Video & Transcript Research : 'rules changes'
Page 56 of 500
AL
Transcript Highlights:
- We, the undersigned members of the Senate Rules Committee, petition the Senate pursuant to Senate Rule
- We have a U petition from rules rules rules >> from<01:40:03.679>
the <01:40:03.840>committee - The second change here has to deal with the date by which that's to be handled, and that was changed
- and that was changed to an October 31st. and that was changed to an October 31st.
- We have a report from committee on rules. From the committee on rules, petition to close debate.
Summary:
The meeting included a Senate recognition ceremony honoring the Winona High School boys basketball team for winning the 2026 Alabama High School Athletic Association 5A state championship. A resolution was read commending the team for its 101-40 victory over Silicag, noting the team’s record-setting performance, Brendan Davis’s MVP honor, the contributions of other players, and Coach Cedric Lane’s leadership. Senators and the lieutenant governor praised the players’ sportsmanship, the school community, and the team’s historic season, and copies of the resolution were presented to the team, coaches, and administrators. Several guests and school representatives also spoke briefly, including the coach and principal, who thanked the Senate and noted the team’s success and the principal’s retirement after 35 years.
After the recognition, the Senate returned to session and adopted the Committee on Rules report setting the special order calendar. The calendar included Senate Bill 99 on the Ten Commandments, Senate Bill 298 on Class 3 municipalities, House Bill 381 on camp safety, Senate Bill 370 on tax increment districts, Senate Bill 363 on the Department of Economic and Community Affairs, House Bill 466 on firefighters, House Bill 95 on elections, House Bill 259 on stablecoin, and Senate Bill 342 on education.
The chamber then took up SB 99, sponsored by Senators Kelly and Sessions. Senator Kelly described the bill as requiring local school boards to display the Ten Commandments, together with founding documents such as the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, Bill of Rights, and Alabama Constitution preamble, in certain history classrooms and common areas for grades five through 12, using donated displays and funds when available. He said the bill was intended as a historical and educational measure, not religious instruction, and emphasized the inclusion of a disclaimer stating Alabama is not establishing a religion. After extended debate and a petition to close debate from the Rules Committee, the Senate voted on the bill by long roll and passed SB 99, with the recorded vote announced as 30 yeas and 4 nays.
NH
New Hampshire 2026 Regular Session
Senate Health and Human Services (03/11/2026)
Health and Human Services
Transcript Highlights:
- And we all know that laws and rules have changed dramatically over the course of those nearly 30 years
- with the changes in the law. with the changes in the law.
- pharmacist to know the laws and rules. pharmacist to know the laws and rules.
- changes.
- changes in autism spectrum disorder. changes in autism spectrum disorder.
HI
Hawaii 2025 Regular Session
PSM-HHS, PSM DEFER Public Hearings 02-07-2025
Public Safety and Military Affairs
Transcript Highlights:
- as a medical condition, we're also going to remove section three that changes the Rules of Evidence.
- as a medical condition, we're also going to remove section three that changes the Rules of Evidence.
- as a medical condition, we're also going to remove section three that changes the Rules of Evidence.
- as a medical condition, we're also going to remove section three that changes the Rules of Evidence.
- as a medical condition, we're also going to remove section three that changes the Rules of Evidence.
Summary:
On the deferred agenda, the Committee on Public Safety and Military Affairs took up SB 1364, which makes emergency appropriations for law enforcement personnel costs, and SB 1452, which relates to the Uniform Controlled Substances Act. The chair recommended both measures pass with amendments, including technical corrections and a committee-report effective date of July 1, 2077. For SB 1364, the amendments included specified general fund and transfer fund amounts for DAGS, the Judiciary, and the Department of Law. For SB 1452, the chair said the bill was being corrected to fix a drug-name error that had been replicated from a federal mistake. Both recommendations were adopted by vote, with Senator Dort excused.
The committee then discussed SB 1612, a joint measure on fitness to proceed that would require and appropriate funds for a five-year pilot program involving the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and the Department of Health, with interim and final reports to the Legislature. Testimony was mixed: the Judiciary and Department of Health were supportive, while the Office of the Public Defender and the Disability Rights Center opposed it, arguing it conflicted with best practices and the Clark consent order, and that people found not fit to proceed must be sent to the state hospital. DCR said its main concern was that the bill would still require patients to be housed in its facilities, which it said are not rehabilitative and are already strained by staffing shortages and limited access. The bill’s author argued the proposal was meant to create joint custody and reduce the high cost of state-hospital placement, but the committee did not take final action in the portion provided.
In the joint hearing with Health and Human Services, the committees heard SB 1322, a broad rewrite of the state mental health code. The Attorney General supported the measure as a comprehensive cleanup and modernization effort, but many testifiers raised concerns. Queen’s Health System and Hawaii Health Systems Corporation supported the concept but warned about emergency-room impacts and asked for amendments; IHS supported the bill with a caveat about assisted community treatment procedures; and the Public Defender, Disability Rights Center, and others opposed parts of it, citing due process, privacy, HIPAA, counsel rights, liability immunity, and the reduction of an involuntary-treatment panel from three clinicians to one psychiatrist. The hearing also covered SB 951 on child protection, where the Department of Defense supported the bill and proposed technical amendments and MOUs with military components to clarify reporting and coordination procedures; DHS and the Attorney General said they were still working through possible changes. Finally, SB 228 on excited delirium was heard, with the Public Defender and Disability Rights Center supporting the bill and arguing the term has been misused and that better police de-escalation training is the real solution.
NH
Transcript Highlights:
- The legislative bodies do not have the authority to modify or change the rules of the inspection program
- are administrative rules.
- <01:23:12.080>
rules. - So, we had to make a couple of changes So, we had to make a couple of changes to<02:03:51.280>
that particular change? that particular change?
AZ
Arizona 2026 Regular Session
02/03/2026 - House Republican Caucus Calendar #3
Transcript Highlights:
- So there will be some further changes in this, but... ...so there should be some further changes in this
- I'm just trying to follow what I heard in the Rules Committee. I apologize.
- I'm just trying to follow what I heard in the Rules Committee. I apologize.
- But they did in rules bring up that there could be...
- But yes, they did in rules bring up that there could be, but we don't have any court rulings on it yet
Summary:
The meeting covered a large number of bills and resolutions across education, federalism, government, health, commerce, and judiciary-related topics. In education, members heard bills on moving the statewide testing window later, allowing paper-based testing in more cases, posting school administrator compensation data, expanding who may receive student directory information, reviewing duplicative ADE reporting requirements, requiring religious excusals, creating a school fitness recognition program, and a proposed ballot measure on sex-designated school sports and private spaces. In federalism, the committee discussed banning foreign nationals from funding ballot-measure committees and a proposal to eliminate voting centers and return to precinct-based voting. Other items included memorials urging the U.S. to withdraw from the United Nations and the IMF, and a government bill penalizing agencies that fail to submit financial reports on time.
Health and human services bills focused on lactation care, a state certification program for lactation providers, prohibiting gender transition procedures for minors, requiring chief medical officers at state agencies to hold active licenses, clarifying air ambulance statutes, seeking a SNAP waiver to restrict non-eligible food purchases, and collecting hospital patient immigration-status data for reporting. Sponsors generally framed these as consumer protection, public health, or administrative cleanup measures, while some members raised concerns about cost, privacy, and possible legal conflicts. In commerce, the committee heard bills on digital goods disclosure, protections for child content creators, liability limits for river outfitters, landlord utility billing transparency, appraisal management company definitions, unemployment eligibility verification, and association-based health plans. Several measures were pulled from consent or flagged for amendments.
The judiciary portion included bills creating a civil cause of action for violations of anti-DEI laws, expanding hate-crime-style penalties to include political affiliation and expression, adding reporting requirements for name changes by sex offenders, penalizing possession of falsified commercial driver’s licenses by unlawfully present individuals, adding penalties for mailing abortion-inducing drugs, allowing speed-limiting devices as an alternative to license suspension, extending inmate transition services, increasing penalties for sexual extortion involving older teens, requiring legislative approval to close state shooting ranges, and advancing an Article V convention resolution for congressional term limits. Several sponsors emphasized public safety, parental rights, election integrity, or government accountability, while some members raised constitutional or implementation concerns, particularly on liability, voting systems, and the term-limits resolution. Multiple bills were reported as being on consent calendars, with some pulled for amendments or further discussion.
FL
Florida 2026 5th Special Session
FL House Floor Session - 2025-03-26 (3:00PM Session)
Florida House Floor Meeting
Transcript Highlights:
- Florida is the only state with this restriction, and it is time for that to change.
- This bill changes the age to purchase firearms from 21 to 18, and that is the bill.
- So my life could have changed.
- What has changed? What has changed since the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Public Safety Act became law?
- Tell me what has changed in the law that we pass in this house.
Summary:
The House convened for opening-day business, with prayer, a moment of silence for Captain Bill Guston, the Pledge of Allegiance, and a quorum established. The Speaker outlined a budget message emphasizing reduced spending and a proposed permanent 0.75% sales tax cut, and the chamber then received the Governor’s veto message on portions of HB 5001. Members moved to reinstate several vetoed appropriations, including the Florida Senior Veterans and Crisis Fund, Rockledge Advanced Water Treatment Phase 1, the Department of Corrections automated staffing/time management system, and Baldwin sewer and water main work; each reinstatement passed unanimously.
The House also adopted a special order calendar and special amendment procedures for the General Appropriations Act and related bills. On the special order calendar, several bills passed unanimously or near-unanimously, including Lucy’s Law on boating safety (CS/CS/CS/HB 289), HB 735 on water access facilities, HB 11 on municipal water and sewer utility rates, CS/CS/HB 85 on hazardous walking conditions, and CS/HB 157 on service of process. These measures focused on boating safety, water infrastructure, utility-rate fairness, school walking safety, and procedural civil-law updates.
A major floor debate centered on HB 6017, which would repeal Florida’s “Free Kill Law” limiting wrongful-death damages in medical negligence cases. Supporters described the bill as a long-awaited justice measure for families who lost adult children or unmarried relatives to medical malpractice, while opponents were not recorded in the final vote tally; the bill passed 104-6 after extensive emotional testimony from sponsors and affected families. The chamber also heard a lengthy, highly divided debate on HB 759, which would lower the firearm purchase age from 21 to 18. Supporters argued the current law is inconsistent with adult rights and responsibilities and cited constitutional precedent, while opponents emphasized Parkland, youth gun violence, and public-safety concerns; the transcript ends during continued debate on that bill, with no final vote shown.
MN
Minnesota 2025-2026 Regular Session
Senate Floor Session - Part 1 - 05/13/26
Minnesota Senate Floor Meeting
Transcript Highlights:
- The following members intend to vote from a remote location pursuant to rule 40.7.
- <00:42:24.720>
uh are just some minor stylistic changes uh are just some minor stylistic changes - to rule 40.7. to rule 40.7. >> Thank<00:45:15.680>
you, <00:45:15.920>Mr. - Senator Kunes for those voting pursuant to rule 40.7. >> Mr.
- to rule 40.7. to rule 40.7. >> Thank<01:02:33.280>
you, <01:02:33.440>Mr.
Summary:
The Senate opened under call, received a prayer and pledge, and then proceeded through routine business including roll call, quorum, and messages from the House. The chamber concurred in House amendments to Senate File 3210, a human rights bill concerning disability accommodations, and then passed the bill on final passage by a vote of 42-22. The Senate also received several House messages on conference committees and returned bills, including SF 4476, SF 4612, and SF 4760, and agreed to conference committees on House File 3426 (Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund appropriations) and House File 4252 (higher education student aid reporting). The Senate adopted committee reports and moved several bills through second reading and introduction stages.
In motions and resolutions, the Senate adopted Senate Resolution 86, which governs Senate business during the interim between sessions; the sponsor explained that most changes were cleanup and modernization, with one substantive change allowing the Secretary of the Senate to appoint someone to fill a vacancy in an elected officer position for the remainder of the interim. The resolution passed 57-0. The Senate also adopted Senate Resolution 87, commemorating deceased senators Bruce Anderson, Carrie Dietick, Alice Johnson, Bob Kurlin, Don Samuelson, James Yuland, and Ray Vander, followed by a moment of silence.
The Senate then took up confirmations of three Minnesota Tax Court judges: Jane Bowman, Bradford Deopena, and Beverly Luther Quest. Supporters cited their combined public- and private-sector tax law experience, and the appointments were confirmed. Later, the chamber designated special orders and debated Senate File 3891, which would allow eggs to be donated up to 30 days past their quality assurance date to food shelves; supporters emphasized food insecurity, food waste reduction, and the bill’s support from food shelves and retailers. The bill passed 65-0. The Senate also considered House File 4240 on election administration, adopting an amendment that replaced House language with Senate language, including polling-place requirements for certain school district elections, a ban on candidates betting on their own elections, and an effective date for Three Rivers Park District reporting; the bill then passed 36-28. The chamber then began consideration of House File 4239, another elections-related bill, taking it from the table and offering an A5 amendment, but the transcript cuts off before final action on that bill.
FL
Transcript Highlights:
- REPRESENTATIVE REDONDO MOVES THE RULES BE WAIVED AND CAN HE SUBSTITUTE.
- So my life could have changed.
- What has changed? What has changed since the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Safety Act became law?
- TELL ME WHAT HAS CHANGED IN THE LAW THAT WE PASSED IN THIS HOUSE?
- AND MAYBE THAT'S CHANGED.
Keywords:
sales tax reduction, budget cuts, boating safety, water treatment, municipal utilities, school safety, medical malpractice, firearm purchase age, cursive writing instruction, first responder support, veto overrides, veterans funding, infrastructure projects
Summary:
The Florida House convened for regular business, with Speaker Perez announcing historic budget plans including the largest state tax cut in Florida history - a permanent 0.75% sales tax reduction from 6% to 5.25%, saving Floridians nearly $5 billion annually. The House will propose a budget lower than both the Governor's proposal and last year's budget. Several bills passed including Lucy's Law (boating safety), water access facilities funding, municipal utility rate corrections, hazardous walking conditions for schools, and medical malpractice 'Free Kill Law' repeal. The controversial firearm purchase age bill (HB 759) passed 78-34, lowering the minimum age from 21 to 18, despite emotional opposition citing the Parkland shooting. Other bills addressed cursive writing instruction, peer support for first responders, and government sunset reviews. Multiple veto override motions were approved unanimously, reinstating funding for veterans programs and infrastructure projects.
MN
Transcript Highlights:
- . changes. changes.
- Committee on Rules and Administration. Committee on Rules and Administration.
- spot around that zoning change. spot around that zoning change.
- that they support the change. that they support the change.
- pursuant to Rule 40.7. pursuant to Rule 40.7.
US
US Federal 2025-2026 Regular Session
US House Floor Proceedings (Tuesday, March 3, 2026)
US Federal House Floor Meeting
Transcript Highlights:
- That faith that things can change because people can change.
- That faith that things can change because people can change.
the <03:05:45.400>House 9 of rule 23 of the rules of the House 9 of rule 23 of the rules- 6 of Rule 20.
- <05:28:25.080>
Further to clause 8 of rule 20. Further to clause 8 of rule 20.
US
US Federal 2025-2026 Regular Session
US House Floor Proceedings (Wednesday, April 29, 2026)
US Federal House Floor Meeting
Transcript Highlights:
- The rule provides for one hour rule.
- The rule considered under a closed rule.
- rule.
- The rule provides under a closed rule.
- <07:01:31.760>
FBI rules, didn't follow the rules. FBI rules, didn't follow the rules.
MN
Minnesota 2025-2026 Regular Session
House Floor Session - part 2 Apr 25th, 2025
Minnesota House Floor Meeting
Transcript Highlights:
- We have a very clear rule. Rules need to be enforced in this chamber.
- I'm prepared to rule.
- If you think following the rules is important, follow the rules.
- The ruling of the Speaker, and the ruling, the text of the Supplemental Agreement rule that one member
- We are here to interpret rules. This is a very plain rule.
MN
Minnesota 2025 1st Special Session
Minnesota Sustainable Foraging Task Force 10/8/25
Minnesota House Floor Meeting
Transcript Highlights:
- Recommendations must be detailed proposals for change or additions to statutes or rules.
- Recommendations must be detailed proposals for change or additions to statutes or rules.
- <00:26:31.200>
to or any recommendations for changes to or any recommendations for changes - resource conservation statutes or rules. resource conservation statutes or rules.
- <01:21:04.880>
Uh has not been changed since then. Uh has not been changed since then.
TX
Transcript Highlights:
- SB 8 changes that.
- Wow, that's a leadership change, is it not?
- Otherwise, you're using last year's rules.
- This is the rules for that year's system. So that's one change.
- Everyone has the same rules, and those rules are applied equally everywhere.
MA
Massachusetts 2025-2026 Regular Session
Senate Session (Full Formal with Calendar) Jun 21st, 2026 at 12:00 pm
Massachusetts Senate Floor Meeting
Transcript Highlights:
- Rules are suspended. Question comes on ordering the bill to a third reading.
- Senator Roderick's rules be suspended to allow the matter to consider forthwith, without objection, rules
- Rules are suspended. Question comes on ordering the bill to a third reading.
- The order that now, under Senate Rule 7 or any other rule to the contrary, the Senate bill regarding
- The order that now, under Senate Rule 7 or any other rule to the contrary, the House bill relative to
Summary:
The Senate began with routine formalities, then took up several final-passage and engrossment matters. It adopted emergency preambles for House Bill 1590, establishing a sick leave bank for Eric J. Iwanek, and House Bill 1024, authorizing the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority to provide sewer service to a parcel in Sharon. The Senate also passed to be enacted Senate Bill 2528, allowing Marblehead to establish fines related to parking violations, and adopted a pair of congratulatory resolutions. Later, it ordered several House bills to third reading, including measures for an additional off-premises alcohol license in Somerset and sick leave banks for David A. Russell and Jean McCarran, and concurred in a gubernatorial amendment to a vital statistics bill.
The chamber then considered major committee reports and amendments on military and veterans issues. It advanced a Ways and Means substitute for a bill on free expression and a substitute for a bill on assault and battery upon a transit worker, placing both on the Orders of the Day. The Senate also debated and amended Senate Bill 2503, the EASE Act for military-connected families, with remarks emphasizing school stability for military children, special education continuity, juvenile justice transfers, and use of military protective orders in domestic violence cases. Several proposed amendments were withdrawn or rejected, including tax relief proposals for 100% disabled veterans, while an amendment requiring tracking of veteran suicides was adopted. The bill was then ordered to third reading and passed to be engrossed by roll call, 39-0.
Another major item was Senate Bill 2501, clarifying the duties of the adjutant general. The Senate adopted a Ways and Means substitute and considered multiple amendments, including one withdrawn proposal on entry by non-federalized armed forces from other jurisdictions and another adopted amendment requiring recruit training on lawful orders; other amendments were withdrawn. The bill was then ordered to third reading and passed to be engrossed. The Senate also passed House Bill 3388, designating September 22 as Military Service Members and Veterans Suicide Awareness and Remembrance Day. Throughout the session, members also offered and adopted several adjournment motions honoring the lives and service of Judge Leslie E. Harris, former Newton Mayor Seyi Warren, and Anthony P. Dwingnan, and the Senate adjourned to meet again the following Monday at 11:00 a.m.
NM
New Mexico 2026 Regular Session
House - Government, Elections And Indian Affairs Jan 28th, 2026 at 08:36 am
House Government, Elections & Indian Affairs
Transcript Highlights:
- Hernandez replied that there is no set process for changing rules on a regular basis for the Housing
- to look at potentially changing them, but there is no set timeframe or regular routine for when the rules
- And I, if I said on that committee, I would probably bug you until you change the rules to require a
- Madam Chair and Representative Block, we do not have a set process where we change rules on a regular
- They may not have specific rules, but they are aware that those rule areas are our priority. rules but
Keywords:
Public Regulation Commission, PRC, utility oversight fund, public utilities, utility regulation, commissioners, commission staff, chief of staff, ethics, Gift Act, revolving door, post-employment restrictions, consumer complaints, telecommunications, pipeline safety, natural gas pipelines, oil pipelines, license fees, regulatory oversight, administrative cleanup
TX
Texas 89th Regular
Delivery of Government Efficiency Apr 23rd, 2025
Delivery of Government Efficiency
Transcript Highlights:
- You said it's about every individual rule a state agency makes. How many rules does HHS see?
- Of a rule, an agency rule. Like, give me an example of one.
- So what you're asking for is every single rule that they do, all of these things for every single rule
- How many rules are we talking?
- those rules.
Keywords:
constitutional amendment, fiscal impact, state budget, ballot measure, transparency in voting, management-to-staff ratio, state agencies, employee regulations, government efficiency, workforce management, public information, governing board, transparency, confidentiality, access rights, privacy, identifying information, state agency, consent, occupational license
MA
Massachusetts 2025-2026 Regular Session
Joint Committee on Housing Jun 21st, 2026 at 09:00 am
Joint Committee on Housing
Transcript Highlights:
- Instead, this company has exploited loopholes and attempted to change the rules after the fact, a move
- She said she just changed her mind. Instead, she posted unreasonable rules.
- We ask that the rules be reasonable, as we have always followed the rules.
- She said she just changed her mind. Instead, she posted unreasonable rules.
- We ask that the rules be reasonable, as we have always followed the rules.
Summary:
The Joint Committee on Housing held a hearing on a wide range of housing bills focused on manufactured housing, condominiums, public housing, tiny homes, and protections for elderly and disabled residents. Chairs Haggerty and Cyr opened by emphasizing the importance of these housing types and the need to hear from many speakers. Testimony on manufactured housing was especially extensive and sharply divided. Supporters of bills such as H. 1475, S. 990, and H. 1513 argued that out-of-state corporate owners are buying communities, raising rents and fees, reducing services, and exploiting legal gray areas. Residents and lawmakers from affected communities like Taunton, Middleborough, Attleboro, and Oak Point described steep rent disparities, fear of displacement, and the need for stronger protections, while Representative Hawkins urged an omnibus approach and said the bill would create a local board to ensure compliance with existing law. Opponents, including the Massachusetts Manufactured Housing Association and Hometown America’s counsel, argued that current law already provides protections, that the bills would create uncertainty or unfairly restrict owners, and that H. 1475 was intended to clarify the post-Blake legal landscape. The committee also heard testimony on condominium reform through S. 980, with owners describing lack of transparency, surprise assessments, and limited accountability, and urging updates to Chapter 183A and more owner rights.
Public housing bills also drew support from housing authority advocates. MassNAHRO backed S. 955, H. 1517, H. 1512, H. 1550, and H. 1551, saying housing authorities need more flexibility to preserve and expand affordable housing. Witnesses supported tax relief for replacement public housing units and streamlined procurement rules, arguing these changes would help projects move faster and make better use of capital funds. Committee members asked questions about PILOT agreements, tax treatment of new developments, and whether state and federal public housing would be treated similarly. The committee also heard from Senator Lovely and advocates for S. 1007/H. 1525, which would prevent and respond to bullying of elderly and disabled residents in housing. Supporters described the bills as a long-needed response to harassment in senior and public housing, calling for building-level plans, staff training, and AG oversight; Jerry Halberstadt said the measure should be strengthened with enforcement and tenant advocacy support. Pamela and other witnesses described severe personal impacts from bullying and management retaliation.
Another major topic was S. 1474/H. 1474 on movable tiny houses as permanent dwellings and accessory dwelling units. Supporters, including Representative DeCoste, Vera Struck, Kaylee DeCrease, and Abundant Housing Massachusetts, said tiny homes are a safe, affordable, sustainable option for seniors, workers, and others facing the housing shortage, and urged the committee to legalize them and align state rules with emerging standards. They also discussed tax classification and the need for a clear building code and DMV category. Finally, H. 1476 on pet-friendly elderly housing drew support from animal welfare groups, who said the bill would restore and modernize a prior pet program, expand access across state-aided housing, limit pet deposits, and reduce pet surrender caused by housing barriers. No votes were taken during the hearing; the committee primarily received testimony and questions on the bills.
NH
New Hampshire 2026 Regular Session
Carbon Sequestration Programs Study Commission (06/05/2026)
Transcript Highlights:
- Okay, and I'll change hands back. Okay, and I'll change hands back.
- legislature change that? legislature change that?
- And are they New Hampshire's rules or are they California's rules or are they Washington's rules?
- And are they New Hampshire's<01:49:59.440>
rules Hampshire's rules Hampshire's rules or<01:50: - they Washington's rules? they Washington's rules?
Summary:
The meeting opened with a quorum present and approval of the April 17 minutes. The commission then heard a presentation from attorney Jacob Rhodes of Cleveland, Waters and Bass on the history and legal basis of New Hampshire’s timber tax, explaining that timber was historically treated as part of real property, that a 1913 case confirmed that view, and that a 1949 constitutional amendment created a separate timber yield tax to discourage clear-cutting and support forest conservation. He described the tax as a tax on the yield when timber is severed, not an income tax, and noted that towns are reimbursed through a system based on Department of Revenue Administration market data and local reports of cut.
Members and guests asked how “yield” is defined, how the timber tax interacts with current use, and whether carbon sequestration could be treated similarly. Testimony explained that current use generally is not affected by harvesting timber, that towns can tax standing timber under RSA 79:5 but rarely do because it is labor-intensive, and that carbon credits might be valued using a similar market-data approach. Several speakers discussed a prior bill drafted with DRA input that would have treated carbon more like timber, but noted it never fully advanced in the General Court and that the version ultimately discussed by the House differed from the earlier DRA-comfortable draft.
The discussion also covered whether carbon sequestration agreements are effectively long-term leases or transfers of timber rights, with Rhodes suggesting that 99-year arrangements could be taxable transfers of real property under DRA rules, though he had not reviewed specific agreements. DRA staff said they do not currently have a timber-like survey mechanism for carbon and would likely need access to proprietary market data or a subscription service to build one. No formal vote was taken beyond approving the minutes; the commission appeared to agree to revisit the carbon/timber valuation issue and the draft bill at a future meeting.
TX
Transcript Highlights:
- Texas rule 709 states in part is the intent of this rule that all members of the Senate be timely informed
- This is not bypass... seeing any of the normal rules of ethics or attorney-client rules or anything like
- Well, based on a ruling, a new ruling by the Court of Criminal... appeals, the law was upended.
- This needs to change.
- This doesn't change the lobby register. requirements. Those aren't changed at all.
Keywords:
hemp regulation, consumable products, cannabinoids, occupational licenses, criminal offenses, SB 11, Texas attorney general, election crimes, election law enforcement, criminal prosecution, Election Code, Government Code Chapter 402, local prosecutors, county attorney, district attorney, grand jury, probable cause reports, state election offenses, voter fraud, election integrity