Transcript Highlights:

• light that can be emitted during certain times if they have to be shielded, depending on the kind of zone
• light that can be emitted during certain times if they have to be shielded, depending on the kind of zone
• light that can be emitted during certain times if they have to be shielded, depending on the kind of zone
• light that can be emitted during certain times if they have to be shielded, depending on the kind of zone
• The kind of zone it's in. Right? So, any event, it's just way too complicated. So I left that out.

Keywords: 1189, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• House Bill 2979 enables the Department of Transportation to establish school zones on portions of state
• The Department of Transportation has identified 14 locations where a school dwells school zone meets
• Zones are directly adjacent to various things or just so there'll be more clearly defined what it is.
• war racks simple signage with flash and beacon to clearly indicate the beginning into of the school zone
• So, we're gonna take care of the initial marking of the school zone in the signage Tewart for follow-up

Bills: HB2053, HB2123, HB2603, HB2979, HB2997, HB3148, HB3982, HB4058, HB4108, HB4143, HB4266

Keywords: outdoor advertising, transportation, state law, commercial activities, sign regulations, urban areas, turnpike, infrastructure, Oklahoma Turnpike Authority, construction, bridges, motor carriers, public safety, enforcement, Department of Public Safety, Oklahoma Corporation Commission, transition period, roadside investigation, motor vehicle laws, HB2979

Transcript Highlights:

• HCD zoning and regulatory power.
• It's a zoning building permits.
• <00:37:55.920> and put itself under our zoning and put itself under our zoning and entitlement
• I think zoning and entitlement powers.
• would not want to be under our zoning. would not want to be under our zoning.

Bills: SB1406, SB521, SB3247, SB1654, SB1112, SB1301, SB2443, SB2996

Keywords: historic preservation, burial sites, DHHL, Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, DLNR, Department of Land and Natural Resources, section 6E-8, Hawaii Revised Statutes, Hawaii Register of Historic Places, National Register of Historic Places, cultural resources, archaeology, land use review, environmental review, state historic preservation officer, Hawaiian home lands, project permits, consultation, concurrence, nonconcurrence

Summary: The committee heard testimony on several measures affecting Hawaiian affairs, historic preservation, water access, and land governance. SB 1406 would let the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands assume historic preservation review for projects on lands under its jurisdiction, except for properties listed or nominated for the state or national historic registers. DHHL supported the bill, while a descendant testifier strongly opposed it, arguing that burial and preservation review protects ancestors and should not be streamlined or reduced. No questions were raised and the bill was moved on after testimony. SB 521 would require DHHL to work with county water boards or water departments to provide potable and agricultural water on Hawaiian homelands, with agreements made public. DHHL said it already works with counties but objected to the bill’s mandatory language, saying it could undermine the department’s discretion and independence. A public testifier supported the measure, and committee discussion focused on how water requirements could affect subsistence lots and infrastructure decisions. The committee then took up SB 3247, which would create a Royal Mausoleum Commission within DLNR to oversee preservation, operations, and outreach at Mauna Ala. State Parks said it valued existing collaboration with the aliʻi trusts but wanted clarity on roles, coordination, and funding if a new commission is created. The Royal Order of Kamehameha strongly supported the bill as a culturally grounded way to protect the site, while several other testifiers opposed it, saying the real issue is the curator selection process and warning that a commission could add bureaucracy and delay. The committee also heard SB 1654, authorizing transfer of certain state lands to DHHL, and SB 112, which would add the DHHL chair or designee to the Hawaii Community Development Authority; the Attorney General and HCDA offered technical and policy comments, with HCDA opposing the board change and DHHL supporting participation to protect beneficiary interests. No votes or final actions were taken in the portion provided.

Transcript Highlights:

• We don't have the zoning, but they gave us the ordinance before, and we asked them about the ordinance
• little bit different um we don't have little bit different um we don't have the<00:34:41.599> zoning
• but they gave us the the zoning but they gave us the ordinance<00:34:44.159> before<00:34:44.520
• um and the exemptions um with the zoning um and the exemptions um is<00:42:14.200> going<00:42
• oriented development areas or zones oriented development areas or zones prioritizes<00:42:59.400

Keywords: 912, senate, all

Summary: The committees first heard SB 443, which would require agricultural-district lands with solar energy facilities to also be certified as being used for a farming operation. DLNR, the State Energy Office, and the Agri-Business Development Corporation all supported the bill but recommended changes, including shifting the certifying authority from DLNR/BLNR to the Department of Agriculture. The Attorney General also recommended replacing the certification requirement with a condition that the land be used for a farming operation, citing the lack of a clear statutory framework for certification. The Hawaiʻi Farmers Union supported the measure but suggested using existing county agricultural dedication processes and raised concerns about conversion of agricultural land. The committees adopted amendments reflecting the Department of Agriculture as the certifying body and the Attorney General’s proposed language, then passed SB 443 with amendments. The committees then took up SB 79, relating to historic preservation reviews for state affordable housing projects. DLNR State Historic Preservation and DHHL supported the bill with amendments, including striking a redundant section and conforming the language to existing law. The committees agreed to those changes, and after a brief recess and decision-making, Water and Land, Housing, and Hawaiian Affairs each voted to pass SB 79 with amendments. The record notes that some members were excused and that the committees adopted the chair’s recommendations. Later, the joint Housing and Water and Land hearing considered SB 26, SB 867, and SB 1170. SB 26 would create an affordable housing land inventory task force within HCDA; HHFDC supported it, while HCDA suggested an alternative approach involving county coordination. The committees amended the bill to incorporate OPSD’s proposed language, add legislative and county representatives to the task force, and include an appropriation for the Mayor Wright project, then passed it with amendments. SB 867, which creates a working group to inventory water resources and streamline well permit approvals for affordable housing, drew broad support and was amended to specify the Department of Health director rather than the Clean Water Branch chief; it also passed with amendments. SB 1170, which would exempt certain Maui affordable rental housing projects from chapter 205A, drew support from housing interests but concern from the Attorney General that it could be unconstitutional; the AG suggested narrowing the bill to disaster recovery and limiting its scope. Testifiers also discussed the Weinberg Court Apartments project and other redevelopment concerns, but the transcript ends before final action on SB 1170 is completed.

Transcript Highlights:

• whole lot more about that because of her involvement with the Department that cast human services zone
• at that time, or it was not called a zone.
• Can we get something like that in our zones?
• and they have specific already somebody at the state that they contact, I guess zoning it out that way
• they're experiencing any hiccups with the eligibility process, which is the main process that the zones

Keywords: 908, all

Summary: The Joint Policy Committee met to hear an overview of North Dakota’s Rural Health Transformation Program before taking up the related policy bills. Department of Health and Human Services staff explained that the state received a $198.9 million CMS award, with funding focused on four pillars: strengthening rural workforce, bringing care closer to home, connecting technology and data, and improving population health through prevention. They emphasized that the program is intended to benefit rural and frontier residents statewide, including areas near urban centers when the project serves rural patients, and that CMS approval, provider readiness, and sustainability will drive what can be funded. Committee members asked about how the program would treat border communities, frontier counties, urban providers serving rural patients, multilingual outreach, tribal consultation, and whether there would be information sessions for applicants. HHS said the website will include sign-up and translation features, more listening sessions and training will be offered, and a rural health tribal liaison will work alongside the existing Medicaid tribal liaison. Members also raised concerns about reimbursement timing, cash flow for providers, and whether projects in urban areas could qualify; HHS responded that urban projects may be eligible if they clearly benefit rural residents. The department then outlined the four policy bills tied to the grant scoring: nutrition continuing medical education for physicians, the presidential fitness test, the physician assistant compact, and pharmacist scope of practice. HHS said these policy actions were incentivized in the federal funding opportunity and that failure to pass them could reduce future funding. The committee did not take final action on the bills in this portion of the transcript and recessed for lunch before moving on.

Transcript Highlights:

• Houston doesn't have zoning, so that's another issue—another issue related to it.
• , the zoning process, if you have to do a zoning change, can take a number of months.
• Yes, so the complexities with the zoning and so on and so forth.
• in the last session, and I'd like to see some kind of parameters that say, if you're like a buffer zone
• And because this was an unincorporated area, there were no zoning regulations to prevent such a facility

Bills: HB573, HB1499, HB1768, HB3071, HB3249, HB3866, HB4112

Keywords: environmental enforcement, legislative oversight, inspection, concrete plants, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, environmental product declaration, grant program, ready-mixed concrete, manufacturers, sustainability, concrete plant, concrete batch plant, wet batching, dry batching, central mixing, standard permit, TCEQ, environmental regulation, air quality, construction permit

Transcript Highlights:

• I thought I'd talk maybe a little bit in my testimony about the issue of federal preemption and the supremacy
• deliberations, and so I want to help equip you with some helpful ways to think about the issue of federal preemption
• that we live in this sort of top-down unitary system because of the supremacy clause and federal preemption
• a $2 billion a year recreational marijuana industry, and say this is all invalid under federal preemption
• anyone who can point me to one single example of the FDA ever trying to come in and do federal preemption

Keywords: 1189, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• There has always been controversy around whether any right-to-try law is compatible with federal preemption
• going to find the opponents, and one of their main arguments is that this somehow violates federal preemption
• It's not really contradicting federal preemption to just go further in your protections than what federal
• So what I would say is these federal preemption arguments are not new, but they've never really been
• problem, and we're within the bounds of what's going to be constructively possible under federal preemption

Keywords: 1191, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• I'm an Altadena resident living in a standing structure within the burn zone.
• To be clear, this bill does not intend to tell cities how to zone.
• These cities also often have a higher rate of industrial zones. Residential.
• These cities also often have a higher rate of industrial zoning than residential zoning.
• and zoning decisions, independent public cemetery districts were not.

Keywords: 988, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• So let me start with the opportunity zones.
• The Colorado opportunity zone program is administered, of course, by OEDIT.
• Opportunity zones were created to direct private investment in places that...
• Opportunity zone incentives brought that...
• Investors who use opportunity zone treatment made long-horizon commitments.

Keywords: 981, all

Transcript Highlights:

• I first of all want to say thank you to all of the planning boards and the municipal zoning commissions
• and all of the many places and... ...municipal zoning commissions and all of the many places and entities
• I do this in part because I've watched zoning fights rip apart towns, and the worst part is seeing the
• Nantucket has some of the most innovative and progressive zoning. crisis.
• Nantucket has some of the most innovative and progressive zoning in the Commonwealth when it comes to

Keywords: 995, all

Summary: The Joint Committee on Housing heard testimony on several housing bills, with much of the discussion focused on seasonal communities and funding for year-round housing in places like Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket, Cape Cod, and the Berkshires. Speakers supported bills including H. 4410/S. 966 and related seasonal communities legislation, which would allow local option real estate transfer fees and expand tools for towns to preserve and create affordable housing. Testimony emphasized severe housing shortages, high home prices, workforce displacement, and impacts on public safety, schools, health care, and local businesses. Many witnesses said the transfer fee would provide a sustainable local revenue stream, citing prior land bank models on Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard as proof the approach can work. The committee also heard testimony on H. 3989 regarding seasonal community designation, with supporters arguing that towns should be included automatically or through a simpler opt-in process, and on H. 4568 to expand the Family Self-Sufficiency Program, which would broaden access to a federal voucher-based savings and self-sufficiency model. Senator Edwards testified in support of a bill to create training for municipal board members, describing it as a toolkit to improve informed local decision-making. Senator O’Connor testified for a bed bug bill, saying it would create clearer landlord and tenant notification and treatment requirements and provide needed legal guidance after his family’s experience with an infestation. Senator Lovely also testified for the Homeworks program, which provides transportation so homeless children in motels and shelters can attend after-school activities. The committee further heard testimony on a bill to fund housing in seasonal communities through a transfer fee and on a companion measure to expand the seasonal communities toolkit, with repeated calls for favorable reports. Witnesses from public safety, health care, housing nonprofits, schools, and local government described staffing shortages and housing insecurity as urgent problems. Later, the committee took testimony on H. 1559/S. 102 to maintain stable housing for families with pets, with animal welfare groups supporting protections against eviction, breed discrimination, and excessive pet rent. They said housing-related pet surrenders are a major driver of shelter intake. The hearing also included testimony on H. 1498 to limit criminalization of homelessness, which would restrict citations, fines, and related consequences for outdoor camping tied solely to homelessness.

Transcript Highlights:

• Witt can talk about what is a quiet zone and how those are established.
• And communities petition for a quiet zone, which of course means there needs to be gates.
• So this is not about quiet<00:39:24.320> zones.
• Um, this is about the arms quiet zones.
• and how those about what is a quiet zone and how those are<00:41:00.079> established.

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• 507 creates a tool for cities to modernize their land use that, unlike a costly and time-consuming zoning
• community wants, and how to respond for that in a housing element that is planning and siding for zoning
• The other important thing is to ensure that it complies with local zoning regulations.
• The other important thing is to ensure that it complies with local zoning regulation.
• You can't build justice on zoning lines that divide, only foundations that include.

Summary: The Assembly Local Government Committee heard a long agenda of housing, water, and local finance bills, with the chair repeatedly reminding attendees about hearing rules and noting that several measures were being heard without a quorum at first. Early items included AB 407, which would broaden eligibility for state-run loan and financing programs to help small businesses fund environmental, seismic, and ADA upgrades, and AB 93, which would require data centers to estimate and report water use and follow state best practices. AB 93 drew support from water advocates and local government groups, while the Data Center Coalition opposed it, arguing the bill could be overly restrictive, difficult to retrofit, and raise trade secret or security concerns. The committee also heard AB 650 on housing element review, AB 1044 on creating a new Tulare County groundwater sustainability agency, and AB 523 on allowing proxy voting for single-representative member agencies on the Metropolitan Water District board; all drew broad support from local agencies and related stakeholders and no recorded opposition in the room. Several housing bills were presented as part of a broader fast-track housing package. AB 507 would streamline adaptive reuse of office buildings into housing, especially in downtowns with high vacancy; supporters said it would revive urban cores and help meet housing and climate goals, while the League of California Cities and a few cities opposed it unless amended, citing concerns about one-size-fits-all by-right approval and fee limitations. AB 1294 would create a universal housing application and limit early application requirements; it drew strong support from housing and business groups, with the American Planning Association and League of California Cities seeking more flexibility and input. AB 610 would require local governments to disclose housing constraints in their housing elements and limit new constraints after certification for three years unless disclosed; supporters said it would improve transparency and certainty, while opponents warned it could chill legitimate local policy choices and inclusionary housing requirements. Both AB 610 and AB 698, which would require analysis of the housing and property tax impacts of proposed transfer taxes, were moved out of committee on 7-0 votes after discussion and amendments. The committee also heard AB 1112, which would repeal an outdated Riverside County property tax provision affecting Rancho Mirage; the city argued it was the only qualifying no-low property tax city not receiving the standard minimum and sought equal treatment. After quorum was established, the bill was passed 6-0 with amendments and sent to Appropriations. AB 1021, heard later, would make it easier for school districts and other local education agencies to build employee housing, with the author citing teacher recruitment and retention problems and support from education stakeholders. Throughout the hearing, members and witnesses repeatedly emphasized the need to balance housing production, local fiscal tools, and infrastructure needs, and several authors accepted committee amendments and committed to continued negotiations with opponents.

Transcript Highlights:

• The planning board may send him back to the zoning board for yet another zoning variance or special exception
• The planning board may send him back to the zoning board for yet another zoning variance or special exception
• The planning board may send him back to the zoning board for yet another zoning variance or special exception
• board for yet another um the zoning board for yet another um zoning<05:39:03.920> variance<05
• :39:04.440> or<05:39:04.718> special zoning variance or special zoning variance or special

Keywords: 1189, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• members in the legislature says, "When you start talking about lawyer stuff, I just glaze over and zone
• just glaze talking about lawyer stuff, I just glaze over<00:21:08.560> and<00:21:08.720> zone
• So, I look at the two over and zone out.
• <00:21:14.080> that<00:21:14.200> they<00:21:14.280> may<00:21:14.480> zone
• their head that they may zone out. their head that they may zone out.

Keywords: Meeting Start: 00:10 Attendance Roll Call: 00:15 SB 133 Discussion: 00:52 SB 133 Vote: 05:01 SB 226 Discussion: 06:10 SB 226 Vote: 09:36 SJR 62 Discussion: 10:22 SJR 62 Vote: 12:55 SB 261 Discussion: 13:42 SB 261 Vote: 18:19 SB 262 Discussion: 19:10 SB 262 Vote: 26:36 Adjournment: 28:02, 958, all

Summary: The Senate State and Local Government Committee met and first considered Senate Bill 133, which would raise audit and reporting thresholds for certain special purpose governmental entities and allow entities with two consecutive clean audits to move to a less frequent audit cycle. Sponsor Matt Nunn said the bill was intended to reduce audit burdens and costs without reducing transparency, and the committee substitute was adopted. The bill passed the committee 8-0 with favorable expression. The committee then took up Senate Bill 226, sponsored by Senator Greg Elkins, which would allow funeral directors to take up to a 15% administrative fee once a pre-need funeral contract is fully funded. Elkins and a representative of the Funeral Directors Association explained that the bill applies to trust-funded pre-need burial contracts and does not affect insurance-funded arrangements. The bill passed 8-0 with favorable expression. Senate Joint Resolution 62 was next, a resolution by Senator Mayden asking the Division of Water to provide clearer guidance to local governments on cleaning out creeks and waterways, especially in light of flooding and debris concerns in Eastern Kentucky. The resolution passed with favorable expression, 8-0. The committee also approved Senate Bill 261, sponsored by President Stivers, which addresses ownership, responsibility, and maintenance authority for swinging bridges in Eastern Kentucky and would allow cities and counties to spend money on their upkeep; the committee substitute was adopted and the bill passed 9-0. Finally, the committee considered Senate Bill 262, also sponsored by President Stivers, which would allow constitutional amendments to be presented on the ballot by question rather than full text. Stivers argued this would make amendments more understandable and noted prior Kentucky constitutional changes had been made by ballot question. One senator explained a no vote, saying the bill did not clearly define who would determine a fair and accurate summary. The bill passed 7-1 with favorable expression and the committee adjourned.

Transcript Highlights:

• happens, and it's important to gain knowledge on whether the wells are in hydraulically connected zones
• Shallower zones that won't be impacted at all. So gaining knowledge is very important.
• The recharge zone of the aquifer contains water that is theoretically owned by some other entity and
• If someone has 47 wells, or however many wells along the river, maybe off of a recharge zone, they're
• I think we kind of touched on this last meeting about recharge zones.

Bills: HB24, HB27, HB24, HB27

Keywords: groundwater, conservation, water permits, sustainability, resource management, 997, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• So is that like a local zoning issue then, or is that a statewide issue where we have to...
• This happens in Houston all the time because they don't have any zoning down there, right?
• So I guess what I'm asking is, can the land be zoned? Can, as Dr.
• We have no zoning regulations in the county.
• To amend legislation that changes the zoning in that.

Bills: SB1757, SB1758, SB1898, SB2050

Keywords: rock crushing, permits, air quality, environmental monitoring, aggregate production, seismicity, public meeting, land use, SB 1758, cement kiln, portland cement, aggregate production operation, aggregate quarry, semiconductor wafer manufacturing, chip fabrication, semiconductor plant, vibration, seismic disturbance, liability limitation, TCEQ

Transcript Highlights:

• On 15th, seniority, the proposal by the Police Benevolent Association was to assign zones by... ...the
• Police Benevolent Association was to assign zones by seniority, and that's problematic for the agency
• because they like to have a mix of seniority in the different zones.
• zone.
• The seniority, when it comes to zones, we don't have a lot to offer.

Summary: The Joint Select Committee on Collective Bargaining met to hear impasse presentations from the Department of Management Services and several bargaining units. The department reported that most articles had been resolved in each of the full-book contracts, with remaining disputes centered largely on wages and a handful of non-economic issues. For the FDLE special agents, security services, law enforcement, Florida Highway Patrol, and Florida State Fire Service units, the state described its wage offers as generally a 2% competitive increase plus a 3% special pay increase, along with various bonuses, retention funds, or career-development funding in some units. The department also said it wanted to keep existing language on work schedules, seniority, grooming, equipment, grievance procedures, and other items, often characterizing its changes as housekeeping or alignment with current practice. The department noted that insurance had been agreed to with no increased employee cost, and it confirmed that correctional officers do receive overtime pay. Representatives for the Florida State Fire Service Association strongly disputed the state’s position, arguing that firefighters should not be required to perform major construction work, that their work schedules and on-call/callback arrangements unfairly suppress overtime, and that wildfire and fire-rescue employees are underpaid and underprotected. They also pressed for better compensation for EMT/paramedic-certified firefighters, additional protective clothing, on-site decontamination and shower/laundry facilities, and stronger cancer-prevention language. The association said the state had not bargained in good faith and urged the committee to support the union’s proposals. The Police Benevolent Association’s Florida Highway Patrol unit focused on wages and a career development plan, saying troopers remain underpaid compared with other states and are leaving for better-paying agencies. It also sought a veteran stipend, broader grooming/tattoo language, safety improvements for high-mileage vehicles, and changes to seniority and inflation-related pay. The PBA law enforcement unit raised similar safety concerns about aging vehicles, sought limits on performance evaluations tied to case presentations, and requested a $7,000 across-the-board wage increase. The security services unit, representing correctional officers, probation officers, and ISS officers, said its main issue was wages and asked for an $8-per-hour starting pay increase, retention bonuses, special pay for death row and close-management staff, added pay for SOTEC officers, and overtime pay for lieutenants and captains who currently receive comp time instead. No votes were taken, no public testimony followed, and the committee adjourned after taking the presentations under advisement.

Transcript Highlights:

• In this advanced treatment system here, they've actually added an anoxic zone, so they submerge some
• They've actually added an anoxic zone. So they submerge some media.
• at the Hoot system, the difference between the 54 and the 85 is because they have set in an anoxic zone
• Now, instead of broad restrictions, I suggest that Florida should adopt a zoned management approach,
• Zoned management is the smarter and more balanced alternative, and I urge this committee to reject HB

Summary: The committee began with a presentation from the Florida On-Site Wastewater Association on advanced onsite wastewater treatment systems. Roxanne Groover described several technologies used in Florida, including NSF-245 systems, performance-based treatment systems, in-ground nitrogen-reducing biofilters, membrane/media filters, and sequencing batch reactors. She emphasized that these systems can substantially reduce nitrogen compared with conventional septic systems, discussed permitting and maintenance requirements, and noted that some grant programs help fund upgrades in springs and other impaired-water areas. Members asked about phosphorus and PFAS treatment, funding for non-springs watersheds, incentives for new construction, and whether more data should be collected on system performance. The committee then took up CS for SB 164 on vessel ownership, derelict vessels, and anchoring/mooring rules. The bill was explained as clarifying who is responsible for derelict vessels and using vessel title as prima facie evidence of ownership. Two amendments were adopted: one requiring FWC to offer an electronic long-term anchoring permit system and clarifying that the permit does not override other anchoring limits, and a technical amendment correcting a drafting error. Public testimony included opposition from a cruiser advocacy representative who argued the bill would unfairly restrict responsible boaters and harm the marine economy, and support from another boating coalition representative who said the bill was a proactive step to address derelict vessels. The committee then passed CS/SB 164 favorably by roll call. Finally, the committee considered SB 38, which makes clarifying changes to FWC trust funds. The bill would allow investment and carryover of the administrative trust fund balance, expand use of the Florida Panther Research and Management Trust Fund for feline disease research, monitoring, and habitat acquisition, and allow use of the Non-Game Wildlife Trust Fund for law enforcement and related coordination agreements. With no debate or opposition, the committee passed SB 38 favorably by roll call and then adjourned.

Transcript Highlights:

• straightforward but highly impactful bill that would expand acreage limits for NEZs, or neighborhood enterprise zones
• , under Michigan's Neighborhood Enterprise Zone Act.
• It would increase the cap from 15 to 20 percent for zones containing new or rehab facilities and for
• homestead facility zones.
• It just increases the cap that a community can utilize those zones. Gotcha. Thank you. Yeah.

Summary: The Senate Committee on Finance, Insurance, and Consumer Protection met with a quorum, adopted the June 17 minutes, and took testimony on several bills. Senate Bill 1053, sponsored by Chair Kavanaugh, would raise the acreage cap for neighborhood enterprise zones from 15% to 20% for certain zones. Supporters from Invest Detroit and the City of Detroit said the change would help make housing and redevelopment projects viable, especially in high-tax areas like Detroit, and the bill was reported to the floor on a 6-2 vote. The committee also heard Senate Bill 988, sponsored by Senator Santana, which would extend from 30 to 35 days the deadline to appeal a denied poverty exemption to the Michigan Tax Tribunal. The sponsor and Detroit’s property assessment director described it as a technical alignment with the Tax Tribunal Act and a correction to conflicting timelines; the bill drew support from the Michigan Poverty Law Program, the Michigan Chamber, and the Tax Tribunal, and was reported unanimously. The committee then adopted S-1 substitutes for Senate Bills 1041, 1042, and 1043, the price-gouging package sponsored by Senators Moss, Chang, and Kavanaugh. Sponsors of the price-gouging bills said the package would strengthen Michigan’s emergency price-gouging protections by defining excessive increases during declared emergencies, covering lodging, essential goods and services, and energy products, and giving the Attorney General clearer enforcement tools. Supporters included the Michigan Restaurant and Lodging Association and the Attorney General’s office, while the Michigan Chamber, Mackinac Center, and NFIB opposed the package. Despite the opposition, all three bills were reported to the floor on 5-3 votes. The meeting adjourned after all reported bills were approved.