Transcript Highlights:

• With its own singular blend of folk, bluegrass, and rock, especially right now we need more Dead & Company

Transcript Highlights:

• You sort of blend into your curtains with your shirt this morning.

Committee: Joint Joint Committee on Financial Services

Summary: The Senate Committee on Financial Services held a public hearing on late-filed matters, chaired by Senator Paul Feeney and Representative Jamie Murphy. The committee heard testimony on several bills, including S. 2738 on rising insurance costs for manufactured home residents, S. 2739 on creating a fire cistern program, and S. 2732 on direct primary care. Members were reminded to keep testimony brief, and several legislators and local officials testified out of turn as they arrived. The hearing ended with a motion to adjourn, which passed unanimously. On S. 2738, Senator Kelly Dooner, Representative Lisa Field, Taunton Mayor Sean O’Connell, Taunton City Council President Barry Sanders, and several residents and local officials described sharp premium increases, limited carrier options, and confusion over coverage for manufactured home communities. Testifiers said many residents are seniors, veterans, or low-income households on fixed incomes, and urged creation of a special commission to study the market and recommend solutions. Some asked that residents themselves be included on the commission and suggested more immediate relief if possible. On S. 2739, fire chiefs from Hopkinton and East Hampton supported a state fund for fire cisterns, saying many communities lack municipal water or hydrants and need reliable year-round water sources for structure fires, wildfires, and newer hazards such as lithium-ion battery fires. They said cisterns improve response and can affect insurance ratings, but maintenance and installation costs are difficult for local departments to cover. The Massachusetts Insurance Federation opposed the funding mechanism, arguing that insurance assessments are being used as revenue generators and warning that the proposal would add to policy costs and trigger retaliatory taxes. The committee also heard strong support for S. 2732 from physicians and specialty groups, including Dr. Jenny Labonte, Dr. Wendy Cohen, Dr. Rica Nair, and the Massachusetts GI Association. They said the bill would allow direct primary care physicians to make referrals for HMO patients and permit in-office dispensing of medications, which they argued would improve access, continuity of care, medication adherence, and affordability. No votes were taken on the bills during the hearing.

Transcript Highlights:

• You sort of blend into your curtains with your shirt this morning.

Bills: S2732 , S2738 , S2739

Committee: Joint Joint Committee on Financial Services

Keywords: healthcare, direct primary care, insurance, referrals, network providers, payment denial, insurance costs, manufactured homes, homeowners insurance, affordability, state regulations, insurance market, consumer protection, mobile homes, firefighting, water supply, cistern program, rural areas, urban interface, state funding

Transcript Highlights:

• And we will partner with various entities to make sure we're blending everything together is as a as

Transcript Highlights:

• I am a first-year undergrad at Utah State in blending, and I'll be doing welding.

Committee: House House Government, Elections & Indian Affairs

Transcript Highlights:

• In 2003, the Texas Legislature adjusted the blended rate structure associated with credit provided by

Bills: HB886 , HB1514 , HB2434 , HB2688 , HB2802 , HB3161 , HB3221 , HB4029 , HB4339 , HB4591 , HB4774 , HB4802 , HB4853 , HB5627 , SB1737

Committee: House Pensions, Investments & Financial Services

Keywords: retirement, supplemental payment, benefits, Employees Retirement System, eligible annuitants, legislation, annuity, service credit, Employees Retirement System of Texas, employee benefits, pension reform, public retirement systems, municipality pensions, firefighters, police officers, retirement age, DROP program, actuarial studies, pension benefits, municipal retirement

Transcript Highlights:

• With his unique blend of experience in both private practice and public service, particularly in the

Committee: Senate Senate Judiciary

Keywords: John Eisenberg, assistant attorney general, national security, China Initiative, Department of Justice, judicial authority, executive actions, nomination hearing

Summary: The committee meeting primarily involved discussions around key nominations and pressing legal issues pertaining to the Department of Justice. Notable discussions included the nomination of John Eisenberg for assistant attorney general for national security, where concerns over the revival of the China Initiative were raised. Senators expressed significant apprehensions regarding previous actions taken under this initiative and its implications for national security. Additionally, there were critiques of the broader implications of executive actions that challenge judicial authority, aligning with ongoing dialogues about the integrity of the judiciary and executive oversight.

Transcript Highlights:

• And so I think you just start to blend as an arm of the court.

Summary: The Assembly Judiciary Committee heard three bills. AB 250 by Majority Leader Aguiar-Curry would extend a limited window for survivors of sexual assault to seek civil recourse against perpetrators and entities that allegedly covered up abuse. The author and supporters, including survivor Maya Alexander and Equal Rights Advocates, said many survivors need years before they can come forward and that the bill would improve accountability and public safety. One member raised concerns about the bill’s application to private employers and the exclusion of public employees, but the bill was advanced on a motion to Appropriations and later placed on call until additional votes were added. AB 373 by Assemblymember Rubio would require appointed counsel for non-minor dependents in extended foster care to represent the young adult’s expressed wishes rather than substitute the attorney’s judgment. Supporters from California Youth Connection and the Children’s Law Center said 18- to 21-year-olds in foster care are legal adults and should have their voices fully respected in court. Members discussed how the bill would work in practice and whether it applied only to appointed counsel; the bill was moved to Human Services and later cleared after additional votes were added. AB 387 by Assemblymember Alanis, as amended, would exempt probation officers from criminal jury service. The author and supporters argued probation officers are deeply involved in the criminal justice process, often get dismissed anyway, and should be focused on supervision and court-related duties rather than jury duty. The Judicial Council opposed the bill, warning that categorical exemptions shrink the jury pool and set a bad precedent. After debate over fairness, precedent, and the role of probation officers, the committee voted the bill out on a do pass motion.

Transcript Highlights:

• This intersection of black and Latino histories represents not just a blending of cultures, but also

Transcript Highlights:

• NDI New Mexico programs are a unique blend. of performing arts, physical fitness, physical education,

Transcript Highlights:

• special fuels, they are all taxed at a rate that is the same or comparable to the tax on gasoline and diesel
• special fuels, they are all taxed at a rate that is the same or comparable to the tax on gasoline and diesel
• special fuels, they are all taxed at a rate that is the same or comparable to the tax on gasoline and diesel

Committee: Senate Taxes

Transcript Highlights:

• than having all that cross Metro rather than having all that cross Metro traffic<01:03:33.200><c> diesel
• traffic</c><01:03:34.039><c> back</c><01:03:34.200><c> and</c><01:03:34.400><c> forth</c> traffic diesel
• traffic back and forth traffic diesel traffic back and forth and<01:03:34.920><c> then</c><01:03:35.119

Committee: House Energy Finance and Policy

Transcript Highlights:

• read the first sentence from an article on February 17th: Amazon wants to install so many backup diesel
• read the first sentence from an article on February 17th: Amazon wants to install so many backup diesel
• read the first sentence from an article on February 17th: Amazon wants to install so many backup diesel

Committee: House Taxes

Transcript Highlights:

• It’s blending it with the private sector. The quality of the water for the industry is good.
• Then they acquired groundwater permits, and they tried mixing, trying to blend it.
• And then, as I mentioned before, that limited ability to blend the treated surface water with the Walsh

Committee: Joint Water Topics Overview Committee

Transcript Highlights:

• The all the line items are, you know, blended together.
• Recognize the prime sponsor, Representative Pernell. blended together.
• That forces a parent blended together.

Committee: Senate Education Finance

Transcript Highlights:

• When you consider trucks cost hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars with new clean diesel technology

Committee: Joint Joint Committee on Revenue

Summary: The Joint Committee on Revenue held a long hybrid hearing on a wide range of tax bills, with testimony covering cigarette and tobacco taxes, nicotine pouches, contractor rental equipment exemptions, aircraft sales tax exemptions, rolling stock, advanced sales tax payments, a gun and ammunition excise tax, a digital services tax, and a psilocybin cultivation/tax proposal. Committee chairs outlined the hearing process and noted that 39 House-filed sales and excise tax bills were being heard for required reporting by November 28. No votes were taken during the hearing. On tobacco-related bills, supporters including Senator Keenan, the American Heart Association, the American Cancer Society, and Tobacco Free Mass backed higher cigarette taxes and closing the synthetic nicotine loophole, arguing the measures would reduce youth initiation, encourage cessation, and offset health care costs. Retailers, wholesalers, and convenience-store groups opposed the increases, warning of smuggling, out-of-state purchasing, and harm to small businesses; premium cigar representatives argued cigars should be treated separately from cigarettes. The committee also heard testimony on H. 3067 and related bills concerning nicotine pouches, with public health advocates supporting taxation and industry witnesses urging a lower, more competitive rate. Several other bills drew sharply divided testimony. United Rentals supported H. 3065 to simplify contractor rental equipment exemption paperwork, while airport and aviation groups opposed bills to repeal the aircraft sales tax exemption, saying it would hurt airport competitiveness and jobs. The Transportation Association of Massachusetts backed rolling stock tax exemptions, saying the current tax discourages fleet investment and interstate commerce. Restaurant industry representatives supported repealing advanced sales tax payments and changing penalty rules, saying businesses were hit with retroactive penalties after unclear pandemic-era changes. On H. 3082, an excise tax on guns and ammunition, gun violence prevention advocates, Roca, and Giffords supported the bill as a dedicated funding source for prevention and survivor services, while sportsmen’s groups opposed it as unfair to lawful gun owners and harmful to conservation funding. The committee also heard testimony on H. 3208, a digital advertising services tax, with Representative Paulino supporting it as a way to capture revenue from online advertising and fund public needs, while the Chamber of Progress opposed it as costly and burdensome for small businesses and campaigns. Finally, multiple witnesses testified on H. 4050 regarding psilocybin cultivation and taxation: advocates from Mass Healing, Roca, the Reason Foundation, and individuals describing personal medical benefits urged a regulated, permit-based system, while the hearing ended after all signed-up speakers were heard and the chair adjourned the meeting.

Transcript Highlights:

• Diesel fuel is higher than I've ever seen it, and I was in the fuel business when I was coaching.

Committee: All HOUSE RULES

Transcript Highlights:

• He wants to attend OSU to study diesel mechanics. He shows pigs and works on the family farm.

Bills: HB2059 , HB3920 , HB2992 , HB3267 , HB4457 , HB3800 , HB3818 , HB4425 , HB4427 , HB4430 , HB4431 , HB4333 , HB4340 , HB4343 , HB4344 , HB4363 , HB4229 , HB4230 , HB4236 , HB4246 , HB1979 , HB3431 , HB3052 , HB3047 , HB3048 , HB4092 , HB4302 , HB3261 , HB3704 , HB3312 , HB3546 , HB3849 , HCR1021 , HB4105 , HB4159 , HB4304 , HB3835 , HB3619 , HB4490 , HB3710 , HB4201 , HB3907 , HB3748

Keywords: health care, medication, inmates, Oklahoma Health Care Authority, reimbursement, county jails, medical expenses, sales tax exemption, nonprofit organizations, procurement, transplant research, Oklahoma Tax Code, HB2992, Data Center Customer Ratepayer Protection Act of 2026, Corporation Commission, Oklahoma utilities, ratepayer protection, data centers, artificial intelligence computing, AI data centers

Transcript Highlights:

• Diesel prices, however, since 1976 have gone up 744%. Now, why am I telling you this?

Transcript Highlights:

• When inflation is higher than 1%, when health insurance costs rise faster than 1%, when asphalt and diesel

Bills: HJR1024 , SB1316 , SB1491 , SB1552 , SB1679 , SB1877 , SB2040 , SB2133 , SB2153 , SB2174 , SB2180 , SB227 , SJR39 , SJR47 , SJR48

Committee: Senate Rules

Summary: The Senate Rules Committee met and first laid over Senate Bill 2133 and skipped several bills because the Pro Tem and Senator Hall were not present. The committee then took up Senate Bill 1552, which would expand an option for very large counties to adopt local charters; an amendment was adopted to raise the population thresholds so the bill would apply only to future growth. After discussion that the measure was optional and not a mandate, the bill passed 12-7. The committee also passed SJR 39, a proposed constitutional amendment to lower the cap on annual increases in property tax assessed value from 3% to 1% for homestead and agricultural property and from 5% to 3% for other property, despite opposition that it would worsen funding pressures and create inequities between long-term owners and new buyers. SJR 47, moving voter ID requirements into the Constitution, and SJR 48, changing how the state handles ad valorem reimbursement for tax-incentive projects, both passed 16-2. The committee next passed Senate Bill 1491, which requires replacement presidential electors to take the same oath as the original slate, and Senate Bill 2174, which changes the membership mix of the State Fire Marshal Commission to include more business-oriented voices; both measures drew little opposition and passed overwhelmingly. Senate Bill 1877 also passed unanimously; it creates a centralized reporting system for 510 reports, with members noting it should have no fiscal impact because an existing state filing system would be used. House Joint Resolution 1024, which revises the Judicial Nominating Commission by removing certain lawyer/non-lawyer and party-balance restrictions and capping service at 12 consecutive years, passed after significant debate over judicial independence and political influence. The committee then approved Senate Bill 2040, which updates the Tulsa Reconciliation Education Scholarship Program by simplifying eligibility rules, changing the income cap to $128,000 and indexing it to inflation, and clarifying that unused funds may still be used for room, board, and books; supporters said it preserves a long-standing scholarship with no fiscal impact. Senate Bill 1316 passed 17-1 and would require agencies to periodically sunset a percentage of administrative rules, though the author said he may lengthen the cycle after reviewing other states’ models. Senate Bill 1679, the Preserving Oklahoma Values Act, passed 16-2 after debate over its references to foreign law and Judeo-Christian Western values; supporters said it protects due process and equal protection, while opponents warned it could marginalize other faith traditions and create legal uncertainty. Finally, the committee passed Senate Bill 227, clarifying which oil and gas facilities are exempt from ad valorem tax and ensuring flow lines, gathering lines, and injection wells are treated consistently; Senate Bill 2153, directing state agencies to use the terms Judea and Samaria instead of West Bank in official documents; and Senate Bill 2180, a transparency measure on foreign lobbying that was amended before passing 17-0. The meeting then adjourned.