Transcript Highlights:

• Are you going to cut nursing homes? Are you going to cut roads and bridges?
• Are you going to cut nursing homes? Are you going to cut roads and bridges?
• Are you going to cut nursing homes? Are you going to cut roads and bridges?
• Are you going to cut nursing homes? Are you going to cut roads and bridges?

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• for taking up the measure and said that, while they tried alternative ways of assuring coverage for nursing
• particularly<00:16:05.959> um to Bill and cover particularly um to Bill and cover particularly um nursing
• :07.600> are<00:16:07.680> on<00:16:07.839> Medicaid<00:16:08.839> we nursing
• parents who are on Medicaid we nursing parents who are on Medicaid we haven't<00:16:09.639> successfully

Keywords: 912, senate, all

Summary: The Health and Human Services committee heard several resolutions focused on health care access, Medicaid services, and regulatory reform. SR 6 urged the Director of Health to create a working group on health insurance reform to reduce prior authorization delays; testimony was generally supportive, with DHS, SHIPA, the Hawaii Association of Health Plans, the Hawaii Primary Care Association, the Hawaii Medical Association, and HMSA all offering comments or support. SHIPA said House Bill 250 would provide a better mechanism for the same goal, but the committee still moved forward with the resolution. SR 7 asked DHS Med-QUEST to cover behavioral health services for children in school-based settings, and SR 9 sought a program to incentivize community care foster family homes to accept people eligible under the Medicaid IDD waiver program. DHS supported the intent of both measures but raised concerns about regulatory limits. Testifiers on SR 9, including the Hawaii State Council on Developmental Disabilities and the Hawaii Disability Rights Center, argued the state should be more creative in expanding residential capacity, especially on the neighbor islands, while the chair questioned whether the barriers were state administrative rules or federal requirements. The committee also heard SC 14/SR 10 on a sunrise analysis for lactation consultant licensure. Supporters said lactation services can improve health outcomes and save costs, and that Medicaid coverage remains limited. After discussion, the committee adopted the chair’s recommendations: SR 6 and SC 14/SR 10 were passed with technical, non-substantive amendments; SR 7 was deferred; and SR 9 was deferred for further work. The meeting then adjourned.

Transcript Highlights:

• Also over here in the back corner we have with us our nurse of the day, Miss Lee Fosio.
• Also over here in the back corner we have with us our nurse of the day, Miss Lee Fosio.
• Here in the back corner we have with us our Nurse of the Day, Ms. Lee Fasio.

Keywords: 1204, all

Summary: The House convened with prayer, the Pledge of Allegiance, a quorum present, and several guests recognized, including state troopers, a nurse of the day, Miss Arkansas’ Teen, the Eldorado High School cheer team, RootEd Arkansas students, Valley Springs AP History students, Entergy Arkansas representatives, and a representative-elect. The chamber also received notice that the governor had approved House Bill 1002, Act 1. Lawmakers first passed House Bill 1003, the Arkansas House Representative Staff appropriation for fiscal years 2026-2027, by a vote of 94-0 with the emergency clause. The House then considered a series of budget amendments, including appropriations for labor and licensing, Rich Mountain Community College, state turnbacks, insurance-related fines for local police and ambulance services, county property tax turnbacks, tobacco and casino enforcement, homestead tax credit-related county turnbacks, career technical education advisors, Northwest Arkansas Community College tornado repairs, and the removal of an unused Fort Chaffee appropriation. All of those amendments were adopted. The House then batched and passed most of the remaining appropriation bills and emergency clauses by a vote of 94-0-1. Individual votes followed on several bills: House Bills 1021, 1027, 1029, 1049, 1056, 1061, 1074, 1075, 1079, and House Resolutions 1004 and 1005 all passed, while House Bills 1014, 1060, and 1062 failed. The bills that passed covered items such as Arkansas State University-Mid-South, the Health Services Permit Agency, tourism-related facilities turnbacks, animal rescue shelter funding, the Martin Luther King Jr. Commission, the Department of Labor and Licensing, the Oil and Gas Commission, the Division of Agriculture and Arkansas Bioscience Institute, and a Department of Corrections program to combat contraband cell phones in prisons. At the end of the meeting, the House adopted a motion to adjourn until 11 a.m. the next day. Committee announcements noted House Rules would meet in 15 minutes, Special Language would meet the next morning at 8 a.m. to consider governor’s letters only, and Joint Budget would meet at 9 a.m. in Big Mac A.

Transcript Highlights:

• I represent the Texas Nurses Association.
• I'm also here on behalf of the Nursing Legislative Agenda Coalition, which is a coalition... ...a coalition
• made up of over 20 specialty nursing organizations, and we are all unanimously in support of this bill

Bills: HB2564, HB2760, HB2765, HB2898, HB3260, HB3800, HB4341, HB4396, HB5195

Keywords: Defense Economic Adjustment, grant applications, economic assistance, local government, Evaluation panel, judicial review, Texas Workforce Commission, unemployment compensation, legal proceedings, labor law, rural development, infrastructure, Texas economic fund, private investment, job creation, meteorological evaluation towers, wind resources, aviation safety, regulations, construction notice

Transcript Highlights:

• I represent the Texas Nurses Association.
• I'm also here on behalf of the Nursing Legislative Agenda Coalition, which is a coalition made up of
• over 20 specialty nursing organizations.

Transcript Highlights:

• Those nurses at Camp Sheridan, right here in Montgomery, were providing critical care to troops stationed
• On the left here is nurse Raven Christopher from Mobile, who was deployed to Kosovo, and that's her uniform
• We've got members of the chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear unit at a nursing home in Mobile

Bills: SB67, HB295, SB104

Keywords: veterans affairs, Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs, State Board of Veterans Affairs, commissioner, Governor appointment, oversight board, veterans services, veterans benefits, state veterans homes, veterans cemeteries, Alabama Veterans Home Trust Fund, veteran service officers, district managers, assistant commissioners, county veterans offices, military veterans, disabled veterans, elderly veterans, veterans organizations, American Legion

Transcript Highlights:

• I am here today on behalf Nursing Home.
• not<02:17:57.200> act County nursing homes did not act County nursing homes did not act
• > as<02:18:57.120> a Counties operate nursing homes as a Counties operate nursing homes
• New Hampshire County nursing margins.
• INE has a very successful LNA nursing INE has a very successful LNA nursing program.<05:19:39.760

Keywords: 1189, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Speaker, I rise today to recognize nurse Heather Daniels, a perinatal services nurse at Liberty Regional
• Speaker, I rise today to recognize nurse Heather Daniels, a perinatal services nurse at Liberty Regional
• registered nurse credential, and critical care registered nurse certifications.
• <07:08:47.920> at Seth Nesmith, the registered nurse at Seth Nesmith, the registered nurse
• <07:09:11.680> degree, received a registered nurse degree, received a registered nurse degree

Keywords: U.S. House of Representatives Floor Proceedings on Wednesday, January 21, 2026, 1012, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• If you look at forensic nursing programs, they train nurses to conduct counseling and therapy with forensically
• Assessment training is not part of that forensic nursing program.
• registered nurses to conduct the the the examinations<00:53:37.640> uh<00:53:37.799> even<
• programs they train forensic nursing programs they train nurses<00:53:46.839> to<00:53:47.079
• program so with all the problems nursing program so with all the problems in<00:54:00.640> the

Keywords: 910, house, all

Summary: The committee first took up SB 1494 on hearing aids. Testimony was generally supportive of expanding hearing-aid coverage, with the Insurance Division raising concern about possible federal defrayment issues, SHPDA supporting the goal of hearing augmentation, DCAB strongly supporting the bill as an important access issue, and health plans and insurers asking for amendments. Kaiser Permanente and the Hawaii Association of Health Plans requested changes to add a medical-necessity standard and clarify annual notice language, while HMSA suggested the proposal should be studied by the auditor. The chair noted concerns about federal preemption and the lack of an audit, and deferred the bill in favor of a related resolution calling for a study. The committee then heard SB 1448, an emergency appropriation for the Hawaii State Hospital. DAGS and the Department of Health supported the measure, with the hospital administrator saying the funding would improve the environment of care, support cleaning, and allow a third-party review of the building. Committee members questioned the size of the request and the status of litigation against the design-builder. Administration witnesses said they were pursuing a comprehensive study involving destructive testing, had made a demand on the design-builder to fund the study, and were using different processes than before. They also said the roof work would be handled through a separate CIP request. No final action was taken in the portion provided. The committee next heard SB 1432, relating to the future responsibilities of the Department of Health and land issues at Kalaupapa after the last patient dies. DOH supported the bill in part but said its long-term role would be limited mainly to environmental cleanup, with operations expected to continue under the National Park Service and land-use decisions left to DHHL and beneficiary consultation. DHHL asked that the measure reflect that any land-use or zoning changes on homeland lands require commission approval and beneficiary consultation. Testifiers from Kalaupapa and Maui County, including Degra Vanderbilt-Papa and Council Member Keani Rollins-Fernandez, supported deferring the bill, saying there had been no meaningful community discussion about provisions affecting Kalaupapa’s future management and possible transfer of responsibilities to Maui County. The committee also read into the record written testimony from Gloria Marks emphasizing that Kalaupapa stakeholders must be included in future discussions. Finally, the committee heard SB 955 on fitness-to-proceed examinations. The Judiciary and the Public Defender’s Office both supported raising pay and standardizing expectations for private examiners, but opposed reducing felony fitness evaluations from three examiners to one and opposed expanding use of expedited reports. They argued that a single examiner would reduce reliability, create a more adversarial process, and likely increase costs and contested hearings, while expedited reports do not contain enough information for a proper fitness determination. The Department of Health also supported the bill’s intent but asked to preserve a three-examiner framework and said the goal was to reduce the number of people sent to the State Hospital, where admissions have reportedly risen about 20% year over year since Act 26. The bill remained under discussion in the excerpt, with no final vote shown.

Transcript Highlights:

• Tim Mcor with the Communicable Disease and Public Health Nursing Division of the Department of Health
• division of the Department of nursing division of the Department of Health<01:17:33.400> the<
• Next, the Board of Nursing. Next, we have testimony from the Board of Nursing.
• I'm an Executive Officer for the Board of Nursing.
• I'm an Executive Officer for the Board of Nursing.

Keywords: 910, house, all

Summary: The House Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs heard Senate Bill 1322, SD2, HD1, a comprehensive measure revising Hawaii’s mental health code. The bill would clarify emergency transportation, examination, and hospitalization procedures for people who may be mentally ill or suffering from substance abuse and deemed imminently dangerous, expand notice requirements, allow certain information-sharing for assisted community treatment petitions, and add liability protections for emergency responders and providers. The Department of the Attorney General supported the bill as a collaborative update to the law, while the Department of Health asked for a copy of provider-generated emergency transport documentation within five days for data and planning purposes. Testimony was sharply divided. Queen’s Health System, Hawaiʻi Pacific Health, HHSC, and the Institute for Human Services supported the measure or parts of it but requested amendments, including clarifying whether a second psychiatric exam is required, restoring a 72-hour rather than 48-hour stabilization window, and adjusting where patients are taken when an MEO cannot be reached. The ACLU of Hawaiʻi strongly opposed the bill, arguing it weakens due process and civil liberties, especially around involuntary commitment, assisted community treatment, emergency transport by police, and reduced procedural safeguards; it urged the committee to hold the bill and consider an interim working group. Louie E.K. of the Hawaiʻi Disability Rights Center also opposed the bill, focusing on immunity from negligence, the use of police for transport, and the reduction of a three-provider review to one in state-hospital treatment orders. Other testimony included support from an individual who said the bill could improve mental health care delivery amid provider shortages, and a comment from Hawaiʻi Health and Harm Reduction Center warning that the substance use portion of the bill lacks evidence of effectiveness and could be misused. In response to committee questions, the Attorney General’s office said the measure was developed with input from multiple stakeholders, including state agencies, hospitals, the ACLU, HHSC, and IHS, and that it aims to make assisted community treatment more accessible and effective by streamlining the legal process and improving consequences for noncompliance. No vote or final action was taken during the portion of the meeting provided.

Transcript Highlights:

• It's different with parents who are nursing. It's different in this situation.
• It's different in this nursing.
• You cannot bring them to the surgery room if you're a doctor or a nurse. There are so many careers.
• Or our hair stylist or the nurse at Regions.
• our the nurse at Regions. our the nurse at Regions.

Keywords: 918, senate, all

Summary: The Senate convened under call, established a quorum, and received routine executive communications and House messages, including the House’s passage of Senate File 3623 on school bus stopping requirements and transmittal of House Files 3241, 3731, 3741, and 3802. The chamber also adopted committee reports and gave second readings to several Senate files and House File 3379, while referring Senate File 4854 to the Capital Investments Committee and Senate Resolution 68 to Rules and Administration. The main floor action involved a series of motions to re-refer bills to different committees. The Senate adopted motions to move Senate File 1671 from Judiciary and Public Safety to Housing and Homelessness Prevention, Senate File 2373 from Finance to Labor, Senate File 4452 from Capital Investment to Human Services, Senate File 4580 from Human Services to State and Local Government, Senate File 4589 from Judiciary and Public Safety to Higher Education, Senate File 4630 from Education Policy to Education Finance, and Senate File 4662 from Capital Investment to State and Local Government. The chamber also adopted a motion to give House File 3378 a second reading and place it on general orders after a roll call vote of 46-21. The Senate then took up Senate Resolution 69, which would amend the temporary rules to allow certain accommodations for members who are new parents. Senators Murphy and Coleman spoke in support, arguing the rules should better reflect modern family life and make the chamber more welcoming to parents, especially mothers. Senator Nelson offered the A4 amendment to allow caucus leaders to permit a member’s child under age one on the floor, with the member responsible for supervision and the child exempt from Rule 17.6. Opponents, including Senator Boldon, argued the age limit was too restrictive and that parents should have more flexibility. After roll call, the Nelson A4 amendment failed 32-35, and the resolution remained pending with additional amendments possible.

Transcript Highlights:

• We had nurses coming to the Capitol recently, and they all spoke about some of the challenges and the
• We had nurses coming to the Capitol recently, and they all spoke about some of the challenges and the
• I'm a surgeon, and, you know, we look at, say, the nursing workforce.
• know we look at say the nursing know we look at say the nursing workforce<00:39:36.160> um
• <01:20:44.719> wanting mentioned earlier around nurses wanting mentioned earlier around nurses

Bills: HF1316, HF4369

Keywords: HF1316, child support, new hire reporting, centralized work reporting system, independent contractors, payors, employers, payor of funds, withholding orders, income withholding, child support enforcement, Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families, gig economy, rideshare drivers, delivery drivers, 1099, W-9, W-4, newly hired workers, rehired employees

Transcript Highlights:

• They are the nursing assistants, nurses, culinary staff, environmental service workers, and senior leaders
• <01:25:54.639> assistant language learning, nursing assistant language learning, nursing assistant
• in some of those in-person nursing in some of those in-person nursing assistant<01:26:03.840>
• remiss if I didn't emphasize that that expectation to do more is coming at a time when Minnesota nursing
• homes and time when Minnesota nursing homes and disability<01:29:13.760> providers<01:29:14.320

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• The first round of changes on this slide are the changes to nursing facility payments.
• As you can nursing facility payments.
• of the nursing facility payment rates. of the nursing facility payment rates.
• the search charge um that nursing the search charge um that nursing facilities<00:43:23.119>
• Um, the next one is the Nursing Home Workforce Standards Board.

Bills: HF3379

Keywords: housing stabilization, disability services, predatory funding, provider requirements, housing accessibility, 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• I'm a cardiac nurse in Luth, and I'm the president of the Minnesota Nurses Association.
• I represent one of the biggest nursing home companies in Minnesota.
• <00:57:31.920> home<00:57:32.119> companies<00:57:32.440> in biggest nursing
• home companies in biggest nursing home companies in Minnesota<00:57:33.440> this<00:57:33.559
• She's a nurse practitioner now, with 13 employees. Does my boss get topped out?

Bills: HF1976

Keywords: paid leave, family leave, employment law, Minnesota statute, benefit eligibility, seasonal employment, workforce, labor rights, 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• in always does a pretty awful job of triaging people by insurance type because the docs care, the nurses
• in always does a pretty awful job of triaging people by insurance type because the docs care, the nurses
• in always does a pretty awful job of triaging people by insurance type because the docs care, the nurses
• in always does a pretty awful job of triaging people by insurance type because the docs care, the nurses
• type because the docs care the nurses type because the docs care the nurses care<00:21:33.600>

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• One in five of our nursing students already has a bachelor’s degree in some other field, but at some
• In some other field, but at some point in life, they realize that they were meant to become a nurse,
• Maine's ratio is 8 to 1 nursing, and that's expensive. I think New Hampshire is 10 to 1.
• Maine's ratio is 8 to 1 nursing, and that's expensive. I think New Hampshire is 10 to 1.
• That says something about the way the state's colleges and universities are preparing nurses, and it

Keywords: 928, house, all

Summary: The meeting was the first session of a newly created House Education Funding Committee, which also handles career technical education and higher education legislation. The chair explained that the committee was split off from the larger education committee because of the high volume of bills in the prior biennium, and said its focus would be on education funding policy and related fiscal issues. He noted that the committee had already reviewed major topics with the Department of Education, including the foundation formula, building aid, career technical education, special education aid, catastrophic aid, and higher education funding, and that chancellors from the university and community college systems were scheduled to appear later that morning. The bulk of the meeting was an orientation on committee procedures and decorum. The chair reviewed attendance and replacement rules, hearing procedures, time limits for testimony, and how the committee would handle crowded hearings, early bills, and fiscal notes. He emphasized that hearings are not debates, that sponsors and co-sponsors may present but should not use their position to dominate questioning, and that the chair controls whether additional technical questions are asked of witnesses. He also stressed neutrality, saying members should not display buttons or placards or engage in running debates with testifiers, and that the committee should treat all testimony respectfully regardless of party or viewpoint. Additional housekeeping guidance covered security procedures, use of cell phones and computers during hearings, breaks and hydration in the dry hearing rooms, and courtesy toward the clerk and other staff. The chair also asked members to notify leadership in advance of absences and explained that some bills may require larger rooms or overflow arrangements. No votes were taken and no bills were acted on during this portion of the meeting.

Transcript Highlights:

• This does not apply to nursing facilities or intermediate care facilities for people with developmental
• This does not apply to nursing facilities or intermediate care facilities for people with developmental
• This does not apply to nursing facilities or intermediate care facilities for people with developmental
• homes along with a charges for nursing homes along with a corresponding<00:27:16.320> rate<00
• payments for hospitals, nursing payments for hospitals, nursing facilities,<00:29:27.760> and

Keywords: 919, house, all

Summary: The Department of Human Services briefed the committee on how the federal HR1 law will affect Minnesota Medicaid and related programs. Budget Director Elise Bailey said the 900-page bill makes sweeping changes that will reduce coverage, increase administrative complexity for counties and tribal governments, raise uncompensated care for providers, and reduce federal funding. She reviewed current Medicaid spending and enrollment, emphasizing that the largest impacts will fall on the adult expansion group (adults ages 21-64 without children), which currently receives a 90% federal match. Bailey walked through several major provisions: work and community engagement requirements for the adult expansion group beginning January 1, 2027; six-month renewals for that same group; shorter retroactive coverage periods; new cost-sharing requirements for expansion enrollees above 100% of poverty; narrower Medicaid eligibility for certain lawful noncitizens; limits on provider taxes and state-directed payments; a reduced federal match for emergency medical assistance; and tighter federal rules on payment error penalties. She said many provisions require state law changes and additional federal guidance, and she cited research from Georgia suggesting work requirements increased administrative burden and caused coverage losses without increasing employment. The department estimated fiscal effects including reduced Medicaid spending in some areas but higher state costs in others, such as MinnesotaCare, emergency medical assistance, administrative systems, and provider uncompensated care. Bailey said the immigration-status changes would shift some people from Medical Assistance to MinnesotaCare, and that provider-tax and state-directed-payment changes could reduce future funding to hospitals and other providers. No votes or formal committee actions were taken in the portion provided; the presentation was informational and the department indicated it would return with proposed state-law language as needed.

Transcript Highlights:

• <00:33:57.279> homes support for our nursing homes support for our nursing homes for<00:33
• It wouldn't let us invest in our nursing homes or in our infrastructure. account and the account that
• <01:03:18.720> homes<01:03:19.160> in<01:03:19.279> our in our nursing homes
• in our in our nursing homes in our infastructure infastructure infastructure so<01:03:22.119> um<
• <01:18:44.320> home long-term care and nursing home long-term care and nursing home facilities

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• possible, but basically what MassHealth has always been able to do is, you know, we put a tax on nursing
• There's a nurse that comes in and does an assessment, and it's one of the ways that we're able to support
• enforcement that has real consequences to the folks that are working in our hospitals, working in our nursing

Keywords: 995, all

Summary: The subcommittee opened with roll call and approved the November 2025 minutes. Commissioner Charlie Carr then introduced Leslie Darcy, chief of LTSS at MassHealth, who provided an update on the PCA working group and on federal and state budget pressures affecting MassHealth and long-term services and supports. Darcy said the PCA working group had completed its work and submitted recommendations, including reinstating the 66-hour overtime cap, strengthening program integrity, and ending paid paperwork time for EVV users; she said those changes were implemented on 11/26 and were expected to save $7.4 million. She also described additional consensus recommendations to lower the overtime cap from 66 to 60 hours, create a seven-hour weekly meal-prep support limit, and continue exploring benchmarks, though the group could not reach consensus on a benchmark standard. Darcy warned that a federal bill enacted about six months earlier would significantly affect MassHealth, with an estimated $3.5 billion loss to the Commonwealth by 2028. She outlined upcoming changes including revised immigrant eligibility rules in October 2026, work requirements for certain non-disabled adults beginning in January 2027, six-month redeterminations for some adults, and shorter retroactive coverage periods. In response to questions, she said people with disabilities and Medicare beneficiaries would be exempt from the work and six-month redetermination requirements. She also explained that reduced federal ACA subsidies were being offset in Massachusetts by state spending, including $250 million in additional state support to keep premiums lower for middle-income families. Members raised concerns about community hospitals, the health safety net, and the impact of federal funding changes on provider rates and uncompensated care. Darcy said restrictions on provider taxes would limit MassHealth’s ability to use those revenues to support rates, and she noted a current $300 million shortfall in the health safety net. She said FY27 would likely include a rate freeze, targeted reductions, one-time budget measures, and further work groups to examine programs such as adult foster care, which she said had grown 40% in two years. Carr emphasized that the situation was serious but potentially fluid, and the meeting ended with no further business; the subcommittee agreed to adjourn before the next meeting and noted an upcoming February presentation from the Department of Public Health.