Transcript Highlights:

• It's very difficult in this particular environment because we're a little bit more decentralized than

Bills: SB132, SM16, SM17

Keywords: SB132, DOIT, Department of Information Technology, software replacement, equipment replacement, technology funding, revolving fund, capital equipment, enterprise services, state IT budgeting, software budgeting, amortization, depreciation, State Treasurer, Department of Finance and Administration, New Mexico, information technology, IT infrastructure, fund accounting, legislative appropriation

Transcript Highlights:

• wanted to clarify, based on the discussion we've had, it sounds like we're still talking about a decentralized

Bills: HB17, HB23

Keywords: property tax, school funding, enrollment changes, inflation adjustment, tax rate notice, property tax exemption, ad valorem tax, Texas Tax Code, nonprofit corporation, charitable organization, educational nonprofit, scientific nonprofit, agriculture support, youth programs, community education, county population threshold, large county, local government revenue, leasehold interest, possessory interest

Transcript Highlights:

• compelling treasuries, pension funds, and sovereign wealth managers globally to seek verifiable, decentralized

Keywords: 995, all

Summary: The Joint Committee on Revenue held a hearing on 25 tax and administrative bills, with opening remarks explaining the hearing process and noting that House-filed matters must be reported by December 6. The first major topic was funding for the Massachusetts Law Enforcement Memorial and related support for families of fallen officers. Police representatives, memorial fund advocates, and family members gave emotional testimony urging favorable action on S. 1934 and related bills, emphasizing the need for a permanent revenue stream to maintain the memorial and honor officers killed in the line of duty. Committee members and legislators responded with personal remarks of support and appreciation for law enforcement families. The committee then heard testimony on a proposed Commonwealth Bitcoin Strategic Reserve, including S. 1967 and related bills. Senator Peter Durant and later Dennis Porter argued that the state should be allowed to invest a limited share of stabilization or other funds in Bitcoin or other regulated digital assets as a hedge against inflation and fiscal risk, with strict caps, custody rules, and audits. They described the proposal as a forward-looking, non-mandatory framework for diversifying state reserves. No vote was taken during the hearing. Another major topic was disaster resilience funding. Dr. Paul Biddinger of Mass General Brigham supported S. 1936/H. 3030, saying climate-driven flooding, drought, and wildfire risks are increasing and that the State Disaster Relief and Resiliency Trust Fund needs a dedicated revenue source. Senator Comerford also testified in favor, explaining that the fund was created in the prior session, that recent floods showed the need for quick state response, and that the bill would dedicate a portion of capital gains revenue to the fund. Committee members asked about how the fund would accrue and be used. The committee also heard testimony on PILOT and endowment-related bills: AICUM opposed H. 3122/S. 2013 and H. 3264/S. 2016, arguing that an endowment tax and mandatory PILOTs would harm private nonprofit colleges, students, and research; and a representative from Peru supported reform of PILOT formulas for state-owned land, saying rural towns need higher reimbursements and hold-harmless protections. The hearing concluded after testimony on the digital asset bills, with no recorded votes or final actions.

Transcript Highlights:

• Carter, we're not here to try to decentralize power and authority to regional areas or anything of that
• Carter, we're not here to try to decentralize power and authority to regional areas or anything of that
• I just need a simple answer: we're not trying to decentralize or give the powers to the regional areas

Keywords: 1185, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Now that is completely different from the decentralized anonymize nature of bitcoin and cryptocurrency

Transcript Highlights:

• So that's the concern with decentralizing what we want to do with public notices.

Transcript Highlights:

• The most prominent example is the online extremist network known as 764. 764 is a decentralized online
• is a decentralized online network that<04:32:44.239> glorifies<04:32:44.880> violence<
• <04:32:58.239> While<04:32:58.560> decentralized, network in 2020.
• While decentralized, network in 2020.
• While decentralized, the<04:32:59.520> group<04:32:59.680> has<04:32:59.840> grown

Keywords: U.S. House of Representatives Floor Proceedings on Monday, January 12, 2026, 1012, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• . >> And um, but can you give me any more information because it's something I read about decentralized
• something I information because it's something I read<01:52:51.360> about<01:52:52.239> decentralized
• <01:52:53.199> and read about decentralized and read about decentralized and uninorporate<

Keywords: 1136, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• And one thing just to add to that: we believe in a decentralized food system.
• And one thing just to add to that, so we believe in a decentralized food system.

Summary: The joint oversight hearing focused on food insecurity in California and how state and federal nutrition programs, agricultural production, and food distribution systems intersect. Assemblymembers emphasized that many Californians, including farmworkers, seniors, children, and communities of color, remain food insecure despite California’s agricultural abundance. Panelists and members discussed CalFresh, WIC, school meals, Sun Bucks, food banks, and the impact of federal policy changes, including possible nutrition cuts, tariffs, and immigration enforcement, on access to food and the agricultural workforce. Secretary Karen Ross described CDFA programs aimed at improving access to fresh food and supporting local agriculture, including the senior farmers’ market program, California Nutrition Incentive Program, Healthy Refrigeration Grant Program, Community Food Hubs, Farm to School, urban agriculture, and a proposed tribal food sovereignty program. She said these efforts help connect local producers to consumers, expand healthy food access, and build infrastructure such as refrigeration, mobile markets, and aggregation hubs. Department of Social Services Deputy Director Alexis Fernandez Garcia outlined CalFresh, CFAP, Sun Bucks, CACFP, emergency food programs, and tribal nutrition assistance, noting that CalFresh and related programs significantly reduce poverty and food insecurity, but participation gaps remain for non-English speakers, some Asian American communities, and undocumented households. PPIC researcher Tess Thorman presented data showing that 13% of California households experienced food insecurity in 2023, with higher rates among households with children and Latino, Black, and other households. She said nutrition programs reduce poverty and food hardship, but federal rules, income thresholds, immigration restrictions, and high living costs limit their reach. Members asked about simplifying applications, improving call center access, increasing outreach in multiple languages, and adjusting benefits for inflation. Officials said the state has used available federal options to streamline enrollment, improve customer service, and target outreach, but many core rules and benefit levels are set federally. The second panel shifted to food production and market access. A farmer, a UC food systems leader, and a produce distributor described efforts to connect small and medium farms with food banks, schools, universities, and Medi-Cal food-as-medicine programs. They highlighted programs such as Farms Together, the USDA Southwest Regional Food Business Center, Farm to School, food hubs, and climate-smart infrastructure grants as ways to create stable markets for local growers while improving food access. Speakers also raised concerns about land tenure, consolidation, regulatory burdens, labor constraints, and the loss of federal funding, and members discussed whether state investments and Prop. 4 funds could help sustain and expand these efforts.

Transcript Highlights:

• Decentralization itself is a global trend. 200 years ago there were 50 countries.
• > global Decentralization itself is a global Decentralization itself is a global trend.<04:34:
• I think if we all actually wore our decentralization hats and took our Americanness out of ourselves,
• I think if we all actually wore our decentralization hats and took our Americanness out of ourselves,
• took our our decentralization hats and took our Americanness<04:46:51.520> out<04:46:51.680><

Keywords: 1189, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• So his argument to support the centralized kitchen model rather than a decentralized approach was fiscal
• about $450 million to do this on every island for work that, you know, if we had adopted a more decentralized
• So his argument to support the centralized kitchen model rather than a decentralized approach was that
• So his argument to support the centralized kitchen model rather than a decentralized approach was that
• about $450 million to do this on every island for work that, you know, if we had adopted a more decentralized

Keywords: 910, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• We think as the administration looks to decentralize some federal government offices.

Keywords: 914, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Um, there are platforms out there that are decentralized open protocol.
• It's decentralized to the point where if you asked, there's no one person to ask to delete your private
• 07.760> becomes where all of this information becomes where all of this information becomes decentralized
• 09.440> at<01:06:09.599> the<01:06:09.680> same<01:06:09.839> time decentralized
• , but at the same time decentralized, but at the same time trying<01:06:10.240> to<01:06:10.400

Keywords: 1189, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• The decision-making is decentralized, and agencies are allowed to disregard rules by LOFT.

Keywords: 914, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Some of the types of issues here relate to fund balance levels, bank reconciliation, as well as decentralized

Summary: The Joint Legislative Auditing Committee received a presentation from Auditor General staff on recurring findings from audits of district school boards, colleges, and universities. For school districts, the main issues discussed included missing or outdated safe-school officer training documentation, weak purchasing-card controls, vendor banking-change fraud risks, incomplete background screenings and disqualification-list procedures, missing website budget disclosures, excessive or untimely IT access, late deactivation of former employees’ access, missed emergency drill deadlines, inaccurate capital outlay and resiliency education records, weak tangible property inventories, adult education reporting errors, untimely bank reconciliations, and improper use of workforce development funds. The auditors said many of these issues are repeated from prior years and are summarized in their annual report on significant findings and financial trends. For universities and colleges, the auditors highlighted similar control weaknesses, including vendor information change controls, IT access issues, cash and investment reconciliation problems, purchasing and procurement deficiencies, personnel and compensation issues, and student fee compliance concerns. Specific examples included a UF consulting contract totaling about $6 million, FAU underreporting carry-forward balances by about $77 million, UCF’s payment loss of about $107,000 from an email scam tied to vendor changes, and a North Florida College unauthorized transfer involving a few hundred thousand dollars. The committee asked questions about the UF consulting work, the FAU carry-forward issue, and whether the listed findings meant every named entity had every issue; auditors clarified that the lists reflected entities with findings in those categories, not necessarily each specific problem. The committee then turned to enforcement for entities with long-standing uncorrected audit findings. Staff reported 144 entities with 197 findings repeated in three or more successive audit reports and recommended sending letters requesting updated corrective-action status, including for late-filed 2022-2023 reports where appropriate. The committee approved the staff recommendation and directed letters to be sent. The meeting ended with members emphasizing the importance of audit oversight and taxpayer accountability.

Transcript Highlights:

• But I would say there are systems that allow us to store data in a decentralized and secure and transparent
• Those currencies are all stored in a decentralized fashion and have distributed ledger technologies as
• For security and to prevent fraud, you kind of decentralize it in such a fashion that it can do that.

Summary: The committee received several informational reports from NDIT and DPI. Justin Data reviewed the quarterly major IT project portfolio, noting the portfolio was slightly under budget and behind schedule overall, with three red schedule items: Bed Management System and Vital Records were essentially complete and being closed out, and the Roadway Capital Planning Project was delayed by vendor bug fixes after testing. He also summarized recent project startups and closeouts, including the Victim Notification System, Medicaid data exchange, Highway Patrol’s motor carrier permit system, and several completed HHS and RIMS projects. Members asked for follow-up on ADA compliance work, the public-facing RIO website, and the state’s mainframe retirement timeline, and staff agreed to provide updates later. Craig Falkley reported on coordination of services with political subdivisions and higher education, including StageNet, cybersecurity, radio/911 services, and PeopleSoft coordination. He also explained distributed ledger technology as a tool for transparency and fraud prevention, but said it is not widely used in state government and suggested the report be modernized to focus more broadly on emerging technologies such as AI and cybersecurity. The committee generally agreed that the topic should be updated. Chris Gurgan presented the mandatory cybersecurity incident reporting program created by HB 1314, explaining how agencies and political subdivisions report incidents through NDIT’s website or service desk. He said 77 incidents had been reported since 2021, 47 met the statutory definition, and most were phishing-related; most reported incidents were resolved, with one recent ransomware matter still open. He also reviewed notable incidents since the last report, including the PowerSchool compromise, a SimpleHelp intrusion at a school district, a court intrusion, a WSUS vulnerability, a business email compromise, and a recent ransomware incident involving a non-state critical infrastructure entity. Members asked about recovery of stolen funds, early warning signs, smishing, training, MFA, conditional access, and cybersecurity maturity assessments; Gurgan said the state uses MFA and conditional access, provides awareness training to state employees, and would return with more information on maturity assessments. Tony Ambrose then updated the committee on the K-12 student information system bridge project. He said district implementation of Infinite Campus had begun statewide, but the data migration vendor originally selected was terminated for poor performance and replaced by Aurora Educational Technology, which had experience with similar statewide migrations. He also said DPI is migrating special education data from Tynet into Infinite Campus, and that some SLDS-based tools such as e-transcripts and Choice Ready may not function exactly as they do now at July 1, requiring interim or alternative solutions. Members raised concerns about summer school disruptions, the timing of the cutover, and whether the new system would support existing reporting and transcript functions; DPI said it was working on identity, authentication, data-sharing agreements, and post-go-live integrations, and would continue to refine the plan beyond June 30.

Transcript Highlights:

• and our protein producers across the state to get these local healthy options more available and decentralize
• more get these local healthy options more available<00:46:49.839> and<00:46:50.160> decentralize
• /c><00:46:50.880> the<00:46:51.119> system<00:46:51.280> in available and decentralize
• the system in available and decentralize the system in which<00:46:51.760> we're<00:46:52.000

Keywords: This meeting was pulled from back ups and uploaded in it's entirety due to technical issues., 958, all

Summary: The Make America Healthy Kentucky Task Force met with a quorum, approved the minutes, and then heard a presentation on the state’s “food is medicine” work from Kentucky Hospital Association and Kentucky Department of Agriculture leaders, including Jim Muser, Holly Harris, and Commissioner Jonathan Shell. The chair framed the discussion around personal wellness, injury prevention, and the broader goal of improving health through better sleep, nutrition, and activity, then asked the presenters to describe current initiatives and any policy changes needed. The witnesses described a partnership linking hospitals and Kentucky farmers to improve health outcomes while supporting rural agriculture. They said the effort has moved beyond the pilot stage and now includes more than 40 hospitals statewide, with programs such as healthier hospital cafeterias, grab-and-go options, farmers markets at hospital sites, subsidized CSA boxes for employees, and medically tailored meals or groceries for patients with chronic conditions. ARH was highlighted as a leading model, with local food procurement, employee wellness efforts, and measurable outcome pilots, including a Russell County Hospital project focused on diabetes, heart disease, and obesity. They also emphasized barriers to scaling the model, including fragmented short-term funding, lack of reimbursement for food-as-medicine programs, and burdensome procurement and testing requirements that can make it difficult for small farmers to participate. The presenters said hospitals are using their own funds or temporary grants to sustain programs and argued that policy changes are needed to simplify sourcing, expand reimbursement pathways, and support clinical measurement of outcomes. No votes or formal actions beyond approving the minutes were taken during the portion provided.

Transcript Highlights:

• And the purpose of a token on a blockchain is it incentivizes the decentralized network of nodes all
• using<00:43:12.400> the using the blockchain, using the using the blockchain, using the decentralized
• <00:43:13.760> That<00:43:13.920> that's decentralized blockchain.
• That that's decentralized blockchain.

Keywords: 928, house, all

Summary: The committee held a work session on HB 302, which would add precious metals and digital assets as potential investment options. State Treasurer Monica Misipelli said she took no position on the bill and did not see an immediate fiscal impact or operational problem, but explained that the state’s operating funds and rainy day fund require liquidity and stability, so they would not be suitable for volatile assets like precious metals or digital assets. She said the only funds that might potentially use such investments would be certain trust funds held in perpetuity, which are managed by an outside investment advisor under a contract and investment policy. Members asked about the treasurer’s current investment practices, including the types of funds managed, the role and discretion of the investment advisor, the state’s risk profile, and whether the bill would affect existing authority. Misipelli said the office follows RSA 11 and related statutes, with different objectives ranging from conservative to aggressive depending on the fund, and that the advisor meets with the office regularly, with formal performance reviews on a quarterly basis. She also said the office recently centralized management of about 40 trust accounts totaling roughly $60 million into five combined portfolios under a five-year contract with an RFP-selected vendor. When asked whether precious metals or digital assets are already indirectly available through mutual funds, she said that was possible for some mutual funds, but she was not certain about digital assets. Representative Ammon, the bill’s sponsor, said similar legislation had passed the Oklahoma House, the Texas House and Senate, and had advanced in Arizona. He argued the bill was intended to give the treasurer more tools to help balance portfolios and hedge inflation, noting concerns about federal debt and inflation. No vote was taken in the excerpt, and the chair ended the questioning after thanking the treasurer and asking her to remain available in case further questions arose.

Transcript Highlights:

• Unemployment is an area where Minnesota State is very decentralized in management because all the names
• area where Minnesota state<01:41:02.520> is<01:41:02.639> very<01:41:02.880> decentralized
• <01:41:03.639> in state is very decentralized in state is very decentralized in management

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• So there's a company called Decentral, and what they specialize in is making components that soundproof
• c> kind of stuff so there's a company kind of stuff so there's a company called<03:53:22.920> decentral
• <03:53:23.880> and<03:53:24.040> what<03:53:24.199> they called decentral and
• what they called decentral and what they specialize<03:53:25.040> in<03:53:25.760> is<
• 310s study, and we can do a little more because there's some confluence of the definition of decentralization

Keywords: 928, house, all

Summary: The discussion focused on a cannabis legalization/regulation bill and whether it should be retained for further study or moved forward. Members debated the fiscal impact, with one side emphasizing that the bill would cost about $7.1 million in the first two years before generating revenue, while supporters argued the House should make a statement in favor of legalization despite likely opposition from the Senate and governor. There was also disagreement over strategy: some said retaining the bill until closer to the next election would give the issue more visibility, while others said delaying would only avoid sending a bill the Senate was unlikely to take up anyway. A major point of contention was whether cannabis should be regulated by a new cannabis commission or placed under the Liquor Commission. Supporters of the Liquor Commission argued it already has enforcement infrastructure, especially for age restrictions, and could handle cannabis more efficiently without creating a new bureaucracy. Opponents said cannabis is a different industry that would require specialized expertise, and they objected to expanding the Liquor Commission, which they described as unpopular and costly. The committee also discussed past versions of the bill, including concerns about limited licenses and the perception that the earlier approach favored large businesses. Members reviewed specific provisions such as licensing fees, THC limits, and cultivation categories. One member noted a $10,000 fee for retail cannabis stores and cannabis product manufacturers authorized to perform extractions, while a smaller tier-one cultivator fee was described as a lower-cost option for small growers. There was also discussion of whether the bill would allow sales through general retail outlets or only dedicated cannabis stores, and whether plants and seeds were covered. No final vote or action was clearly recorded in the excerpt, but the main procedural question was whether to retain the bill for more work or advance it as written.