Transcript Highlights:

• But can you speak to the specifics as to why it was removed? I'm sorry. It's okay.
• So what is left is to remove a provision of the existing law that would allow them to take excess fees
• I'm asking you to remove the old barriers before you build new ones. Thank you for listening.
• This amendment will remove the Department of Children and Families from the pilot program.
• the date for the scheduled expiration to fund slurs.

Summary: The Appropriations Committee considered a large agenda of bills and reported several measures favorably. Early action included SB 6, a settled claim bill involving the Department of Children and Families and a trust for Leila Estrada and Sapphire Williams, and CS/CS/SB 1266, which creates a cybersecurity experiential learning and clearance-readiness program through the Department of Commerce and Cyber Florida. The committee also approved SB 532 on clerks of court funding, allowing clerks to retain all excess Article V revenue rather than returning half to the state and clarifying foreclosure sale procedures. In addition, the committee passed CS/CS/SB 1602 and CS/CS/SB 1604 to create and fund a pilot housing program for veterans through the Florida Housing Finance Corporation, and CS/SB 1110 to expand Medicaid and private insurance coverage for medically necessary orthotics and prosthetics, including testimony from affected families and advocates. The committee also adopted an amendment and then favorably reported CS/CS/SB 1012 on inmate services, removing the bill’s medical-services compensation provisions while retaining changes to the inmate welfare trust fund and related facility uses. It also adopted a delete-all amendment and then favorably reported CS/CS/CS/SB 1614, which was narrowed to remove a provision allowing local governments to use excess fees to construct new buildings. The committee spent substantial time on CS/SB 17, a Medicaid oversight and transparency bill. The sponsor said the measure would create a joint legislative Medicaid oversight committee, authorize the Legislature to retain its own actuary, modernize Medicaid statutes, strengthen managed-care performance standards, and increase accountability for pharmacy benefit managers and related entities. After amendment, the committee adopted changes removing several PBM-related provisions while retaining the broader oversight framework. Testimony from supporters emphasized transparency, fraud prevention, and cost control, while a PBM trade association asked to continue working on affiliate-manufacturer, network, and payment issues. The bill was reported favorably. The most extensive discussion centered on CS/SB 1758, which proposes major changes to Medicaid and SNAP. The sponsor described five reforms: stronger fraud and overpayment recovery authority, a Medicaid work requirement for certain able-bodied adults, expanded behavioral-health services through Medicaid waivers, pharmacy-program changes to obtain rebates and reduce institutional costs, and SNAP/EBT reforms including photo IDs and work requirements. The committee adopted two amendments: one adding a transitional “glide path” for people who gain employment but risk losing Medicaid, and another exempting hospice patients with six months or less to live. Supporters argued the bill would reduce fraud, improve accountability, and encourage work, while opponents warned it would increase administrative burdens, push eligible people off coverage, and conflict with federal law or guidance. The bill remained under debate with extensive public testimony from advocates, providers, and affected families, and the transcript ends before final disposition on the measure.

Transcript Highlights:

• So as we think about funding protections that are expiring this year, programs being funded to being
• The provision to serve two-year-olds expires in 2027.
• We also urge the subcommittee to remove the use of the regional market rate from the transition plan
• Given the expiration of its funding, CDSS has developed a plan regarding what the core functions of the
• There was a question in regards to the workforce registry and in light of the expiring funding.

Summary: The hearing focused on California’s early learning and care system, including the Master Plan for Early Learning and Care, universal preschool access, and the state’s transitional kindergarten (TK) expansion. Administration officials said California has made progress toward universal TK for all four-year-olds and expanded access for low-income three-year-olds, children with disabilities, and some two-year-olds in state preschool. The Department of Social Services highlighted ongoing work on quality improvement and a single rate structure, while the Department of Education emphasized continued investments in UPK infrastructure, inclusion, and teacher development. Testimony from advocacy groups stressed that access remains uneven, especially for infants, toddlers, and three-year-olds, and that federal threats to Head Start could significantly disrupt services in California. Witnesses and committee members discussed several policy recommendations for preschool and state preschool programs, including consolidating part-day and full-day contracts, simplifying eligibility priorities, eliminating some family and licensing fees, allowing self-attestation of income, making the two-year-old preschool option permanent, and basing funding on enrollment and the true cost of care. A parent from Contra Costa described losing child care after moving counties for safety reasons, illustrating delays and fragmentation in the system. Providers in public comment argued that reimbursement rates are too low and that better pay and retirement and health benefits are needed to stabilize the workforce. The second panel addressed the governor’s January budget proposal to fully implement universal TK and reduce TK class ratios from 12:1 to 10:1. The Department of Finance said the budget would add about $2.4 billion to serve all eligible four-year-olds and $1.5 billion for the lower ratio. The Legislative Analyst’s Office said its enrollment and cost estimates were lower than the administration’s and projected the ratio change would cost less than proposed. The Department of Education and the Learning Policy Institute reported that TK enrollment and staffing have grown, most districts now offer TK, and many are on track to meet new teacher requirements, but facilities, staffing, and expanded learning remain challenges. Committee members raised concerns about access at all school sites, the need for more full-day options, and the risk that TK expansion could crowd out CSPP and Head Start space.

Transcript Highlights:

• It is imperative to remove financial burdens to RNG development and support our climate goals by reducing
• Memorandum and balancing accounts act as... ...and balancing accounts that never expire.
• Lastly, it directs the CPUC to set an expiration date or sunset date...
• It directs the CPUC to set an expiration date or sunset date for these accounts, after which time the
• know I don't want to be flippant but if there has to be an expiration date I don't know if this was

Committee: Senate Energy, Utilities and Communications

Transcript Highlights:

• So be removed, so be considered the reading of the bills.
• Um, to remove Maryland from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.
• The next is what we did just last year: we removed waste-to-energy from the RPS.
• </c><02:42:14.960><c> So</c> removed waste to energy from the RPS.
• So removed waste to energy from the RPS.

Transcript Highlights:

• There is no longer a need to track these items separately after ISP was removed.
• It’s replacing, it’s removing the words “or older” and replacing them with “older than.”
• This amendment removes part of a section on page 6, bottom line of the bill, and it also removes item
• It removes the private right of action.
• This bill does not remove the private right of action. It's in there.

Transcript Highlights:

• </c><00:35:04.640><c> two</c> House omnibus bill just removing two House omnibus bill just removing two
• My question is: will this particular panel, uh, do they expire? Is there a sunset on that?
• And I actually favor sunsets on panels that are going to expire.
• The priority admissions review panel expires December 31st, 2030. Period. Senator Dowski.
• <01:07:32.160><c> December</c> expires December expires December 31st,<01:07:34.640><c> 2030.

Committee: Senate State and Local Government

Transcript Highlights:

• and we have this in place thing expires and we have this in place will<00:15:44.000><c> there</c><00
• If the federal provision were to expire, I think it would probably be more consistent with the intent
• If the federal provision were to expire, I think it would probably be more consistent with the intent
• So, um, in the amendment, what I did is I removed the repealer that was in the original bill language
• the repealer that was in is I removed the repealer that was in the<00:42:20.839><c> original</c><00:

Bills: HF1833 , HF148 , HF1127 , HF1227 , HF1681 , HF1974 , HF1106 , HF1016 , HF2197

Committee: House Taxes

Keywords: sales tax, education funding, construction, Aitkin Public Schools, tax exemption, refundable credit, HF148, use of force training, deadly force, peace officer training, police training, law enforcement, POST Board, Board of Peace Officer Standards and Training, scenario-based training, de-escalation, defensive tactics, force-on-force training, stress management, officer wellness

Transcript Highlights:

• And when you do that, when you expire.
• The pending expiration of programs.
• </c><01:01:40.400><c> dyes</c> lauded for your campaign to remove dyes lauded for your campaign to remove
• But removing dyes from drinks admirable.
• 22.958><c> nearly</c><06:44:23.440><c> 24</c> credits will expire and nearly 24 credits will expire and

Transcript Highlights:

• Um, the original bill draft made it sound like the Aeronautical Board was to be removed, but in fact
• it was the Transportation Commission that needed to be removed.
• ,</c> aeronautical board was to be removed, aeronautical board was to be removed, but<01:22:57.679><c
• It's $50, but I've never received the Cortez cash when it's already expired by the time I get it in the
• It's $50, but I've never received the Cortez cash when it's already expired by the time I get it in the

Transcript Highlights:

• The decreasing amounts, as you can see, on the left column there, have been removed in this bill.
• ..insurance provides coverage for a set number of years and pays out as long as the policy hasn't expired
• The existing policy must be honored through its expiration date.
• policyholder from one affiliated company to another the existing policy must be honored through its expiration

Bills: HB1269 , HB2624

Committee: Senate Business, Trade & Economic Development

Keywords: pawnbroker, fees, interest rates, consumer protection, financial regulation, real estate transactions, nonprofit, land conservancies, unsolicited offers, property rights

Transcript Highlights:

• If we don't remove the sunset provision, this program will go away completely, and there is no flexibility
• We can't create a new one if it goes away or expires in statute. Very well. Thank you.
• The bill, the federal expiration, was highly impactful for our business.
• We had a run-up to the business in that Expiration was highly impactful for our business.

Bills: SB101 , SB58 , SB55

Committee: Senate House Appropriations & Finance

Summary: The committee first heard Senate Bill 101, which would repeal the July 1, 2030 sunset on the Health Care Delivery and Access Act and make the hospital provider-tax program permanent. The sponsor, the Health Care Authority secretary, and the New Mexico Hospital Association said the program has generated substantial federal Medicaid matching funds and has supported hospital workforce, quality, and infrastructure investments, especially in rural areas. Members asked why the sunset existed originally and whether federal changes under H.R. 1 would phase the program down; the secretary explained the sunset was meant as a review point, but that federal law now prevents creating a new similar program if this one expires. The committee heard support from hospital and business representatives, no opposition, and voted due pass 7-0. The committee then considered Senate Bill 58, as amended, which extends the property tax abatement period for metropolitan redevelopment areas from a fixed seven years to up to 14 years. The sponsor and Albuquerque redevelopment officials said the change would give local governments more flexibility to structure projects based on financial need, while still preserving current tax payments and encouraging redevelopment of blighted or underused areas. Several supporters, including realtors and the Greater Albuquerque Chamber, argued the longer window would improve certainty for developers and help spur housing and other reinvestment. Some members raised concerns about lost revenue for schools and whether the tool could be overused, but were told the program applies only in designated redevelopment areas and is intended to leverage future higher assessments. The committee adopted the amendment and then passed the bill as amended 7-0. Finally, the committee heard Senate Bill 55, which increases New Mexico’s state solar tax credit from 10% to 30% after the federal credit was reduced, and raises the individual cap from $6,000 to $15,000 while keeping the overall annual program cap at $30 million. The sponsor and numerous solar industry, business, and clean-energy advocates said the change is needed to prevent layoffs, stabilize the rooftop solar market, support local jobs, and preserve grid and affordability benefits for customers. Members asked about permitting, certification, consumer protection, and whether battery storage was included; the sponsor said the bill covers rooftop solar only, the credit is refundable, and EMNRD certifies systems before credits are issued. The committee heard broad support, no opposition, and voted due pass 7-0 before adjourning.

Transcript Highlights:

• The calculation of PTC actually changed a bit this year with the expiration of the enhanced premium tax
• On that point, so my understanding is with the expiration of the subsidies, premiums have gone up.
• And so that's removing them from the small group plan or the small group market.
• And the reason that that can happen is because the expiration of the enhanced tax credits reinstated
• However, in that draft guidance, they always pulled that back and removed it from the final regulation

Summary: The committee held an informational hearing focused first on Oregon Medicaid coordinated care organization (CCO) finances and rate setting. Oregon Health Authority staff explained how 2025 CCO financial results will inform 2027 capitation rates, including reserve requirements, subcapitation arrangements, and major cost drivers such as behavioral health, pharmacy, rural hospital costs, and dental directed payments. They said the Legislature’s added 2025 funding materially improved CCO margins and that, without it, the program would have been negative overall. Members asked about retained earnings, subcapitation, behavioral health utilization, ABA therapy, and whether outcomes are being evaluated; OHA said rate setting is actuarial and that CCOs, OHA, and other partners all play roles in monitoring efficacy and access. OHA also reviewed House Bill 4039 changes intended to increase transparency and give CCOs earlier access to rate information and reconciliation exhibits. CCO representatives then testified that the system is under significant financial pressure and that behavioral health state-directed payments, benefit changes, and federal uncertainty from H.R. 1 are reducing flexibility. CareOregon said it has lost more than $500 million over the last couple of years and is now making provider terminations and other network changes to align spending with available funding, while emphasizing that CCOs must make hard decisions about which services and providers can be sustained. Eastern Oregon CCO said rural and frontier factors, cost-based hospitals, air ambulance needs, and statewide efficiency adjustments are not fully reflected in rates, and that dental funding is especially strained. Trillium similarly warned that state-directed payments and benefit expansion pressures are constraining the global budget model and that H.R. 1 could worsen acuity and volatility. Members pressed the witnesses on who is responsible for evaluating treatment effectiveness, especially for ABA and psychotherapy, and on how utilization limits and reimbursement changes are being used to control costs. The committee then shifted to an overview of the Affordable Care Act and Oregon’s commercial insurance market. Department of Consumer and Business Services staff explained actuarial value, metal tiers, premium tax credits, medical loss ratio rules, and the main drivers of premium rates: cost trend, utilization trend, and administrative costs. They said mandates have likely added only a limited amount to premiums over the past decade, though the exact effect is difficult to isolate, and they gave examples of how high-cost, low-volume services versus broad, high-utilization services can affect rates differently. Staff also noted that Providence Health Plan and PacificSource Health Plans are withdrawing from the individual market, though consumers should still have at least three insurer options in every county and may have four in many counties. The division said it is in the middle of reviewing proposed 2027 rates and will continue its public rate review process, including hearings and written comment.

Transcript Highlights:

• Arizona was the first to allow our program to expire.
• Arizona was the first to allow our program to expire.
• You said that several years ago the affordable act in Arizona was allowed to expire. Mr.
• Diaz, it was allowed to expire this year. This year? Yes, sir. Mr.
• Chair, can you explain the reason why it was allowed to expire? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Bills: HB2352 , HB2388 , HB2418 , HB2499 , HB2500 , HB2579 , HB2584 , HB2804

Committees: House Appropriations , House House Appropriations Committee of Reference

Keywords: funding, auditor general, county treasurer, procedural reviews, state appropriations, HB2388, Arizona Commerce Authority, ACA, small modular reactor, SMR, nuclear energy, advanced nuclear, data center, data centers, economic development, study, appropriation, general fund, jobs, wages

Transcript Highlights:

• Uniform Building Code to serve an expired term ending July 1, 2028. Thank you, Mr. Chair, members.
• What we're doing here is we're removing a dual licensure requirement.
• House Bill 4202 removes the language that allows radiology to be...
• It treats comparable products equally and regardless of price, regardless of the price point, removes
• It'll also remove sunset language from the.

Bills: HB4322 , HB4202 , HB4203 , HB4457 , HB3983 , HB3660 , HB3802 , HB2933 , HB2955 , HB2956 , HB3781 , HB3521 , HB3794 , HB3796 , HB3800

Committee: Senate Business and Insurance

Keywords: funeral services licensing, funeral director, embalmer, funeral director in charge, dual licensure, mortuary science, Oklahoma Funeral Board, funeral establishment, commercial embalming establishment, crematory, cremation, alkaline hydrolysis, apprenticeship, licensing requirements, professional regulation, undertaker, mortician, burial services, death care industry, workers' compensation

Transcript Highlights:

• author shall notify the parliamentarians using a form prescribed by the parliamentarians, B, at the expiration
• author shall notify the parliamentarians using a form prescribed by the parliamentarian be at the expiration
• House Bill 22 is a straightforward fix. we will remove an unnecessary burden on businesses. consistency
• committee following recommendations of the Sunset Advisory Commission specifying grounds for the removal
• Specifying grounds for the removal of a member of the Board of Directors or for the Committee on Natural

Bills: HJR1 , HJR2 , HB9 , HB22 , HB908 , HB1392 , HB195 , HB 13 , HB143 , HB135 , HJR1 , HJR2 , HB9 , HB22 , HB908 , HB1392

Keywords: constitutional amendment, property tax, ad valorem tax, tax exemption, tangible personal property, income-producing property, business personal property, equipment exemption, machinery, local government finance, school district revenue, county taxes, Texas Constitution, Article VIII, tax relief, commercial property, death tax, inheritance tax, estate tax, property transfer

Transcript Highlights:

• This ability to lower fees is set to expire at the end of this legislative session.
• What you're referencing there is the removal of an inactive license type.
• And so we're removing that. So the actual fee... And so we're removing that.
• Page 432, Rule 200.02, was removed as this section is no longer needed.
• Maybe if you could just speak a little bit to what that is and why that's being removed.

Committee: Senate Health and Welfare

Transcript Highlights:

• So with that being removed, those two sections were no longer necessary.
• made in row 28 is just that at the end of the pilot program, we submit a report, but again, it's removing
• But again, it's removing that language about having to submit the bill.
• So that's one of the changes being made in this last section, is to remove the insurance commissioner's
• So I would agree that it would remove cost. Okay. Cost. So I would agree that it would remove cost.

Summary: The conference committee on HB 1248 met to review differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill, which concerns the PERS pilot program and insurance mandate process. Rebecca Frickie, executive director of PERS, explained that the Senate version removed the House provisions repealing the insurance mandate process, kept the two-year PERS pilot intact, and preserved the requirement for a report at the end of the pilot while removing language that would have required PERS to submit a bill to expand coverage to the commercial market. Members discussed the bill’s cost-benefit analysis requirements. Frickie said the current law triggers a cost-benefit analysis at the start of the pilot and again when a bill is introduced to roll coverage out commercially, but the Senate draft would change that to only one analysis at the end of the pilot if a rollout bill is introduced. Legislative Council indicated that if the committee wants that simplified approach, additional conforming changes are needed elsewhere in the code. Senators also asked about the purpose of the initial analysis and whether it is used beyond being attached to the bill packet; Frickie said PERS relies primarily on its own actuary and was not aware of broader use. The committee discussed whether the revised process would still require legislative sponsorship for any future rollout, and Frickie confirmed that a legislator or other sponsor would need to introduce such a bill. Examples mentioned included insulin caps and breast exams as possible future pilot items. The committee agreed to request Legislative Council draft the needed language changes and planned to reconvene after receiving the updated draft; no final vote was taken and the meeting was adjourned.

Transcript Highlights:

• Ladies, time has expired. Motion to table, Ms. Wiener. For what purpose?
• The lady's time has expired. I'm going to ask to extend the time.
• When that process is removed, we are left with Unchecked power.
• It needs to be removed, and all my amendment is attempting to do is to remove that so that people can
• Gentleman's time has expired.

Bills: SB 8 , HB7 , HB15 , HB265 , HCR13 , SB8 , HB7 , HB15 , HB265 , HCR13

Transcript Highlights:

• And when you remove this unnecessary step, the success rate is the same.
• It sounds like you are for removing this program, or are you for leaving things like they are?
• So I guess I'm trying to figure out how they get removed.
• The other 400,000 are on expired licenses.
• The driver's license is already marked with the one-year expiration date.

Bills: HB1455 , HB1777 , HB2101 , HB2136 , HB2609 , HB3142 , HB3552 , HB3846 , HB4155 , HB4514 , HB4879 , HB4995 , HB5014 , HB5139 , HB5228 , HB5436 , HCR40

Committee: House Homeland Security, Public Safety & Veterans' Affairs

Keywords: mental health, jail diversion, law enforcement, reporting requirements, criminal justice, data collection, criminal justice reform, intellectual disability, mental illness, data reporting, public safety, reporting, substance abuse, sex offender, driver's license, identification, gunshot detection, unreported gunshots, municipal police, crime investigation

Summary: The committee heard testimony on several public safety, criminal justice, and regulatory bills. HB 4995 would create a training and certification program allowing licensed physicians and certain EMS personnel assigned to tactical units to carry firearms during high-risk deployments, with supporters saying it would let tactical medical staff protect themselves while providing immediate care; the bill was left pending. HB 2609 would repeal the failure-to-appear-or-pay/OmniBase license-hold program, with the author and advocates arguing it creates compounding debt and unnecessary barriers to driving, while judges and municipal court representatives said the program is a voluntary, cost-effective tool that improves court appearances and reduces warrants; the bill was also left pending. HB 4879 would create a grant program to help local law enforcement pay for lab testing of suspected hemp/Delta-9 THC substances, and HB 5436 would let licensed auto recyclers buy certain untitled vehicles for scrap or parts to curb illegal sales, VIN cloning, and chop shops; both measures were left pending after brief testimony in support. The committee also heard HB 1777, which would require a discrete designation on driver’s licenses and state IDs for people required to register as sex offenders. The author and supporters argued the marker would help law enforcement and businesses quickly identify potentially dangerous offenders and prevent harm, while opponents called it a stigmatizing “scarlet letter” that would increase harassment, family harm, and reintegration barriers. The bill was left pending. HB 4155 would create a two-year Family Violence Criminal Homicide Prevention Task Force in the Governor’s Office to study family violence homicides, gather stakeholders, and recommend policy changes; the author, HHSC, the Texas Council on Family Violence, and a survivor testified in support, and the bill was left pending. The committee also heard HB 4514, which would authorize DPS to use facial image verification, with consent and privacy safeguards, to help businesses confirm identities and combat fraud; supporters from the lumber and identity-verification industries said it would reduce theft and fraud, and the bill was left pending. Finally, HB 5139 would clarify that peace officers and jailers are justified in using less lethal force weapons when acting within training and official duties; law enforcement groups supported the measure as a way to encourage use of less lethal tools without fear of prosecution, and testimony was underway when the transcript ended.

Transcript Highlights:

• It also extends the period of time related to the use of increment after the expiration of the 5-year
• It also extends the period of time related to the use of increment after the expiration of the 5-year
• The period of time related to the use of increment after the expiration of the 5-year period to 11 years
• </c><00:28:02.480><c> First</c><00:28:03.039><c> uh</c><00:28:03.200><c> expired</c><00:28:03.600><c>
• Extending the expiration date of the funding source would ensure that the environmental response fund

Committee: Senate Taxes