Transcript Highlights:

• It's another thing when you're talking about small-scale grants to small businesses, or another thing
• Uh we manage a about our small business.
• businesses to recover and to prevent more small businesses from closure.
• these are small, locallyowned these are small, locallyowned businesses,<01:29:14.400> mom<01:29
• > businesses um and to prevent more small businesses um and to prevent more small businesses from

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• It’s a big industry, but relatively small when it comes to the number of people in it, and it has to
• They're not offering the same service that has been required in law that these other small businesses
• Small local systems are left dealing with the cost and a disruption.
• “And as y’all know what happens, small towns, small communities, when something like that happens, who
• Or small towns that may have $500, maybe even be a village at this point in time.

Bills: SCR53, HB259, HB267, HB478, HB548, HB555, HB617, HB670, HB672, HB797, HB848, HB917, HB921, HB1096, HB1103, HB1166, HB1195, HB1230

Keywords: payable-on-death accounts, transfer-on-death accounts, estate planning, beneficiary designations, Louisiana law, task force, inheritance, nonprobate transfers, excavation, demolition, infrastructure repair, BEAD Program, utility damage, construction coordination, contact point, home inspectors, board membership, licensing, term limits, Louisiana State Board

Transcript Highlights:

• They're just small changes. We could get this bill passed. We could get it into law.
• The governor is also proposing $10 million in partially forgivable loans to small businesses impacted
• And yet the governor is selecting a very small group of people that he wants to help out in downtown
• small folks, whether it's communities like this.
• small folks, whether it's communities like this.

Keywords: 918, senate, all

Summary: Senate Republicans discussed the governor’s supplemental budget and criticized proposed cuts to nursing homes, disability services, and counties, arguing the changes would hurt vulnerable Minnesotans and that the tax package would amount to roughly an $868 million increase. They said they were open to some family-focused tax provisions, such as an expanded child care or dependent credit, but opposed broader tax increases and several previously rejected ideas, including sales tax changes and a social media tax. A major topic was fraud prevention and the Office of Legislative Auditor report on kickbacks. Republicans said the report reinforced their push for a statewide independent Office of Inspector General with a law enforcement division and a broader fraud definition, and they argued the office would have handled the cases more effectively. They also said they support the concept of an OIG bill but want only modest amendments, while criticizing House Democrats for resisting the law enforcement division and for raising constitutional objections they called a drafting issue. The lawmakers also reacted skeptically to the governor’s proposed AI-related job development fund and $10 million in forgivable loans for businesses affected by Operation Metro Search, saying the aid would mainly benefit downtown Minneapolis and St. Paul rather than the broader state. They closed with broader comments that the session felt relatively normal and less intense than past years, noted ongoing work on a bonding bill, and joked about campaign politics, possible candidates, and even the idea of a Senate dog.

Transcript Highlights:

• Through these economic development efforts, we support many small businesses.
• We meet with about 330 small businesses per year, helping these small businesses navigate everything
• We meet with about 330 small businesses per year, helping these small businesses navigate everything
• We support many small businesses.
• We meet with about 330 small businesses per year, helping these small businesses navigate everything

Summary: The Ways and Means Committee met on March 13, 2025, for its first meeting of the session, with member and staff introductions followed by consideration of several tax-related bills. The committee first heard HJR 163 and its implementing bill HB 165, which would extend the homestead property tax exemption for quadriplegics to surviving spouses, similar to the treatment for surviving spouses of certain disabled veterans. Sponsor Rep. Tant and constituent J.R. Harding described the financial and caregiving burdens faced by spouses of quadriplegics. The committee heard supportive testimony from the Florida Association of Property Appraisers and members voted both measures favorably without opposition. The committee then considered HB 785 on heated tobacco products. Rep. Tramont said the bill would create a new tax/regulatory category for the product, and an amendment clarifying the definition was adopted. The James Madison Institute offered a resource on the issue, the Florida Retail Federation waived in support, and Ranking Member Eskamani said she had concerns about the excise tax treatment and would vote no. The bill passed 16-1. Next, HB 321, a property tax exemption clarification for homes for the aged, was presented by Rep. Smith as a technical “glitch bill” to align state law with IRS tax code and ease development of low-income senior housing. It drew supportive testimony and passed unanimously. The final bill, HB 503 by Rep. Botana, would cap local government revenue from local business taxes and require refunds if collections exceed the cap, with carve-outs for fiscally constrained areas. Local government and economic development groups, including the Florida League of Cities, the City of Winter Haven, the Miami-Dade Beacon Council, and the Florida Association of Counties, opposed the bill, arguing it would limit funding for public safety, inspections, economic development, and other services and create administrative refund problems. Several members supported the bill as a tax-cutting measure, while others warned of impacts on local services and revenue flexibility. The committee reported HB 503 favorably on a 14-5 vote, and then adjourned.

Transcript Highlights:

• And then, secondly, is there at least a carve-out or consideration for small businesses?
• And then, secondly, is there at least a carve-out or consideration for small businesses?
• You can sequence it out as a small employer myself. You can sequence it out.
• As a small employer myself, doing an annual hour is really pretty practical.
• Our house is a small ranch that is equipped with a couple of lift systems.

Keywords: 995, all

Summary: The Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development held a hybrid public hearing with testimony on a wide range of labor, workforce, unemployment insurance, apprenticeship, disability services, farm labor, hospital staffing, and workplace harassment bills. Chairs Jake Oliveira and Paul McMurtry outlined hearing procedures, limited testimony to two minutes, and noted written testimony would be accepted after the hearing. Committee members and staff were introduced throughout the session as witnesses arrived in person or remotely. A major portion of the hearing focused on unemployment insurance legislation. Greater Boston Legal Services, the AFL-CIO, and Rep. Joan Meschino supported bills to adjust UI eligibility for workers with fluctuating schedules and to streamline waivers and write-offs for non-fault overpayments, arguing the current system unfairly denies benefits or burdens workers who were not at fault. They also backed bills calling for more oversight and resources for the Division of Unemployment Assistance, citing persistent delays in benefit payments. NFIB opposed the UI changes, warning that the trust fund is headed toward insolvency and arguing the bills would worsen the system’s finances. Rep. Meschino and committee members emphasized that the proposals were meant to protect good-faith claimants and did not apply to fraud. Another large set of bills addressed wages, workforce development, and working conditions. Testimony supported raising and modernizing direct care wages to address severe staffing shortages in human services and disability services, with advocates from the Massachusetts Developmental Disability Council, The Arc of Massachusetts, parents of adults with disabilities, and a direct care worker describing how low pay and turnover harm people needing support. The committee also heard support for apprenticeship-related bills from the AFL-CIO and the Carpenters, while Associated Builders and Contractors opposed mandatory apprenticeship ratios and urged changes to align them with licensing laws. Farm worker advocates supported a bill to raise farm labor standards, including minimum wage, paid breaks, and paid time off, while the Farm Bureau opposed parts of it beyond the minimum wage increase. The hearing also featured testimony on workplace harassment training, overtime protections, hospital mandatory overtime, suicide prevention signage on construction sites, and a proposal to update the Massachusetts Medical Society’s mission language from “citizens” to “people.” Labor groups, educators, and compliance trainers strongly supported mandatory annual sexual harassment training, saying it would improve workplace culture and reduce harm. SEIU 1199 supported extending the hospital nurse mandatory overtime ban to the broader hospital workforce. Witnesses on the suicide prevention bill described personal losses in construction and recovery work and urged posting 988 information on job sites. The committee took no votes during the hearing; witnesses repeatedly asked for favorable reports, and members asked follow-up questions on UI calculations, apprenticeship ratios, small-business impacts, and emergency exceptions for hospital staffing.

Transcript Highlights:

• These are real threats that are impacting our small businesses. There's uncertainty.
• What should I say to this small business?
• So, this is no small number.
• That's true, and Senator Hassen mentioned to you about small businesses.
• So if a big company got an exclusion for a certain product, a small business would too.

Transcript Highlights:

• the same time, clinicians opening small the same time, clinicians opening small practices<00:03:
• burden onto patients and small burden onto patients and small providers.<00:03:49.920> Reinstating
• I operate a small outpatient clinic in the west metro, and I'm looking to hire folks.
• raised in a family uh that had a small raised in a family uh that had a small business<00:08:37.039
• This hurts riders and the small businesses that they rely on.

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Um, the pricing kind of varies sometimes, but it definitely works with the small farmers, small ranchers
• As we've talked about, that's somewhat of a small piece of the pie.
• Problems you have in terms of distances and small populations.
• I would say also... ...small district.
• I think we're going to have to do something for small schools, just like we had to do something for small

Keywords: 916, all

Transcript Highlights:

• They're just small changes. We could get this bill passed. We could get it into law.
• partially forgivable loans to small partially forgivable loans to small businesses<00:30:41.280>
• <00:32:09.800> interest<00:32:10.200> group,<00:32:10.520> small having a small
• interest group, small having a small interest group, small small<00:32:11.840> folks, small folks
• , small folks, small small small whether<00:32:14.840> it's<00:32:15.080> it's<00:32:15.320

Keywords: 918, senate, all

Summary: Minnesota Senate Republicans held a press event focused on school safety, student performance, and relief from what they described as burdensome mandates on districts. Sen. Zach Duckworth promoted the SHIELD Act, which would provide grant funding through the Minnesota School Safety Center for security upgrades such as access controls, ballistic-resistant materials, mass notification systems, and staff training. He also highlighted other education bills, including measures to require parental and teacher notification of violent incidents within 24 hours, allow short removals after serious incidents in K-3 classrooms, expand retention and intervention policies for students not meeting grade level, and increase parental access to curriculum materials and consent for sex education. Duckworth said the school safety proposal has bipartisan support and argued schools should have flexible, locally driven tools to protect students. Sen. Julia Coleman and other Republicans framed the agenda as a response to classroom violence, learning loss, and a lack of transparency. Coleman said teachers and parents are seeing serious problems firsthand and argued that schools should not hide violent incidents. She described Senate File 676 as a notification and anti-retaliation bill, and said Senate File 4023 would give schools a brief reset after serious incidents in early grades. She also backed the transparency bill requiring parental review of curriculum and written consent for sex education. The group repeatedly argued that schools, parents, and teachers should be prioritized over what they called political secrecy or overreach. Sen. Jason Rarick focused on school finance, saying new state mandates have left districts in deficit despite prior funding increases. He discussed bills to expand safe school aid to nonpublic schools, increase staffing at the Minnesota School Safety Center, expand counselor funding for nonpublic students to K-6, and conform state law to federal tax credits that could support scholarships and tutoring. Sen. Carla Nelson Housley argued that more than 60 unfunded mandates have strained districts and said Senate File 3361 would temporarily let districts transfer funds between accounts and opt out of certain new mandates from 2023-24, with public board discussion and votes. In the question period, Republicans also discussed the governor’s supplemental budget, fraud enforcement, possible bonding for IT upgrades, and potential tax and child care credit changes, while emphasizing they want bipartisan cooperation on fraud and school safety but oppose new taxes and what they called harmful mandates.

Transcript Highlights:

• Black tastes is our town instead of a small town. Stott is pretty good and stuff.
• But in the dog, there's a small town and pick up.
• The Autism Foundation has a what I would consider a really small grant from the G.D. Co.
• And It was small when COVID started.
• It's pretty small where they're actually going out and doing the work with the employers.

Keywords: 914, all

Transcript Highlights:

• I'm an engineer by education, but a technology professional and a small business entrepreneur.
• While a lot of large businesses, some of this economic impact, it's manageable for them, but for small
• Ninety percent of the businesses across the state are small businesses.
• <00:08:15.360> business for them, but for small business for them, but for small business
• across the state are small businesses. across the state are small businesses.

Bills: HB69, HB114, HB161

Keywords: firearms, possession, Class 1 municipalities, criminal penalties, federal law, stolen firearms, prohibited persons, HB114, Alabama Sunset Law, sunset bill, Board of Dental Examiners of Alabama, dental board, dental licensing, dentist regulation, professional licensing, occupational licensing, healthcare regulation, licensure board, state agency continuation, agency sunset review

Transcript Highlights:

• our small nonprofits, do have the advance payment.
• will help these small nonprofits who are also doing critical work actually be able to compete.
• These small nonprofits, who are also doing critical work, actually be able to compete for some of these
• Let's give our small businesses the room to breathe in our neighborhoods and the space to flourish.
• It helps a lot of small wineries that are having a difficult time right now, as well as the distillers

Summary: The Governmental Organization Committee heard a series of bills focused largely on alcohol licensing, nonprofit funding, tribal grants, public transparency, and tobacco policy. AB 342 (Haney) would allow local governments to create hospitality zones with extended last-call hours on certain days; supporters argued it would boost tourism, nightlife, and major-event readiness, while opponents warned of alcohol-related harms and public safety risks. AB 684 (Patel) would subject the UC Board of Admissions and Relations with Schools to open-meeting requirements, with supporters saying admissions-related changes should be more transparent and allow schools time to adjust. AB 1008 (Addis) would authorize up to 10 new on-sale general licenses in San Luis Obispo County to meet tourism demand, and AB 1039 (Hart) would require state agencies to offer advance payments on new nonprofit grants and contracts, which supporters said would help cash-strapped nonprofits deliver services. AB 221 (Ramos) would revise the Tribal Nation Grant Fund to provide more predictable annual distributions to eligible non-gaming and limited-gaming tribes, and it drew broad support from tribal representatives and others. AB 795 (Jeff Gonzalez) would create a California commission for the nation’s 250th anniversary celebration, with supporters describing it as a privately funded, nonpartisan planning body. AB 828/AB 28 (Mark Gonzalez, as referenced in the transcript) would expand neighborhood-restricted liquor licenses in Los Angeles County to reduce costs and support restaurant recovery, and AB 1246 (Hoover) would increase craft distillers’ direct sales limits and address barrel-storage rules; both were supported as small-business measures. AB 1428 (Ta) would require reporting of all surplus and underutilized state land, and AB 957 (Ortega) would prohibit tobacco sales in pharmacies, with strong public health support. Several bills were voted out on motions to Appropriations, some with amendments, while others were held or left on call until quorum was established; the committee also adopted a consent calendar and left rolls open for absent members on multiple measures.

Transcript Highlights:

• Starting or buying into an existing vet business is happening less frequently in small communities.
• I completely agree, and that's the issue in small...
• This is not a small bump to license fees; it's a huge increase.
• This has been successful on both the cover crop and small grain sides of farming.
• Furthermore, this program involves small grains, which have taken off in our area.

Transcript Highlights:

• In county court, the small claims actions were the most impacted case types, with the number of small
• claims actions more than doubling the number of small claims actions during the same period in 2021
• And in county court, the small claims actions were the most impacted case types with the number of small
• claims actions more than doubling the number of small claims actions during the same period in 2021
• A small claims case may take far less time than a capital murder case.

Summary: The Judiciary Committee met with a quorum present and heard several Office of the State Courts Administrator presentations. Judge Mark Mahan discussed the impact of 2023’s HB 837 litigation reforms on court operations, explaining that the law’s changes to comparative negligence, filing deadlines, collateral source evidence, premises liability, bad faith claims, attorney’s fees, and offer-of-judgment rules triggered a major March 2023 civil filing surge. He described how filings tripled statewide, with especially large increases in auto negligence and premises liability cases, and outlined how circuits responded through active case management, added resources, and workflow changes. Members asked whether the bill’s immediate effective date contributed to the surge and whether clearance rates would normalize over time; Judge Mahan said the court system viewed its response as a success and expected rates to settle as the backlog is worked through. The committee then received a presentation on problem-solving courts from Jennifer Grandal and Judge Nina Richardson. Grandal reviewed Florida’s drug courts, mental health courts, veterans courts, dependency and early childhood courts, noting statewide best-practice standards, annual reporting requirements, funding sources, and data collection systems. Judge Richardson gave a local perspective on treatment courts, emphasizing that they address underlying mental health and substance use issues, rely on judicial supervision and sanctions as well as incentives, and help participants achieve recovery and avoid reoffending. She said the programs are accountable, transparent, and effective, and thanked the Legislature for continued support. Finally, Judge Rachel Nordby and Eric McClure outlined the judicial branch’s legislative agenda. Nordby summarized the Supreme Court workgroup’s recommendations to expand Florida’s vexatious litigant law, including broader coverage, fewer qualifying adverse cases, a longer lookback period, and a public records exemption for stricken defamatory or sham material. McClure then highlighted additional agenda items: modernizing the duty-judge statute, expanding senior management retirement eligibility, authorizing additional judgeships based on workload studies, removing the statutory cap on court-ordered nonbinding arbitration compensation, protecting appellate clerks’ personal information, allowing alternative authentication for certain judicial notarizations, and creating a hearsay exception for guardian ad litem reports and testimony. No votes were taken, and the committee adjourned after member introductions and staff introductions.

Transcript Highlights:

• helping us with, you know, some small helping us with, you know, some small office<02:37:05.040>
• district offices and ask for a small district offices and ask for a small sale.<03:01:56.640>
• support operations to keep these small support operations to keep these small timber<03:04:44.520
• he's a small operator, good operator. he's a small operator, good operator.
• So, they're small small small smaller<03:11:02.080> item smaller item smaller item um<03:11:03.720

Keywords: 916, all

Transcript Highlights:

• while still uh aiming to help small while still uh aiming to help small businesses<00:02:58.959>
• 09:02.720> Acceleration, Small Business Growth Acceleration, Small Business Growth Acceleration
• 00:32:04.640> the to help small businesses comply with the to help small businesses comply with
• <00:32:26.880> business 5 million a year for the small business 5 million a year for the small
• <00:44:22.480> business heard from a number of small business heard from a number of small

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Specific to special districts and small Specific to special districts and small towns, special districts
• Now, speaking of the small towns, you're...
• Now, speaking of the small towns, you're getting big turnover.
• What I'm finding is municipalities, and these are small municipalities and small towns, their balance
• that fraud risk that might be in those small towns.

Keywords: 916, all

Transcript Highlights:

• So this is the small group and the individual market.
• And then moving on to small group, the chart here is basically structured the same.
• And so that's removing them from the small group plan or the small group market.
• So the second one is the small group, even though it's labeled individual market.
• And there are very few small groups on the exchange, although that is an option.

Keywords: 907, all

Summary: The committee held an informational hearing focused first on Oregon Medicaid coordinated care organization (CCO) finances and rate setting. Oregon Health Authority staff explained how 2025 CCO financial results will inform 2027 capitation rates, including reserve requirements, subcapitation arrangements, and major cost drivers such as behavioral health, pharmacy, rural hospital costs, and dental directed payments. They said the Legislature’s added 2025 funding materially improved CCO margins and that, without it, the program would have been negative overall. Members asked about retained earnings, subcapitation, behavioral health utilization, ABA therapy, and whether outcomes are being evaluated; OHA said rate setting is actuarial and that CCOs, OHA, and other partners all play roles in monitoring efficacy and access. OHA also reviewed House Bill 4039 changes intended to increase transparency and give CCOs earlier access to rate information and reconciliation exhibits. CCO representatives then testified that the system is under significant financial pressure and that behavioral health state-directed payments, benefit changes, and federal uncertainty from H.R. 1 are reducing flexibility. CareOregon said it has lost more than $500 million over the last couple of years and is now making provider terminations and other network changes to align spending with available funding, while emphasizing that CCOs must make hard decisions about which services and providers can be sustained. Eastern Oregon CCO said rural and frontier factors, cost-based hospitals, air ambulance needs, and statewide efficiency adjustments are not fully reflected in rates, and that dental funding is especially strained. Trillium similarly warned that state-directed payments and benefit expansion pressures are constraining the global budget model and that H.R. 1 could worsen acuity and volatility. Members pressed the witnesses on who is responsible for evaluating treatment effectiveness, especially for ABA and psychotherapy, and on how utilization limits and reimbursement changes are being used to control costs. The committee then shifted to an overview of the Affordable Care Act and Oregon’s commercial insurance market. Department of Consumer and Business Services staff explained actuarial value, metal tiers, premium tax credits, medical loss ratio rules, and the main drivers of premium rates: cost trend, utilization trend, and administrative costs. They said mandates have likely added only a limited amount to premiums over the past decade, though the exact effect is difficult to isolate, and they gave examples of how high-cost, low-volume services versus broad, high-utilization services can affect rates differently. Staff also noted that Providence Health Plan and PacificSource Health Plans are withdrawing from the individual market, though consumers should still have at least three insurer options in every county and may have four in many counties. The division said it is in the middle of reviewing proposed 2027 rates and will continue its public rate review process, including hearings and written comment.

Transcript Highlights:

• And it is difficult to get some people to run for these small cities.
• Um, that's a real choice that's happening in our small cities, and it is public service.
• <00:21:53.600> cities flexibility for the really small cities flexibility for the really small
• They're building them across the state in sometimes very small communities or attempting to.
• They're building them across the state in sometimes very small communities or attempting to.

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Smalls, Chair Smalls, two years ago, and [Senator Muñoz](member_10928) this last April on this process
• So, a small request there for $165,000.
• So again, some of these are small, or at least seem small initially, but they can add up.
• It's a small amount.
• So the majority of our small communities did not get those direct payments.