Transcript Highlights:

• I yield back.
• in years back we sat back and we medicated our veterans they came home they seek mental health assistance
• I yield back, Mr. Chair.
• We will not back down on this committee.
• Chairman, I yield back.

Keywords: veteran services, homelessness, unemployment, VA funding, mental health, congressional oversight, testimonies, American Legion, Dole Act, suicide prevention

Summary: This meeting focused on veteran services, emphasizing the urgent need to address the alarming rate of unemployment and homelessness among veterans. Numerous testimonies were presented detailing the impact of mass furloughs and cutbacks at the VA on personnel, notably veterans who were serving as employees. Various representatives expressed deep concern over how these firings could drastically affect the quality of care available to those who have served the nation. There was a strong call for Congress to bolster funding for existing programs aimed at alleviating veteran homelessness and improving overall care quality, especially in mental health services.

Transcript Highlights:

• They're working that back.
• Why put them back to a 1?
• I can go back in those days.
• I can go back in those days.
• Yay you're back.

Bills: SB1

Keywords: campground safety, youth camp regulations, flood safety, emergency evacuation, health and safety standards

Summary: The committee heard a Legislative Budget Board presentation and then testimony from the Department of Public Safety on the Article 5 public safety budget. LBB said DPS’s 2026-27 recommendation totals $3.7 billion, down from the prior base, while FTEs rise by 856.7. Major items included increased funding for driver license services and customer support, new trooper funding and recruit schools, crime lab operations, border security, and reductions tied to one-time facility, vehicle, and aircraft spending. The committee also discussed new riders, including one to lapse unused trooper funds and require reporting after recruit schools. Members focused heavily on driver license operations, questioning why prior staffing increases and a prior efficiency study had not solved long wait times, high call abandonment, and appointment delays. DPS and LBB said the agency receives about 22,000 calls per day, answers only about 9 percent, and is seeking more staff plus technology upgrades such as automation, kiosks, and better online processing. Senators also raised concerns about rural access, REAL ID document requirements, and whether the department should rethink its processes rather than simply add employees. DPS leadership then described needs for the Williamson County training academy, additional troopers, Capitol and Alamo security, border operations, aircraft and vehicle replacement, and regional headquarters in El Paso and San Antonio. Members asked about Operation Lone Star costs, overtime, pursuit safety, border crime, oilfield theft, and sexual assault kit and toxicology backlogs. DPS said border deployments remain focused on criminal threats, that overtime is partly driven by deployments and staffing shortages, and that the sexual assault kit backlog is down to 118 cases with a goal of zero by April. The committee later recessed and began the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission budget presentation, where LBB outlined a $115.1 million recommendation and noted ongoing costs for the AIMS technology project.

Transcript Highlights:

• So some of those conversations have to come back so that we remind people why we are doing...
• Walker, like you said, well, let's go back and look at ourselves, right?
• And so, for... ...back and being repeated, you know, like, you know, what have we done?
• I'm going to give the floor back to Stella, give the floor to Stella, and then I'll come back on and
• Now, going back to the NYU, we have a burning desire.

Keywords: 962, all

Summary: The Juvenile Justice Policy and Oversight Committee (JJPOC) met for administrative updates, approved the April meeting minutes, and discussed a proposed shift from monthly full committee meetings to a quarterly schedule beginning later this year. Members generally supported the change, saying it would reduce strain on agency and committee resources and allow more time for work groups to complete implementation tasks. Several members also asked for more flexible agendas and a clearer way to add issues between meetings, with staff suggesting a standardized form for submitting topics in advance. Work group updates covered cross-agency data sharing, diversion, education, incarceration, and community expertise. The data-sharing group reported continued work on the Equity Dashboard 2.0, a statewide expulsions analysis, municipal-level data collaboration with UConn’s IMRP, and a cross-system analysis of crossover youth. The diversion group described work on POST curriculum revisions for juvenile law, a youth-focused law enforcement interaction training, a community-police relationship toolkit, expansion of youth diversion teams, and pre-arrest diversion policy. The education group is reviewing implementation of the law creating educational oversight in juvenile facilities, along with a free public transportation pilot for high school students and truancy cleanup legislation. The incarceration group is tracking conditions of confinement, DOC restraint and chemical agent reports, the DOJ settlement monitoring process, the reentry success plan, and gender-responsive programming. The community expertise group emphasized elevating lived experience, youth voice, prevention, and conditions of confinement, with members urging the committee to focus on stability, infrastructure, and meaningful use of lived-experience perspectives. A major presentation from OPM outlined Connecticut’s effort to re-enter the federal Title II juvenile justice formula grant program. OPM explained the program’s core compliance requirements, including deinstitutionalization of status offenders, adult jail and lockup removal, sight-and-sound separation, and addressing racial and ethnic disparities. Staff said Connecticut is currently not fully compliant because of issues including youth being held in adult facilities and the state’s six-hour detention rule, and that Title II funding is on hold while OPM works toward compliance. OPM is developing a monitoring manual, identifying facilities to be monitored, and forming a state advisory group (SAG) to support the application and compliance process. Members questioned why a separate SAG is needed, whether JJPOC or the community expertise group could serve that role, and how lived-experience members would be selected; OPM said federal rules require the SAG to include youth or parents with lived experience and that the group cannot be composed of state or government employees in the key leadership roles. The committee agreed to circulate the federal parameters and ask members to suggest candidates for the SAG and to help move compliance work forward over the summer.

Transcript Highlights:

• Welcome back to the Capitol.
• John, I always appreciated your humor, but most of all, when I was stuck on the back of the back bench
• Please join me in welcoming back to the chamber. Welcome back to the people's house.
• Now back to you, Mr. Leader. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
• Back to you, Mr. Leader. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Bills: HR1051, HR1048, SB2074, SJR39, SJR47, SB1983, SB444, SB1503, SB1561, SB592, SB1501, SB1946, SB1567, SB1833, SB2026, SB904, SB2178, SB1651, SB1558, SB1565, SB1553, SB1257, SB65, SB1749, SB1242, SB1642, SB640, SB667, SB1436, SB1484, SB1562, SB1794, SB1644, SB1533, SB933, SB1555

Keywords: livestock, judging, Oklahoma State University, championship, agriculture, military children, recognition, community support, military families, April 15, pharmacy benefits managers, reimbursement, healthcare, prescription drugs, cost regulation, property valuation, tax limit, homestead, income threshold, elderly

Transcript Highlights:

• Yeah, yeah, come back.
• I disagree with comments that this would bring work back.
• You know, it doesn't address the issue of going back.
• We have had lots of close elections in the United States, going back, or in Minnesota going back, I think
• We have had lots of close elections in United States going back are in Minnesota going back.

Bills: HF2185, HF1849, HF3719, HF3721, HF3845, HF3720

Keywords: flag display, residential property rights, homeowners association, HOA, covenants, restrictive covenant, deed restriction, subdivision regulation, local ordinance, rental agreement, property rights, patriotic display, United States flag, Minnesota flag, POW/MIA flag, military flags, armed forces flag, Blue Star flag, Gold Star flag, common interest community

Transcript Highlights:

• So I think it's important to give, let me back up a second.
• So I think it's important to give, let me back up a second.
• Some of these date back to the 70s.
• , $5.40 come back to it on beach nourishment.
• Um, um, um, I'll send it back over. Further questions? Anyone?

Summary: The State Affairs Committee met with a quorum present and took up several measures. It first considered HJR 1215, an ad valorem tax exemption for farmers and agricultural lands. The committee adopted an amendment making technical changes and removing a requirement that implementing language be set by general law. Several agricultural and business groups supported the measure, and it was reported favorably by a vote of 22-4. The committee then heard CS for CS for HB 1169, a bill revising water management district planning, budgeting, reporting, and business practices, including restrictions on lobbyist expenditures and additional budget disclosures. An amendment removing the statutory section on management review teams was adopted after debate over whether those teams were still useful. The bill was reported favorably 19-8-7. Members then debated PCS for CS for HB 1221, which would redirect local option tourist development tax revenues toward property tax relief and give counties more control over certain local taxes. County, tourism, beach preservation, and hospitality groups opposed the bill, warning it would weaken tourism marketing, beach renourishment, and local services, while supporters argued it would provide property tax relief and accountability. The bill passed 14-12. Finally, the committee considered HB 4079, which would dissolve the town of White Springs. The sponsor and supporters described years of mismanagement, intimidation, and illegal conduct, while opponents argued dissolution was an extreme step and pointed to the ongoing election and other remedies. After extensive public testimony and debate, the bill was reported favorably 19-6. The committee then adjourned.

Transcript Highlights:

• YOU CAN GO BACK AND FORTH. >> THANK YOU FOR THE QUESTION.
• ONCE AGAIN I'M BACK HERE.
• I WENT BACK THROUGH IT.
• I WILL COME BACK TO THIS.
• WE ARE BACK ON THE BILL AS AMENDED YOUR LAST CHANCE.

Keywords: 999, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• You know, when surf schools come back or even when restaurants and other businesses come back to Lahaina
• <00:03:49.920> Lahina and other businesses come back to Lahina and other businesses come back
• <00:05:33.360> to there is the need to get back to there is the need to get back to operation
• Uh, there’s one boat in particular who was trying to come back, wanted to run someplace.
• Uh so we're looking operators come back.

Bills: SB2596, SB3002, SB3067

Keywords: government leases, state entities, real property, affordable leasing, budget impact, green infrastructure, urban development, sustainability, environment, climate change, public health, Hawaii State Planning Act, land records, registration, surveys, subdivision, Hawaii Revised Statutes, 912, senate, all

Summary: The joint committees on Water and Culture and the Arts and on Hawaiian Affairs heard SB 3173, which would create a cultural training pilot program in the Department of Land and Natural Resources, administered by DOBOR, for commercial permit holders operating in Lahaina Harbor. Testimony was largely supportive from Lahaina Strong, which said the bill responds to community concerns and would help commercial operators return with greater cultural understanding and respect. Supporters framed the measure as a way to rebuild Lahaina intentionally and strengthen relationships between industry and community. Opposition came from Trilogy Excursions and the Activities and Attractions Association of Hawaii. They said they already provide or encourage cultural education, but argued the bill as written is too broad, potentially mandatory, and could create hiring and operational problems for businesses trying to restart after the fire. They asked that any program be voluntary, collaborative, and practical, with clearer details on who must take the training, how often it would be offered, and how it would be coordinated. In response to questions, a witness said most operators would likely participate if the training were accessible and well-marketed, but that the harbor’s limited current operations and staggered rebuilding make timing important. After testimony and questions, the chairs said they appreciated the comments but wanted to move the bill forward without amendments because of a filing deadline, noting that timing and other issues could be worked out in later committees with DLNR, OHA, and stakeholders. Both committees then voted to pass SB 3173 unamended, with one member excused in each committee.

Transcript Highlights:

• TO THE ACTUAL AMOUNTS THAT WERE DUE BACK TO THE STATE BY STUDENTS.
• STATUTORILY AUTHORIZED TO BACK TO THE STATE.
• IT HAS BEEN DISCONCERTING TO LEARN THAT FUNDS COME BACK TO THE STATE VIA CHECK.
• MY QUESTION, AND IT GOES TO MADAM CHAIRES QUESTION ABOUT GOING BACK TO 2020.
• WE ALL NEED IT AND I WILL SEE YOU BACK IN DECEMBER.

Transcript Highlights:

• AGAIN, THANK YOU FOR GIVING ME THE OPPORTUNITY AND I WILL INVITE MISS NIPPER BACK UP AND WE CAN TAKE
• Woodson: I WILL COME BACK. THERE MAY BE OTHERS. >> Chair: ANY FURTHER QUESTIONS?
• Woodson: THANK YOU, SIR, AGAIN, GOING BACK TO DATA COLLECTION.
• IS MAKING SURE HOW DOES A TIE BACK INTO PERFORMANCE?
• WE MAY HAVE TO COME BACK. I THINK IT'S DIFFERENT THAN HOW TO THE TIME TO THE FUNDING MODEL.

Transcript Highlights:

• We're back again for more fun on House Bill 1216.
• Once you leave it, we can't go back.
• It comes back to us from the House amended.
• So we stuck them back in.
• We had voted back on this bill 45 to 2.

Keywords: 908, all

Summary: The Senate reconvened and handled several House messages and conference committee appointments before taking up a series of bills. It appointed conference committees on Senate Bill 2265 and House Bills 1454, 1448, and 1524. The chamber also adopted a Senate amendment to House Bill 1216, delaying its effective date for the copay accumulator prescription drug bill to January 1, 2026, with later renewal timing for non-PERS plans. House Bill 1216 then came up for final passage. Senators debated whether allowing copay accumulator programs to count manufacturer coupons toward deductibles would help patients with expensive drugs or unfairly shift costs to insurers and other policyholders. Supporters said it would help people afford life-saving medications and that the coupon payments go to pharmacies, not insurers; opponents argued it could raise premiums and create perverse incentives for drug pricing. The bill passed 29-18. The Senate also concurred in House amendments to Senate Bill 2160, which changes health insurance benefits under the Uniform Group Insurance Program to move from a grandfathered to a non-grandfathered plan, with supporters emphasizing added benefits and flexibility and opponents warning of higher costs and irreversible changes. That bill passed concurrence 33-14 and final passage 39-8. The Senate next concurred in House amendments to Senate Bill 2339, the wildfire mitigation bill, which requires utility mitigation plans to be updated every two years, incorporate national electric standards, and creates a rebuttable presumption of reasonable care if the plan is followed. The bill then passed final passage 46-1. The chamber also adopted conference committee reports and passed House Bill 1460 on adult foster care and monitoring devices, House Bill 1440 on cigar lounge tobacco use, and Senate Bill 2374 on insurance-related provisions including property insurance arbitration, managed repair programs, and surplus lines issues; SB 2374 also added a study on towing and recovery coverage. The session ended with announcements of upcoming conference committee meetings and adjournment until April 22, 2025.

Transcript Highlights:

• I came back to the room. The Assembly Republicans were caucusing.
• This needs to be paid back. It needs to be paid back to the people that paid it in. No tax on tips.
• Until we come back next month, just getting...
• So going back to the ending balance, I'm just going to close with this.
• So going back to the ending balance, I'm just going to close with this.

Keywords: 970, all

Transcript Highlights:

• <00:02:04.719> on burden back on burden back on them<00:02:06.759> this<00:02:07.000
• even kicks in and the money goes back even kicks in and the money goes back thank<00:37:58.680><
• We have to keep it.' money back that would put a hole in our money back that would put a hole in our
• speaker so I'd like to take us all back speaker so I'd like to take us all back to<00:54:33.480>
• We put it back in, bring it back down here, and we decide what this money's going to do.

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• Welcome back to the House, members, senators. Welcome to the House.
• Okay, we're not going back and forth.
• I mean, I'm yielding the floor back right now.
• And they give back to the community.
• More money that they're getting back.

Bills: HB4138, HB4139, HB4140, HB4141, HB4142, HB4143, HB4144, HB4145, HB4146, HB4147, HB4148, HB4149, HB4150, HB4151, HB4152, HB4153, SB1831, SB1832, SB1833, SB1834, SB1835, SB1836, SB1837, SB1838, SB1839, SB1840, SB1841, SB1842, SB1843, SB1844, SB1845, SB1846

Keywords: appropriations, education funding, health care, general fund, state budget, local funding, gaming, pari-mutuel, horse racing, regulatory assessment, first-time starters, budget implementation, federal funds, government services, budget stabilization, financial reporting, capital outlay, infrastructure, veterans services, highway construction

Transcript Highlights:

• He's halfway back to Sarasota.
• And he wrote back, 'No, Senator Pizzo, you are anything but.
• So the question is, how can we get people back, you know, back being productive and back on the road?
• And I'd like to thank my CPA family back at home.
• This amendment just brings back the time period for upgrades from July 1, 2035, back to July 1, 2030.

Summary: The Senate began with opening prayer, the Pledge of Allegiance, and recognitions, including the doctor of the day and a lighthearted “Cannoli Day” introduction. The chamber then held an extended farewell celebration for Senator Joe Gruters, with numerous senators, colleagues, and family members praising his loyalty, political skill, family focus, and service in the Legislature and Republican Party. Gruters was presented with a commemorative gift recognizing his work on a 2019 public-safety and immigration bill that prohibited sanctuary cities and required local cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. The Senate adopted a motion to spread Gruters’s remarks upon the journal and then recessed briefly. After recess, the Senate returned to regular business and took up third-reading bills. Committee Substitute for Committee Substitute for Committee Substitute for Senate Bill 354, relating to blue ribbon projects, was temporarily postponed. The chamber then considered Committee Substitute for Committee Substitute for Senate Bill 1758, relating to public assistance, with Senator Gates explaining that it contained five reforms to the public assistance system discussed earlier in session. During debate on SB 1758, Senator Berman opposed the bill, saying he could not support it in its current form because he believed the Medicaid-related provisions would create a coverage cliff after the one-year transition period and could leave people without care while increasing costs to hospitals and taxpayers. He also said SNAP error reduction should be a priority, but argued the state should focus on fixing administrative errors and fraud rather than imposing a work requirement whose costs and effects were uncertain.

Transcript Highlights:

• >> Oh, you got to get back. >> Oh, you got to get back.
• buy back days of service to be eligible. buy back days of service to be eligible.
• employees back in 2017. employees back in 2017.
• Can you go back? Can um, um, KPPPA go back and look at the 2017 legislation?
• Can um um KPPPA go back and you go back?

Keywords: Reuploaded to restore a few minutes lost at the end of the meeting Representative Tackett-Lafferty: 00:22 • Line of Duty Disability Benefits Representative Grossberg: 26:32 • Loss of TRS Credit Due to Religious Holiday Observance Representative Blanton: 32:01 • Educational Contracts and Membership Dates in KERS Representative Tipton and Representative Blanton: 40:55 • Apply SB 10 Changes from 2025 to KERS/SPRS Senator Higdon: 46:08 • PPOB Reporting on Line of Duty Benefits • TRS Annual Leave Impact on TRS • PPOB Membership • Use of Sick Leave for Religious Holidays Adjournment: 56:03, 958, all

Summary: The committee heard testimony from Rep. Ashley Tackett Laferty on a bill to extend minimum line-of-duty hazardous duty retirement benefits to certain CERS and KERS non-hazardous members who are injured in the line of duty and cannot return to that work. She used a video and examples from Eastern Kentucky first responders, including a deputy who lost a leg and an emergency management director who lost an eye, to argue that some injured officers and responders fall through the cracks because their employers did not elect hazardous-duty coverage. She said the proposal would provide 25% of pay to the disabled officer, plus 10% for dependent children and minimal health benefits, and noted estimated actuarial costs of about $2.9 million for CERS and $0.542 million for KERS, funded through small employer-rate increases. Members asked how far back the bill would reach, how many people might qualify, and whether the benefit would apply only to active employees or also to past injuries. Laferty said the bill would include a five-year window for recent situations and could potentially cover a total of 3,333 positions statewide that could be certified as hazardous, though benefits would only apply if the person was injured in the line of duty and disabled from returning to that work. Questions also focused on whether a non-hazardous employee could qualify if injured in a hazardous situation; Laferty said yes, if the position could be certified as hazardous, but only for the bill’s minimum benefits. Rep. Josh Calloway and others noted that local governments choose whether to pay the higher hazardous-duty contribution rates, which they said often drives the coverage decision. The committee then heard Rep. Daniel Gberg present a separate bill revising school leave rules so teachers and school employees may use accumulated sick leave to observe religious holidays not on the school calendar, with a required personal statement and advance notice. He said the change would address a longstanding inconsistency for teachers who observe non-Christian holidays and currently may have to choose between unpaid leave or improperly using sick days, and he said prior concerns about retirement service credit and maternity leave were reduced by other policy changes. The discussion ended without a vote, with members indicating they had the relevant materials and that the bill would be revisited later.

Transcript Highlights:

• funding from public broadcast, and the food benefits start to go back, or are pulled back.
• We were able to remove it, and now it's back.
• But, and that goes back.
• pulled back.
• We can come back in January.

Transcript Highlights:

• It would put everything back on the table.
• Is investment back to the same polluters, or is the investment back to offset their emissions or invest
• Back to me with more questions.
• And if that value is not used, it has to come back.
• Welcome back. Thank you.

Keywords: 987, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Thank you, ma'am, for coming back up.
• So by putting this back, putting the rules of precinct voting back in, that would determine... ...and
• We saw this back to the infamous Harris.
• All right, well if you can come right back up.
• Welcome back, ma'am.

Bills: HB569, HB766, HB1638, HB2316, HB2773, HB2785, HB3113, HB3709, HB3775, HB4275

Keywords: early voting, ballot correction, voting rights, election integrity, mail-in voting, voter notification, HB 766, precinct chair, precinct chair candidate, ballot application, Texas Election Code, Section 172.021, election administration, candidate filing, party precinct chair, county party, political party office, email address, telephone number, confidential candidate information

Transcript Highlights:

• want to get back uh to the senator. want to get back uh to the senator.
• HR1 said, "No, we're going back HR1 said, "No, we're going back to<00:49:13.920> over<00:
• back to those municipalities this year. back to those municipalities this year.
• <01:12:39.320> It It only goes back to those towns. It It only goes back to those towns.
• back below that $18 surplus. back below that $18 surplus.

Keywords: 927, senate, all