Transcript Highlights:

• We have a motion by Representative Louser to strike the section saying establish a grant program...
• Representative Louser to strike the section saying establish a grant program to support students who
• So, funding for entrepreneur grants and vouchers program, $759,000.
• RWIP, Regional Workforce Impact Program. It's a very good program.
• There is one exemption being added in your proposal for the Entrepreneurship Grants and Vouchers Program

Bills: SB2003

Keywords: higher education, student loans, scholarships, capital projects, workforce development, funding, North Dakota university system, 908, all

Summary: The committee first reconsidered Senate Bill 2003 in the higher education budget and adopted several changes. It removed $3 million for enterprise resource planning, struck $2 million for a grant program for students who are pregnant or recently gave birth, and then added $3 million back into workforce education and innovative grants, restoring that line to $12 million. Members also discussed a possible purchase of the 19th Avenue building in Fargo for the State School of Science, but the motion was withdrawn for later consideration. Other higher ed items were briefly noted, including tribally controlled community colleges and a state magazine funding line, but no final action was taken on the building proposal during this segment. The committee then moved to Senate Bill 2018, the Commerce budget, and reviewed a long list of funding items. It restored a vacant workforce FTE, increased tourism marketing to $10 million and Find the Good Life to $5 million, raised Operation Intern by $1 million, removed a $100,000 infrastructure study, increased autonomous agriculture grants to $15 million, and set the Regional Workforce Impact Program at $10 million. It also kept or adjusted several other items, including the uncrewed aerial vehicle replacement program, the global talent office, tribally controlled community colleges, Native American small business grants, and technical skills training grants. A major new provision would transfer $50 million total, split between SIF and Bank of North Dakota profits, to the Theodore Roosevelt Library Museum Endowment Fund, matching a private fundraising challenge; members expressed both support and concern, and said they would revisit it later. The committee also discussed language to allow commercialization of Vantis and to permit the Turtle Mountain gaming compact proposal to move forward with required federal approvals, while clarifying that a previously discussed $100,000 study had been removed. Commerce officials said the workforce language was intended to centralize data and strategy, and they noted Operation Intern would need an emergency clause because applications begin in May. No final vote on the Commerce budget was taken in this segment, and the chair said the committee would return later to finish both budgets.

Transcript Highlights:

• Would you say that with this grant program that, uh, there's a 25% match requirement in that?
• Would you say that with this grant program that, uh, there's a 25% match requirement in that?
• Would you say that with this grant program that, uh, there's a 25% match requirement in that?
• or loan or come in and ask for a mineral royalty grant program.
• or loan or come in and ask for a mineral royalty grant program.

Keywords: 916, all

Transcript Highlights:

• quality. of the minor repair infrastructure grants and continuity of certain quality services programs
• infrastructure grant program.
• grant program.
• Maximum aid payments in the program—the maximum amount of grants that we provide—are determined by family
• Seeing none, we will move on to children's programs. budget the grant increase estimate seems reasonable

Summary: The Assembly Budget Subcommittee on Human Services held a hearing on the Governor’s May Revision, with no votes taken. The first major topic was child care and early education, where the Department of Social Services and Department of Finance outlined proposed changes to absorb federal Child Care and Development Fund and Proposition 64 revenue reductions, shift some funding between child care programs, end funding for prospective pay implementation now that the federal requirement has been rescinded, adjust the alternative payment administration structure, and fund child care infrastructure grants and a Low-Income Investment Fund contract closeout. The Legislative Analyst’s Office said the budget makes progress on the structural deficit but recommended maintaining the administration’s solution level, making reserve deposits, and avoiding new ongoing commitments; it also raised concerns about shifting reductions to the California Alternative Payment Program and about the proposed administrative-rate change. Committee members strongly criticized the proposed loss of child care slots and said they would oppose eliminating those slots, while also expressing support for child care as essential infrastructure. The committee then reviewed California State Preschool Program proposals. Finance and CDE described reductions to the preschool COLA from 2.41% to 2.01%, removal of prospective pay funding, and increases for the QRIS block grant, audit support, and rate reform implementation. Trailer bill language would codify age-based rate categories, inclusion-rate documentation, family fee collection rules, portability, and excused absences. CDE supported the QRIS increase and some attendance and family-fee changes, but warned that aligning three- and four-year-old rates could reduce support for three-year-olds and that the budget does not fully cover enrollment growth. Members also questioned whether the preschool and child care slot reductions should be reallocated rather than terminated, and the administration said the reductions were intended to reflect current utilization and avoid harm to currently enrolled families. The hearing then moved to CalFresh and nutrition programs. CDSS said the May Revision includes a one-time CalFood augmentation, funding to cover federal SNAP administrative cost-share pressures, and additional staffing and technical assistance to implement HR 1 changes, including the able-bodied adults without dependents time limit and new non-citizen eligibility rules. The department estimated HR 1 could cut CalFresh funding by $2.3 billion to $3.7 billion annually and affect about 500,000 people, with roughly 806,000 adults potentially subject to the time limit and about 34,000 non-citizens expected to lose eligibility once fully implemented. Members pressed for stronger harm mitigation, including a $98 million backfill to protect families from losing food benefits, and raised concerns about county workload and the “chilling effect” on immigrant participation. The final portion of the transcript began the IHSS presentation, noting a revised budget of $33.7 billion total funds and $12.8 billion General Fund, with proposed reductions tied to Medi-Cal asset-limit changes and other federal conformity items.

Transcript Highlights:

• But when I look at line 1596-2506, the micro-transit $10 million, I see it's a grant program, right?
• And I wonder if you could react to an idea, say, to not make it a grant program, but make it a direct
• And I see it's a grant program, right? So not guaranteed to the RTAs.
• And I wonder if we, if you could react to an idea, say, to not make it a grant program, but make it a
• But we want to have this conversation about the grant programs and about the current funding and how

Keywords: 995, all

Summary: The hearing focused on House Bill 55, the governor’s FY25 supplemental budget proposal to spend about $1.3 billion in surplus Fair Share revenue. House and Senate chairs framed the bill as a one-time opportunity to invest fairly in education and transportation, while also noting the need to protect the state’s long-term fiscal balance. Administration officials said the proposal should be considered alongside the FY26 budget and related bills, since the governor’s broader Fair Share plan aims for roughly an even split between education and transportation over time. Secretary of Administration and Finance Matthew Gorzkowicz, Transportation Secretary Monica Tibbits-Nutt, and Education Secretary Patrick Tutwiler outlined the administration’s priorities. Transportation funding would go mainly to the MBTA and related reserves, including money for the Federal Transit Administration reserve, MBTA stabilization reserve, low-income fares, winter resilience, RTA workforce support, MassDOT workforce and project delivery, and micro-transit grants. Education funding would support universal preschool expansion, early education and care capacity, early literacy tutoring, adult basic education and ESOL, early college and career technical education, MyCAP expansion, and special education circuit breaker funding. The administration emphasized that many of these investments are one-time or multi-year measures designed to address current needs without creating unsustainable recurring costs. Committee members raised concerns about regional equity, especially the large share of transportation money going to the MBTA versus regional transit authorities and rural areas. Several members asked for more detail on how the proposal would benefit Western Massachusetts and other non-MBTA regions, and whether micro-transit and Chapter 90-related investments would be sufficient. Education questions focused on special education reimbursement shortfalls, federal funding cuts to school districts, and how CTE and vocational investments would align students with workforce needs. The administration said it would provide additional data on MBTA versus RTA investment and explained that the special education circuit breaker and transportation reimbursement changes were intended to improve predictability and relief for districts. After the administration panel, Jessica Tang of AFT Massachusetts testified in support of using Fair Share funds to protect public education amid federal uncertainty and cuts. She argued that schools are facing a fiscal cliff, that vulnerable students would be hit hardest by funding losses, and that the Fair Share revenue should be used to preserve services and support students’ needs.

Transcript Highlights:

• The first large grant that we obtained was a HRSA grant.
• At the time of the grant, but also to this day, the faculty looked at all of the courses in our DNP program
• I believe we're going to need to look at those grant programs and how you're really utilizing them to
• The grants that we've had in the past through HRSA and SAMHSA have really enhanced our programs.
• When they first implemented some of these programs, similar to some of the higher education grants, they

Transcript Highlights:

• That the Office of Grants Management.
• the people administering the programs the people administering the programs and<00:05:02.400>
• hasn't been recognized by the grants hasn't been recognized by the grants manager,<00:11:50.560>
• these programs know how to do the work. these programs know how to do the work.
• , meals somewhere in the summer program, meals somewhere in the summer program, are<00:24:38.720>

Keywords: 919, house, all

Summary: House Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Committee Chair Kristen Robbins opened by criticizing the governor’s fraud package as too focused on new spending and staffing, and not enough on culture change, accountability, eligibility rules, and an enterprise-wide IT/data strategy. She said the committee had heard a good overview from multiple commissioners, but she remained concerned that piecemeal technology investments and added staff would not address the root causes of fraud. Robbins also said she would introduce a bill based on issues raised in committee, including requiring grants management staff to complete Office of Grants Management training and certification. A major action announced was the launch of a new whistleblower portal at mnfraud.com, which legislators said will let people submit basic fraud allegations, after which staff will follow up and forward matters to the Office of the Legislative Auditor, BCA, law enforcement, or the attorney general as appropriate. Members noted that the Office of the Legislative Auditor already has a separate reporting portal, and there was a question about why the new site does not allow anonymous reporting; Robbins said contact information is needed so staff can follow up. She also said the portal is intended to centralize and triage reports from agency workers, service recipients, and providers. Republican members said the governor’s proposal still misses key pieces. Vice Chair Anderson argued the package mostly adds staff to agencies that failed to catch or act on fraud, and said Minnesota needs a statewide independent inspector general with authority outside agencies and a stronger whistleblower system. Representative Marion Rarick said the proposed criminal penalty increases are too small compared with federal penalties and criticized the package for adding only one forensic auditor at the BCA while DHS receives many more positions. She also argued that agency managers should face sanctions when fraud occurs under their watch and said the state needs a culture where employees can be rewarded for good work but also held accountable for failures. Members discussed several other ideas, including creating new crimes for kickbacks and theft of public funds, requiring fraud fiscal notes, improving data sharing and eligibility verification, and using better IT so systems can talk to each other. There was also discussion of whether government services should rely less on nonprofits and private contractors; one member said fraud often follows a particular business model rather than the sector itself, while another suggested capping salaries of top nonprofit executives receiving government funds. The committee also noted that the governor’s fraud package is being presented as a package but will likely move as separate provisions through different omnibus bills.

Transcript Highlights:

• program with the Mini Kids affiliate, then you create the Mini Kids implementation grants, and it just
• So I'm just concerned about creating a whole new layer of grant programs, so I would just like maybe
• programs.
• <00:15:24.279> program creating this whole new grant program creating this whole new grant
• /c><00:15:51.040> just<00:15:51.199> like Grant programs so I would just like Grant programs

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• programs.
• But as I went through these grants, first of all, I want to say I like the master principal bonus programs
• programs decreased.
• of program types completing the program over that time.
• programs.

Keywords: 1204, all

Summary: The committee first received a presentation from Legislative Audit on Arkansas Department of Education grant distributions for fiscal year 2025. Auditors explained the report summarizes $4.6 billion in grants to school districts, charter schools, education cooperatives, and other entities, with most funding coming from the Public School Fund and federal sources. Members asked about specific recipients and programs, including ClassWallet, master principal bonuses, Economics Arkansas, and CDC surveillance grants. Department of Education staff clarified that the audit report only shows distributions, not how recipients ultimately used the money, and noted that some funding declines reflected the end of one-time federal COVID relief dollars. Senators also asked about the special-language appropriation for Economics Arkansas and the use of public school fund revenues. The committee then heard a Bureau of Legislative Research presentation on Consumer Price Index projections from Moody’s Analytics and S&P Global, followed by a detailed adequacy-study update on teacher recruitment, retention, and salaries. The teacher report covered teacher counts, education levels, experience, shortages, preparation pathways, licensure exceptions, survey results, and salary trends. Key findings included about 32,800 teachers statewide in 2025, an average retention rate of 87%, and 30% of surveyed teachers saying they were considering leaving the profession. The report also noted shortages in special education, math, science, and other areas, growth in alternative preparation pathways, and the phaseout of several licensure exceptions under Act 304 of 2025. Members asked extensively about survey methodology, teacher satisfaction, preparation for classroom environment and special education, the cost and return on investment of alternative licensure routes, and whether exit-interview data exists statewide. The presenters said they could follow up on several questions, including details on alternative programs, incentives for ESL and special education endorsements, and comparisons to other surveys. On salaries, the report said the statewide average teacher salary in 2025 was $60,254, with districts averaging slightly higher than charters. Arkansas ranked 45th nationally on average salary in 2025, though 36th when adjusted for cost of living, and average district salaries had declined 8% in inflation-adjusted terms since 2016. Members also discussed the LEARNS Act minimum salary floor of $50,000, salary disparities among districts, and whether the state should focus more on retaining experienced teachers as well as raising starting pay.

Transcript Highlights:

• Recapture program.
• Ready Community Program or for some of the Community Program or for some of the other programs.
• Congress had a program that they said run this program. U.S.
• Seems to me that we've already determined through all of our business ready grant program and the discussions
• So, the Mineral Royalty Grant Program has lost pace with keeping up with inflation.

Keywords: 916, all

Transcript Highlights:

• For supported decision-making programs.
• Appropriated for dementia grants.
• , including PCA Choice, the CFSS program.
• Grants are our second major area of emphasis.
• Our goal is not to target programs or services.

Bills: HF2434

Keywords: healthcare, personal care assistance, worker retention, disability services, state funding

Transcript Highlights:

• The next slide goes over our forecasted programs.
• So when we have a bill for a grant and we're fiscal noting that bill, we are simply looking at that grant
• you, or if it's a big grant, a few FTEs.
• you, or if it's a big grant, a few FTEs.
• Alright, Johnson, similar programs has a significant bias toward a one-to-one ratio in separate programming

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• And finally, we have a program for agricultural water conservation grants and loans, and that's to cover
• Instead of having them come through a normal program where there may not be as much grant ability.
• For our drinking water program, EPA granted TCEQ primacy, which means that means that TCEQ has the responsibility
• The program must. meets strict criteria under the Safe Drinking Water Act to be granted primacy from
• The agency administers a number of conservation-related grant programs for local districts, which are

Keywords: 1184, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• The Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, we believe that between the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program and
• The Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, we believe that between the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program and
• our public assistance... ...we believe that between the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program and our public
• The public assistance program...
• So that loan program helps shorten that.

Keywords: 914, all

Summary: The committee held a budget hearing for the Oklahoma Office of Emergency Management, with Director Annie Verst presenting the agency’s FY26/FY27 request and explaining the agency’s role in disaster response, recovery, preparedness, and mitigation. She said OEM remains a lean agency focused on coordinating resources for local governments, supporting recovery after disasters, and helping communities build resilience. She highlighted recent activity including wildfire response, multiple fire management assistance declarations, $83 million in public assistance payouts, use of the new state disaster revolving fund, and implementation of an Oklahoma resilient recovery strategy and ARPA-funded rural public safety grants. Verst emphasized uncertainty in federal funding and FEMA operations, saying hazard mitigation assistance has been canceled for the first time since 1988, some obligations were delayed under DHS’s “Defend the Spend” review, and the emergency management performance grant period was shortened before later being resolved. She said OEM has restructured by eliminating obsolete administrative work, repurposing positions to regional coordinators, ending warehouse leases, and assigning fleet vehicles more efficiently. Her budget request included $3.7 million to cover a possible loss of federal operating support, $1 million for a required state hazard mitigation plan update, $3.8 million for the state emergency fund to cover anticipated 12.5% state shares and replenish prior expenditures, and $800,000 for anticipated other-needs/temporary sheltering cost share. Members questioned her about Oklahoma Task Force One, the revolving fund, and whether OEM is shifting toward a response-focused agency. Verst said response remains local and OEM’s role is coordination, recovery, and mitigation, not replacing local emergency management. She explained Task Force One is used when local capacity is exceeded, is not currently funded by OEM for routine operations, and the revolving fund helps bridge reimbursement delays. She also said the hazard mitigation plan update would likely be done by an outside contractor or university partner. No votes were taken; the hearing ended after questions and thanks from the chair.

Transcript Highlights:

• program design and ensuring that the grant program we build is sufficiently safeguarded, such that any
• program design and ensuring that the grant program we build is sufficiently safeguarded, such that any
• program design and ensuring that the grant program we build is sufficiently safeguarded, such that any
• grants program this is building out this grants program this is sort<00:33:38.639> of<00:33:38.720
• body when they enacted this grant body when they enacted this grant program<00:33:53.480> um<

Keywords: 1183, house

Summary: The Minnesota House Commerce Committee held its inaugural meeting with Chair Tim O’Driscoll and co-chair Representative Greg Davids opening the session and inviting members to introduce themselves. Members briefly described their districts, business backgrounds, and priorities, with recurring themes including small business competitiveness, insurance and health care access, property and real estate issues, agriculture, and making Minnesota easier to do business in. Committee staff also introduced themselves and reminded members and testifiers about sign-in procedures and microphone use. The committee then heard an overview from Eric Toell, interim director of the Office of Cannabis Management, on the agency’s work and budget priorities. He said the office now oversees adult-use cannabis, medical cannabis, and hemp-derived cannabinoid products, has grown from about nine employees to 90 full-time staff plus temporary workers, and has been working with a Cannabis Advisory Council on testing, warning labels, and implementation issues. He also described outreach efforts, including webinars, newsletters, guidebooks for local governments, and office hours for applicants, along with enforcement of hemp-derived product rules through more than 3,000 inspections and an increase in compliance rates from about 35% to 75%. Toell also reported that the medical cannabis program has surpassed 51,000 patients and nearly 2,500 registered health care providers, and that a chronic pain report found more than a third of patients reported decreased pain. On the adult-use side, he said the office has posted proposed rules for public comment, plans to adopt them after review, and will open a licensing window from February 18 to March 14. He explained that the office is also managing community reinvestment grants and a technical assistance grant, with an emphasis on safeguards to ensure funds reach intended recipients. No votes were taken during this meeting.

Transcript Highlights:

• safe school culture grant program established in Senate Bill 283 a few years ago.
• Next up, we have, speaking of training, the Safe School Culture Grant Program, ODE.
• I was part of the Safe Schools Culture Grant team that implemented and administered the grant.
• And we did implement some rules specific to the grant program, found in OAR 581-017-2830, and I believe
• We also held office hours about the grant with frequency ongoing throughout the life of the grant to

Keywords: 907, all

Transcript Highlights:

• There are roughly 15 different grant programs and cost-share programs within Agri, and every one of them
• Um, one of the ways I talk about it is that in any given grant program in any given year, the number
• The other thing that you'll see in the appendix are details on each grant program that will show you
• <00:19:31.840> U with every one of our grant programs.
• U with every one of our grant programs.

Bills: HF3580, HF3566

Keywords: agriculture, livestock, depredation, crop damage, wolf compensation, elk damage, state funding, agricultural protection, trespass, criminal penalties, farm equipment, agricultural land, 1183, house

Summary: The committee first approved the minutes from the previous meeting and then heard from Minnesota FFA officers, who described FFA as a student-led agricultural education organization focused on leadership, personal growth, and career success. The students explained the three-part model of agricultural education, the size and reach of FFA in Minnesota, and upcoming events at the Capitol, including an agricultural policy experience conference and FFA Day at the Capitol. Members asked about FFA’s role in encouraging the next generation of farmers, the organization’s broader focus beyond farming to include wildlife and other natural resources careers, and the mix of rural, metro, and urban chapters. The students emphasized that FFA and agricultural educators help students discover career paths and that urban chapters are active and thriving alongside rural ones. The committee then received a presentation from the Minnesota Department of Agriculture on the Agri program. The department described Agri as a legislature-created program that uses producer-payment funds to support roughly 15 grant and cost-share programs, including newer efforts such as Protect and Prepare. Testimony stressed transparency and fraud prevention: Agri is reimbursement-based, requires detailed documentation, conducts site visits on grants over $25,000, and has identified and stopped more than a dozen fraudulent applications in the past year. The department also noted a prior legislative auditor review of two larger Agri programs and said only about one-tenth of 1% of reviewed expenditures were recommended for recovery. The department highlighted the Make It Minnesota cost-share program, which helps Minnesota food and agriculture companies attend national trade shows such as Natural Products Expo West. Testifiers then described how Agri has supported their businesses: Mark Schiller of Lon Liquor in Northfield said the program helped his microdistillery expand into milling organic flour and adding food service, while Pete Gangler of Snowpack Foods in Caledonia said Agri grants supported food safety improvements, processing capacity, and a new freezer warehouse project. The department said additional grantees would testify as well, and members asked whether the department’s fraud-prevention practices could be shared with other state agencies; staff said they already are being shared through interagency best-practice efforts.

Transcript Highlights:

• This program is called the Grant-in-Aid program.
• The Grant-in-Aid program provides grants to support research and creative work of faculty and graduate
• in the state grant program so how is in the state grant program so how is that<01:31:38.159>
• c><01:31:53.960> representative grant program Dean bur h representative grant program Dean bur
• And then our final appropriation is through grants, gifts, and income for our programs.

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• And lastly, we've seen a lot of attention on fraud related to grant programs in the Minnesota House,
• <00:02:18.800> house Grant programs in the Minnesota house Grant programs in the Minnesota
• :02:20.760> is and while scrutinizing grants is and while scrutinizing grants is important<00:
• office of Inspector General that Grant office of Inspector General that Grant covers<00:03:40.640
• <00:04:22.560> for administrators of the program for administrators of the program for example

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• of those federal grants.
• item for title, IDA, and other grants. item for title, IDA, and other grants.
• I think every school grants? No.
• It allows for clearer tracking of categorical grants, federal program funding, and special-purpose allocations
• going to get the grant or not. going to get the grant or not.

Keywords: 1191, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• First and foremost, the proposal stabilizes the state grant program by investing in new resources and
• and North Star Promise programs.
• <00:02:14.800> and importance of both the state grant and importance of both the state grant
• Northstar promise programs legislators Northstar promise programs legislators from<00:02:17.920>
• reinvest it back into the program. reinvest it back into the program.

Keywords: 1187, senate, all