Transcript Highlights:

• The Fair Plan— The Fair Plan operates under Chapter 2211 of the Texas Insurance Code and a plan of operation
• Or actually, that was Texas data. Not that's Texas. That's Texas data.
• innovation in Texas.
• So Texas consumers and Texas businesses have access to payments innovation without Texas banks losing
• The people of Texas voted to supply broadband to Texas.

Keywords: 1185, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Texas should join them.
• , and outside Texas.
• , and outside Texas.
• Texas will be much safer.
• Texas will be much safe.

Summary: The committee heard testimony on several public safety, criminal justice, and regulatory bills. HB 4995 would create a training and certification program allowing licensed physicians and certain EMS personnel assigned to tactical units to carry firearms during high-risk deployments, with supporters saying it would let tactical medical staff protect themselves while providing immediate care; the bill was left pending. HB 2609 would repeal the failure-to-appear-or-pay/OmniBase license-hold program, with the author and advocates arguing it creates compounding debt and unnecessary barriers to driving, while judges and municipal court representatives said the program is a voluntary, cost-effective tool that improves court appearances and reduces warrants; the bill was also left pending. HB 4879 would create a grant program to help local law enforcement pay for lab testing of suspected hemp/Delta-9 THC substances, and HB 5436 would let licensed auto recyclers buy certain untitled vehicles for scrap or parts to curb illegal sales, VIN cloning, and chop shops; both measures were left pending after brief testimony in support. The committee also heard HB 1777, which would require a discrete designation on driver’s licenses and state IDs for people required to register as sex offenders. The author and supporters argued the marker would help law enforcement and businesses quickly identify potentially dangerous offenders and prevent harm, while opponents called it a stigmatizing “scarlet letter” that would increase harassment, family harm, and reintegration barriers. The bill was left pending. HB 4155 would create a two-year Family Violence Criminal Homicide Prevention Task Force in the Governor’s Office to study family violence homicides, gather stakeholders, and recommend policy changes; the author, HHSC, the Texas Council on Family Violence, and a survivor testified in support, and the bill was left pending. The committee also heard HB 4514, which would authorize DPS to use facial image verification, with consent and privacy safeguards, to help businesses confirm identities and combat fraud; supporters from the lumber and identity-verification industries said it would reduce theft and fraud, and the bill was left pending. Finally, HB 5139 would clarify that peace officers and jailers are justified in using less lethal force weapons when acting within training and official duties; law enforcement groups supported the measure as a way to encourage use of less lethal tools without fear of prosecution, and testimony was underway when the transcript ended.

Transcript Highlights:

• We've looked at the other top 10 states in the United States other than Texas, so Texas is the 2nd largest
• And if that's not what Texas used, I, I just want to know what Texas has used for pain and suffering.
• Um, so I'm president of Texas Trans Eastern.
• This is a Texas issue.
• We got into the chapter and verse.

Transcript Highlights:

• Chairman and members, House Bill 1629 would extend the allowable distance from the Texas-Mexico border
• This bill clarifies that the local charter modifying Chapter 174 impasse rules are valid.
• By the way, I understand the Texas Association of Builders has worked in drafting these with the city
• I represent the Texas Public Policy Foundation.
• I represent the Texas Association of School Boards. I'm here to testify on the bill.

Bills: HB103

Keywords: 1185, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Congressional disapproval under chapter Congressional disapproval under chapter 8<03:02:50.680><
• Goldman from Texas, who served with him in the Texas General Assembly.
• Congressional disapproval under chapter Congressional disapproval under chapter 8<03:44:35.560><
• The gentleman from Texas, Mr.
• Now they want to censure the gentleman from Texas. Why? Because he... The gentleman from Texas—why?

Keywords: U.S. House of Representatives Floor Proceedings on Wednesday, March 5, 2025, 1012, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• I took a sidestep into Texas for a number of years, but could not be happier.
• Service ever at a pediatrician's office was at a DNP back in San Marcos, Texas.
• We have that in our statute, under Chapter 19.
• They're all in Chapter 49, but none of them were political subdivisions.
• Ultimately, I landed with the End of the Trails chapter out of Santa Fe.

Transcript Highlights:

• licensees who violate this chapter.
• My concerns are that we don't end up like Texas.
• My concerns are that we don't end up like Texas, and I have a lot of real estate in Texas, and I do a
• lot of things in Texas.
• I'll tell you, working with the Texas commissioners, part of the challenge in Texas is that ERCOT doesn't

Bills: HB744, HR197, SB54, SB79, SB163, SB287, SB375, SB386, SB398, SB469, SCR5

Keywords: public utility, common carrier, regulation, Public Service Commission, New Orleans, constitutional amendment, distributed energy, energy storage, electricity demand, virtual power plants, reliability, hurricane resilience, esthetics, cosmetology, hair services, beauty industry, Louisiana regulation, Louisiana Economic Development, sunset law, legislative authority

Summary: The House Committee on Commerce met on May 11, 2026, and first advanced several Senate measures with little or no opposition. It reported favorably Senate Bill 79 recreating Louisiana Economic Development, Senate Concurrent Resolution 5 establishing the Louisiana-Ireland Trade Commission, and Senate Bill 375 on Class B firefighting foam, after adopting a technical amendment clarifying use in declared emergency firefighting operations. The committee also advanced Senate Bill 398, which moves manufactured and modular housing regulation under the Louisiana Contractors Licensing Board and expands inspection and enforcement provisions, after adopting two sets of mostly technical amendments and hearing testimony that the change would improve consumer safety and increase inspection coverage without adding net cost to locals. It then reported favorably Senate Bill 163 on virtual currency business licensing, after adopting an amendment providing that any future federal licensing law would preempt the state act, and Senate Bill 287 on virtual currency kiosks, which adds refund timelines, disclosure requirements, customer support, and reporting duties; witnesses from the banking and law enforcement community said the bill responds to common fraud complaints and improves consumer protection. The committee also reported favorably Senate Bill 54, which allows estheticians to blow-dry hair after certain services, despite strong opposition from cosmetology board representatives and industry witnesses who argued the service is outside esthetics training, could create scope-of-practice and facility issues, and should instead be addressed by lowering or revising separate blow-dry licensing requirements. The committee then considered House Resolution 197, which urges the Louisiana Public Service Commission to study the feasibility and value of distributed energy generation and storage resources. After adopting technical amendments and a second amendment changing mandatory language to requests and urging the PSC to coordinate with the LSU Energy Institute, the resolution was reported favorably. Testimony from solar and energy industry representatives, the PSC, and LSU focused on how distributed resources, batteries, rooftop solar, and virtual power plants could improve reliability, reduce costs, and help meet rising demand; members also discussed how the study would evaluate market value, avoided costs, and capacity benefits. Questions centered on methodology, grid impacts, and comparisons to Texas’s ERCOT system and Winter Storm Uri, with PSC officials emphasizing that the study would help determine whether such resources benefit ratepayers. Representative Wright presented House Bill 744, a proposed constitutional amendment to transfer regulation of certain New Orleans utilities from the city council to the Public Service Commission. He argued the change could reduce rates through consolidation and eliminate duplicative regulatory costs, while PSC officials explained the city’s authority is a constitutional exception dating back to 1921 and that Entergy New Orleans and Entergy Louisiana operate as separate companies with different regulatory environments. After discussion of rate impacts, utility structure, and whether the proposal should instead become a study, the bill was deferred. The committee then began Senate Bill 386, the Louisiana Data Privacy Act, which would give consumers rights to access, correct, delete, and opt out of certain uses of personal data; the sponsor introduced the bill and the committee started considering technical and substantive amendments, but the transcript ends before final action on that measure.

Transcript Highlights:

• I'm also a municipal court judge and Texas magistrate.
• of forensic science in Texas.
• And members, it's real simple what it does in the prostitution chapter, Chapter 8 of the Penal Code.
• I'm with the Texas Public Policy Foundation.
• We have offices in five states, including right here in Texas.

Summary: The Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence met with a quorum and heard a series of Senate bills, generally receiving sponsor explanations and, in most cases, no public testimony. SB 2595 would create a Class B misdemeanor for harassing, threatening, or intimidating someone while intentionally concealing identity with a mask, with broad affirmative defenses for legitimate mask use; SB 1980 would increase penalties for assaulting peace officers, parole officers, and community supervision officers and add related presumptions and interference protections; and SB 1896 would require magistrates to issue emergency protective orders in certain family violence, sexual assault, stalking, and aggravated cases, with law enforcement required to provide needed information. All three were left pending. The committee also heard SB 955, which increases trafficking of persons from a second-degree to a first-degree felony when the victim was recruited from a correctional facility, and SB 614, which would let the Texas Forensic Science Commission refer dismissed complaints to the Office of Capital and Forensic Writs when they reference a prior FSC report; both were left pending. Members then heard several forensic and criminal procedure bills. SB 1372 would resolve a discovery/access conflict involving the DPS crime lab portal by limiting portal access to defense attorneys rather than defendants directly, prompting questions from members about access for pro se defendants; DPS’s chief crime lab witness testified neutrally. SB 1936 would change the LSD “abuse unit” definition for unmarked/unperforated paper from a square-measurement method to a 10-milligram weight standard, and SB 1937 would require a subject matter expert from the testing lab to participate in pretrial meetings in capital cases involving biological evidence to help identify viable testing and conserve resources. SB 2580 would lower the population threshold for sheriff’s departments to independently use tracking equipment and access certain communications from 3.3 million to 500,000, expanding the authority beyond Harris County; it was described as a public safety and emergency response measure and left pending. The committee also considered SB 2798, which would extend the statute of limitations for certain financial crimes from three years to seven years, with testimony from a Montgomery County assistant district attorney supporting the change because fraud is often discovered late. SB 1099 would increase penalties for felony offenses committed by undocumented or unauthorized aliens, but drew strong opposition from the Texas Civil Rights Project, which argued immigration is a federal matter and that the bill would create difficult and potentially unfair status determinations for local courts; members raised concerns about the lack of an expert-testimony requirement. SB 1278 would create an affirmative defense to prostitution prosecution for trafficking victims compelled by their traffickers to commit the conduct, and testimony from advocates and a member’s personal account emphasized the coercive, traumatic nature of trafficking; members discussed whether the defense should be narrower or framed as mitigation, and the bill was left pending. Finally, SB 127 would extend the statute of limitations for failure to report or conceal child abuse, with members discussing mandatory reporting duties and the need to allow more time for delayed discovery of cover-ups; it too was left pending before the committee adjourned.

Transcript Highlights:

• that Texas has created.
• Y'all, I'm the president of the Texas chapter of the Recording Academy, the organization best known for
• The Texas chapter has approximately 1200 members, and Texas music supports over 200,000 jobs across the
• Texas has produced some of the most influential iconic artists in American music.
• The legislature changed the name of the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission to TCEQ, Texas

Transcript Highlights:

• Our role is outlined in Chapter 418 of the Texas Government Code.
• The Texas A&M...
• Second to none in Texas.
• Texas, East and West Texas.
• Texas.

Keywords: 1185, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Welcome to your Texas Senate.
• Today we are honoring members of the Texas Chapter of the Recording Academy and before I introduce the
• On the dais here with us we have Christy Albino, the Executive Director of the Texas Chapter of the Recording
• That's right, Texas made.
• Tourism friendly, Texas certified community by the Texas by Texas travel. It's a wonderful place.

Bills: SJR1, SB9, SB40, SJR36, SJR1, SJR5, SB9, SB40

Keywords: bail denial, illegal aliens, felony offenses, constitutional amendment, law enforcement, bail reform, defendants, pretrial detention, public safety, criminal justice, charitable bail organizations, bail bonds, public funds, political subdivision, injunctive relief, taxpayer rights, bail, criminal justice reform, 1185, senate

Transcript Highlights:

• Our role is outlined in Chapter 418 of the Texas Government Code.
• All disasters in Texas are locally managed. Under Chapter 418...
• Texas, East and West Texas.
• Texas.
• I think there are three: University of Texas, Texas Tech, and Texas A&M, all of which are training hydrologists

Keywords: 997, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Midland delivers for Texas.
• This legislation will benefit Texas agriculture, Texas economy, and Texas environment, and I ask that
• We often just go by Texas Baptist.
• Lubbock is the home of Texas Tech University, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Texas Chris
• Then I applied for property tax relief under Texas tax code chapter 11, Section 11.131, subchapter B,

Bills: HB249

Keywords: real property, ad valorem tax, tax appraisal, property value limitation, real estate taxation, property ownership

Transcript Highlights:

• There's a system of fraud in the state of Texas.
• I believe that's what you're seeing in Texas.
• And so I've been Googling, does Texas...
• And if that's not what Texas has used, I just want to know what Texas has used for pain and suffering
• So I'm president of Texas Trans-Eastern.

Bills: HB4806

Keywords: civil action, damages, health care services, noneconomic damages, negligence, legal standards, 1184, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Texas also has the largest border with our neighbor to the south, and it will be up to Texas and Texas
• Texas also has the largest border with our neighbor to the south, and it will be up to Texas and Texas
• Texas also has the largest border with our neighbor to the south, and it will be up to Texas and Texas
• Texas also has the largest border with our neighbor to the south, and it will be up to Texas and Texas
• Texas also has the largest border with our neighbor to the south, and it will be up to Texas and Texas

Keywords: U.S. House of Representatives Floor Proceedings on Tuesday, January 14, 2025, 1012, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Members, the Texas Society of Certified Public Accountants is gathering at the Capitol today for Texas
• Welcome to the Texas Senate. Thank you.
• So I'm very glad he came back to Texas, his roots.
• Texas Holocaust Remembrance Week.
• and certainly the Texas Senate.

Summary: The Senate convened with a quorum, heard the daily invocation, approved the previous day’s journal, and received a House message announcing passage of H.C.R. 54, which authorizes the legislature to adjourn for more than three days during a specified period. The chamber then took up several recognitions, including Senate Resolution 8 honoring Texas Society of Certified Public Accountants Advocacy Day, a recognition of the Texas A&M University System Chancellor’s Student Advisory Council, a delegation from Dimmit County, and the doctor of the day, Dr. Hosey Hinojosa. The main floor business centered on Senate Resolution 15, commemorating International Holocaust Remembrance Day and the start of Texas Holocaust Remembrance Week. Senators King, Menendez, Bettencourt, Perry, Hughes, Hinojosa, Campbell, Hall, Cook, Paxton, West, Parker, and others spoke in support, emphasizing Holocaust history, the rise of anti-Semitism, the importance of education, and solidarity with Israel. The resolution was adopted without objection, and Senator Bettencourt moved to add all senators’ names. The Senate also adopted Senate Resolution 17, recognizing Sexual Assault Survivors Day, with remarks focused on the prevalence of sexual violence, underreporting, support for survivors, and the need for prevention and stronger systems of response. The Senate then adopted Senate Resolution 14 in memory of Brazoria County Sheriff’s Deputy Jesse Vargas, who was killed in the line of duty, with Senators Middleton and Huffman highlighting his service and using the occasion to call for tougher measures against violent offenders. Additional resolutions SR 3, SR 4, SR 5, SR 6, SR 7, SR 11, and SR 12 were adopted together, and SR 54 granting permission for adjournment for more than three days was approved by a 31-0 roll call vote. The chamber also recognized Leadership Frisco Class No. 28 and later honored former Senator Dr. Joe J. Bernal and, upon adjournment, Sergeant Mark Allen Butler of the Navasota Police Department. The Senate adjourned until 11 a.m. Wednesday, January 29, 2025, in memory of Deputy Vargas and Sergeant Butler.

Transcript Highlights:

• Members, the Texas Society of Certified Public Accountants is gathering at the Capitol today for Texas
• So I'm very glad that he came back to Texas, his roots.
• Injosa to the Texas Senate as Doctor of the Day. Welcome. To the Texas Senate as Doctor of the Day.
• Texas Holocaust Remembrance Week.
• and certainly the Texas Senate.

Bills: SJR36

Summary: The Senate convened with a quorum, offered an invocation, and approved the previous day’s journal. The chamber received a House message announcing passage of H.C.R. 54, and then took up a series of recognitions and resolutions honoring visiting groups, including Texas Society of CPAs Advocacy Day, the Texas A&M System Chancellor’s Student Advisory Council, Dimmit County officials, the Doctor of the Day, and Leadership Frisco. Senators also recognized the Senate’s memorial and ceremonial guests throughout the day. The main floor business centered on two commemorative resolutions. Senate Resolution 15 marked International Holocaust Remembrance Day and the start of Texas Holocaust Remembrance Week. Senators King, Menendez, Bettencourt, Perry, Hughes, Hinojosa, Campbell, Hall, Cook, Paxton, West, Parker, and others spoke in support, emphasizing Holocaust education, opposition to anti-Semitism and denial, remembrance of victims and survivors, and the importance of teaching students to stand up against hatred. The resolution was adopted, and the names of all senators and the lieutenant governor were added. The Senate also adopted Senate Resolution 17 designating January 28 as Sexual Assault Survivors Day. Senator Parker described the prevalence and underreporting of sexual assault, the impact on survivors, and the need for prevention, support services, and stronger responses; Senator Cook spoke as a survivor and emergency room nurse and highlighted rape-kit backlogs and the need for victim support. The chamber then adopted Senate Resolution 14 honoring Brazoria County Sheriff’s Deputy Jesus Jesse Vargas, who was killed in the line of duty, with Senators Middleton and Huffman urging action against violent offenders and stronger protections for law enforcement. Several additional resolutions were adopted, including SRs 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 11, and 12, and SR 54 granting permission for the Legislature to adjourn for more than three days was approved by roll call, 31 ayes and 0 nays. The Senate later adjourned until 11 a.m. Wednesday, January 29, 2025, in memory of Deputy Vargas and Sergeant Mark Allen Butler, whom Senator Kolkhorst also honored in remarks.

Transcript Highlights:

• First responders across Texas, U.S.
• First responders across Texas, U.S.
• First responders across Texas, U.S.
• First responders across Texas, U.S.
• Roy: I thank my friend from Texas.

Keywords: U.S. House of Representatives Floor Proceedings on Monday, November 17, 2025, 1012, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Question: Is the University of Houston Victoria campus listed as eligible along with Texas A&M?
• , along with many other critical items for the people of Texas.
• I'm the advocacy and policy director at Texas Parent to Parent.
• I'm Ray Hemel, representing the Texas Public Employees Association.
• Right now, the ESL has over $28 billion in it, of which $23 billion is in the Texas Economic.

Keywords: 1185, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• I'm with the Texas Poultry Federation, and we are in favor of 3630.
• Chapter 49 allows for that. 5 people filled out the petition.
• Now, because I'm in North Texas.
• Uh, is located in AWBD North Texas region.
• I'm the mayor of Fayte, Texas.