep. Lucas, which would restrict the sharing or sale of vehicle driving data and was described by the sponsor as a privacy bill aimed at stopping companies like OnStar from selling driving data to insurers. Opponents from the Missouri Insurance Coalition and NAMIC said the bill would not actually target OnStar, but would instead interfere with voluntary telematics-based discount programs used by insurers, potentially raising premiums and creating administrative burdens. They also noted existing federal and state rules already govern insurer data use and that the bill could create a mismatch between risk and pricing. The hearing on HB 2324 was then closed, and the committee adjourned.

Transcript Highlights:

• It is a new entity, officially launched July 1.
• We anticipate identifying those team members in the weeks ahead and launching training in December in
• I'd also like to discuss a key focus of our work since HDFC's July 1 launch.
• I'd also like to discuss a key focus of our work since HDFC's July 1 launch.
• Since the July 1 launch of HDFC, Since the July 1 launch of HDFC, our team has seen leadership and staff

Summary: The committee held an outcome review hearing on AB 519, focused on streamlining California’s affordable housing finance system. State housing officials described the work group process and the resulting report, which calls for a consolidated application and coordinated review process across HCD, CalHFA, TCAC, and CDLAC, while preserving a separate direct path for projects that do not need state subsidy. They said the goal is to reduce duplication, align timelines, and get projects to construction faster, with implementation now being carried forward through the new Housing Development Finance Committee (HDFC) and related reorganization changes. Officials from HCD, CalHFA, and HDFC said the new committee launched July 1 and is developing regulations, a unified application workbook, and review procedures, with public comment and hearings planned before final adoption. They emphasized a two-track system: one for projects needing state subsidy and one for tax credits/bonds only. Members also discussed the transition period in 2027, the need to clear existing pipeline projects first, and the possibility of construction financing tools. Committee members raised concerns about transparency, stakeholder feedback, and whether additional statutory changes would be needed; staff said current authority appears sufficient. Affordable housing developers and advocates generally supported the reforms but said the work must go beyond a single application. They urged fully funding projects, simplifying post-award functions, modernizing asset management, preserving a direct path for locally funded and rehab projects, and improving geographic equity, especially for rural and farmworker housing. Several witnesses stressed that the system also needs stable funding, including general fund support and the proposed housing bond, and that the state should continue engaging stakeholders as the new process rolls out. Public comment echoed those themes and included a veteran describing the difficulty of navigating housing and VA-related systems, reinforcing the hearing’s focus on simplifying access to housing resources.