Transcript Highlights:

• In a lot of ways, we're just learning to crawl.
• The distance, there are 31 locations, and I think I may have misunderstood you that there's only a 20

Keywords: 914, all

Transcript Highlights:

• homes somewhat closer together so there's less infrastructure that has to be built, less lines, less distance
• But what I learned coming from local government is that control of approval processing and, you know.

Summary: The committee heard and advanced several bills. SB 330, by Sen. Bradley, clarified the heart disease presumption for firefighters, law enforcement, and correctional officers, including allowing a prior physical exam to count if a transferring officer is not given a new one; an amendment declaring the act an important state interest was adopted, and the bill passed favorably. SB 594, by Sen. Burton, would make mobile home residents eligible for local housing assistance programs such as SHIP for lot rent and home repairs; it received supportive testimony from manufactured-home advocates and passed favorably. SB 840, by Sen. DeSigley, revised hurricane-related land-use restrictions from prior legislation by shortening the affected area from 100 miles to 50 miles, ending certain temporary limits on June 30, 2026, and exempting some water, flood, and state/federal planning matters; it passed favorably after supportive comments from local-government interests and members noting the need to fix unintended consequences of prior law. The committee also approved SB 526, by Sen. Grawe, which addresses no-damages-for-delay clauses in public construction contracts, creates a uniform commercial permit application, requires permit fee reductions when private providers are used, and adds mitigation to statewide product approval categories. County representatives testified with concerns about the contracting language, unfunded mandates, and fee reductions, but the bill passed favorably. SB 504, by Sen. Burgess, creates a statewide framework for code inspector body camera use, and SB 506, its linked public-records bill, exempts certain sensitive content from disclosure; both passed favorably with support from the sponsor and no opposition in committee. The most heavily debated measure was SB 354, by Chair McLean, which creates a “blue ribbon project” framework for very large developments that trade state preemption over local land-use regulation for reserving at least 60% of the land for conservation, agriculture, recreation, utilities, and related uses. The bill drew significant testimony from environmental groups, counties, smart-growth advocates, and local residents who argued it could weaken local control, reduce public review, and allow sprawl or inadequate infrastructure planning; supporters argued it could help address housing needs and preserve large amounts of land. The committee adopted two amendments clarifying reserve-area easements and requiring certain easements to be granted without charge, and the committee then reported the bill favorably, with some senators noting they supported it in concept but wanted further changes before later stops.

Transcript Highlights:

• middle of the state. ...the majority of counties are still going to have to travel a substantial distance
• We learned things, we heard from people.

Bills: SR5, SB5, SB11, SB12, SB25, SB26, SB28, SB35, SB5, SB11, SB12, SB25, SB26, SB28, SB35, SB5, SB11, SB12, SB25, SB26, SB28, SB35, SR5

Keywords: redistricting, Senate procedures, public input, Texas Legislature, amendments, Texas Senate, congressional districts, legislative procedures, legislative transparency, Senate rules, public hearings, committee procedures, hemp regulation, consumable products, cannabinoids, occupational licenses, criminal offenses, SB 11, Texas attorney general, election crimes

Transcript Highlights:

• Most of them tend to learn that skill or trade through a career either in the federal government or in
• They are spread across vast distances, often without access to adequate training facilities, wellness

Bills: SB 36, HB 1065, HB2929, HB2956, HB3009, HB3420, HB3626, HB3649, HB4956, HB4993, HB5293, HB5308, HB5528, HCR118, SB36, HB4023

Keywords: transportation, regional authorities, mobility, infrastructure, sales tax, employee classification, private security, misclassification, workforce regulations, Texas Workforce Commission, autism, peace officers, training program, law enforcement, intervention, communication, developmental disability, family violence, central database, criminal offense

Transcript Highlights:

• You start turning your neighbor in on a deal like this, and you'll learn what unhappy neighbors are.
• Sometimes things happen, cattle get out, but I never ever placed my feed a certain distance away to think

Keywords: 908, all

Summary: The House convened with prayer, the Pledge of Allegiance, and a quorum present, then received a gubernatorial message listing numerous bills signed by the governor. The chamber also handled conference committee business, including appointing conferees for House Bills 1003 and 1169 after refusing to concur with Senate amendments, and adopting a conference committee report on House Bill 1053, which repealed a Century Code section related to the length of the state highway system. A major portion of the meeting focused on Senate Bill 2137, which would allow supplemental feed for hunting and include an expiration date. The House divided the proposed amendments into two parts. Division A, dealing with baiting limits and setbacks near livestock facilities, drew extensive debate over private property rights, enforceability, livestock protection, and hunting access, and failed 14-76. Division B, requiring chronic wasting disease surveillance and a report to Legislative Management, also drew debate over whether the reporting requirement was necessary or too late to be useful; it failed 44-46. With both divisions defeated, the House then passed the underlying bill 56-34. The House also laid over Senate Bills 2340, 2326, and 2289. Later, it defeated Senate Bill 2325, which would have created a process for non-federal easements on wetland areas, by a vote of 4-84. It passed Senate Bill 2210, directing a legislative management study on watershed-based water management, 85-3; Senate Bill 2387, establishing rights for sexual violence survivors, 89-0; and Senate Bill 269, allowing state agencies to satisfy legal notice requirements by posting on their websites if newspaper publication is missed, 72-17. The House then excused absent members and adjourned until Monday, April 14, 2025.

Transcript Highlights:

• the entry level nurses, regardless of one of those facilities they work at, have to travel a great distance
• He had learned to play three instruments, was getting straight A's in high school, and was going on college

Keywords: 988, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• We learned some new ways of doing things and to manage our lives more efficiently during that time.
• Not a long distance for us in my example, but three hours of travel time for a five-minute hearing.

Bills: HB1511, HB1831, HB1988, HB2147, HB2234

Keywords: housing, affordable housing, state regulations, zoning, local government authority, drug court, juvenile justice, diversion programs, rehabilitation, criminal justice reform, remote proceedings, depositions, virtual hearings, court technology, criminal responsibility, age of maturity, expungement, mental health services, juvenile record sealing, 1184

Transcript Highlights:

• from Rep Moody, in addition to providing critical mental health services, we know putting time and distance
• I have actually learned more about the extent of my brother's abuse and his death than I knew in his

Bills: HB170, HB865, HB748, HJR112, HB 1110, HB1495, HB786, HB 1130, HB170

Keywords: civil liability, self-defense, force, deadly force, legal immunity, attorney's fees, criminal justice, firearms, liability, veterans, gun ownership, immunity, firearm hold agreement, sexual abuse, nondisclosure, confidentiality, public policy, Trey's Law, parental rights, child upbringing

Transcript Highlights:

• Um, but it's only recently that I learned that the boat had a name.
• Now maybe recognizable from a distance.
• Lettering is hard to read from a distance.
• Certainly, if you're at a distance, can you read the lettering on our flag?
• For adults learn about the cost of war.

Keywords: 1191, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Sam has studied other states, is learning from their programs, and last summer attended a national conference
• As we learned more about the reporting, it was reported that this person was a previously convicted DUI
• We've learned that down here.
• We've learned that down here.
• at a plate, which I will more than likely be stopped at because I won't be able to read it from a distance

Bills: HB2051, HB2114, HB2127, HB2134, HB2207, HB2574, HB2700, HB2800, HB2916

Keywords: AHCCCS, lactation care, breastfeeding, health services, healthcare access, motorcycle registration, safety fund, education, awareness programs, low-income scholarships, motorcycle training, special license plates, transportation, funding, nonprofits, charitable contributions, critical infrastructure, foreign adversaries, China, communications

Transcript Highlights:

• I talked a little about this before, but it's actually going out into the field, learning how to survive
• And anybody that could be in harm's way, they learn how to be able to survive until our rescue folks
• And members and their dependents are taking it upon themselves to drive long distances to Washington
• We set standards for training, preparation, and professional learning for all of these different licensed
• priorities this year include improvements, first off, improvements to better protect the young adults learning

Summary: The committee heard updates from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Navy Region Northwest, Fairchild Air Force Base, the Coast Guard, state licensing agencies, the Professional Educator Standards Board, the Washington National Guard, and a veterans behavioral health presenter. Across the military briefings, common themes were readiness, infrastructure, and quality-of-life issues for service members and families, especially child care, housing, food insecurity, medical and dental access, and military spouse employment. JBLM highlighted its role in Indo-Pacific readiness, ongoing PFAS cleanup, 212 new family housing units under construction, efforts to expand child care, and continued work to keep the Lewis Army Museum open. Navy Region Northwest discussed its major installations and economic impact, the Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization Plan, future carrier and submarine homeporting needs, and asked the legislature to continue support for licensure compacts, educational stability for military children, housing, and medical access. Fairchild emphasized its tanker and survival missions, child care shortages, food insecurity, aging housing, and concerns about wind turbine development near flight paths, while the Coast Guard focused on rebuilding Base Seattle for new icebreakers and on rural access to housing, medical care, and child care at dispersed stations like Neah Bay. Members repeatedly raised food insecurity and asked for follow-up on solutions. JBLM and Fairchild both described increased demand for food assistance during the shutdown, and committee members noted progress in getting mobile food vans onto JBLM. The presenters also praised state action on military spouse licensure and child care, including Senate Bill 5545 and related compact and portability efforts. The Department of Licensing reported about 9,000 self-identified military members or spouses licensed, with average time-to-license just under nine days, and said applications are prioritized when military status is self-identified. The Department of Health said its military-to-civilian crosswalk now covers more than 35 health professions, that temporary practice permits and expedited processing are in place, and that 1,300 credentials were issued to military spouses and domestic partners and 129 to military-trained health professionals in the last fiscal year, all within 30 days. The Professional Educator Standards Board explained that military spouses and service members can receive expedited teacher certification with reduced documentation, and that they are moved to the front of the review queue when they self-identify. Members asked about verification, and staff said the process relies on attestation with investigatory safeguards if needed. The Washington National Guard briefed on its dual state and federal mission, the impact of the recent shutdown on nearly 700 employees who worked without pay, and policy and budget requests including youth academy protections, alignment of the Washington Code of Military Justice with the UCMJ, making Civil Air Patrol a division of the Military Department, 911 funding, disaster assistance, and capital funding for headquarters and readiness facilities. The Guard also warned about drone threats and said it wants authority to identify, track, and monitor suspicious drones. A veterans behavioral health presenter, an Army combat veteran and clinical social worker, described high suicide risk, barriers to care, and the need for more culturally competent services, especially for women veterans and caregivers. He said Washington veterans’ suicide rate remains above the national average and emphasized that childcare, transportation, and provider shortages can prevent timely treatment. Members generally responded supportively throughout, asked for follow-up on food security and other issues, and encouraged agencies to bring forward legislative ideas for future sessions.

Transcript Highlights:

• a statewide triage conference for hepatobiliary cancers to prevent patients from traveling long distances
• unleashed on your tumor cells, and sometimes there's collateral damage with normal cells, but we are learning
• Damage with normal cells, but we are learning ways to diminish that side effect and be able to amplify
• I learned something this last week that just Practically blew me away.
• And if we can learn if more of that type of message want to then turn that into mass reach health communications

Transcript Highlights:

• I've learned that the only way for people to understand this is if they, too, have lived on a family
• We didn't learn those from textbooks.
• We learned them from watching generations take care of something that they would never sell, and neither
• So there's long-distance pumping, then you're pumping it into the ground, then you're pumping it back
• So we have to assume that there's going to be learned impacts and growth and trial and error through

Bills: HB1523, HB2109, HB2694, HB3525, HB3898, HB4646, HB5188, HB5219, HB5320, HB5651, HB5655, HB5659, HB5662, HB5672

Keywords: aquifer conservation, Class V injection well, environmental regulation, groundwater protection, municipal water supply, temporary prohibition, water management, reservoir construction, state water plan, Texas Water Code, environmental impact, Brazoria Drainage District, commissioners, elections, vacancies, resignation, HB 3525, North Texas Groundwater Conservation District, groundwater permit, permit amendment

Summary: The Committee on Natural Resources heard House Bill 2109, which would remove certain long-proposed reservoir projects from the state water plan after 50 years without progress. Chairman Van Deaver and many landowners, local officials, timber interests, and conservation advocates testified in support, arguing that the Marvin Nichols Reservoir has burdened Northeast Texas landowners for decades with the threat of eminent domain, depressed property values, and uncertainty over homes, farms, ranches, schools, churches, and cemeteries. Supporters also said the project would flood tens of thousands of acres, require extensive mitigation, harm timber and agriculture, and that Texas now has better alternatives such as conservation, reuse, aquifer storage and recovery, and desalination. Several members expressed sympathy for the affected families and questioned whether a project could remain in the plan indefinitely without progress. Opposition came from North Texas water interests, including the North Texas Commission, Tarrant Regional Water District, and the Texas Water Association, who argued that the bill would interfere with the state’s long-term water planning process and remove needed future supply options for a fast-growing region. They said Region C faces major projected shortages by 2070, that conservation and reuse have already delayed the need for new supplies, and that reservoirs remain one tool in the state’s water-planning toolbox. TWDB staff explained the existing inter-regional conflict process and noted that the substitute would affect several unique reservoir sites, not just Marvin Nichols. After testimony, Chairman Van Deaver closed by urging passage of the bill, but the committee withdrew the substitute and left HB 2109 pending. The committee then took up House Bill 5188, a brackish groundwater bill. The author said the bill would reduce permitting burdens for wells in designated brackish groundwater production zones, and the committee substitute added requirements on monitoring, groundwater-rights ownership, and allocation of pumpage limits while removing some exclusions and export-fee provisions. Texas Wildlife Association testified against the bill, warning that the exemptions could weaken groundwater conservation districts’ ability to protect freshwater resources and surface-owner rights. San Antonio Water System testified in favor, saying brackish groundwater is a key future supply and that the substitute would help speed development of desalination and brackish projects. The Texas Alliance of Groundwater Districts testified neutrally but raised concerns about reduced district oversight, especially around injection-well exclusions and the loss of export fees, and said discussions on the bill were ongoing.

Transcript Highlights:

• I've learned that the only way for people to understand this is if they too have lived on family land
• We didn't learn those from textbooks; we learned them from watching generations take care of something
• So there's long-distance pumping, then you're pumping it into the ground, then you're pumping it back
• So we have to assume that there are going to be learned impacts and growth and trial and error through

Bills: HB1523, HB2109, HB2694, HB3525, HB3898, HB4646, HB5188, HB5219, HB5320, HB5651, HB5655, HB5659, HB5662, HB5672

Keywords: aquifer conservation, Class V injection well, environmental regulation, groundwater protection, municipal water supply, temporary prohibition, water management, reservoir construction, state water plan, Texas Water Code, environmental impact, Brazoria Drainage District, commissioners, elections, vacancies, resignation, HB 3525, North Texas Groundwater Conservation District, groundwater permit, permit amendment

Transcript Highlights:

• When that movie Hidden Figures came out is when I learned that Poppy was a hidden figure.
• today and just a quick reminder today at noon the Texas Women's Health Caucus will have a lunch and learn
• hasn't had a chance to meet this amazing woman and hidden figure in our state history to come out and learn
• The distance. The chair recognized Mr. Martinez for a motion. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
• HB 4639. learning the development and implementation of veterans' health care coverage program to assist

Transcript Highlights:

• learned English that he got his license. learned English that he got his license.
• manual in your own language, you learn manual in your own language, you learn what<01:41:46.159>
• spent nights practicing to learn.
• They spent nights test, to learn.
• practicing to learn. And I'm a witness. practicing to learn. And I'm a witness.

Keywords: 1191, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• And so when it's<00:12:17.360> a<00:12:17.600> reasonable<00:12:18.160> distance
• We have a learning management system and we have much of our training in the learning management system
• The other is that we have to provide a more extended learning path for throughout the program.
• some of the lessons that we've learned some of the lessons that we've learned over<01:11:09.520>
• They also have access to additional learning opportunities from our legal team.

Bills: HF2825

Keywords: expungement, criminal justice, background check, security industry, private detective, 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• through digital learning.
• It's updates the name of the quality standards organization repeals code related to distance learning
• This bill enables flexible learning models. to promote promote work-based learning and apprenticeships
• But we learned a lot. the two that our students can learn virtually if given the opportunity and we know
• As someone who has learning disabilities, having a virtual learning opportunity would have been really

Bills: SB 10, SB 11

Keywords: human trafficking, trafficking victim, compelling prostitution, affirmative defense, criminal defense, coercion, force fraud or coercion, sexual exploitation, victim protection, Penal Code, Texas criminal law, prosecution, party liability, affirmative defense statute, survivor rights, 1185, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Increasing the weight distance tax for motor vehicles other than buses, increasing registration fees

Keywords: 996, all

Transcript Highlights:

• project selection and priorities financed by bonds in its annual budget request, increasing the weight distance