Transcript Highlights:

• </c><00:10:34.920><c> and</c> the staff have been state employees and the staff have been state employees
• So now, for instance, the administrator is an employee of the Public Utilities Commission.
• So now, for instance, the administrator is an employee of the Public Utilities Commission.
• So now, for instance, the administrator is an employee of the Public Utilities Commission.
• So now, for instance, the administrator is an employee of the Public Utilities Commission.

Keywords: 928, house, all

Summary: The committee first heard the Banking Department’s fiscal year 2026-2027 budget presentation from Commissioner Amelia Galeri. She described the department as a self-funded consumer protection regulator overseeing two main areas: the Banking Trust Division, which supervises state-chartered banks, credit unions, and trust companies, and the Consumer Credit Division, which oversees more than 7,000 licensees including mortgage and money transmitter businesses. She said the department’s budget is about 86% salaries and benefits, with 53 positions all filled, and explained that the agency funds itself through fees, fines, and end-of-year assessments on regulated entities. Galeri said the department is facing workload growth from several directions: continued growth in the trust industry, increased fintech supervision, and a new requirement to regularly examine auto dealers that take finance applications, which adds about 300 exams over two fiscal years. She said the department was directed to flat-fund its budget based on 2025 levels but was allowed to increase travel and training. To stay within that limit, she said the department reduced office space, went paperless, converted administrative and licensing positions into examiner positions, and expects to defund an embedded DOJ database administrator position once a new SharePoint system is fully implemented. Members asked about how the department’s revenue and assessments work, including whether fees were increasing and how much existing banks would pay. Galeri said fees are not being raised, most banks pay little or no fines, and assessments are based largely on asset size, with trust companies paying the bulk. She also explained that fines are set by statute, generally capped at $2,500 per violation for consumer credit entities, and said she would not recommend increasing that cap. The committee then voted to accept the Banking Department’s budget proposal as presented in HQ1, with a motion and second and no discussion. The transcript then moved to the Department of Energy budget. Commissioner Jared Chakin and Chief of Operations Lenny Radio discussed federal program funding, including LIHEAP fuel assistance and weatherization. They said the apparent drop in fuel assistance funding from FY 2024 actuals to the budgeted amount is due to the loss of ARPA and CARES Act supplemental funds, while weatherization remains a federally constrained program with a waiting list and limited flexibility. Members also asked about a proposed transfer from the renewable energy fund; staff said the transfer would still allow the department to carry out its statutory duties for the year, though the committee deferred deeper discussion until House Bill 2.

Transcript Highlights:

• All the employees down there are ATI. Alamo Trust employees, they're not state employees.
• We have a total of 3,123 employees. 2,169 of those employees are at our far north Austin headquarters
• utilize.
• Utilizing any state dollars.
• We utilize pass-throughs, so we utilize non-profits that get... grants from us to be able to administer

Committee: House Appropriations - S/C on Articles VI, VII, & VIII

Keywords: 1184, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> relating to you know energy or utilities relating to you know energy or utilities I<00:11:29.959
• We, as employees now, or we have employees now, which is 30 employees total.
• We have employees now, which is 30 employees total. I'm sorry, I'm a little flustered.
• </c><01:23:04.239><c> now</c> employees now or we have employees now employees now or we have employees
• I have 16 employees.

Committee: House Science, Technology and Energy

Keywords: 1189, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> years to to add 27 additional employees. years to to add 27 additional employees.
• Again, we're not at a utilities.
• </c> position to run a public utility. Okay. position to run a public utility. Okay.
• You had said that utilities... I guess my question is: can utilities bill for rate cases?
• </c> owned by local consumer-owned utilities. owned by local consumer-owned utilities.

Bills: HF3298

Committee: House Energy Finance and Policy

Keywords: underground storage tanks, petroleum, reimbursement program, environmental regulation, pollution control, 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• A company with four employees.
• A company with four employees.
• A company with four employees.
• A company with four employees.
• A company with four employees.

Keywords: 993, senate, all

Summary: The Senate convened, approved the prior journal, and then processed a series of motions to discharge bills from committees and substitute identical Senate bills, which were so ordered. Several bills were also recalled from the Assembly, had reconsideration votes taken, and were restored to the third reading calendar after receiving 58 ayes. Amendments were received on a number of bills, and those measures retained their place on the calendar. The main business of the day was Privileged Resolution 2318, sponsored by Leader Stewart-Cousins, honoring Senator Michael Gianaris with the President Pro Tempore and Senate Majority Leader’s Legislative Legacy Award. The resolution and floor remarks reviewed his long career in the Assembly and Senate, his role as Deputy Majority Leader and floor leader, and his work on housing, criminal justice, voting rights, labor, environmental, consumer, transit, animal welfare, and other major legislation. Members from both parties spoke at length, praising his strategic skill, mentorship, humor, and influence, while also noting his support for younger members and his commitment to family. Several senators described personal experiences showing Gianaris’s mentorship and political guidance, and many referenced his Greek American identity, Queens roots, and interests such as Star Wars and the Mets. Senators also emphasized that he was leaving on his own terms to spend more time with his wife and daughters. The resolution was adopted with broad support, and Gianaris then spoke in response, reflecting on nearly 30 years in state government, the major laws passed during his tenure, and the relationships he built in the chamber.

Transcript Highlights:

• We are saying that that teacher, that school employee, that public employee, they're not going to be
• That teacher, that school employee, that public employee, they're not going to be punished because they
• Again, this bill is not about what a state employee or a teacher or a public employee asks to be called
• This is about how that state employee, teacher, or public employee interacts with coworkers, with the
• This is about how that state employee, teacher, public employee, how they interact with coworkers with

Summary: The Senate convened with a quorum present, heard an invocation, adopted the prior day’s journal, received House messages, and adopted several resolutions and recognitions, including Senate Resolution 496 honoring Leadership Garland and resolutions 503 and 504. The chamber also recognized guests, including a North Dakota senator and the Doctor of the Day, and received gubernatorial nominations for the Texas Economic Development Corporation Board and the Nueces River Authority Board. The Senate then took up and passed a series of bills, often by suspending the regular order and the constitutional three-day rule. Measures approved included SB 614 on Texas Forensic Science Commission referrals to the Office of Capital and Forensic Writs; SB 250 on municipal annexation across railroad rights-of-way; SB 1660 on toxicological evidence retention and destruction procedures; SB 2586 requiring property owners associations to file governing documents with the Texas Real Estate Commission; SB 1588 increasing penalties for certain failures to report child sexual abuse; HB 912 on compensation for distributed renewable generation outside ERCOT; SB 1957 setting eligibility standards for civilian oversight boards; HB 2525 clarifying a charitable property tax exemption; SB 1525 limiting repeated prior authorization for neurodegenerative disease drugs; SB 865 requiring CPR/AED training and cardiac emergency response planning in schools; SB 1212 elevating human trafficking penalties; SB 2690 on solicitations for Secretary of State documents; SB 1802 on landlord repair duties for ramps, elevators, and handrails; SB 905 on licensing rules for speech-language pathologists and audiologists; SB 2929 allowing removal of disruptive spectators at school athletic events; SB 2675 creating a narrow McAllen-specific parkland conveyance exception; SB 872 increasing punishment for burglary of a vehicle involving firearm theft; and SB 1113 clarifying sales rules for certain converter-license holders. Several bills drew extended debate. SB 2487, dealing with crisis and mental health services for homelessness, was amended to make the county model permissive rather than mandatory and to remove state funding/assistance requirements before passing 28-3. SB 2138, barring higher education funds from contracting with firms that boycott fossil fuels through ESG policies, also passed after questions about fiscal effects and First Amendment concerns. SB 2615, restricting remote work at public institutions of higher education, advanced 22-9. The Senate also began consideration of SB 3016, which would expand enforcement tools against local governments that fail to comply with state law, but the transcript cuts off before action on that bill is completed.

Transcript Highlights:

• The biggest plan we administer is the Public Employees Retirement.
• It increased contributions from employees and employers.
• Employees or employers paid 19.24% of our income in state.
• The current contributions for employees are still at 1% of salary for the employee and 2% for the employer
• I'm here representing the retired focus employees.

Committee: House Investments & Pensions Oversight Committee

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> benefits that these impacted employees benefits that these impacted employees can<00:19:41.679><
• Wages for all employees.
• </c> employees and now these same employees employees and now these same employees some<00:26:18.960>
• Is KCTCS paying the utility cost?
• Is KCTCS paying the utility cost?

Keywords: Meeting Start 00:00:00 Roll Call 00:00:04 Economic Development Projects Funding 00:01:25 Blue Oval SK 00:05:20, 958, all

Summary: The committee met with a quorum to hear a recap of the 2021 special session legislation, Senate Bill 5, and then receive testimony from the Secretary of Economic Development on the Blue Oval SK project and related economic development issues. Staff explained that Senate Bill 5 appropriated five amounts from the budget reserve trust fund for a project tied to a minimum $2 billion investment: $350 million for forgivable loans through the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority, $10,639,600 to pay off a Hardin County loan tied to 47 tracts of property, $20 million for Bluegrass State Skills Corporation training grants, $5 million for KCTCS training grants, and $25 million for a KCTCS on-site training center. Staff also noted there were no job-related requirements in the bill itself. The secretary said the Blue Oval SK incentive was structured as a $250 million forgivable loan rather than the state’s usual pay-as-you-go incentives, with clawback provisions tied to jobs, wages, investment, and changes in ownership or operations. He said the project had already exceeded the $2 billion investment threshold, that corporate guarantees were required from SK On and Ford, and that the agreement’s compliance period begins in December 2026 with payments starting in March 2027 and running through 2038. He said the state’s goal after the joint venture dissolution was to protect taxpayers, support affected workers, and preserve future job creation, while also ensuring the money would be repaid if performance targets are not met. Members asked about the workforce impact, the training programs, and whether the jobs targets would be revised. The secretary said the project had about 1,850 workers at the site, with both production and salaried employees affected, and described state-led job fairs, a job portal, and other rapid-response efforts to help displaced workers find new jobs or training. He said Ford had agreed to continue discussions, invest an additional $2 billion in the site for energy storage solutions, and pursue roughly 2,100 new jobs, while the state sought to keep the company accountable for the full repayment obligation if jobs are not created. One senator raised broader concerns about mega-projects displacing small businesses and creating infrastructure burdens in surrounding communities.

Transcript Highlights:

• That has been somewhat challenging, but now we have employees—we have three employees.
• </c> bring over some or all of the employees bring over some or all of the employees um<02:43:46.800>
• </c> have employees have employees um<02:44:19.960><c> the</c><02:44:20.240><c> past</c><02:44:20.800
• </c><02:44:31.640><c> and</c> we really didn't have uh employees and we really didn't have uh employees
• </c> challenging uh but now we have employees challenging uh but now we have employees uh<02:44:42.600

Keywords: 910, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• We utilize People First, which every state agency does.
• Instead of just letting that revert, we went ahead and allowed it to be utilized.
• Do you keep vacant positions to utilize salary rates for field positions? Do you do that?
• The work they did has been successfully redistributed to other employees within the department.
• DMS continues its commitment to filling positions, recruitment, and retention of employees.

Transcript Highlights:

• Harris relating to the funding and mechanisms of the Office of the Governor and the Texas Public Utility
• HB 143 by King relating to the authority of the Railroad Commission of Texas and the Public Utility Commission
• Education HB 1065 at Derazio relating to the classification of employees by a company license holder
• or agents of a utility to the prosecution of the criminal offense of interference with public duties
• Employees or agents refer to the Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence, HB 1161 by Hinojosa relating to

Transcript Highlights:

• AND WHEN IT COMES TO INFRASTRUCTURE BOTH OUR CO OPS AND OUR MAJOR UTILITY PROVIDERS WHAT A WONDERFUL
• THE BRAVE MEN AND WOMEN WITH THE INFRASTRUCTURE AND THE LINE CREW AND THE UTILITY COMPANIES WITH POWER
• OR CAN AFFORD TO NOT BE UTILIZED.
• WE HAVE OVER 3600 FULL TIME EMPLOYEES DOWN ON THE SPACE COAST.
• WE ACTIVELY EMPOWER EACH OF OUR EMPLOYEES TO BE AN AMBASSADOR WITH CLUB FOR THE FUTURE.

Keywords: 999, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• We represent employees of the U.S.
• Employees performing the excepted work are characterized as essential, but not all employees who can
• many federal FDA employees like many federal government<00:14:41.120><c> employees</c><00:14:41.600>
• </c> law requires affected employees law requires affected employees regardless<00:14:56.959><c> of</
• </c> representatives, I asked employees representatives, I asked employees represented<00:15:21.680><

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• So, paying for county roads and county employees.
• </c><00:03:12.000><c> will</c> 100% clean energy bill, utilities will 100% clean energy bill, utilities
• . employees. employees.
• </c> calculated by the state's utility calculated by the state's utility classes,<00:09:51.240><c> investor-owned
• There are two utilities without it.

Keywords: 918, senate, all

Summary: The interview focused on Minnesota’s clean energy policy, energy affordability, and the state’s path toward its 100% clean electricity goal. The senator said Minnesota’s clean energy reputation comes from environmental concern, job creation, and lower long-term costs, noting that wind is now the lowest-cost generation source and that solar costs have fallen sharply. He said rising electricity demand has led to some increased coal use, but argued the state can still meet its 2040 clean energy target through continued renewable buildout, permitting reform, conservation, and demand response. A major topic was data centers. The senator emphasized both concerns and benefits, saying hyperscale data centers can bring substantial construction jobs, property tax revenue, and, under the 2025 law, payments to low-income energy assistance. He cited the Pine Island Google data center as air-cooled, with no water concerns, and said it will pay $5 million annually while funding 1,600 MW of wind, solar, and battery resources at its own expense. He also said Xcel’s filing projected a $1.1 billion ratepayer savings over 10 years, while urging the public to weigh both pros and cons, especially around water use and local tax impacts. The discussion also covered nuclear power and climate costs. The senator said the Senate has passed a nuclear study three years in a row and expects it to advance, while the moratorium on new nuclear plants remains tied to the Prairie Island Indian Community and unresolved nuclear waste storage. He argued Minnesota likely cannot reach its emissions goals without nuclear in the mix, though he acknowledged current nuclear is not cost-competitive and said future advanced or small modular nuclear could change that. On affordability, he pointed to climate-driven costs such as higher homeowners insurance and storm damage, and described Senate energy omnibus provisions including conservation, plug-in solar, and renewable development account projects such as a Como Zoo clean energy project. No votes were taken in the interview itself, but the senator referenced the recently announced budget deal and said he still needed to negotiate a renewable development account agreement between the House and Senate.

Transcript Highlights:

• infrastructure property or utility service.
• Thank you. ...for a regulated utility to define specific terms for each transaction on a case-by-case
• This expands employee leave for military duty by removing some of the restrictive statutory language
• This expands employee leave for military duty. leaves of absence, military training.
• It shows up in rent, groceries, utilities, and child care.

Keywords: 1182, all

Summary: The committee worked through a very long minority caucus calendar covering a wide range of bills, with many items being described and then either left on consent, pulled from consent, or noted for votes. Topics included bullion and state depository proposals, a produce incentive appropriation, a biennial budget change, veterans services funding, driver licensing and traffic enforcement measures, procurement and public records changes, school board and school facilities rules, SNAP work requirements and verification, child welfare and juvenile justice provisions, housing and homelessness measures, energy and fuel policy, election administration, and several tax, commerce, and licensing bills. Members repeatedly raised concerns about constitutionality, federal preemption, duplication of existing law, and whether some measures were policy priorities that had been vetoed in prior sessions and were returning unchanged. Several bills drew extended debate. Members objected to English-proficiency requirements for commercial drivers and motor carriers, arguing federal law and the supremacy clause would bar them. Earned wage access regulation prompted strong opposition over consumer harm, overdraft cycles, and high effective APRs. School-related bills were criticized for overregulating public schools while not imposing similar requirements on ESA/private-school programs, especially on fingerprint clearance and reporting. SNAP-related bills were also opposed as setting unrealistic mandates and repeating vetoed proposals. Other contested measures included a drag-show criminalization bill, a bill restricting photo enforcement, a bill limiting local regulation of unmanned aircraft, and a bill conforming Arizona tax law to federal changes, which members said would benefit wealthy taxpayers and corporations without a clear funding source. The committee also heard a number of supportive or less controversial measures, including bills on veterans awareness, dementia care telemonitoring, Braille transcription funding, CPA licensure pathways, cash acceptance by retailers, and some child safety and court administration changes. Several bills were pulled from consent for further discussion, while others were noted as having unanimous or near-unanimous votes. The meeting ended with caucus announcements, including an affordability award presentation, an upcoming Latino Caucus discussion on community land trusts, and an invitation to African American Legislative Day activities, followed by adjournment.

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> students or they employees? students or they employees?
• ,</c> going to be the definition of employee, going to be the definition of employee, but<00:08:32.400
• Medicaid may undertake utilization utilization utilization management<00:21:29.320><c> to</c><00:21:29.600
• </c> could not be utilized. could not be utilized.
• </c> that care about their employees. that care about their employees.

Keywords: Senate streaming session for Monday, March 23, 2026, 960, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• </c><00:03:10.560><c> and</c> employer and the and the employee and employer and the and the employee
• from the employees obtaining permission from the employees employer.<00:03:39.280><c> Okay.
• </c> Williams, the director of the employees Williams, the director of the employees retirement<00:10
• The Hawaii Government Employees Association indicated opposition.
• utilized for the personal service.<00:19:03.280><c> Okay.

Committee: Senate Labor and Technology

Keywords: 912, senate, all

Summary: The Labor and Technology Committee heard testimony on several bills, mostly related to workers’ compensation, labor relations, retirement, and employment exemptions. HB 423 would clarify selection of certified rehabilitation providers and require automatic approval of vocational rehabilitation services when likely needed for suitable gainful employment; the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations supported the bill but requested timeline amendments, including advancing the plan within 90 days of the initial evaluation and filing it with the employer, employee, and director within two days. HB 480 would let an attending physician request a functional capacity exam without employer permission and deem licensed occupational and physical therapists qualified to perform such exams; it drew support from the department, the Hawaii Insurance Council, and the Hawaii Medical Association. HB 162 would expand the pool of interest arbitrators for collective bargaining disputes by allowing the HLRB to request a list from FMCS as well as the ABA, and testimony from labor groups supported that change. HB 164 concerned indebtedness to the state and wage deductions; HGA supported it with comments, while the Department of Accounting and General Services raised concerns about the percentage structure but said it could implement the requested changes. The committee also heard HB 1152, which would permanently exempt three specialized Department of Taxation positions from civil service; the department supported the measure and said the positions are not currently civil service positions. HB 214 would allow certain retirees to work in school resource officer or investigator roles without losing retirement benefits, subject to conditions; ERS expressed concerns about shortening the required separation period from 12 months to 6 months and about uniform administration and cost implications, while the Department of the Attorney General and Department of Education supported the bill, and the Department of Law Enforcement asked to include its investigators as well. HB 874 would amend the Uniform Custodial Trust Act for child performers, requiring trust accounts for minors meeting certain earnings thresholds and making misuse of funds a fiduciary breach; SAG-AFTRA Hawaii, HGEA, the Hawaii State AFL-CIO, and the Hawaii Nurses Association supported it, and members discussed that enforcement would likely need further research, possibly through labor or the film office. HB 159 would cap the civil service exemption for personal service contracts with qualified community rehabilitation programs at $850,000 in the aggregate per private person or entity; United Public Workers, HGEA, and the Hawaii State AFL-CIO supported it. No final votes were taken because the committee lacked quorum. After recessing and reconvening, the chair announced that decision-making on the agenda would be deferred to Wednesday, March 12 at 3:01 p.m. in Room 224.

Transcript Highlights:

• Marie, do you see this as being utilized more for retention or recruitment? Mr.
• That's the average length that an employee is staying. In Tier 3, in 2024, it was three years.
• It's going to be, I think, five from the state, seven from the employee. That's what it is.
• Employee assistance unit. Mr. Chair, Mr. Clure, have you run any cost analysis on this?
• this funding and utilizing this resource.

Bills: SB1161 , SB1215 , SB1270 , SB1400 , SB1537 , SB1538 , SB1580 , SB1584 , SB1627

Committee: House Public Safety & Law Enforcement

Keywords: appropriation, public safety, Yuma County, funding exemption, family advocacy center, firefighters, occupational disease, workers compensation, cancer presumption, police officers, hazardous duty, SB1270, Arizona retirement system, public safety personnel, defined contribution plan, correctional officers, corrections officers, retirement contributions, supplemental contributions, retention incentive

Transcript Highlights:

• We really don't have the funding to fully utilize our asset plans.
• So we are underfunded to adequately utilize those asset plans.
• And so we do utilize some of our preservation dollars to look at pavements and bridges and utilize a
• And so we utilize them.
• And so we would utilize that to get that work going.

Summary: The Senate Transportation Committee devoted its meeting to a presentation from Troy Suing of the Department of Transportation on state highway preservation needs. Suing said DOT is a leader in asset planning, but that current funding is not enough to keep up with the condition of highways, bridges, and other assets. He distinguished operations and maintenance from preservation, and described the preservation program’s main parts: pavements, bridges, and other highway facilities such as slopes, rest areas, signal systems, retaining walls, and culverts. Suing reported that about 40% of state roads are already overdue for preservation and that, with current funding, as much as 85% could need preservation within 10 years. He said there are more than 7,900 lane miles currently due, and that delaying work past the “lowest life cycle zone” increases risk and can cost three to five times more later. For bridges, he said the state has about 3,400 bridges, an average age of 52 years, and roughly 10% are over 80 years old; the share of bridges in poor condition is about 9.9%, near the federal threshold that could trigger more federal oversight. He also highlighted culvert failures, including one on SR-510, and the closed Carbon River Bridge on SR-165 as examples of how deferred preservation can lead to closures and community disruption. Committee members questioned the comparison to national asset management leadership, liability risk as roads deteriorate, the cost and regulatory burden of bridge projects, and whether DOT is relying more on its own crews for bridge work because of cost and urgency. Suing said the department is underfunded to fully implement its asset plans and is forced to focus on risk, emergent needs, and the most critical bridge work first. He said DOT’s 2026 supplemental budget identified preservation as one of five unfunded critical priorities and estimated a 10-year preservation need of $8 billion to address the backlog and become proactive again. Members discussed whether targeted funding in the next biennium could help move the state back toward the “green zone,” and the chair closed by emphasizing the real-world impacts of bridge and road failures and the need for legislative action.

Transcript Highlights:

• I am satisfied with the education options my child is utilizing as compared to the options my child utilized
• </c><03:31:56.720><c> as</c> options my child is utilizing as options my child is utilizing as compared
• A small but substantial number of employees are unable to open a bank account.
• </c> market and the employer employee market and the employer employee relationship<06:22:13.638><c>
• if the employee agrees the employee<06:22:28.958><c> agrees</c><06:22:29.320><c> with</c><06:22:29.440

Keywords: 1189, house, all