Transcript Highlights:

• I am with the Texas Land Title Association and I'm in favor of the bill.
• If someone purchases this, it's not a guarantee against theft or damage. insurance.
• Purchasing from the Petlands that I operate. Ms.
• It is about what pet... land stores in San Antonio and Katy, Texas.
• Uh, a website that they purchased from out-of-state or anything like that.

Bills: HB74 , HB175 , HB460 , HB576 , HB2271 , HB2294 , HB2874 , HB3016 , HB3133 , HB3191 , HB3458 , HB3929 , HB4063 , HB4115 , HB4394 , HB74 , HB175

Committee: House Trade, Workforce & Economic Development

Keywords: Puerto Verde, Port Authority, eminent domain, bonds, tax assessments, economic development, infrastructure, transportation, public welfare, child care, certifications, Texas Rising Star Program, grant program, disability inclusion, family income, affordability, economic impact, state study, cost analysis, government support

Transcript Highlights:

• us as individuals, our families, and for this great state we call Texas and certainly America, the land
• The heart and soul of space exploration from the Apollo moon landing for today's Artemis program, NASA's
• Only one state has had two companies send land, uh, vehicles to the earth, and they're both from Texas
• Refer to the Committee on Land and Resource Management.
• Residential land in use, creating a criminal offense for the Committee on Land and Resource Management

Transcript Highlights:

• NDSU land purchase using local funds, $65,000. NDSU land purchase using local funds, $65,000.
• We have the UND land sale in Section 34 and 35 authorizes the sale of land.
• They can use Tier 2, I believe, but not for the sale of that land. I think that was a question.
• Emergency clauses in there for capital projects, bonding, and land sale.
• All right, so we have a motion to add $5.6 million for the purchase. Who would be purchased?

Bills: SB2003

Committee: House Appropriations - Education and Environment Division

Summary: The committee met to work through the higher education budget, beginning with a conflict-of-interest request from Representative Martinson, who was excused from voting because of a partnership that leases office space to Bismarck State College. Members then reviewed the higher education institution budget sheets, covering ongoing and one-time funding items for campuses and system projects such as BSC housing, Lake Region roof repairs, UND’s STEM and National Security Crossroads projects, the UND allied health facility, NDSU projects including New Horizons, DSU deferred maintenance and campus security, Mayville’s Old Main, Minot projects, and the regional health institutes. Members also discussed student financial assistance, the professional student exchange program, IT security funding, and workforce/education innovation grants. Several amendments and policy questions were debated. The committee adopted an amendment to make workforce education innovation grants competitive rather than automatically distributed, and then voted to remove language prohibiting those funds from being used to duplicate academic programs. Members also removed similar anti-duplication language from the New Horizons section. They agreed to extend the UND hyperbaric chamber transfer authority to 2027 and clarified language around UND land-sale proceeds. A proposed amendment to add $5.6 million for the Wahpeton State School of Science building purchase failed for lack of a second, and a proposal to restore fetal alcohol spectrum disorder funding to UND was left for conference. The committee also discussed, but did not add, a tuition cap change, a study on the Praxis exam, and several governance-related provisions. The committee spent significant time on broader higher education policy items, including a $3 million enterprise resource planning request for the university system, a $2 million grant program for students who are pregnant, recently gave birth, or are caring for young children, and a $1.1 million request for library age-verification software tied to the Odin system. Members also discussed dual-credit authority for UND and NDSU, a goal for the UND medical school to increase North Dakota resident enrollment, and intent language regarding the commissioner/chancellor model and presidential search authority. At the end of the meeting, the committee approved the amendments and then gave the higher education budget a do-pass recommendation as amended, with Representative Sanford designated as the carrier. The Forest Service budget was also approved, including two additional FTEs, and the committee adjourned after noting it would continue with other budgets the next day.

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> application comes to the particular land application comes to the particular land Um<00:45:30.160
• </c> making engineering choices and not land making engineering choices and not land use<00:45:50.800
• the homeowners about what they're purchasing.
• the homeowners about what they're purchasing.
• So to accommodate home purchasing.

Bills: HB644 , HB1802 , HB1569 , HB1619 , HB1620 , HB1730 , HB1749

Committee: House Energy & Environmental Protection

Summary: The committee heard several environmental and energy bills, beginning with HB 644 on single-use plastics. DLNR and DOH supported the measure, and environmental advocates said it would reduce plastic waste in oceans and landfills. Testifiers urged the bill to avoid weakening existing county ordinances, and some supported delaying implementation to use up inventory, while Upstream opposed compostable-plastic exemptions and urged prompt passage. Committee members asked whether reusable and refillable foodware could be added to the PFAS prohibition, and Upstream said that would be consistent with the bill’s goals. The committee then took up HB 1802 on conservation mitigation banks, HB 1569 on microfiber filters for newly manufactured washing machines, and HB 1619 on electric vehicle infrastructure. HB 1802 drew mostly agency testimony from DLNR, with opposition testimony noted from environmental groups, and members discussed whether suggested amendments would address concerns. HB 1569 received limited testimony, with support from the Hawaii Reef and Ocean Coalition and opposition from the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers. HB 1619 was supported by the PUC, Hawaiian Electric, the Department of Transportation, and several advocacy groups; Earthjustice said the bill was needed to address a widening EV charging shortfall and described the funding increase as relatively small compared with the benefits. The committee also heard HB 1620, which would increase the barrel tax to fund the EV charging rebate program. The State Energy Office and PUC offered comments, while the Tax Foundation of Hawaii opposed the special-fund approach and said the bill should also address the non-petroleum fossil-fuel portion of the barrel tax. Earthjustice and youth transportation advocates supported the measure, and the chair asked for information on unused hydrogen fueling subaccount funds; PUC said no hydrogen program funds had been deployed and estimated the balance was likely around $2 million, with exact figures to be provided later. Finally, the committee heard HB 1730 on wastewater systems, which would create a wastewater technical advisory group and fund positions at DOH. DLNR, DOH, OPSD, UH, and several environmental groups supported the bill, emphasizing cesspool pollution, affordability, and the need for more staffing and technical assistance. Testifiers suggested amendments to create a separate cesspool conversion implementation working group and debated the size and composition of the advisory group, including whether to include outside engineers and whether SHIP should be on the panel. No votes were taken during the hearing segment provided.

Transcript Highlights:

• James Black purchased the farm...
• in the Arctic, but these sacred lands.
• in the Arctic, but these sacred lands.
• This happens on private land. GENTLEWOMAN YIELDS BACK.
• THIS HAPPENS ON PRIVATE LAND.

Transcript Highlights:

• With respect to CARE, right, there is the Holy Land case from, I think it was 2008, 2006, quite a while
• As you know, we had a bill several years ago that identified 331 sites on state trust lands for good
• water recharge areas, and this just expands so that locations can be on any lands, public or private,
• In my district and in some others, there have been agricultural lands that they have unclassified, and
• When I purchased my house in San Tan Valley in 2010, I purchased it for $76,500, so almost $80,000.

Summary: The meeting covered a long list of House bills, mostly on third-read consent calendars, spanning appropriations, elections, education, public safety, water, taxation, and criminal law. Early discussion focused on HB 2148, which would give the legislature authority to appropriate non-custodial federal funds, described by the sponsor as a transparency measure. Other measures discussed included HB 2091 on insurance-related assessment limits, HB 2122 on reciprocity for BTR-related professions, HB 2138 clarifying firefighter workers’ compensation coverage, and HB 2008 barring public school libraries from using public money to pay library professional associations. HB 2110, removed from consent, would allow school governing body members to pray at meetings, with members noting Supreme Court precedent supporting such prayer. Several bills addressed school safety and parental rights. HB 2142 would create a School Safety Center at the Arizona Department of Education and allow up to 10% of school safety program funds for administration, with supporters citing an audit and lack of oversight. HB 2249 would expand the Parents’ Bill of Rights to require notice if a school employee facilitates social transitioning of a minor and to provide broader access to educational records, with penalties discussed for violations. HB 2074 would add mandatory reporting for anyone in a medical facility who knows a partial-birth abortion is occurring, and HB 2144 would allow child support calculations to begin during pregnancy based on a confirmed pregnancy test and related DNA testing provisions. The committee also took up election-related measures. HB 2022 would make permanent changes tied to the federal Electoral Count Act, including moving Arizona’s primary earlier to preserve military and overseas voting access, while keeping petition dates valid and preserving existing deadlines for candidates. HCM 2001 urged federal designation of the Muslim Brotherhood as a foreign terrorist organization, and HCM 2002 supported a separate congressional effort involving CARE and related federal review and designation processes; members debated the distinction between direct designation and a request for federal investigation. HCR 2001 proposed a constitutional amendment to limit voting to U.S. citizens, require government ID to register, prohibit foreign contributions, and end early voting by the Friday before an election. Water, land use, and tax bills were also reviewed. Measures included HB 2024 on snowpack augmentation as a water supply development project, HB 2029 and HB 2030 tightening how Water Conservation Grant Fund money is used, HB 2053 appropriating $100,000 for updated stormwater recharge mapping, HB 2096 expanding revolving fund uses to address cesspools, HB 2097 capping groundwater withdrawal in irrigation non-expansion areas, and HB 2116 funding potential Colorado River litigation. On the tax side, HB 2016 would remove late-filing penalties when no tax is due, HB 2104 and HB 2105 would protect agricultural property owners from repeated reclassification and require notice of inspections, and HB 2289 would update truth-in-taxation examples to reflect higher home values. The committee also heard bills on criminal penalties and other matters, including HB 2043 on felony murder involving an unborn child, HB 2045 on discharging a weapon near a vehicle, HB 2131 and HB 2132 on weapons trafficking and fentanyl penalties, and HB 2062 authorizing a Buffalo Soldiers memorial in Wesley Bolin Plaza.

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> could be purchased for $20 million. could be purchased for $20 million.
• Uh, and if Nashville wants to do purchase the land through bonds and other, as we discussed, certainly
• land in Rochester, bonded land in Rochester, um<01:56:37.760><c> I</c><01:56:38.000><c> didn't</c><01
• </c><01:56:59.520><c> and</c> purchase the land through bonds and purchase the land through bonds and
• </c><01:58:13.199><c> this</c> is that if the state purchases this is that if the state purchases this

Committee: Senate Finance

Transcript Highlights:

• And land that's not even open to locals anymore for deer hunting.
• No kid, you know, he talked about buying land and, you know, $4.
• Kid, you know, he talked about buying land and, you know, $4.50 an acre.
• What do we do on mixed lands? You label it. You don't have to, I mean.
• We can't have consumer choice if consumers don't even know what they're purchasing.

Committee: House Corrections and Public Institutions

Transcript Highlights:

• Without 340B, we would not be able to sustain the cost of purchasing needed medications.
• For example, among other lands, lands in industrial zones near an oil or gas refinery, an airport, or
• Certain lands would not be considered commercial or mixed use for this purpose.
• I think that's a big step forward in how we are going to be doing land use.
• I think that's a big step forward in how we are going to be doing land use.

Bills: SB5420 , SB5877 , SB5868 , SB5109 , SB5832 , SB5922 , SB5944 , SB5988 , SB6065 , SB6103 , SB6151

Committee: House Appropriations

Keywords: veterans, military spouses, service members, uniformed services, National Guard, reservists, active duty, qualifying discharge, veterans preference, hiring preference, public employment, state benefits, license renewal, professional licensing, retirement service credit, pension, public retirement system, Washington RCW, military leave, reemployment rights

Transcript Highlights:

• SB 14 also leverages the state's considerable purchasing power to support recycling markets by requiring
• SB 14 would not prevent the state from purchasing the numerous substitutes to single-use plastic bottles
• John Haywood with co-sponsored People Food and Land Foundation.
• For example, last year Canada announced a $10 million CDR purchase program.
• For example, last year Canada announced a $10 million CDR purchase program, about 40 responses.

Summary: The committee first heard SB 14, which would direct state agencies to reduce single-use plastics and improve waste diversion at state facilities by updating integrated waste management plans, increasing reusable foodware use, reducing paper purchasing, and requiring better employee education and recycling/composting practices. Supporters from the California Compost Coalition, Republic Services, Waste Management, and others said the bill would help build composting and recycling markets and let the state lead by example. Several groups that had opposed earlier versions said they were now neutral after amendments, including the removal of a 90% requirement. The bill was moved out on a due pass as amended recommendation. The committee then took up SB 326 on wildfire mitigation. The bill would create a framework for Cal Fire to evaluate the risk-reduction benefits of fuels management and landscape resilience investments, and it would accelerate implementation of Zone Zero defensible-space standards, including grants for local enforcement and broader application to rental and sale properties and post-fire reconstruction. Support came from Stanford climate researcher Michael Mastrandrea and several local government, insurance, and climate groups. With no opposition, the bill passed as amended to Appropriations. Next, SB 34 on port emissions and the South Coast Air Quality Management District drew extensive testimony. The author said the bill was narrowed by committee amendments to preserve the ports’ ability to reduce emissions while preventing cargo throughput caps and addressing concerns about automation, local control, and the timeline for port clean-air planning. Supporters included ILWU, business groups, and port-related stakeholders, while the South Coast AQMD and many environmental and community organizations opposed it, arguing it would weaken public-health protections and set a bad precedent. After lengthy debate, the committee approved the bill on a due pass as amended vote to Transportation, with some members voting no and others abstaining. The committee also heard SB 279, which would expand composting options for farmers and small community composters by allowing limited on-farm composting after large biomass events and increasing the amount small operations may process and sell. Supporters said the bill would help address agricultural waste, expand composting capacity, and reduce landfill disposal. Commercial composting representatives opposed it, warning that the bill could create regulatory inequities, strand recent investments in permitted facilities, and allow too much unregulated food waste. Despite those concerns, the bill passed to Appropriations on a due pass vote. The transcript also briefly referenced SB 613 on upstream methane emissions data, described as having no opposition and intended to improve tracking of imported oil and gas emissions.

Transcript Highlights:

• land there.
• land there.
• Otherwise, it could affect the purchase price on what they're able to get the land for.
• It just appears odd to me that before you entered into a contract to purchase land, you would actually
• So in that circumstance, if there is a purchase between a vendor and a customer, and that purchase is

Committee: All JBC-SPECIAL LANGUAGE

Transcript Highlights:

• Consumers unknowingly purchase vessels with serious hull damage.
• It's a beautiful area of land.
• Do you own the land in the county, or are you contracting with the landowner?
• My wife and I bought the land, sir. All right, thank you.
• I go over to the BLM lands and hunt quail.

Bills: SB34 , SB119 , SB261 , SB532 , SB1035 , SB1245 , SB1247 , SB1267 , SB1442 , SB1930 , SB1948 , SB2078 , SB2112 , SB2143 , SB2155

Committee: Senate Water, Agriculture and Rural Affairs

Transcript Highlights:

• They review all of our contracts, leases, emergency purchase orders, memorandums, and any other legal
• This division includes our IT department, purchasing, accounting, and personnel.
• This division includes our IT department, purchasing, accounting, and personnel.
• We have established air, land, and maritime capabilities adherent to the organizing principles and the
• We have established air, land, and maritime capabilities adherent to the organizing principles and the

Summary: The committee met to review agency program funding as it prepared to build the budget, hearing brief presentations from six agencies and then taking member questions. Florida Division of Emergency Management highlighted its role in response, preparedness, recovery, and mitigation, describing a largely federal pass-through budget, major technology investments, and large disaster and preparedness grant activity. The Department of Commerce, Department of State, Florida Housing Finance Corporation, Department of Transportation, Department of Military Affairs, Florida State Guard, and Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles also summarized their budgets, staffing, and major programs, including workforce and economic development, elections and arts funding, housing assistance, transportation work programs, military readiness, state guard expansion, and highway safety and motorist services. Members focused questions on several issues: arts and library grant funding and whether award criteria had changed; Commerce’s rural infrastructure and job growth grants and why funds were not being disbursed faster; Florida Housing’s use of SAIL, Live Local, Hometown Heroes, and SHIP funds and how smaller agencies learn about and access funding; and DOT’s work program gap between agency and governor proposals. The most extensive questioning was directed to Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles about long DMV lines, vacancies, overtime, staffing shortages, and the ability to shift funds between divisions. The department said staffing and pay constraints, especially in South Florida, were driving service delays and vacancy rates, and that overtime was being used because troopers were leaving for better-paying jobs. The Florida State Guard was also questioned about its spending and procurement pace, including aircraft purchases and facilities. Its director said long procurement timelines explained the low initial spending and that obligations had risen sharply as contracts matured. Members also asked about the department’s public opposition to Amendment 3 and whether agency resources were used in that effort; the director said no contracts or purchases were made to influence the vote and said the colonel’s comments were made off the clock. The meeting ended with the chair asking agencies to respond promptly to unanswered questions, and the committee adjourned without any recorded votes or formal actions beyond receiving the presentations and questions.

Transcript Highlights:

• The Turtle Mountain Band purchases land, turns around and takes it out of trust status.
• that land.
• And even in discussion, because I've been involved in some of the land purchases that the tribe's been
• in, and devout... ...because I've been involved in some of the land purchases that the tribe's been
• Land that is converted from fee land to trust land across the state— that happens in more areas than

Committee: Joint Tribal and State Relations Committee

Transcript Highlights:

• </c><01:29:05.520><c> Job</c> would not have been purchased. Job would not have been purchased.
• President, we should find out that that is true before we let them buy up land and land and land and
• President, we should find out that that is true before we let them buy up land and land and land and
• </c><02:47:13.760><c> and</c><02:47:14.000><c> land</c><02:47:14.160><c> and</c> up land and land and
• land and land and up land and land and land and land and move<02:47:14.640><c> in</c><02:47:14.880><

Transcript Highlights:

• Um, also Don Chang, Department of Land and Natural Resources.
• Is there anybody else in the audience or Zoom land wishing to testify on this measure?
• Department of Land and Natural Resources. DLNR. Okay, thank you so much.
• Zoom land, anybody out there wanting to testify? Members, if not, questions on 988?
• Is there anybody in Zoom land out there wanting to testify?

Committee: Senate Government Operations

Summary: The committee first heard House Bill 412 HD1, which would expand the definition of lobbying to include certain communications with high-level officials about procurement decisions and create presumptions regarding lobbying on behalf of private clients. The State Ethics Commission and State Procurement Office supported the measure, saying it would improve transparency and align Hawaii with other states, while the Hawaii Primary Care Association opposed it over concerns that employers and others could be swept in too broadly. No public testimony or questions led to any action on the bill during the hearing. The committee then took up House Bill 131, which would allow agencies to disclose government records to researchers for certain research purposes and clarify the Office of Information Practices’ rulemaking authority. OIP and the Public First Law Center supported the bill, arguing it would create uniform standards and that concerns could be handled through rules. The University of Hawaiʻi system, DBEDT, DHS, DLNR, and others raised concerns about the breadth of the terms “research” and “researcher,” privacy, confidential information, and possible misuse; Hawaiian Electric also warned about access to sensitive infrastructure information. Members questioned whether the bill was premature and whether definitions should be narrowed in statute, and OIP said it would consider working with agencies and the University on clearer definitions. House Bill 792 HD1, relating to the Office of the Legislative Analyst, drew no testimony beyond a late written support from the Hawaii Children’s Action Network, and the committee moved on without discussion. The committee then heard House Bill 1424, which would restrict transfers between appropriated funds for positions and operating expenses. Budget and Finance explained that current practice allows transfers from payroll to other current expenses when there are savings, but legislative appropriations for specific purposes must still be spent for that purpose. Several agencies expressed opposition or concerns, saying the bill could reduce flexibility, especially in response to federal funding changes or vacant positions, though members emphasized transparency and accountability. Budget and Finance suggested a reporting approach instead, and the committee discussed quarterly reporting as a possible alternative. Finally, the committee began House Bill 1153 HD1, which concerns funding adjustments for state programs and capital improvement projects and establishes a protocol fund. Budget and Finance, DAGS, and the State Procurement Office supported the measure, while the General Contractors Association and several construction-related groups opposed section two, arguing it would undo recent procurement protest-bond safeguards adopted in Act 162. The hearing then moved on toward House Bill 1297, but the transcript cuts off before that bill was fully discussed.

Transcript Highlights:

• It allows a regional transit authority to take specified actions related to land use and construction
• , and it exempts from subdivision laws a land division for the acquisition of an existing law to build
• This authorizes a local government to issue land use, construction, or technical permits to a regional
• This prohibits a local government from issuing a land use, construction, or technical permit to a regional
• And we are running out of buildable land. We need to be able to do this.

Bills: SB6132

Committee: House Local Government

Keywords: indebtedness limits, inland port districts, federal funding, infrastructure improvements, economic development

Transcript Highlights:

• Does sensitive land impact the ability of a lot to qualify?
• Does sensitive land impact the ability of a lot to qualify?
• an acre or more of land on top of the cost of a home.
• an acre or more of land on top of the cost of a home.
• And then you're adding in the land acquisition.

Summary: The Special Joint Committee on Initiative Petitions held a public hearing on Initiative Petition 25-03, House Bill 5000, which would allow single-family homes on small lots in areas with adequate infrastructure. Committee chairs outlined the Article 48 process and the hearing format, then heard first from two subject-matter experts. Under Secretary Chris Clutchman of Housing and Livable Communities explained that the proposal would amend Chapter 40A’s Section 3 (the Dover Amendment) to require most municipalities, except Boston, to allow single-family homes on residentially zoned lots of at least 5,000 square feet with 50 feet of frontage and access to public water and sewer, while still allowing reasonable local regulations on setbacks, height, bulk, and short-term rentals. He distinguished the proposal from Chapter 40Y starter-home zoning, said implementation would likely require regulations to address issues such as wetlands, infrastructure capacity, and nonconforming lots, and answered committee questions about lot subdivision, MBTA Communities, and the relationship to existing zoning tools. Attorney Susan Murphy testified that the petition would significantly override local zoning and could create conflicts with existing statutes, including Chapter 40A Section 6 protections for certain nonconforming lots, subdivision control law, and other residential zoning districts. She raised concerns about how “access” to water and sewer would be defined, whether the measure could apply in business or industrial districts where residential uses are allowed, and whether the proposal could allow large homes on small lots without any affordability limits. She also warned that the measure could have significant infrastructure impacts and argued that the Legislature should consider broader, more comprehensive housing legislation rather than expanding exceptions to the zoning framework. Committee members asked both experts about frontage, lot size, infrastructure capacity, and how the proposal would interact with 40Y and MBTA Communities. The proponents, led by Andrew McCulla of the Legalized Starter Homes Coalition, argued that Massachusetts faces a severe housing shortage and affordability crisis, citing high home prices, high rents, declining listings, and outmigration of younger residents. They said the measure would legalize modest single-family homes on smaller lots, increase housing supply, and help first-time buyers and downsizing seniors, while leaving most other local rules in place. Other proponents, including representatives from Abundant Housing Massachusetts, the Charles River Regional Chamber, and individual residents, emphasized workforce retention, the need for more starter homes, and the view that large minimum lot sizes are a major barrier to production. Committee members pressed the panel on the lack of any home-size or affordability requirement, possible effects on 40B compliance, the number of new lots and homes that might result, and the fact that the ballot initiative would not be amendable by the Legislature. The hearing then turned to opponents from the Massachusetts Municipal Association, who urged the committee to take no action. MMA leaders said zoning should remain a local decision made by residents and elected local officials, and argued that the proposal would preempt local control with a one-size-fits-all mandate. They also said the measure is impractical because many communities with water and sewer are already at or near capacity, so infrastructure availability does not necessarily mean development capacity. The hearing ended during the MMA’s testimony, with no vote or final committee action taken.

Transcript Highlights:

• </c><00:41:16.160><c> and</c> provides grants to purchase and provides grants to purchase and distribute
• </c> 2021 I was help to buy or to purchase 2021 I was help to buy or to purchase a<00:44:58.000><c> farm
• </c> from a qu an acre I got a 30 acre land from a qu an acre I got a 30 acre land that<00:45:24.680>
• <00:46:26.079><c> food</c><00:46:26.520><c> purchase</c> um local food purchase um local food purchase
• </c> recipient of two local food purchasing recipient of two local food purchasing assistance<00:48:23.720

Bills: HF44 , HF2102 , HF2279 , HF2280 , HF2281

Committee: House Agriculture Finance and Policy

Transcript Highlights:

• 12:45.200><c> in</c> later purchased key properties in later purchased key properties in downtown<00:
• </c> lands, the management of public lands lands, the management of public lands upside<04:45:12.480>
• Doyon's land base shares indigenous land and shares approximately 3,000 miles of border with BLM lands
• Doyon's land base shares indigenous land and shares approximately 3,000 miles of border with BLM lands
• </c> of lands at issue. of lands at issue.