Transcript Highlights:

• growth, transfer growth to Arizona's public universities, and extraordinary enrollment in dual enrollment
• growth, transfer growth to Arizona's public universities, and and overall enrollment growth, transfer
• growth to Arizona's public universities, and an extraordinary enrollment in dual enrollment, and whereas
• SB 1572, public school civics infrastructure instruction requirement; SB 1573, judicial determinations
• SCR 1040, justices and judges mandatory retirement age requirement. Excellent, thank you.

Keywords: 1182, all

Transcript Highlights:

• House enrolled act number 33.
• </c><00:05:44.240><c> Act</c> I'm about to sign House Enrolled Act I'm about to sign House Enrolled Act
• ><c> 38</c><00:07:42.400><c> being</c> House Enrolled Act number 38 being House Enrolled Act number 38
• </c><00:08:00.000><c> Act</c> I have so signed House Enrolled Act I have so signed House Enrolled Act
• The signing of enrolled acts. House enrolled act number 41.

Keywords: 916, all

Transcript Highlights:

• There's going to be a new um hurdles to enrollment and re-enrollment. I call it the hassle factor.
• It's a proven strategy for impacting enrollment.
• And We tend to be kind of like our enrollment projections tend to track more with actual enrollment.
• Medicaid enrollment on slide 25.
• That's why enrollment matters.

Transcript Highlights:

• Yeah, you have to be an enrolled student.
• Yeah, you have to be an enrolled student.
• Fund, which requires to have a group.
• We're not going to take away any of those functions or federal requirements.
• It is a system that requires families to be lawyers. Most of us are not.

Committee: House Education

Summary: The committee first heard HB 690 by Rep. Amedee, which would prohibit education agencies and vendors from contracting with foreign adversaries, foreign terrorist organizations, or their agents, and would apply to education service providers, vendors of educational products, and some schools. Supporters argued the bill would protect school tax dollars and prevent foreign influence, especially from the Chinese Communist Party, citing similar actions in Florida and Texas. Some members raised questions about due process, how ineligibility would be determined, and whether payments would stop before appeals were resolved. A technical amendment changing “terrorists” to “terrorist” was adopted, and HB 690 was reported as amended without objection. The committee then took up HB 1078 by Rep. Freiberg, which would allow higher education institutions to offer standalone online courses, not just online programs tied to a degree, and to offer online programs even when there is no equivalent on-campus program. LSU officials said the bill would give flexibility for professional and workforce-related courses and certificates. Members asked about tuition-setting, prerequisites, and whether non-degree students could enroll. The bill was reported favorably without objection. HB 113 by Rep. Phelps, which sought retroactive application of the uniform 10-point grading scale to students who were ninth graders in 2023-2024, drew significant concern. Members questioned fairness, inconsistency if only some districts could recalculate grades, and the fiscal impact of retroactivity. Phelps said he had intended to capture that cohort and was willing to work with the Department of Education, but after debate the committee voted 2-9 against reporting the bill, so the motion failed. The committee also heard HB 632 by Rep. Spell on LA FIRST data sharing. The bill would streamline how student data is shared for the state’s longitudinal data system, and amendments were adopted to remove a five-year look-back and clarify data matching and de-identification. Members debated privacy, opt-out rights, and whether the bill should require or merely allow districts to participate; concerns were raised about sharing personally identifying information and the lack of clear opt-out protections. Rep. Carlson offered an amendment to change “shall” to “may,” but later withdrew it so the bill could be deferred for further discussion. Finally, HB 1132 by Rep. Carver, carried by Rep. Carlson, was introduced to expand lab school authorization within the University of Louisiana system; an amendment was offered to limit the change to new schools established after August 1, and discussion began on that amendment as the transcript ended.

Transcript Highlights:

• As you will hear today, our families are often disadvantaged in school enrollment options for their..
• to military-directed moves, which are required to support our national defense.
• Many operate with wait lists and time-bound enrollment systems.
• We were placed on wait lists and enrolled our stepdaughter in the only available school.
• My mom enrolled us early.

Committee: Senate Education

Keywords: 989, all

Transcript Highlights:

• And then we have the requirement that teachers become certified.
• And the required hours, whatever, to stay employed.
• More and more parents are choosing to enroll their children in Port Aransas ISD as our enrollment is
• Our college enrollment rate is 92%.
• So we encouraged our students to enroll wherever they were displaced.

Bills: HB2 , HB2

Committee: House Public Education

Keywords: public education, teacher compensation, certification, funding, school finance, educator rights, education funding, charter schools, staff compensation, state aid, retention allotment, disaster preparedness, emergency management, flooding, mass fatality, mass casualty, fatality tracking, body recovery, autopsy, justice of the peace

Transcript Highlights:

• It is the difference between staying enrolled and dropping out.
• for payments and enrollment.
• holds for payments and enrollment.
• As of 2024, one in four students, Payments and enrollment.
• While the CSU system is required, and the UC system is required, While the CSU system is required, and

Committee: House Higher Education

Keywords: 988, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• She required a blood transfusion.
• Your Medicaid enrollment went up 287%.
• Okay, so Medicaid enrollment, labor force participation rate, and food stamp enrollment over the past
• Madam Chair, members, HB 2796 establishes enrollment verification requirements for access effective January
• This bill requires hospitals to collect immigration status data, and I do believe it requires asking

Committee: House House Health & Human Services Committee of Reference

Summary: The committee began with a presentation from the Alzheimer’s Association Desert Southwest Chapter and Dr. Anna Burke of Barrow Neurological Institute on the growing impact of Alzheimer’s and dementia in Arizona, the need for earlier diagnosis, better provider education, caregiver support, and continued research funding. They described current gaps in training and access to specialists, but also highlighted new therapies, lifestyle interventions, and Arizona-based research efforts. Members expressed support and optimism, but no action was taken on the presentation. The committee then heard HB 2202, which appropriates $300,000 from the general fund over fiscal years 2027 through 2029 for a dementia care tele-mentoring grant program through the Department of Health Services. Supporters, including the Alzheimer’s Association, a dementia specialist, and a patient advocate, said the program would help primary care providers diagnose dementia earlier and improve care. The bill was passed out of committee on an 11-0 vote. Next, the committee took up HB 2251, the midwifery bill, which would authorize certain licensed midwives to dispense and administer specified medications and devices, require liability insurance disclosure and annual reporting, and create a Midwifery Advisory Committee. A committee amendment removed some medications and renamed the bill the Jordan and MacTerry Act. ACOG and the Arizona Osteopathic Medical Association opposed the bill as drafted, citing concerns about oversight, peer review, and the medication list, while licensed midwives and other supporters argued the bill would improve safety, transparency, and alignment with national standards. The bill was held for further stakeholder work, with members indicating more amendments were likely. The committee then heard HB 2252, which would allow certified nurse midwives, certified professional midwives, or licensed midwives to accompany a patient in a ground ambulance during an out-of-hospital birth if approved by medical direction. Supporters described cases where continued midwife involvement during transport helped newborns and mothers, while firefighters and EMS representatives opposed the bill as written, saying it created ambiguity about command and scene control and could raise safety concerns. The chair said the bill would be held for further stakeholder meetings and possible language changes. After a recess, the committee reconvened for presentations on federal Medicaid and rural health funding impacts, beginning with JLBC’s overview of H.R. 1’s Medicaid provisions and the rural health transformation grant program.

Transcript Highlights:

• /c> it would require additional it would require additional administrative<00:11:54.959><c> overhead<
• whom enrollment is always open.”
• </c><00:27:03.039><c> And</c> whom enrollment is always open. And whom enrollment is always open.
• </c><00:28:01.039><c> on</c> enrollment cap and shall be enrolled on enrollment cap and shall be enrolled
• </c> enroll to decide make decisions. enroll to decide make decisions.

Keywords: 928, house, all

Summary: The committee held a work session on SB 145, which would require sexual assault evidence kits to be delivered to the state forensic lab within seven business days and analyzed more promptly. Pamela Kyle of the New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence said the bill was developed after survivor concerns and extensive discussions with the Departments of Safety and Justice. She explained that most agencies already deliver kits quickly, but some kits sit for months, and the bill is intended to add structure without penalties while preserving chain of custody. Members discussed the use of common carriers or courier services for transport, the need for clear rules, and whether carriers would know what they were transporting. Representative Papovich offered amendment 2025-2301H to remove the reimbursement program for police shipping costs, arguing it would add administrative overhead and was unnecessary. The amendment was adopted on a roll call vote, and the committee then voted OTPA on SB 145 as amended, with members voting yes on the roll call. The committee then opened a work session on SB 295, and the sponsor presented a replace-all amendment intended to simplify and clarify the Education Freedom Account bill without changing its purpose. The amendment would remove income-cap language, define priority enrollment groups, establish an enrollment cap for the EFA program, and create rolling enrollment rules. It would set a 10,000-student cap for the 2025-2026 school year, allow the cap to increase by 25% if enrollment exceeds 90% of the prior cap, and ensure current participants can remain enrolled. The amendment also provides that certain sections would later be repealed once the Department of Education certifies that applications have not exceeded the cap for two consecutive school years. The sponsor walked through the amendment section by section, explaining that the bill is structured in two phases: one while caps exist and another after they are no longer needed.

Transcript Highlights:

• We love the letters requirements.
• Our kindergarten enrollment was down significantly.
• Legislative requirements and finally modifies community school coalition membership requirements.
• And then finally, grant application requirements.
• Any more requirements for nurses.

Transcript Highlights:

• It's a required component.
• It's a required component.
• This is a breakdown of the enrollment, individual enrollment by race and ethnicity.
• This is a breakdown of the enrollment, individual enrollment by race and ethnicity.
• So first, the work requirement.

Committee: All ALC-HOSPITAL, MEDICAID, & DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES STUDY SUBCOMMITTEE

Summary: The meeting focused on Arkansas’s proposed workforce system overhaul, including a combined WIOA/Perkins state plan and a package of federal waiver requests intended to consolidate workforce governance, reduce administrative costs, and redirect more funding to training and supportive services. Commerce officials said the plan would replace the current structure of 10 local workforce boards and more than 200 board members with a single statewide board and one administrative entity, while keeping local offices open and using regional business councils to preserve employer and local input. They said the state has already reduced Commerce headcount and operating costs, and that the changes would improve coordination with higher education, adult education, vocational rehabilitation, DHS, and Arkansas Industry Connect. Much of the discussion centered on the waiver package, especially the proposal to make the state board function as the local board, allow more flexible movement of funds across regions, eliminate the WIOA “last dollar” requirement for training and supportive services, create affiliate sites instead of requiring every area to maintain a comprehensive center, and relax the 14 youth program element requirement. Officials said the State Board of Workforce Development approved the waiver package 11-3 before it was submitted to the U.S. Department of Labor, and that implementation would begin only after federal approval and a closeout process, likely taking up to a year. They also described plans to streamline referrals and data sharing, expand mobile and virtual services, and use a more centralized model to improve customer service and employer engagement. Members raised repeated concerns about rural representation, local control, board composition, and whether jobs and relationships would be lost if local boards were eliminated. Commerce officials responded that local offices would remain open, some current staff could be rehired by the state, and regional business councils would help ensure local employer voice. Several members also questioned how the funding was being used, citing audit findings that only about $1.8 million to $1.9 million of roughly $14 million to $15 million in federal workforce funds had gone to training and supportive services. Officials said the reorganization could increase annual training spending to roughly $6 million to $7 million by reducing overhead, one-stop operator contracts, and board administration. The committee also discussed how the changes might support workforce training facilities, apprenticeships, child care and transportation assistance, and employer-driven training in fields such as manufacturing, health care, technology, and welding. The Division of Higher Education also briefed members on Workforce Pell. Officials explained that the new federal program would extend Pell eligibility to short-term programs, but only within narrow limits, such as 150 to 599 clock hours and 8 to 15 weeks of instruction, with additional completion and employment benchmarks. They said Arkansas is working with colleges and universities to identify programs that fit the criteria and that the governor has designated the Division of Higher Education to lead implementation. No votes were taken by the committee during this portion of the meeting.

Transcript Highlights:

• IT IS SOMETHING THAT WE ARE REQUIRED TO IDENTIFY IN FLORIDA STATUTE.
• AND WANTS TO ENCOURAGE ENROLLMENT.
• IT'S TO TEACH OUT PHASE OF THE INDICATE THAT THE STUDENTS ENROLLED WE WILL STOP ENROLLMENT IN THIS PROGRAM
• >> FIRST OF ALL I HOPE YOUR DAUGHTER GETS ALL THE BENEFIT OF DUAL ENROLLMENT THAT'S AMAZING.
• IT IS NOT JUST DUAL ENROLLMENT BUT AP AND ACE.

Transcript Highlights:

• And it expands information required in the data sharing agreement.
• It expands information required in the data sharing agreements.
• Collective bargaining works because it requires balance.
• It covers assistant wages, food costs, licensing requirements, supplies, and rent.
• If someone enrolls in a community college and pays tuition, that's correct.

Summary: The committee opened with a public hearing on Senate Bill 5808, a proposal to require nonprofit health carriers with “excess surplus” to pay 10% of that surplus into the state health care affordability account for Cascade Care Savings. Committee staff said the bill could generate about $330 million one time in 2027, while the Office of Insurance Commissioner would have implementation costs. Supporters argued the bill would redirect consumer premium dollars to help people afford coverage, while opponents from health plans said reserves are needed for solvency, claims, and capital needs and warned the bill would destabilize nonprofit insurers. The committee also heard testimony on House Bill 2254, which would let the Partnership Access Line assessment cover administrative costs; HCA and Seattle Children’s supported it as a technical fix that saves general fund dollars, and a child psychiatrist asked that savings be reinvested in behavioral health services. House Bill 2385, which extends deadlines for the Medicaid Access Program because of federal restrictions on new provider taxes, also drew support from provider groups seeking future Medicaid rate increases. The committee then heard Substitute Senate Bill 6286, which would increase fines on private detention facilities that deny Department of Health inspections and dedicate the fines to an account for community repair and assistance to harmed individuals and families. Supporters, including Tacoma’s mayor and family members affected by detention, framed the bill as an accountability measure; fiscal staff estimated Department of Health costs of about $395,000 in the 2025-27 biennium. Senate Bill 6006 would exempt food banks from sales tax on certain services enacted last session, with food bank and tribal representatives saying the savings would go directly to food and operations. Senate Bill 6351 would create exemptions from the new sales tax on live presentations for before- and after-school care, arts and cultural nonprofit classes, and K-12 school purchases; school districts, arts groups, and PTA representatives supported it, while asking for clarifying language and broader nonprofit exemptions. Engrossed Substitute House Bill 1717 would let cities and counties create local sales tax remittance programs for affordable housing projects, and housing builders, Habitat affiliates, counties, and city officials supported it as a local tool to lower development costs. In executive session, the committee received briefings on several tax and spending bills and then voted to advance multiple measures. It adopted a substitute and passed Senate Bill 5949, which narrows a B&O tax exemption related to insurance premiums; a proposed retroactivity-removing amendment failed. It adopted a substitute and passed Senate Bill 6129 on cigarette, tobacco, and nicotine taxes after rejecting several amendments, including proposals to study the tax policy or replace the bill with illicit-market enforcement language. The committee also passed Senate Bill 6228 repealing a preferential B&O rate for prescription drug resellers, Senate Bill 6231 repealing data center sales tax exemptions, and Second Substitute Senate Bill 5965, which retained a bag-fee approach rather than a full ban after adopting an amendment. The committee then returned to public hearing and began testimony on Senate Bill 6353, a major Working Connections Child Care bill that would keep income eligibility at 60% of state median income, lower the provider rate target from the 85th to the 75th percentile, and make other program changes; the briefing was underway when the transcript ended.

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> reimbursable costs as Rec as required reimbursable costs as Rec as required which<01:03:22.319><
• </c> mstate where they're an open enrollment mstate where they're an open enrollment so<01:10:40.280>
• </c><01:26:09.719><c> some</c> including the state that requires some including the state that requires
• </c> another good example of this requiring another good example of this requiring that<01:26:28.719>
• I know the question was raised before about enrollment and our total numbers for enrollment.

Committee: House Higher Education Finance and Policy

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• Well, that's a requirement.
• Well, that's a requirement.
• Well, that's a requirement.
• Well, that's a requirement.
• We do what's called a beginning-of-year enrollment, a middle-of-year enrollment, and an end-of-year enrollment

Committee: House Education Policy and Administration

Keywords: 1189, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• It requires anyone providing direct care to a recipient of waiver services to enroll as an individual
• It requires anyone providing direct care to a recipient of waiver services to enroll as an individual
• It requires anyone providing direct care to a recipient of waiver services to enroll as an individual
• Line 1.8 requires DHS to conduct pre-enrollment and post-enrollment site visits of each provider designated
• 1.8 requires DHS to conduct pre-enrollment<01:17:33.760><c> and</c><01:17:33.920><c> post-enrollment

Committees: Senate Health and Human Services , Senate Human Services

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• THE FTC PROGRAM THE SFO MUST MAKE PAYMENTS AFTER THE SFO VERIFIES ENROLLMENT AND ATTENDANCE.
• THAT IS WHAT THEY ARE STATUTORILY REQUIRED TO DO.
• THE DEPARTMENT IS REQUIRED TO SEND THOSE OUT. THEY HAD TO SEND THEM OUT BY AUGUST 1.
• AGAIN, THAT IS STILL GOING BEYOND WHAT IS STATUTORILY REQUIRED AS WE HAVE HEARD HERE TODAY HERE, REQUIREMENT
• FLORIDA STATUTES ALREADY REQUIRE ELIGIBLE STUDENTS BE FUNDED.

Transcript Highlights:

• And enrollment includes looking at things like any certification requirements, checks against federal
• And enrollment includes looking at things like any certification requirements, checks against federal
• And enrollment includes looking at things like any certification requirements, checks against federal
• And enrollment includes looking at things like any certification requirements, checks against federal
• And enrollment includes looking at things like any certification requirements, checks against federal

Committee: House Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Policy

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• outlooks, which facilitate compliance with these requirements.
• outlooks, which facilitate compliance with these requirements.
• Enrollment has surged to a 40% increase. Summer participation is over 400%.
• Forty-one percent of our low-income students now enroll in summer quarter.
• School districts may be required to make payments to OSPI to comply with the depreciation shift required

Bills: HB2747

Committee: House Appropriations

Keywords: budget sustainability, state finance, fiscal policy, economic growth, government spending, 904, all

Transcript Highlights:

• outlooks, which facilitate compliance with these requirements.
• budget outlooks, which facilitate compliance with these requirements.
• If they're required to provide abortion drugs without charge, they can and will If they're required to
• Forty-one percent of our low-income students now enroll in summer quarter.
• School districts may be required to make payments to OSPI to comply with the depreciation shift required

Summary: The Appropriations Committee held public hearings on several bills and took executive action on House Bill 2747. HB 2747 would change how Washington estimates future revenue in its four-year balanced budget outlooks by using the official revenue forecast instead of the current 4.5% growth assumption for the next two biennia. Staff described the bill as a technical change with indeterminate fiscal effects, and supporters said it would make budgeting more realistic and sustainable. The committee adopted a technical amendment and then reported the bill out of committee with a do pass recommendation by a vote of 26 ayes, 3 nays, and 2 excused. The committee also heard Second Substitute Senate Bill 6182, which would create an abortion savings program funded by a new annual assessment on health carriers offering exchange plans. Staff said the bill would generate about $10 million in fiscal year 2027 and about $2.1 million annually thereafter, with most funds going to grants for abortion care providers and some administrative costs for the Office of the Insurance Commissioner and the Department of Health. Supporters said it would stabilize access to abortion care and help low-income patients, while opponents argued it would force taxpayers and insurers to subsidize abortion and raised concerns about oversight, morality, and premium impacts. Substitute Senate Bill 6355, which would create a Washington Electric Transmission Authority to support new transmission projects and related tribal clean energy work, drew testimony from utilities, labor, clean energy advocates, counties, and landowners. Supporters said the state needs faster transmission buildout to improve reliability, support clean energy, and reduce congestion costs; opponents and county representatives raised concerns about eminent domain, loss of local tax revenue, board accountability, and the need for stronger landowner and county involvement. Staff estimated the bill would have a several-million-dollar general fund impact and noted possible indeterminate local revenue effects. The committee also received a briefing on engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 6260, which would reduce funding or eligibility for several K-12 programs, including bus depreciation, Running Start, and transition to kindergarten; public testimony was overwhelmingly opposed, with school officials, educators, community college representatives, students, and rural districts warning of reduced opportunities and harm to small and low-income districts.