Transcript Highlights:

• Are we just going down the line, Madam Chair? Yes, Representative, thank you.
• In that exact same time, Minnesota's rents went down 2%, uh, in, in Minneapolis rather, not and, and
• Outdoor recreation, and I have these written down. Thank you, Madam Chair, the um.
• Uh, Outdoor recreation, uh, There's a lot of various projects up and down, uh, the Rio Grande corridor
• Um, water issues down south is what my farmers are talking about.

Transcript Highlights:

• My wife Jacqueline and I, along with my family, own and operate a deer breeding operation down in North
• During the December 29th or 23rd, when the regulation came down and we got the email that we couldn't
• Washington County, Attala County, over in Hale County, and down in Baldwin County.
• But I would appreciate it in the future that you don't put my committee down and don't belittle this
• As it goes in the game breeder statute, down towards the end of... ...the statute, the commissioner of

Bills: HB509

Keywords: HB509, game breeder, game breeder license, cervid, deer breeder, whitetail deer, elk, fallow deer, deer farm, captive deer, cervidae, wildlife disease, disease testing, antemortem testing, state veterinarian, Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, property rights, private property, animal transfer, breeding stock

Transcript Highlights:

• This information can confirm or refute witness statements, for example, trajectory, analysis or wind
• So it could be cocaine, methamphetamine, alcohol, you go down those specifically and that's our crime
• So I would do not want to go down a list of medications, the ultimately in the investigation.
• >> It says not necessarily yes or no answer, sir, ultimately come down to a depends on the circumstance
• It all comes down to it depends on the situation that if I may offer an example on DNA evidence and for

Keywords: 999, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• But yes, I think we're focusing on greater coordination and breaking down some of those silos. that exist
• In the event that there is some level of wind down of the immigration aspects of Operation Lone Star.
• operations in the past... ...all the way back to Operation Linebacker, we will scale up and scale down
• looks like, and how we can be fiscally... ...prudent in that scale-up and scale-down because you don't
• It slows down our processes and blurs the lines of responsibility.

Bills: SB36, SB2202, SB 36

Keywords: homeland security, border security, critical infrastructure, Department of Public Safety, intelligence operations, public-private partnerships, SB 2202, firearm trafficking, gun trafficking, terrorism, foreign terrorist organization, Texas-Mexico border, United Mexican States, Mexico, DPS, second-degree felony, weapons transfer, illegal firearms transfer, arms smuggling, cross-border crime

Transcript Highlights:

• But yes, I, I think we're focusing on this, on greater coordination, breaking down some of those silos
• to continue to be foisted onto the state, um, and so I'd love to work with you to, to, um, ratchet down
• In the event that there is some level of wind down of of the immigration uh aspects of Operation Lone
• And we scale up and we scale down as a department.
• Uh, it slows down our processes and it blurs the lines of responsibility.

Bills: SB 36, SB 2202

Keywords: homeland security, border security, critical infrastructure, Department of Public Safety, intelligence operations, public-private partnerships, SB 2202, firearm trafficking, gun trafficking, terrorism, foreign terrorist organization, Texas-Mexico border, United Mexican States, Mexico, DPS, second-degree felony, weapons transfer, illegal firearms transfer, arms smuggling, cross-border crime

Transcript Highlights:

• That's a tough number to pin down.
• for the same repair than my friend down for the same repair than my friend down the<00:34:10.200
• muns knows this very well he had me down muns knows this very well he had me down in<00:44:05.599
• It's whatever they write down.
• um have the case have case loads down um have the case have case loads gone<02:02:31.239> down

Keywords: 928, house, all

Summary: The committee heard testimony from Insurance Commissioner DJ Bettencourt on the New Hampshire Insurance Department budget. He said the department is self-funded through assessments on insurers based on New Hampshire premium volume, with about $8 billion in premiums written in the state and a department budget of roughly $15.5 million. He explained that the department has 88 authorized positions, eight vacancies, and that three full-time positions were unfunded after the governor’s requested 4% reduction exercise. He also said the department is trying to balance staffing needs with not overburdening carriers during a hard insurance market. A major topic was the department’s $2.6 million rebate to industry from the prior fiscal year, which Bettencourt described as a credit against the next assessment rather than a direct cash payment. Members questioned why that credit was not reflected as a reduction in the upcoming budget, and Bettencourt and staff explained that the budget assumes full staffing and full spending, with any year-end surplus returned to insurers. The commissioner said the department had added staff in recent years for succession planning and to preserve institutional expertise, and that the rebate reflects careful budgeting rather than excess spending. Members also asked about staffing changes by division, including positions unfunded in fraud, property and casualty examinations, life and health examinations, and tax. Bettencourt said fraud investigations remain strong and that the department can use outside contractors for examinations, with those costs billed to the company being examined. He also described the department’s examination process, including periodic financial exams and targeted market conduct reviews triggered by consumer complaints or trends. Additional questions covered OIT transfers, the department’s oversight of fully insured health coverage, the insurance premium tax and fines going to the general fund, and the department’s limited role in auto repair reimbursement disputes, where he said complaints have recently declined.

Transcript Highlights:

• I believe we're going to just go down the list. So let's start out with Representative Lepak.
• So when we think about a potential fiscal, and I think you started to go down that road through the treasurer's
• one who is interpreting the law, as the Constitution says they have the right to do, then we don't wind
• bill himself and brought it to me, and Senator Pugh said, what do you think about this idea to cut down

Keywords: 914, all

Summary: The committee heard and advanced several bills. Senate Bill 419, as amended to update the effective date to 2026, would allow the state treasurer and the Department of Wildlife Conservation/Wildlife Conservation Commission to employ or appoint attorneys. Supporters said the treasurer’s office handles highly specialized financial matters and needs in-house expertise and faster legal advice; questions focused on possible conflicts with the Attorney General, fiscal impact, and why Wildlife was included. After discussion, the bill was reported due pass by a 7-2 vote. Senate Bill 835, also amended to a 2026 effective date, would require qualifying licensing boards and commissions to submit proposed non-rulemaking actions with anti-competitive implications for review by the Secretary of State. The author said the bill responds to antitrust concerns raised by the North Carolina dental board case and is intended to provide state supervision before boards take potentially anti-competitive action. Members questioned whether existing court remedies and Attorney General oversight were sufficient, and whether a single official should have that authority. The bill passed due pass 8-2. Senate Bill 1618 would require courts to conduct pretrial risk assessments early in criminal cases, with the assessments used as one factor in bail decisions but not as the sole basis for granting or denying bail. The author said the bill is modeled on federal practice and is meant to help judges make fact-based decisions and reduce jail overcrowding, especially in Oklahoma County. Members asked about who validates the assessments, county implementation, and costs; the author said counties could choose their own approach and that the fiscal impact would not be significant. The bill was reported due pass 6-4. The committee also considered Senate Bill 262, which was heavily amended and had both the title and enacting clause struck while members continued working on it. The bill concerns moving certain inmates convicted of nonviolent financial crimes out of county jails and into appropriate intake/transport processes, with the author emphasizing the goal of reducing jail overcrowding and inviting further collaboration on the language. Members raised concerns about fairness and possible unequal application based on community ties, and the bill was reported due pass 8-1 despite being acknowledged as a work in progress.

Transcript Highlights:

• make sure that banks can continue to get CRA credit for that as the federal government has slowed down
• As, you know, winds may or may not shift at the federal level, we will be here.
• I will say that I have a bill which says that if you get turned down by AI, you can...
• If you get turned down by AI, you can ask to be looked at by a human, by a person, to look it over.

Keywords: 993, senate, all

Summary: The Senate Banking Committee met for its first meeting of the session, with Chair James Sanders Jr. and Ranking Member George Borrello opening the hearing and noting a collaborative approach to committee work. The committee first considered and advanced several bills: S.114, which would prohibit state-chartered banks from investing in or financing private prisons; S.2040, which would require money transmitters to provide a consumer warning; S.5473, which would require disclosures in advertisements involving virtual tokens; and S.8406, Sanders’ bill to amend the community bank deposit program. Each bill was moved and approved by committee, with S.8406 passing unanimously. The committee then heard from Caitlin Azar, Acting Superintendent of the Department of Financial Services (DFS), who outlined her background and DFS priorities. She emphasized affordability, consumer protection, stability, and innovation, and discussed DFS-led initiatives in the governor’s budget, including Banking Development Districts, non-bank mortgage CRA regulations, CDFI investment guidance, and consumer restitution. She also said DFS plans to issue buy-now-pay-later regulations in February, expand student lending protections and borrower education, and continue work on insurance affordability, including auto and homeowners insurance reforms, anti-fraud efforts, and discounts tied to telematics, dash cameras, and safe-driving courses. Members questioned Azar about the balance between regulation and access, especially in crypto, buy-now-pay-later, and insurance markets. She said DFS aims to preserve competition while preventing discriminatory or excessive practices, and described existing oversight of virtual currency, including coordination with federal regulators. Another member asked about AI in auto insurance underwriting and pricing; Azar said DFS requires transparency, bias review, governance controls, and consumer recourse, and that credit scores cannot be used to deny or increase rates. The chair also raised concerns about foreclosure in Southeast Queens, improving BDD paperwork and data collection, and increasing the number of state-chartered credit unions. Azar said DFS is working on process improvements, community input, and maintaining open communication with the committee, but no additional votes or formal actions were taken during the DFS hearing.

Transcript Highlights:

• I wrote down 28 billion. By the end of the next biennium, is that right? Fiscal 28, correct.
• The property tax buy downs that we've been doing, if we're short this two bienniums from now, some we
• Representative Hunter, or Chairman Hunter's bill, to use the Rainy Day Fund as a backstop for... windstorm, wind
• water, drainage, and if we're not smart with the money that we have, we're going to let those people down

Bills: SJR4, SJR 4

Keywords: economic stabilization fund, state finance, constitutional amendment, budget management, financial security, term limits, state offices, governor, lieutenant governor, election reform, 1184, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Well, there was a kid down the street that had similar problems.
• My dad tried to go down and talk to their family, and they just didn't understand.
• And the reality is that because kids can't read, they wind up incarcerated.
• a privilege to join you here on dyslexia Day at the Capitol, uh, about raising awareness, breaking down

Transcript Highlights:

• The program will ultimately phase down by about two-thirds.
• But that phase down will begin in FY28, and it will phase down over the next seven to nine years, basically
• So I sit down, and experts show up.
• I graduated from New Mexico State University down south.
• So we aren't seeing as much of a hit, but all of our solar metrics are down.

Bills: SB101, SB58, SB55

Keywords: SB 101, Health Care Delivery and Access Act, repeal of repeal, sunset repeal, delayed repeal, health care, healthcare, access to care, medical services, provider regulation, state health law, New Mexico, SB58, metropolitan redevelopment, redevelopment property, property tax exemption, payments in lieu of taxes, PILOT, municipal redevelopment, local government

Transcript Highlights:

• It runs through our property for 11 miles all the way up and down it.
• So, like, I grew up just down the street from a replacement farm for T.G. Lee.
• So, like, I grew up just down the street from a replacement farm for T.G. Lee.
• I've thought of a couple of things since I've been sitting down here. All right.
• A farmer today is not jumping up and down for joy every day having to deal with issues.

Summary: The Committee on Agriculture met to hear updates on land conservation and agricultural preservation programs. The Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services presented on the Rural and Family Lands Protection Program, explaining that it protects active agricultural lands through conservation easements while keeping land in private ownership and on the tax rolls. The director said the program requires participants to use agricultural best management practices, noted strong demand with 428 ranked projects for 2025, and reported that consistent legislative funding and partnerships with USDA, DOD, local governments, land trusts, and water management districts have expanded acreage protected, much of it within the Florida Wildlife Corridor. Committee members asked about eligibility, ranking, local government involvement, and how many projects are typically funded each year. Conservation Florida’s president and CEO testified that both Rural and Family Lands and Florida Forever are critical and complementary tools for preserving working lands, wildlife habitat, water resources, and public access to nature. She warned that uncertainty or cuts in state funding can stall projects, raise land prices, and reduce conservation momentum. In discussion with senators, she said public access is often negotiated case by case and is more common on lands acquired for parks, forests, and other public green space than on conservation easements. The Department of Environmental Protection then updated the committee on Florida Forever, describing it as the state’s premier conservation and recreation land acquisition program. DEP said Florida Forever uses both conservation easements and fee-simple purchases, with about half of acquisitions done through easements, and emphasized that steady funding is needed to keep projects moving. The deputy secretary reported 60 projects on the current work plan, more than $1.4 billion invested since 2019, and recent acquisitions including new state forest, park, and preserve expansions. Members also raised concerns about payment in lieu of taxes for fiscally constrained counties, local notification of acquisitions, and the need for continued support for agriculture, citrus, roads, and conservation funding. No formal votes were taken, and the meeting adjourned after member comments and public testimony.

Transcript Highlights:

• You know, there's a couple schools down the block from me.
• Just going straight down the list.
• And they come down to the commissions.
• And that's why I would ask for this committee to vote down the bill as is.
• Oh, I need to step down. Okay. Well, Senator, let's just take it away. Mr.

Keywords: 974, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• First, continuing her emphasis on holding down the growth in state government.
• So the idea that we're spending that down is incorrect. Thank you. All right. Thank you.
• For UA Little Rock, they were down in productivity for the year. They were down 5.96%.
• And there is a guardrail of two, up or down 2% in the base of the formula.
• So again, I just want to—I know we're going down a road.

Summary: The committee first considered revisions to the JBC rules, which staff said were all prompted by acts passed in the 2025 legislative session. The rules were adopted without objection. Members then received a balanced budget presentation from DFA Secretary Jim Hudson on the governor’s FY27 proposal, which he said was built around three priorities: limiting state government growth, continuing investments in education, and advancing income tax cuts. He highlighted major additions for education funding, EFA growth, pay plan costs, higher education productivity funding, drug task forces, corrections medical costs, the governor’s 1033 initiative, SNAP error-rate reduction, and Medicaid sustainability, while also explaining a new A/B funding category structure intended to prioritize recurring costs and preserve room for tax cuts. Members questioned Hudson about the cost of income tax reductions, the constitutional balanced-budget requirement, education funding, the Educational Adequacy Fund, Medicaid trust fund balances, and the impact of federal changes on Medicaid and SNAP. Hudson said each tenth of a percent income tax cut would cost about $58 million, the budget remained balanced, public education would still receive historic increases, and the Medicaid trust fund would be monitored closely with additional set-asides proposed. He also said the FY27 SNAP administrative cost increase would be about $18 million. The committee then heard from the Division of Higher Education, which reported institutions were 2.61% more productive overall and that the budget recommendation followed the statutory productivity formula. Questions focused on why some institutions were receiving decreases or large increases, how the formula works, and how the new return-on-investment metric and committee composition would affect future funding. The committee approved several higher education-related actions, including personnel changes for nine institutions and special language for North Arkansas College’s move into the University of Arkansas system. Staff then walked members through the higher education appropriation summary, explaining large percentage increases at several institutions were tied to federal funds or corrected carry-forward issues, including the U of A School of Mathematical, Sciences and the Arts, South Arkansas College, SAU Tech, ASU Mountain Home, and ASU Newport. Members also discussed UAPB’s 1890 extension program and the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture’s land-grant matching funds; officials said UAPB’s recommendation was being aligned with actual spending and that the Division of Agriculture’s Smith-Lever and Hatch matches were included within its overall appropriation. The committee ultimately adopted the Higher Education Coordinating Board’s recommendations for all institutions and then moved on to the Department of Corrections section, with the chair outlining how the committee would proceed through those appropriations by section.

Transcript Highlights:

• That's what it gets down to. Yeah, but you know that's... ...down to.
• And imagine this scenario: a child goes down, let's say, to a pharmacy, wherever, and gets a vaccination
• One female soldier fell down the bleachers. We had... The soldier fell down the bleachers.
• You went down the hallway to a separated area... You went down the hallway to a separated area.
• interpretive matter rather than... those individual thoughts, just my thoughts on something to look at down

Bills: HB2, HB43, HB49, HB94, HB137, HB156, HB200, HB250, HB3, HB42

Keywords: vaccination, parental consent, minors, medical consent, guardian approval, criminal procedure, split sentencing, probation, Class A felony, Class B felony, minimum confinement, HB49, Alabama criminal code, capital offense, capital punishment, death penalty, rape in the first degree, sodomy in the first degree, sexual torture, child sexual abuse

Transcript Highlights:

• We have tailored this down.
• When I lay out siting solar bills and wind turbine bills, I'm really doing it from the conservation side
• If you catch it just right down in Slush County, you can come in and literally see the trees covered

Bills: HB630, HB685, HB1318, HB2692

Keywords: outboard motors, certificate of title, vessel regulation, Texas Parks and Wildlife Code, marine documentation, HB 685, municipal utility rates, water rates, sewer rates, local government code, rate discrimination, tax-exempt entities, sales tax exemption, ad valorem tax exemption, nonprofit organizations, charitable organizations, municipal water service, municipal sewer service, utility billing, public utilities

Transcript Highlights:

• I did hear a whisper on<02:07:31.320> the<02:07:31.440> wind<02:07:32.040> that<
• 32.440> just<02:07:32.600> be<02:07:32.719> able<02:07:32.920> to on the wind
• that we'll just be able to on the wind that we'll just be able to ask,<02:07:33.880> but<02:07
• I guess that's a long >> and um but so I I guess that's a long partly<02:09:59.120> long-winded
• way<02:09:59.720> of<02:09:59.840> saying<02:10:00.120> that Partly long-winded

Keywords: 927, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• I wanted to drill down on a few of the topics.
• The regulators, they back down.
• The regulators, they back down.
• These residents organized for years to shut down the metal recycler because of...
• Finally, it was shut down, and DTSC was tasked with the cleanup. Enter SB 158.

Summary: The joint oversight hearing focused on DTSC’s implementation of SB 158 reforms, including enforcement, community engagement, fee stability, the hazardous waste management plan, permitting backlogs, and the Safer Consumer Products program. Senators and Assembly members emphasized protecting overburdened communities and asked how DTSC and the Board of Environmental Safety are using their authority to improve accountability, reduce delays, and address hazardous waste facilities and consumer product chemicals. The hearing also included discussion of extended producer responsibility programs and whether DTSC can support them more efficiently, including through coordination with CalRecycle. DTSC Director Katie Butler said the department is now more transparent, accountable, and fiscally stable, citing stronger enforcement actions, an interactive inspections map, expanded community outreach, and emergency response work on the Los Angeles wildfire cleanup. She said DTSC has made progress on fee reform, the hazardous waste management plan, cleanup grants, permit renewals, and safer consumer products rulemaking, including adding microplastics to the candidate chemical list. Board Chair Andrew Rakestraw said the board has held multiple public meetings and hearings, is working on fee rates and performance metrics, and is revising the hazardous waste management plan after public comment, including removing a proposal to send certain contaminated soil to municipal landfills. He also noted remaining concerns about fee structure, permit delays, and the pace of the safer consumer products program. Public witnesses offered sharply different views. A representative of the California Council for Environmental and Economic Balance said SB 158 reforms have improved permitting and transparency, but urged more attention to risk-based decision-making, reduced duplication, and possible General Fund support for plan implementation rather than relying only on fees. Earthjustice argued DTSC remains too slow and that communities continue to suffer from long-delayed permits and weak protections, urging the Legislature to take a more active role and to prioritize eliminating hazardous substances rather than minimizing costs. Committee members pressed the witnesses on permit renewals, community impacts, and the pace of the safer consumer products program, while DTSC defended its progress and said further legislative collaboration may be needed on hazardous waste management and emerging waste streams.

Transcript Highlights:

• So if we want to walk down that road and decrease the amount of that, we can do so by increasing our
• So if that teenage girl went down the block and opened 3 vehicles on my street, regardless of what she
• They're very difficult to recover and once they're in the wind, they're kind of in the wind.
• Judge, thank you for coming down from Denton County. We're glad you're here.
• So by enhancing the penalty, Under this bill, I believe that we can bring that number down, Mr.

Bills: HB268, HB305, HB307

Keywords: gun show, firearm sales, criminal background check, firearm regulation, gun show promoter, election procedures, voter registration, residence requirements, change of address, voter eligibility, youth camp, flood safety, life jackets, grant program, flotation devices

Transcript Highlights:

• They traveled over 400 miles here through high winds, blizzards, wildfires, downed trees.
• The consul general for the United Kingdom will be here down in the West Foyer.
• probably got over our little incident a couple of 150 years ago, but they're all downstairs, so go down
• I just want to come down and let you all know that the legislator governor Bible study will be happening

Keywords: 981, all

Summary: The House convened with 60 members present and five excused, establishing a quorum. The journal from Friday, January 23, 2026 was approved as corrected. The remainder of the session consisted largely of announcements and introductions rather than legislative debate or action. Members highlighted several upcoming meetings, including a joint Health and Human Services SMART Act hearing, a Joint Finance Committee SMART Act hearing, the Agriculture, Water, and Natural Resources Committee hearing on the Pet Animal Care and Facilities Act, and a State Civic, Military, and Veterans Joint Committee hearing. There were also announcements recognizing Colorado 4-H Day and the presence of 4-H county extension offices, along with remarks about the National Western Stock Show student auction and a purchased hog benefiting students. Additional introductions included guests from CrossPurpose, a nonprofit offering free training and housing support, and a personal privilege speech focused on concerns about federal immigration enforcement and the deaths of Colorado-connected individuals, calling for justice and accountability. No bills were debated or voted on beyond approval of the journal, and the House recessed later in the morning.