Transcript Highlights:

• right-hand side.
• it a leftand side and a right hand side it a leftand side and a right hand side and<04:35:49.039
• So if it's a planned move, you can lessen some of the impacts, but it does have an impact.
• So if it's a planned move, you can lessen some of the impacts, but it does have an impact.
• You can lessen some of the impacts, but it does have an impact.

Keywords: 928, house, all

Summary: The Education Funding Committee met in executive session and first took up HB 193, which limits the maximum credits per course eligible for the Dual and Concurrent Enrollment Program. Representative Ladd said the bill clarifies that eligible courses may not exceed four credits and was requested by the community college system. Representative Earth offered an amendment to make the bill effective on passage, which the committee adopted 18-0. The committee then approved HB 193 as amended by an 18-0 OTPA vote and placed it on the consent calendar. The committee next retained HB 295, concerning School Building Aid program funds, after Representative Spillsbury said the building aid bills were complex and needed more work. The motion to retain passed 18-0, with the chair explaining that retained bills can be revisited later and that related language could be moved among building aid bills. HB 354 was not acted on because the chair said the Department of Education and others had suggested possible changes that should be worked out first. HB 366, another school building aid bill, was also retained 18-0 for the same reasons as HB 295. The committee then considered HB 494, which funds the math learning communities program. Representative Earth offered an amendment to flat-fund the program, reducing the proposed increase by a net $50,000 and keeping funding at current levels for the biennium. After discussion about budget pressures and the program’s role in supporting math instruction and professional development, the amendment passed 18-0, and the bill as amended was approved 18-0 and placed on consent. Finally, the committee took up HB 515, which would repeal charter public school eligibility for state school building aid. Representative Popovici-Muller moved inexpedient to legislate, arguing charter schools should not be treated differently from other public schools, while Representatives Luno and Damon opposed the motion, saying charter schools differ in governance and financial risk and should not receive limited state building aid. The motion failed 10-8, so HB 515 was sent to the regular calendar. The committee assigned Representative Damon to the minority report and Representative Popovici-Muller to the majority report, with a noon deadline the next day. The committee then began HB 716, an appropriation for the dual and concurrent enrollment program. Representative Ladd described the program as a successful affordability measure that saves families money and supports college access. Representative Earth offered an amendment to flat-fund the program at current levels, reducing the proposed increase by $500,000 in each year of the biennium. Shannon Reed of the Community College System said the change could limit enrollment or the number of funded courses, though students could still take additional courses at their own expense. Representative Ladd explained the program’s tuition structure and said the funding would help meet demand; the transcript cuts off before the final vote on HB 716.

Transcript Highlights:

• Not on the Mexican side? No, on the Texas side. I think that's his point.
• It's the Mexican side of the border that is dangerous, not the Texas side.
• The problem is on the Mexican side of the river, not on the Texas side.
• The problem is on the Mexican side of the river, not on the Texas side.
• We don't handle them on the regulatory side with the law enforcement side.

Bills: SB 1

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

Summary: The Senate Finance Committee heard a presentation from the Legislative Budget Board on the Texas Department of Public Safety’s Article 5 budget. LBB recommended $3.7 billion in all funds for 2026-27, a 5.2 percent decrease from the base, while FTEs would rise by 856.7. Major items included funding for driver license services, DPS facilities, troopers and recruit schools, crime labs, vehicle and aircraft operations, border security, and rider changes. The committee also reviewed DPS exceptional items not included in the recommendation, including additional staffing, technology, and facility requests. Members focused heavily on driver license operations, criticizing long wait times, call abandonment, and repeated staffing increases without clear process improvements. LBB said the agency’s call-answer rate was about 9 percent in fiscal 2024, with average hold times around 34 minutes, later reduced to roughly 22-25 minutes. Senators questioned whether more FTEs alone would solve the problem and urged a broader efficiency study and better use of technology. DPS officials said they were pursuing process changes, including appointment-system upgrades, online pre-population of forms, and remote issuance options, while noting that Real ID requirements and population growth continue to drive demand. DPS leadership then outlined the agency’s priorities: completion of the Williamson County training academy, recruitment and retention of troopers, capital needs for vehicles and aircraft, and expanded responsibilities at the Capitol complex and the Alamo. Officials said the new trooper funding would help address staffing shortages, public safety, and border operations, and that overtime and deployment patterns had been adjusted to reduce burnout and improve flexibility. They also discussed Operation Lone Star, saying DPS spending is largely overtime, travel, and fuel, and that the agency continues to coordinate with federal partners while awaiting clarity on possible federal reimbursement for border security costs. Senators also raised concerns about oilfield theft, cartel activity, high-speed pursuits, bilingual pay, and the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum, and DPS said it would follow up on some of those issues.

Transcript Highlights:

• In particular, there were quite a few impacting...
• We're a diverse and impactful system.
• From the west side of the state line to the east side, it seems like there's always a traffic accident
• And that's the behavioral side of traffic safety, not the infrastructure side of what we work on.
• And in my little diagram there on the side shows that.

Transcript Highlights:

• Sorry, economic impact. Are you aware of the impact that'll have financially on my district?
• to impact Torrance County.
• There is no concern for the economic impact.
• Speaker, gentlelady, our analysis shows that the impact to the users, the folks that would be impacted
• See you on the flip side.

Bills: HM3, HM11, HM14, HM15, HM21, HM25, HB9, SB2, SB19

Keywords: nurses, health care workers, healthcare workers, frontline workers, hospital staff, clinicians, allied health professionals, support staff, public health, workforce shortage, nursing shortage, safe staffing, patient safety, rural health care, frontier communities, behavioral health, mental health, substance use disorder, substance abuse, health care memorial

Transcript Highlights:

• We are busy analyzing exactly that impact.
• On the psychiatry side, I don't have. I'll have to ask the dean back at.
• And it's impactful and it matters.
• It's really easy to buy in when you're getting to impact Families and children. So, I don't...
• Our current focus right now on the patient services side is our youth use working group.

Keywords: 914, all

Transcript Highlights:

• So, significant growth on the sales side, significant growth on the profit side in those years.
• A couple of jackpots get up there, but the economy is still having an impact.
• It does have tangible impacts. Thank you. Real quick, just kind of how our budget works.
• On your out-of-state licensing this year and what was the impact of that?
• I don't think it impacted our guide services up there like we thought it might.

Keywords: 914, all

Transcript Highlights:

• But it helps a lot when these bills get constructed and you see them side by side and how are those choices
• <00:03:19.599> by constructed and you see them side by constructed and you see them side by
• <00:03:20.800> choices<00:03:21.680> made side and how are those choices made side
• detailed conversation about the impact detailed conversation about the impact of<00:08:51.279>
• <00:14:51.199> their Washington and how it impacts their Washington and how it impacts their

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• IMPACT OVER TIME IN THE FUTURE.
• THAT IMPACT OVER TIME AS WELL. BUT BACK TO MAINTENANCE.
• THE CLERKS AND FAIRLY OR UNFAIRLY DOES NOT NECESSARILY IMPACT OUR JUSTICE PARTNERS.
• MAYBE ON THE COUNTY SIDE THAT WE WILL SEE. BUT WE HAVE TWO BUDGETS.
• OF THAT 83 MILLION IS FOR THE CLERK OPERATIONS AND A 67 MILLION IS ON THE COUNTY SIDE.

Keywords: 999, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Would that impact any of our capsule limits?
• recouping some of the SNAP benefits from the impact of clients. impacted like from from folks who stole
• Like what is the human impact on it?
• And then on the flip side, so that helps the home take care of. the child adequately, on the flip side
• Impacts.

Keywords: 1184, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• And we have engagement on both sides of that.
• On the medical side, the crisis has abated quicker.
• And that progress has been slower on the mental health side.
• But what has been the impact for people in those areas?
• But our work is not only impactful and... ...of areas every day.

Keywords: 995, all

Summary: The Joint Committee on Ways and Means held a Health and Human Services budget hearing in Clinton, with opening remarks from Chairs Meg Kilcoyne and Robin Kennedy, local officials, and many House and Senate members introducing themselves. The hearing focused on Governor Healey’s FY27 EOHHS and MassHealth budgets, with repeated themes of rising health care costs, federal funding uncertainty, workforce shortages, and access to care in underserved regions. Members also raised concerns about primary care shortages, rural and regional disparities, behavioral health access, maternal health, food insecurity, and the impact of federal policy changes on Massachusetts programs. EOHHS Secretary Kiame Mahaniah said the FY27 EOHHS budget totals $33.7 billion, reflecting mostly non-discretionary growth from health care costs, labor costs, caseload increases, and provider rate pressures. He highlighted targeted investments in foster care, family resource centers, maternal health, youth services, nutrition programs, immigrant legal services, and human service workforce rates, while warning that federal actions could strip roughly $3.5 billion annually from the state’s health care funding. In response to questions, he defended the administration’s cooperation with federal audits and program integrity efforts, discussed the primary care crisis, and said the state is trying to preserve core services while preparing for a more difficult FY28 budget cycle. MassHealth Undersecretary Mike Levine then described two major FY27 challenges: double-digit cost growth and the expected effects of the federal One Big Beautiful Bill Act. He said MassHealth’s proposed $22.7 billion gross budget includes a 7.5% increase and relies on a moratorium on new expansions plus targeted reductions, including a $1,000 annual adult dental cap, ending GLP-1 coverage for weight loss only, reducing care management to peer-state levels, and work groups to slow growth in PCA, adult foster care, and adult day health spending. Members questioned the impact on Boston Health Care for the Homeless, preventive care, and regional access; Levine said the changes are meant to preserve sustainability, that children and certain disabled populations remain protected, and that the administration will continue working with providers, advocates, and the Legislature on implementation and longer-term reforms.

Transcript Highlights:

• All those will be greatly impacted by this, and the economic impact to the Village of Milan will be devastating
• That will be impacted. That will definitely be impacted. So I do oppose House Bill 9. Thank you.
• It certainly impacted my district.
• The fiscal impact report that I received from Cibola County is at one side of the extreme, and it's that
• if all contracts are canceled on that side.

Bills: SB100

Keywords: burglary, aggravated burglary, dwelling, criminal law, property rights, 996, all

Transcript Highlights:

• It has a huge negative impact when the cities do not follow the law, as eloquently pointed out by the
• It has a huge impact, negative impact, when the cities do not follow the law, as eloquently pointed out
• There's a Kubota dealership on the other side.
• There's a Kubota dealership on the other side.
• or all sides, because typically there's more than... ...just two sides on the issue, right?

Summary: The committee first heard Senate Bill 2215, which would clarify that property owners may challenge municipal zoning ordinances that are adopted without following Chapter 211 procedures, and would expressly waive municipal sovereign immunity for declaratory, injunctive, and mandamus actions in those cases. The bill sponsor and witnesses argued it would simply enforce existing notice, hearing, and due process requirements and give landowners a practical remedy when cities fail to comply. Testimony in support came from attorneys and a landowner describing alleged zoning actions in Selma that they said occurred without proper notice or hearings and caused significant financial harm. After questions, the committee substitute was withdrawn and the bill was left pending. The committee then took up Senate Bill 2639, which would add disclosure and compensation requirements for local historic designations, including compensation based on the greater of repair/restoration costs or the difference in appraised value with and without the designation. The bill author said it was intended to address situations where historic designation delays or blocks redevelopment and to ensure property owners are fairly compensated. A property owner testified in support, describing an Austin case in which a demolition permit led to historic designation and what he said was a costly forced rehabilitation. Opponents, including a preservation advocate and an East Austin resident, argued the current process is already rigorous, rare, and balanced, and that the bill would undermine cities’ ability to preserve historic places and community heritage. During closing on SB 2639, the chair raised a concern that Section 3B appeared to apply retroactively to pending cases, which he said could be unconstitutional under the Texas Constitution’s prohibition on retroactive laws. The committee did not resolve that issue during the hearing, and the bill was left pending. The committee then adjourned.

Transcript Highlights:

• Democrats and Republicans on the Senate side of this panel.
• you in ensuring that our campus remain places where opportunity, respect, and open discourse thrive side-by-side
• . by side.
• Side plan. Assassinations. Don't just impact one group or a small group. group of people.
• Assassinations impact everyone.

Keywords: 1185, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Three hundred fifty people a year are struck and killed on the side of the road.
• The chair will now call Peter. year struck and killed on the side of year struck and killed on the side
• I can list the positives and the negatives on both sides of that.
• , which was the rail trail, the railroad side.
• the rail trail uh the railroad side the rail trail uh the railroad side there<01:36:36.600> were

Keywords: 1191, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Does any missing of this impact that at all? No, it has no fiscal impact of any nature.
• A week makes a huge economic impact.
• On the revenue side, it's significant.
• I come to you from the camp side of things, not the tourism side of things, and that is summer camp.
• This is a lasting impact and a policy that, if reversed, would have a grave economic impact, including

Bills: SB1798, SB1835, SB1319, SB2942, SB2928, SB784, SB1049

Keywords: higher education, tuition rates, financial support, immigration status, Texas law, SB 1835, resident tuition, nonresident students, scholarship students, public higher education, Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, Education Code Section 54.213, tuition waiver, in-state tuition, out-of-state students, higher education finance, enrollment cap, capacity limit, workforce development area, nonimmigrant visa

Transcript Highlights:

• All of those are going to impact electricity demand,' and that's happening now.
• Legacy homes is the same impact as driving 10 years of net zero new construction.
• This is all impacting housing.
• by side to move projects forward.
• So it's a two-sided coin.

Summary: The Assembly Select Committee on Regulatory Authority held its first hearing to examine how California’s regulatory framework affects housing production, affordability, and timelines. Chair Pacheco and Assemblymember Haney framed the discussion around the state’s housing shortage and the need to reduce costs while maintaining environmental, safety, and community protections. The first panel featured housing experts and industry representatives who argued that state regulations, code complexity, utility constraints, and agency review processes add substantial cost and delay to development. Bill Fulton described overlapping state and local land-use authorities and the tension among housing, coastal protection, climate, and wildfire goals. CBIA’s Chris Ochoa and California Apartment Association representative Bob Raymer said building codes, energy mandates, and agency processes have materially increased per-home costs, and they urged more centralized affordability analysis and greater scrutiny of regulatory impacts. The Bay Area Council’s Louis Marante called for a statewide cost target for housing and stronger timelines and accountability for state agency reviews. The second panel brought in state agencies to explain their roles. HCD said its housing element enforcement, streamlining laws, and technical assistance have helped increase production, shorten entitlement timelines, and improve compliance by local governments. CARB said SB 375 is a planning law that does not directly regulate land use, and argued that regional housing assumptions in sustainable communities strategies are not being fully implemented on the ground. The Coastal Commission said it works with local governments to balance coastal protection, sea-level-rise risk, and housing, and noted recent guidance and pilot efforts to streamline housing approvals in the coastal zone. The Energy Commission said its building energy standards are designed to be cost-effective and save consumers money over time, though they can add some design and documentation complexity. Fish and Wildlife and DTSC both emphasized early engagement and collaboration to reduce delays while protecting natural resources and public health; DTSC said it is refining vapor intrusion guidance and using brownfield grants to support redevelopment. The State Water Resources Control Board said it uses general orders and basin planning to provide predictable permitting while balancing water quality, water rights, and housing needs, and noted billions in grants and loans for water infrastructure and site remediation that can support housing affordability. In response to questions from Assemblymember Haney, several agencies described ongoing coordination across departments, including regular meetings among HCD, CARB, the Coastal Commission, and transportation agencies, as well as broader interagency efforts to reduce redundancies and identify pinch points in project delivery. No formal votes or legislative actions were taken during the hearing; the main outcome was informational testimony and discussion of possible future reforms to improve coordination, predictability, and affordability in state regulatory processes.

Transcript Highlights:

• One side of the tracks was economically quite a bit different than the other side of the tracks.
• Um, in the western side of the district, I'm just going to refer to that western side of the district
• and the East Side to split, um.
• The Fort Worth side of the district is different from the Keller side.
• , on the west side.

Bills: HB4, HB54, SB 10, SB 24

Keywords: district composition, congressional election, Texas, legislature, voting districts, citizenship, U.S. citizen, non-citizen, public office, advisory board, task force, state government, local government, political subdivision, commission board, appointment eligibility, officeholder qualifications, public service, naturalization, Texas Government Code

Transcript Highlights:

• So I've provided with my testimony a side-by-side comparison to look at a union electrical apprenticeship
• One side didn't know what the other side was doing. 9/11, there were agents in the United States that
• We work together on this, both sides of the aisle.
• We work together on this, both sides of the aisle.
• We want to make sure that this is really going to impact the folks that it's meant to impact and it doesn't

Keywords: 1146, all

Transcript Highlights:

• <00:43:16.680> on significant negative economic impact on significant negative economic impact
• on the study because how could it impact on the study because how could it impact<00:45:04.200> them
• think it is is looking at an impact think it is is looking at an impact there<01:16:38.040> has
• On the real estate side, it's very challenging.
• <01:29:31.239> it's itself um on the real estate side it's itself um on the real estate side

Keywords: 1191, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• So we have one side for math, one slide for ELA. This one's math.
• So the dollars might impact more to us than the percentages.
• So if you're talking about impact for kids and impact both special education and all kids, you know,
• financial impact that it would have.
• It's probably saving one click on the district side versus on our side.

Summary: The committee met with a quorum, approved the March 4, 2026 minutes, and received a lengthy Department of Public Instruction presentation from Stanley Schauer Jr. on North Dakota student performance data in math and ELA, with comparisons between students with disabilities and students without disabilities. Schauer explained the assessment systems used, the 1% alternate assessment cap for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities, the absence of 2019-20 data due to the pandemic, and how state standards are set by North Dakota educators. Members asked about cohort trends, the role of alternate assessments, grade-level patterns, and whether the state should focus more on reducing the novice category than on moving students from approaching to proficient. Schauer also discussed the new NDA Plus assessment, the state’s planned growth model, and the possibility of future breakdowns by disability category or by schools using science-of-math approaches. Special education educators testified that students with disabilities continued to receive services during COVID because of FAPE obligations, which likely helped limit learning loss, and emphasized that IEP teams focus on individual growth rather than only proficiency buckets. Committee members then shifted to special education funding and possible funding models. Brandon Bombach of Grand Forks Public Schools presented on the state aid formula, focusing on the special education weighting factor and arguing that the current formula does not adequately respond to growing student needs because it counts enrollment but does not adjust when the number of students with IEPs rises. He used examples to show that a district can have the same enrollment and receive the same weighting even if the number of students needing services increases. Members discussed whether the formula should be tied more closely to actual need and accountability, and the chair indicated that the committee would continue gathering data and ideas for a later meeting.