Transcript Highlights:

• Cost you money.
• The bridge replacement has a construction cost of about $36.5 million.
• The total construction cost is... The cost is $133 million. The letting date was this past April.
• It is a construction cost of $20 million.
• To be honest with you, and utility costs and lighting costs, it would be a significant increase if we

Transcript Highlights:

• Peak gas costs 10 times what non-peak gas costs.
• So doesn't Mass Save connect to all these points about high replacement costs, and can't we avoid these
• Sorry, the Massachusetts average per-mile pipe replacement cost was $1.32 million in 2015, but the largest
• on the cost of gas. $12 million for two miles of pipe replacement is in the latest GSEP report.
• on the cost of gas. $12 million for two miles of pipe replacement is in the latest GSEP report.

Keywords: 995, all

Summary: The committee heard testimony on a wide range of late-file energy bills, with much of the discussion focused on battery storage siting, gas system expansion, propane consumer protections, gas workforce safety, and a Taunton home-rule petition on water rates for manufactured housing communities. Representative Sweeney urged support for H. 4689 and H. 4690, which would impose a moratorium and setback requirements for lithium battery storage facilities, citing fire risk, proximity to homes, and environmental concerns. Several local officials and residents from Oakham, Tewksbury, and other communities described proposed battery projects near homes, schools, wetlands, and conservation land, while industry and clean-energy advocates argued the bills would effectively block storage development and conflict with state energy goals and existing fire-safety standards. The committee also heard strong support for S. 2290/H. 3547, a bill to prevent gas expansion near environmental justice communities, from environmental justice advocates, municipal officials, and clean-energy groups. Testimony emphasized rising gas bills, the cost of new pipelines, methane and health impacts, and the need to avoid locking in long-term gas infrastructure costs. Witnesses also discussed related bills on gas workforce safety, gas shut-off valves, and gas meter replacement plans, with labor representatives supporting safety-focused measures and opposing changes they said would weaken inspections, while consumer and environmental advocates argued that some utility replacement practices are unnecessarily expensive and should be reined in to reduce ratepayer costs. Other testimony included support for H. 3518 on propane gas ratepayer protections, with the witness arguing for clearer contract terms and website price disclosure, and support for S. 2652, which would authorize Taunton to create a separate water billing rate for manufactured housing communities because residents there are effectively paying higher water costs through rent due to a single master meter. No committee votes or final actions were taken during the hearing, and members mostly asked brief clarifying questions or made no comment after testimony.

Transcript Highlights:

• Assemblymember Jose Solache will serve as her replacement for today's hearing, and we'll give a warm
• Assemblymember Mike Gibson will serve as her replacement for today's hearing.
• Also, Assemblymember Sade Elhawary Rodriguez is out on maternity leave, and she will now have a replacement
• California will not wait for Washington to value our students and our democracy.
• California will not wait for Washington to value our students and our democracy.

Keywords: 988, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• value access to water and electricity.
• Health insurance costs are going up 12 to 14% per year, and employees still need cost-of-living raises
• Together, these cuts saved us $230,000 annually, but at what cost?
• Everyone is seen, valued, and recognized. Let's answer the call.
• There's no cost at all to implementing this.

Keywords: 995, all

Summary: The committee held its second hearing on a large docket of technology, internet, cybersecurity, broadband, and media bills. Early testimony focused on community media funding legislation, with lawmakers and local access advocates arguing that as cable subscriptions decline and streaming grows, revenue tied to cable franchises no longer supports community television and PEG programming. Supporters said community media remains a key source of local news, government meeting coverage, and civic transparency as newspapers disappear or consolidate. A related bill on cable contract oversight also drew support, with testimony that the Department of Telecommunications and Cable is backlogged and should more actively review municipal-provider agreements and report its workload to the committee. Another major topic was a proposal to create a Massachusetts Innovation Fund for state IT modernization. The Alliance for Digital Innovation backed the bill, saying agencies need flexible upfront capital to replace outdated systems and improve cybersecurity, and pointing to the federal Technology Modernization Fund as a model. The witness noted that funding for the state program still needs to be identified. The committee also heard strong support for a bill requiring free broadband in public housing, with Rep. Emmela Goodwin and MAPC describing internet access as essential for jobs, school, telehealth, and civic participation. They said the digital divide in Massachusetts is driven largely by affordability rather than infrastructure, though questions were raised about costs, wiring, and whether all housing sites already have broadband access available at the curb. A substantial portion of the hearing centered on bills to limit addictive social media feeds for minors. Supporters, including lawmakers, parents, teens, and advocacy groups, argued that algorithmic feeds contribute to addiction, anxiety, body image problems, and other harms, and said the bills would restrict surveillance-based curation and overnight notifications while leaving search and followed accounts available. Opponents, including FIRE, CCIA, and the Taxpayers Protection Alliance, argued the bills would require invasive age verification, threaten privacy and cybersecurity, burden adults’ anonymity, and likely face First Amendment challenges. They also warned the measures could disadvantage smaller businesses and may be unconstitutional based on recent court rulings in other states. The committee also heard support for blockchain-related bills creating a commission, a pilot program, and consumer education efforts, with testimony that Massachusetts has the talent but needs a coordinated state strategy. No votes or final actions were taken during the hearing.

Transcript Highlights:

• Rising costs, inflation, shrinking customer base, and toys that should cost $10 selling for $25.
• Rising costs, inflation, shrinking customer base, and toys that should cost $10 selling for $25.
• Rising costs, inflation, shrinking customer base, and toys that should cost $10 selling for $25.
• People who have 26 weeks of benefits, partial wage replacement there.
• now<00:24:36.000> under replacement and right now under replacement and right now under Minnesota

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• The senator then asked whether this was all a cost-savings measure for BRIM.
• Counsel said it was a cost issue and, as she understood it, also an availability issue.
• And the cost for that was a little over $5 million. That's in the fiscal note."
• What happens if that cost balloons up to $15 million, and then that cost is shared to the county boards
• The bill would not limit or replace guaranteed issue rights otherwise provided under federal law.

Keywords: 994, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• As well as cost savings.
• systems replacement replacement of HVAC systems replacement replacement of HVAC systems uh<01:15:
• I do plan to introduce a bill for full R22 replacement, which will cost about $23 million.
• <01:18:55.280> $23 replacement which will cost about $23 replacement which will cost about
• A few items to note: our current replacement value is over $1 billion and growing with the 50-bed expansion

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Now, cost. It does have a cost. About 30 million to the state was part of the fiscal impact.
• These are high value lands under a lot of threats from development.
• And that increases the transaction costs fairly substantially.
• That percentage amount of how much value they're getting for the conservation value for each tax credit
• But they basically assigned a value.

Keywords: 996, all

Transcript Highlights:

• And if the value, in the unlikely event that the value is $500 or more, we'll try our best to locate
• And if the value unlikely event that<00:27:11.760> the<00:27:11.919> value<00:27:12.400
• about electric vehicle spaces replacing about electric vehicle spaces replacing accessible<00:32
• On page 46, line 13, the word “searchcharges” should be replaced with the words “costs for assessment
• <01:38:16.239> Uh replace it with this new chapter. Uh replace it with this new chapter.

Keywords: 910, house, all

Summary: The committee heard testimony on several measures. SB 1296 HD1, relating to disaster recovery, would exempt reconstruction of lawfully constructed structures damaged or destroyed in a declared disaster from special management area permits under certain conditions. OPSD, DLNR, the County of Maui, Front Street Recovery, and the Grassroot Institute supported the bill, saying it would speed rebuilding after disasters like the Maui fires; one witness noted the bill would not cover shoreline parcels unless amended, and members asked about the five-year rebuild window, the meaning of “lawfully constructed,” and whether unlawful structures were excluded. Testimony was also heard on SB 1413, which would allow the Hawaii Public Housing Authority to dispose of abandoned property in federal public housing projects after notice and within five days; HPHA said the bill would help address illegal dumping and clarify procedures. SB 31 HD1, concerning discriminatory restrictive covenants, was briefly described and had support from the Hawaii Civil Rights Commission and comments from the Uniform Law Commission, with no in-person testimony. The committee then heard SB 1341, which would add HEMA and the Office of Homeland Security to agencies allowed to review energy industry information and would expand the program’s emergency-management purpose. The Hawaii State Energy Office supported the measure, saying the data is important for emergency response and fuel-supply planning. SB 10008 HD1 would authorize counties to adopt ordinances enforcing accessible parking space requirements and clarify county enforcement of EV-related parking provisions; the Disability and Communication Access Board strongly supported the accessible-parking provisions, saying current enforcement is weak, while noting section three on EV spaces is already largely in statute and could be struck if the committee preferred. Tina Yamaki of the Retail Merchants of Hawaii testified in opposition. Finally, the committee heard SB 1028 SD1 HD1, which would eliminate fees, fines, and court costs for offenses committed by minors, discharge existing related debt, limit community service for minors to 72 hours, and repeal certain penalties tied to minors and their parents or guardians. The Office of the Public Defender, Office of Hawaiian Affairs, the Juvenile Justice State Advisory Council, Community Alliance on Prisons, and DebtFree Justice Hawaii supported the bill, arguing that youth fines burden families, worsen poverty, and disproportionately affect Native Hawaiian youth. The Department of the Attorney General offered comments, raising possible constitutional title issues because the current draft incorporates material from HB 129 and includes sections that may relate more to restitution or curfew than to fines and fees; supporters responded that the title is sufficient and cited case law. No votes or final actions were taken on the measures in the portion of the meeting provided.

Transcript Highlights:

• Bots cannot replace faculty, counselors, coaches, or librarians.
• AI is only as strong as its weakest... ...replacing human worker occurs.
• And something was said about replacement. I think it was you that said it.
• You asked about replacement and suggested that that was imponderable.
• So work replacement is absolutely a thing.

Summary: The Assembly Committee on Higher Education and the Assembly Privacy and Consumer Protection Committee held an oversight hearing on the California State University’s AI-empowered initiative, including the systemwide rollout of ChatGPT EDU and broader AI integration across CSU campuses. Opening remarks emphasized both the promise of AI for student success, workforce preparation, and access, and the need to address risks such as bias, privacy, misinformation, environmental impacts, and mental health harms. CSU representatives said the initiative grew out of Academic Senate recommendations and a systemwide generative AI committee, and that the goal was to provide equitable access, training, governance, and workforce alignment across the 23-campus system. CSU officials described systemwide contracts for AI tools, the AI Commons training hub, and faculty grant programs supporting AI-related curriculum innovation. They said more than 93,000 ChatGPT EDU accounts had been activated, over 4,300 faculty had taken voluntary training, and $3 million had been awarded to 63 faculty-led projects from more than 400 submissions. San Jose State University highlighted its own AI-focused programs, courses, orientation training, faculty fellows, student ambassadors, and interdisciplinary efforts to build AI literacy and responsible use into instruction and co-curricular programs. CSU also said it was tracking metrics on adoption, academic outcomes, workforce outcomes, and environmental impacts. Faculty, staff, and student representatives welcomed the educational potential of AI but raised concerns about the rollout, saying it had moved quickly and without enough consultation or consistent systemwide policy. They urged stronger protections for academic freedom, intellectual property, privacy, equity, and worker input, and warned about bias, surveillance, job displacement, and the environmental cost of AI. Legislators pressed CSU and OpenAI representatives on training requirements, data privacy, bias reporting, discipline for misuse, liability, sycophancy, and safeguards against harmful uses such as non-consensual imagery or self-harm-related interactions. CSU said interactions in the licensed tool are private, data are not used to train models, and campuses retain their own conduct processes; members also asked CSU to follow up on systemwide training, policy consistency, and additional safeguards.

Transcript Highlights:

• <00:05:17.759> So, replace. That's House Bill two. So, replace. That's House Bill two.
• to the cost of housing. to the cost of housing.
• Oh, there's fixed costs, anymore.
• , energy costs.
• . cost. cost.

Keywords: 1191, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• <00:26:33.440> of cost of cost of of<00:26:35.200> having<00:26:35.600> food<00:
• <00:38:54.400> of tossed around in terms of the value of tossed around in terms of the value
• costs, and those are not necessarily the exclusive cost to operate the program.
• methodology as being a value methodology as being a value proposition.<01:45:36.320> What
• What do you value? What do proposition. What do you value?

Keywords: 1189, house, all

Summary: Division Three of the Finance Committee met in work session on April 20, 2026, to consider Senate Bills 481, 603, and 663, with the discussion focused primarily on SB 481, relative to the sale of the Sununu Youth Services Center property. The chair explained that the bill was advisory only and that the committee’s recommendations would go to full Finance on April 27. For SB 481, members reviewed conflicting provisions in the prior budget law about whether sale proceeds should go to the general fund or the Youth Development Center Claims and Administration Settlement Fund, and the bill was described as a compromise that would direct proceeds to the general fund before June 30, 2027, and to the settlement fund after that date. It was noted that the settlement fund had originally received about $20 million and had roughly $10 million remaining. The committee also received an extensive update from DCYF Director Marie Noonan on the new Youth Development Center in Hampstead. She reported that construction remained on schedule, with major structural and interior work complete, substantial completion expected in late summer or early fall 2026, and occupancy anticipated in early 2027. The presentation highlighted the facility’s design features, including single-occupancy bedrooms, sensory rooms, an education wing, medical and clinical suites, visitation space, a gym, and multiple outdoor courtyards, all intended to support a trauma-informed setting. Members asked about the facility’s funding, square footage, fencing, and scanner; staff said the building is about 34,000 square feet, funded entirely with federal ARPA state recovery funds to date, and that the scanner is on site but not yet operational pending policy and staff training. Committee members also raised concerns about the facility’s design and security. In response, DCYF said some concrete walls are required for structural and safety reasons, but they are being painted to maintain a brighter environment, and that the fencing will be about 15 feet high with privacy netting because the campus is shared with Hampstead. Officials said the new facility is legislatively limited to a maximum of 12 youth, while the current center can house 12 to 18, and emphasized that courts ultimately determine placements. No votes or final actions were taken during the work session.

Transcript Highlights:

• perum rate that covers operational costs perum rate that covers operational costs many<00:08:06.879
• <00:57:54.599> relating years we also have added costs relating years we also have added costs
• emergency healthare long-term care cost emergency healthare long-term care cost and<01:04:26.319
• for Grants to counties to offset costs for Grants to counties to offset costs of<01:27:17.320>
• <01:36:36.360> of into the replacement of into the replacement of ssis<01:36:38.119> in

Bills: HF1380, HF1166, HF487, HF1553, HF1472, HF258, HF1911

Keywords: psychiatric treatment, human services, mental health funding, per diem rate, Clay County, disability services, assistive technology, remote support, advocacy, training programs, HF487, Wellness in the Woods, Minnesota human services, grant funding, general fund appropriation, peer support, substance use recovery, addiction recovery, reentry services, reentry after incarceration

Transcript Highlights:

• In addition to addressing ongoing cost pressures for schools, these funds will also offset costs for
• Again, our budget is reflecting our values here in California.
• A lot of them are outdated and need to be replaced, some of that equipment.
• So we cover the cost initially, and then these costs are reimbursed by the federal government.
• We want to unravel health care... ...and said, we don't want that value.

Summary: The Assembly Budget Committee met to consider the final three-party agreement for the 2026-27 state budget and 19 implementing bills, including two budget bill juniors and 17 trailer bills. Committee leadership and administration officials described the budget as a balanced plan that reduces out-year structural deficits, maintains large reserves, and makes major investments in health care, education, housing, child care, public safety, and other core services while also responding to expected federal cuts and fiscal uncertainty. The Department of Finance outlined the package’s major components, including Medi-Cal adjustments, education funding increases, higher education changes, child care and human services updates, housing and homelessness funding, energy and transportation provisions, and tax and general government changes. Members asked questions about several provisions, including CSU enrollment targets and turnaround plans, the Prop. 98 settle-up mechanism, the plastics market development payment program, housing accountability measures, NextGen 9-1-1 implementation, and veteran services. Staff and administration witnesses explained that the higher education language is intended to improve campus-by-campus reporting and oversight, that Prop. 98 settle-up would be finalized later through the statutory certification process, and that NextGen 9-1-1 now includes one-time funding, quarterly reporting, an independent technical review, and a state audit. Members also discussed the HAP homelessness funding increase to $900 million and the balance between accountability and timely distribution of funds. The most extended exchange centered on comparisons between funding for veterans and Medi-Cal/immigrant health coverage. Republican members argued the budget spends far more on undocumented immigrant services than on veterans, while Democratic members and Finance staff responded that the comparison was misleading because many veterans’ services are federally funded and the state budget also includes dedicated veteran support. The chair and other members emphasized that the budget reflects difficult tradeoffs and that the package protects vulnerable populations, preserves health care access, and advances affordability. No final vote was described in the excerpt, but members indicated support for the overall package and said they would support it on the floor.

Transcript Highlights:

• We created the RCRRD as a vehicle to save the rail and replace the disappearing value in the employment
• The cost of the scrap. Our plan was impossibly simple.
• Um, to, to estimate the wear and tear costs on vehicles, uh, uh.
• Do you know the the cost difference between certified mail and regular?
• What the cost difference is?

Transcript Highlights:

• Essentially, if the repair cost exceed the value, then we're forced.
• Essentially, if the repair cost exceed the value, then we're forced.
• And I say that 100% again, that's that if the value if the repair cost would exceed the value, you get
• would exceed the value, you repair cost would exceed the value, you get<00:48:13.520> over<00
• Yeah, I would just add all we look at is it's an NADA value and then the repair cost.

Keywords: 958, all

Summary: The Interim Joint Committee on Transportation approved the minutes from its September 16 meeting and then heard a presentation from Jason Sawala, deputy state highway engineer with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, on rest areas and truck parking. He described Kentucky’s system of eight welcome centers, 14 rest areas, and four truck havens, and said the Cabinet spent just over $12 million in fiscal year 2025 to operate and maintain those facilities. He also explained that the Cabinet’s truck parking study found truck parking demand has increased 24% since 2012, driven by just-in-time delivery, stricter hours-of-service and electronic logging requirements, and fewer drivers. Sawala said the study looked not only at Cabinet-owned facilities but also private truck stops and lots, and identified unmet parking demand across the state, especially at 1:00 a.m. He noted that 11 sites, mostly existing rest areas, weigh stations, or welcome centers, were identified as promising expansion locations, with estimated project costs in the $30 million to $36 million range in 2022 dollars. He said the Cabinet is working on design and project development for those sites and is seeking federal funding opportunities where available. Members raised concerns about safety, congestion, and trucks parking on ramps or in residential areas, and several asked about funding, charging for parking, and whether autonomous vehicles might reduce future demand. Sawala said the 820 public rest-area spaces are marked spaces only, that he was not aware of any state charging for public truck parking, and that federal programs can help fund some expansions. He also said he was not aware of local-government parking programs offhand but would look into it. Members generally emphasized the importance of truck parking for safety, commerce, and avoiding burdens on local communities.

Transcript Highlights:

• to the actual cost of the inspection and keep that reasonable.
• It increases cleanup costs. It increases management costs.
• And we all, as ratepayers and taxpayers, are paying the cost of that.
• It increases cleanup costs. It increases management costs.
• And we all, as ratepayers and taxpayers, are paying the cost of that. Increases management costs.

Summary: The committee first established a quorum, adopted the consent calendar for SB 423 and SB 581, and then heard a series of bills, most of which were presented as streamlining or safety measures tied to transportation, climate, public lands, health care, and higher education. SB 71 by Senator Wiener would extend and expand a CEQA exemption for sustainable transportation projects, adding modes such as microtransit, paratransit, shuttles, and ferries, while also accepting committee amendments that narrowed a Tier 4 diesel rail provision, restored existing right-of-way language with utility protections, and set a new sunset date. Support came from transit agencies, local governments, and advocacy groups; some members raised concerns about the diesel rail language and possible interactions with housing-related legislation, but the bill advanced on a due pass vote as amended. The committee then heard SB 614 by Senator Stern on carbon dioxide pipeline safety. The bill would direct the State Fire Marshal to adopt safety standards for intrastate CO2 pipelines, building from federal draft rules and adding state discretion and possible enhanced protections such as planning zones and more detailed exposure modeling. Supporters argued California needs to fill a federal regulatory gap to advance carbon capture and climate goals, while environmental justice and conservation groups opposed unless amended, citing risks from CO2 leaks and asking for stronger siting restrictions and more specificity. The bill passed on a due pass vote to Appropriations, with members noting the need for continued work on the safety provisions. Senator Arreguín also presented SB 304, which would temporarily lift public trust use restrictions on specific land at Jack London Square to allow the Port of Oakland more leasing flexibility under conditions and annual reporting. The measure was described as a limited, time-bound effort to address high vacancy and revitalize the waterfront, and it drew support from Oakland city and county representatives with no opposition in the room. The committee then approved SB 304 on a due pass vote. Arreguín’s SB 830 followed, creating CEQA streamlining for Sutter Health’s new Emeryville hospital campus and designating the City of Emeryville as lead agency; supporters said it would preserve East Bay hospital access before seismic deadlines, and the bill passed with broad support and no opposition. Finally, Senator Caballero presented SB 486, a higher education planning bill intended to align UC and CSU enrollment growth with regional sustainable communities plans and to remove the need to analyze a no-project alternative in certain long-range development plans. Supporters said the bill would better integrate university enrollment forecasting into regional planning, while opponents warned that eliminating the no-project analysis could weaken accountability for housing and infrastructure impacts around campuses. Committee members expressed mixed views and asked for further clarification, but the bill was moved out on a due pass as amended vote to Appropriations. The transcript then shifted to SB 629, a fire response and rebuilding bill, with the author describing amendments to apply fire safety requirements in wildfire-burned areas, update fire mapping, and require annual defensible space inspections, though the discussion was cut off before any final action was shown.

Transcript Highlights:

• rent compared to the abated value of the total abated value of the property taxes, I think will kind
• compared... to the total value of abatements.
• The total value lost to the City of Irving is about 118 million dollars in property value, about 700,000
• You know, it costs a lot more to live and...
• So how much will it cost? What's the cost burden on businesses for implementing E-Verify?

Bills: HB21, HB211, HB223

Keywords: HB 21, Texas Tax Code, ad valorem tax, property tax, delinquent taxes, tax delinquency, penalty reduction, interest rate, split payment, installment payment, tax relief, county tax collector, taxing unit, property owner, tax collection, voter-approval tax rate, no-new-revenue tax rate, tax increase election, supermajority, 60 percent threshold

Transcript Highlights:

• You will be liable to the judgment creditor for costs and reasonable attorneys' fees, plus an amount
• levy, and the creditor has to take you to court because of it, you will have to pay the creditor's costs
• Monty endured a lifetime of medical challenges requiring pain management, a hip replacement, a knee replacement
• , hydrotherapy, stem cell therapy, with a cost of over $20,000.
• protects consumers from those who would deceive them. ...with a cost of over $20,000.

Bills: HF2543, HF2566, HF2627

Keywords: garnishment, wage garnishment, earnings levy, bank levy, execution, judgment debtor, judgment creditor, exemption notice, exempt property, bank account freeze, financial institution levy, employer disclosure, garnishee, writ of execution, debt collection, consumer debt, collections, bankruptcy exemptions, public benefits, means-tested benefits

Transcript Highlights:

• Costs have gone up dramatically, and replacement costs for repairs, for equipment, for materials have
• Um it it it roofs and replacing them.
• And here's an example of a mitigation is of value, never mind mitigation is of value, never mind whether
• You have an the cost of insurance.
• Um, other drivers of insurance costs.

Keywords: 958, all

Summary: The interim task force on disaster prevention and resiliency met for its fourth meeting and focused heavily on insurance markets, affordability, and mitigation. Cochairs noted they are working toward recommendations for a later fall meeting. The main presentation came from David Snyder of the American Property Casualty Insurance Association, who said the insurance industry sees itself as part of the problem and part of the solution because it ultimately pays for losses created by natural conditions, development choices, and construction practices. Snyder described rising losses from natural catastrophes, inflation-driven increases in rebuilding and repair costs, more development in disaster-prone areas, wildfire exposure, severe convective storms, hail, and roof damage. He argued that Kentucky should avoid the mistakes he attributed to California, where regulatory responses contributed to a strained insurance market and greater reliance on the FAIR Plan. He said Kentucky’s private market appears to be functioning better, with relatively few FAIR Plan policies, and urged lawmakers to preserve that market through risk-based rates and policies that do not worsen availability. He recommended a broad mitigation strategy involving stronger building codes, land-use decisions, stormwater infrastructure, public access to risk data, and incentives for resilient construction. He highlighted programs such as the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety, fortified-home standards, wildfire-prepared community practices, and examples from Alabama, Louisiana, and Florida showing that mitigation can produce quick returns and insurance discounts. He also suggested catastrophe savings accounts, flexible coverage options, and a whole-of-government approach that includes the insurance department, building-code agencies, first responders, FEMA, NFIP, and NOAA. In questions, a legislator asked about the prognosis if carriers continue exiting markets and if nothing is done to address affordability and accessibility. Snyder said he could not predict market exits but stressed that regulators should monitor the market closely, use available data, and focus on loss prevention and mitigation. He said insurers want to do business in Kentucky and that the long-term solution is coordinated action among public and private stakeholders to reduce risk and keep coverage available.