Transcript Highlights:

• So, some of it might be the interest rate also. You get a lower interest rate.
• That is the current barrier that is impacting these high turn back rates.
• Housing instability and homelessness.
• Additionally, each of these areas has seen a decline in voucher success rates.
• At best, losing your voucher means extended housing instability and unaffordability.

Bills: HB158 , HB714 , HB 1198 , HB1630 , HB1998 , HB3509 , HB3788 , HB3875 , HB3948 , HB3977 , HB4097 , HB4313 , HB4314 , HB4317 , HB158

Committee: House Intergovernmental Affairs

Keywords: housing, veterans, surplus government property, affordable housing, funding sources, housing assistance, homeless prevention, landlord incentives, rural housing, domestic violence, community development, tenant readiness, program participants, financial assistance, homelessness, rental support, Texas Tenant Readiness Program, tenant assistance, housing stability, Texas Department of Housing

Transcript Highlights:

• Model scores, factors, or standards to charge different rates to businesses.
• We also offer much lower rates there. So we appreciate the bill's focus.
• Questions about how this program could be implemented and how to make certain that rate payers are not
• We will basically transfer the cost of this credit to our existing rate base, to our existing customers
• Then you have an impact fee committee that makes a recommendation on what the collection rate is.

Bills: HB158 , HB714 , HB 1198 , HB1630 , HB1998 , HB3509 , HB3788 , HB3875 , HB3948 , HB3977 , HB4097 , HB4313 , HB4314 , HB4317 , HB158

Committee: House Intergovernmental Affairs

Keywords: housing, veterans, surplus government property, affordable housing, funding sources, housing assistance, homeless prevention, landlord incentives, rural housing, domestic violence, community development, tenant readiness, program participants, financial assistance, homelessness, rental support, Texas Tenant Readiness Program, tenant assistance, housing stability, Texas Department of Housing

Transcript Highlights:

• debt bill, we're striking everything, but we're keeping the part where we're capping the interest rate
• We're capping the interest rate at 3% for medical debt.
• So basically, members, what we're doing is we're just capping the interest rate on medical debt at 3%
• The interest rate on medical debt is capped at 3%, which is similar to what other states have done.

Bills: SB147 , SB414 , HB220 , HB750 , HB799 , HB827 , HB952 , HB953

Committee: Senate Commerce, Consumer Protection, and International Affairs

Keywords: roof standards, construction code, residential property, fortified roofs, insurance, medical debt, interest rate, healthcare services, consumer protection, debt collection, Louisiana Medical Debt Protection Act, child exploitation, online reporting, platforms, cyber crime, PROTECT Act, boiler safety, inspection, licensing, state fire marshal

Bills: HB2007 , HB2462 , HB2621 , HB2921 , HB3187 , HB3331 , HB3332 , HJR144 , HB3514 , HB3528 , HB3539 , HB3563 , HB3720 , HB3726 , HB3751 , HB3859 , HB3947 , HB4148 , HB4164 , HB4337 , HB4346 , HB4368 , HB4706 , HB4916 , HB4950 , HB4967 , HB5177 , HB5603

Committee: House Transportation

Keywords: commercial signs, county approval, transportation code, regulations, road signage, high occupancy vehicle lane, pregnant operators, transportation, parental rights, motor vehicle regulations, live video feed, state agency, transparency, public safety, confidentiality, personal information, local government, airport data, public records, regional transportation

Transcript Highlights:

• While an MOU may charge different reasonable rates, while an MOU may charge different reasonable rates
• So over the 2024 rate challenge, yeah, 14 months, correct.
• our rates for our 2024 and 2025, or for those two years.
• So we did this to ensure that we balanced our rates based on cost, meaning the rates for each respective
• recently for the 2025 rates.

Bills: HB3115 , HB5671 , HB5693 , SB790 , SB1055 , SB1302 , SB1504 , SB1625 , SB1663 , SB2692

Committee: House Natural Resources

Keywords: Cow Creek Groundwater Conservation District, groundwater, water wells, domestic well, livestock well, exempt well, metering device, well meter, groundwater conservation district, Special District Local Laws Code, Water Code, Section 36.117, groundwater regulation, water rights, aquifer management, municipal utility, retail public utility, groundwater export, water supply contract, election

Summary: The Committee on Natural Resources heard testimony on a series of water, utility, and groundwater-related bills. Early items included HB 5693, which would let Drainage District 7 hold board elections in November of odd-numbered years when a countywide election is occurring, and HB 5671, which would update the Johnson County Special Utility District by clarifying board eligibility, allowing bond issuance, and removing redundant TCEQ approval language to reduce costs and delays. Both bills were left pending after brief testimony from bill sponsors and local witnesses. The committee also heard SB 1504, which would update the Gulf Coast Authority to allow video-conference participation in meetings, and SB 1302, aimed at closing a TCEQ permitting loophole that allowed dischargers with prior denials or suspensions to reapply through an automated process without meaningful review. SB 2692 drew substantial discussion: it would change the signature threshold for outside-city-limits customers appealing municipal utility rates to the PUC by customer class. Valero supported the bill as a way to avoid requiring large-volume users to gather signatures from unrelated residential customers, while the City of Corpus Christi opposed it, arguing that lowering the threshold to one customer could trigger expensive appeals costing $500,000 to $1 million. A PUC witness said such cases are increasing and that the agency would need additional staff under the fiscal note. SB 790, creating a simplified PUC complaint process for small water and wastewater billing disputes, and SB 1663, expanding TCEQ notice requirements for nearby residents when groundwater contamination is discovered, were also heard and left pending. Additional bills included HB 3115, clarifying that the Cow Creek Groundwater Conservation District cannot require meters on exempt domestic or livestock wells; SB 1055, raising the Southeast Texas Groundwater Conservation District’s production fee cap from 1 cent to 7 cents per 1,000 gallons; and SB 1625, requiring private water and wastewater utilities to report cybersecurity incidents to TCEQ and DIR. The committee then took up pending business and adopted a substitute for SB 7, which made several changes to water fund use, eminent domain coordination, and EDAP-related provisions, and voted 10-0 to report it favorably. The committee also adopted a substitute for HB 2347, a county water conservation program bill, and reported it favorably 9-1. HB 5675 and SB 2476 were each reported favorably 10-0. The meeting concluded with adjournment.

Transcript Highlights:

• The rate of new infections is concerning, and efforts must be made to address these issues effectively
• Reimbursement rates are inadequate.
• The failure rates, though, of these emergency contraception medications indicate that if a woman has
• already ovulated, the failure rates are exactly the same as though they'd never taken anything.
• insurance because it was a negotiated rate.

Bills: HB3000 , HB2622 , HB2283 , HB541 , HB1776 , HB1803 , HB1669 , HB2588 , HB220 , HB3415 , HB50 , HB1314 , HB 107 , HB220 , HB50 , HB107

Committee: House Public Health

Keywords: ambulance service, rural healthcare, grants, financial assistance, qualified counties, mental health, patient transport, female attendants, security measures, healthcare regulation, epinephrine, anaphylaxis, health care, school safety, training, emergency response, direct patient care, healthcare, physicians, medical services

Transcript Highlights:

• Has not yet been included in rates.
• It is, in large measure, retroactive rate making.
• That is retroactive rate-making, and it goes both ways.
• and subsequent rate recoveries.
• And that's where our credit ratings become extremely important.

Bills: HB2766 , HB2891 , HB3334 , HB3791 , HB3911 , HB4021 , HB4041 , HB4042 , HB4384 , HB4426

Committee: House Energy Resources

Keywords: inactive wells, oil and gas regulation, environmental protection, Railroad Commission of Texas, well plugging, Railroad Commission, penalties, violations, pipeline safety, civil penalties, criminal penalties, wildfire prevention, oil and gas, safety inspections, administrative penalties, excavation, notification, utilities, underground facilities, regulatory compliance

Transcript Highlights:

• worth noting is that most local governmental entities adopt their budget before they adopt their tax rate
• . total property tax bill that included the change from last year to this year not just in the tax rate
• talk today, and historically low vacancy rate.
• But again, we have a historic. or leave a low vacancy rate.
• All of a sudden, the rug rate changes to one that is getting special services.

Bills: HB150 , HB869 , HB876 , HB 1043 , HB1494 , HB1522 , HB150

Committee: House Delivery of Government Efficiency

Keywords: cybersecurity, state command, information resources, data protection, incident response, information technology, classification officer, job descriptions, state positions, competency-based, information sharing, government efficiency, public sector, private sector, distributed ledger, title registry, real estate, property liens, pilot program, healthcare

Transcript Highlights:

• Many of the survivors we serve face overlapping challenges, including housing instability, employment

Bills: HB2309 , HB2249 , HB2417 , SGA9066 , SGA9246 , SGA9268

Committee: Senate State Government, Tribal Affairs & Elections

Keywords: state employment, classified service, civil service, job qualifications, degree requirements, postgraduate degree, master's degree, doctorate, higher education, Office of Financial Management, OFM, classification plan, salary survey, market rate pay, compensation, workforce diversity, hiring reform, employment eligibility, work authorization, DACA

Transcript Highlights:

• The Reason Foundation's Guy Bentley, for example, found that problem gambling rates in New Jersey dropped

Bills: HB2205 , HB2309 , HB2206 , HB2123 , HB2120 , HB2411

Committee: House State Government & Tribal Relations

Keywords: sports wagering, gambling regulation, state control, licensing, consumer protection, state employment, classified service, civil service, job qualifications, degree requirements, postgraduate degree, master's degree, doctorate, higher education, Office of Financial Management, OFM, classification plan, salary survey, market rate pay, compensation

Transcript Highlights:

• All right so I'm assuming that they they would need to do this before or they set their tax rate.
• Currently, appraisal districts determine these rates independently.
• Some apply a specific rate, others use a broad range, and some differentiate by property class.
• rates. for rural parts of the state, urban parts of the state, different-sized parts of the state.
• rate. methodology.

Bills: HB1952 , HB3258 , HB3524 , HB3851 , HB4478 , HB4613 , HB4703 , HB4742 , HB4744 , HB4809 , HB4864

Committee: House S/C on Property Tax Appraisals

Keywords: county appraisal district, board of directors, governance, taxing units, public representation, penalty, property report, taxation, timely filing, chief appraiser, appraisal district, ad valorem tax, property appraisal, tax protests, unequal appraisal, property rights, property tax, public employees, protest leave, appraisal review board

Bills: SSB1152 , SSB1154 , SSB1131 , SSB1155 , SF504

Committee: Joint Ways and Means

Keywords: sports wagering, income tax, gambling winnings, tax withholding, Iowa tax law, revenue, sales tax, electronic filing, tax returns, Department of Revenue, financial reporting, grain dealers, warehouse operators, indemnity fund, bankruptcy claims, fees, market regulation, claims reimbursement, cigarette regulation, tobacco taxation

Bills: SSB1173 , SSB1165 , SSB1189

Committee: Joint Workforce

Keywords: unemployment insurance, unemployment tax, employer contributions, Iowa Code chapter 96, taxable wages, experience rating, benefit ratio, reserve fund ratio, contribution rate table, unemployment compensation fund, seasonal unemployment, construction employers, landscaping employers, payroll tax, state unemployment tax, SUTA, reciprocity, comity, employer tax relief, wage base reduction

Transcript Highlights:

• Representative, just to clarify, Is this the tax rate?
• Freezing the tax rate is that what that would do? It's freezing the avalloum.
• House Bill 3781 is a change in the way Insurance rates are filed.
• We the insurance companies use the higher rate before they file it. And this would change it.
• Put a little sunlight on it and make the insurance companies file the Rate first, wait 60 days before

Bills: HB3407 , HB1242 , HJR1081 , HB3443 , HB3781 , HB1939 , HB4237 , HB3430 , HB3321 , HB3905 , HB3329 , HB4253 , HB4421 , HB4311 , HJR1046 , HB2015 , HB3244 , HB4265 , HB3941 , HB4203 , HB2941 , HB3695 , HB3380 , HB3132 , HB3673 , HB3134 , HB3383 , HB4490 , HB4058

Keywords: property rights, abandoned homes, manufactured homes, notification, salvage, real estate, Oklahoma Tax Commission, landowner liability, redemption, HB1242, cervidae, deer, elk, sales tax exemption, agricultural exemption, livestock, ranching, farm tax, agricultural sales tax, agriculture

Transcript Highlights:

• especially around our property insurance issues in this state, and where Oklahomans are in terms of rates
• So that's why this bill would disallow the use of credit scores in our Premium rating system.
• The question would be: Has there been any state that has banned the credit scoring and seen their rates
• mean in the three hundreds, we're talking about in the 600s, is Paying 104% more for their insurance rates
• one of the discussions was centered around the ability to Purchase eyeglasses in context, discounted rates

Bills: SB1303 , SB1343 , SB1435 , SB1438 , SB1444 , SB1641 , SB1765 , SB1916 , SB2067

Committee: Senate Business and Insurance

Keywords: workers' compensation, workers comp, Oklahoma Workers' Compensation Commission, Administrative Workers' Compensation Act, self-insurance guaranty fund, multiple injury trust fund, physician advisory committee, advisory council on workers' compensation, workers' compensation court, insurance, employer liability, self-insured employer, fund transfer, records transfer, agency reorganization, statutory cleanup, technical corrections, Title 85A, SB1343, Vision Plan Contractual Requirements Act

Transcript Highlights:

• risk class as part of their proposed rates for the upcoming year.
• If they limit those rates, then they must publish additional information.
• incorporate an amendment that I understand also was offered by the Republican Party that did lower the rate
• the information available to those that are concerned about how we handle our industrial insurance rates
• How we handle our industrial insurance rates and the solvency.

Bills: SB6197 , SB6158 , SB6302 , SB5437 , SB6117 , SB5852 , SB5847 , SB6067 , SB6152 , SB6136

Committee: Senate Labor & Commerce

Keywords: SB 6197, plumbing contractor, plumber, contractor licensing, licensing enforcement, infractions, administrative penalties, license suspension, certificate suspension, endorsement suspension, registration suspension, Department of Labor and Industries, advisory board of plumbers, penalty schedule, repeat violations, workplace standards, construction trades, professional licensing, Washington state, factory built housing

Bills: SR28 , SB201 , SB1379 , SB1525 , SB1966 , SB2112 , SB2170 , HB2749 , HB3262 , HB3265 , HB3673 , HB3781 , HB3040 , HB3076 , HB3369 , HB3982 , HB3462 , HB3465 , HB3521 , HB3796 , HB3800 , HB4095 , HB4298 , HB4316 , HB4338 , HB4408 , HB4454

Keywords: alpha-gal syndrome, alpha gal, tick-borne illness, tick bite allergy, red meat allergy, meat allergy, dairy allergy, anaphylaxis, Lyme disease, public health, tick prevention, vector-borne disease, allergy awareness, May awareness month, Oklahoma Department of Health, outdoor safety, health education, research funding, minimum salary, education funding

Transcript Highlights:

• It's going to reduce taxes and change the bonding rates.
• Those rate increases are basically 2, 4, and 6%.
• They are going to increase your rates 237% in Salome. That's quite a bit.
• They are going to increase your rates 237% in Salome. That's quite a bit.
• They're raising the rates on those people. They're raising the rates on those people, 237%.

Bills: HB2113 , HB2237 , HB2824 , HB2926 , HB2939 , HB2950

Committees: House Rural Economic Development , House House Rural Economic Development Committee of Reference

Keywords: utility consumer, rate intervention, public service corporation, Arizona Revised Statutes, residential rates, consumer protection, appropriation, Apache Junction, tourism, recreation, Superstition trails, funding, infrastructure, C-PACE, capital expenditure, special assessment, property improvement, local government financing, energy efficiency, water conservation

Transcript Highlights:

• organization and allows the organization to file with DIFI models to be used by insurers for making rates
• The amendment allows the organization to file with DIFI models to be used by insurers for making rates

Bills: HB2174 , HB2496 , HB2744 , HB2863 , HB2910 , HB2938

Committees: House Commerce , House House Commerce Committee of Reference

Keywords: insurance regulation, modeling organizations, financial disclosure, rate-making, predictive models, revitalization districts, construction contracts, infrastructure, municipal services, intergovernmental agreements, user fees, landowner agreements, overtime, wages, employee rights, industrial commission, complaints, adjudication, landlord, tenant

Bills: HCR98 , HB180 , HB180

Committee: Senate Border Security

Keywords: counter-unmanned aircraft systems, C-UAS, counter-drone, drone mitigation, unmanned aircraft systems, UAS, border security, U.S.-Mexico border, aviation safety, airspace regulation, federal preemption, Homeland Security, Department of Defense, Department of Justice, Department of Energy, FBI, state-local coordination, tribal and territorial partners, border patrol, cartels

Summary: The Senate Committee on Border Security met with a quorum present and first took up HCR 98, a resolution urging Congress to improve coordination among federal, state, and local authorities on counter-unmanned aircraft systems (C-UAS) technology for border security. The author and sponsor described increasing drone activity along the border, saying unauthorized drones are used to track agents, identify weaknesses, and smuggle contraband, and argued for clearer procedures to detect, identify, and neutralize such aircraft. There was no public testimony, and the committee voted 4-0 to report HCR 98 favorably to the full Senate; the resolution was also ordered for local and uncontested calendar placement without objection. The committee then heard HB 180, sponsored by Chairman Birdwell, which would authorize the governor to coordinate directly with Mexican officials and individual Mexican states on border security agreements and appoint representatives to implement them. Birdwell said the bill would codify prior border-security cooperation efforts, improve responses to cross-border challenges such as drug and human trafficking, and include a finding that entrants from foreign countries must use a legal port of entry. No questions were asked, and there was no invited or public testimony. After the hearing, the committee left HB 180 pending. The meeting concluded with no further business and the committee standing in recess subject to the call of the chair.