Transcript Highlights:

• This legislation refined to the definition of economically disadvantaged from federal poverty level to
• state median income and ensures the uniform.
• It modifies the priority levels for the program to include to tears of income eligibility.
• families first below. 55 1% state median income followed by families from 55% to 65% of state median
• income.

Transcript Highlights:

• I can give a high-level overview.
• </c><00:21:04.640><c> I</c> I can give a high-level overview. I I can give a high-level overview.
• ><c> SNAP,</c><00:51:40.800><c> so</c> On income verification for SNAP, so On income verification for
• </c> and you mentioned doing income and you mentioned doing income verification<00:51:59.640><c> and<
• </c> DEED data in terms of the income DEED data in terms of the income verification.<00:52:27.080><c>

Bills: HF4525 , HF3002 , HF3665 , HF4420

Committee: House Children and Families Finance and Policy

Transcript Highlights:

• Of the poverty level. So you can't expect that family to be able to afford $3.90 at your store.
• with The Department of Transportation has provided levels of grants associated with investigating and
• entry-level salary and if there's the ability to progress into higher salaries while entry-level salary
• But I really feel like, so they're income-producing properties, but they're residential properties.
• All of these are short-term rentals to become homeowners and to provide extra income.

Committee: Joint Economic & Rural Development & Policy Committee

Transcript Highlights:

• During the of their annual income.
• Um though those at lower income<00:05:12.479><c> levels</c><00:05:12.800><c> are</c><00:05:13.039><c>
• </c><00:05:14.479><c> The</c> income levels are also impacted. The income levels are also impacted.
• For consumers with annual incomes above 400% of the federal poverty level, they have no access to APC
• </c> 52% stayed within the same metal level. 52% stayed within the same metal level.

Committee: Senate Health and Human Services

Transcript Highlights:

• They will not catch up if they continue to pass from grade level to grade level without those interventions
• because as they move from grade level to the next grade level, they're not at proficiency.
• Do they expect students to perform at a high level?
• It is not at the level which provides Secretary: that level of accounting, a dollar for dollar accounting
• level, how our funds are being expended.

Transcript Highlights:

• At the federal level, he said, the U.S.
• At the federal level, he said, the U.S.
• </c> on fixed incomes on fixed incomes this<01:32:54.400><c> bill</c><01:32:54.639><c> addresses</c><
• low fact fact that um the low income low income<02:16:24.719><c> and</c><02:16:24.920><c> competitive
• </c> more competitive in in on a More Level more competitive in in on a More Level Playing<02:32:38.439

Committee: House Science, Technology and Energy

Transcript Highlights:

• And the FMAP, I would like to say, is based on the state's per capita income.
• The lower your per capita income, the higher your FMAP.
• the lower your per capita capita income the lower your per capita income<00:04:01.959><c> the</c><00
• The acronym MFCU is used at the national level.
• At the federal level, when it comes to fraud and abuse, they're trying to cut down.

Summary: The subcommittee met to review the Department for Medicaid Services’ program integrity work. Commissioner Lisa Lee and Program Integrity Director Jennifer Dudinsky outlined Kentucky Medicaid’s structure, funding, enrollment, and spending, including FMAP rates, the size of the Medicaid and KCHIP populations, the number of providers, and 2024 expenditures. They also described the managed care and fee-for-service populations, noting that managed care serves most members while fee-for-service is concentrated in long-term care and waiver populations. Most of the discussion focused on fraud, waste, abuse prevention, and provider oversight. The department described its provider enrollment and certification checks, revalidation requirements, site reviews, fingerprinting for some high-risk providers, and termination grounds such as false application information, Medicare actions, unreported ownership changes, and abandonment of a provider number. Members asked about nonprofit ownership reporting, MCO fraud oversight, and how the department tracks unusual CPT code utilization, especially in behavioral health. The department said it uses data analytics, audits, policy review, and collaboration with behavioral health staff to monitor those trends. Dudinsky explained the division’s four branches: provider licensing and certification, audits and compliance, recovery, and third-party liability/estate recovery. She described prepayment and postpayment audits, referrals of credible fraud allegations to the Attorney General, monthly meetings with the AG’s office, and coordination with the Office of Inspector General, CMS, HHS OIG, MCOs, and other partners. She also explained payment suspensions, stand-downs during law enforcement investigations, and recovery efforts for overpayments, provider/member fraud, and third-party liability. The department said its recovery and avoidance efforts produced more than $251 million in savings so far in 2025. No votes or formal actions beyond approving the minutes were taken.

Transcript Highlights:

• confirms that most of the driving is done by workers who rely on these jobs as a major source of income
• Are not able to get justice at the federal level, it cannot be the intent that states cannot step in
• Students of color and those of low-income backgrounds bear the brunt of the consequences, as teacher
• This bill will help all workers maximize their income and savings by providing the option for direct
• I know at the local level that's generally required.

Summary: The committee heard several labor-related bills, with AB 1424, AB 1340, AB 288, and AB 746 all advancing on due-pass motions to Appropriations after testimony and roll calls. AB 1424 would require climate resiliency and extreme-heat protections in CDCR facilities; supporters described dangerous heat conditions for incarcerated workers and staff, while no opposition testified. AB 1340 would allow rideshare drivers to unionize and collectively bargain; drivers, labor groups, and researchers testified that app-based work is low-paid and unstable, while TechNet, Uber, Lyft, and other business groups argued the bill conflicts with Proposition 22 and could raise costs. AB 288 would let PERB step in when federal labor remedies are unavailable; supporters said it is needed because of NLRB dysfunction, while the Chamber of Commerce raised preemption and enforcement concerns. AB 746 would create an inmate cooperative program and a green reentry reserve; supporters framed it as a recidivism-reduction and reentry strategy, and there was no opposition testimony. The committee also heard AB 858, which would extend hotel and hospitality worker recall rights after declared emergencies and extend existing COVID-era protections. Hospitality workers and unions supported the bill as a way to protect jobs after pandemics, wildfires, and other disasters, while hotel, chamber, retail, restaurant, trucking, travel, and attractions groups opposed it, saying the current recall rules were meant to sunset and that the bill would create broad liabilities and hiring complications. The bill was moved to Appropriations but remained on call after the roll. AB 291, creating a credentialed educator apprenticeship program to address teacher shortages and improve diversity, drew support from education groups and stakeholders who said apprenticeships could lower preparation costs and provide better support; it was also moved to Appropriations and placed on call. Later, the committee took up AB 1104, a solar-energy bill intended to clarify that private solar customers are not “awarding bodies” and to ease certain business-to-business solar transactions while preserving prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements for contractors. Supporters said the current interpretation has chilled commercial solar adoption and harmed jobs, while opponents from electrical workers, PG&E, and others warned about expanded “over-the-fence” power sales and the need for clearer limits. Members questioned the lack of a definition of “small,” and the bill was held without a second. The committee also heard AB 338, which seeks $50 million for Los Angeles and Ventura wildfire workforce recovery; the author and county officials described major job loss and business destruction and said the funds would support displaced workers and rebuilding, with the testimony continuing beyond the excerpt provided.

Transcript Highlights:

• taxes, personal income taxes.
• example, or level three teachers?
• Your Level 1 going to Level 2 teachers because they have an incredible workload with their micro-credentials
• , and even the Level 2 to Level 3, all of those different requirements that are getting them to be able
• to go up to different levels.

Transcript Highlights:

• There's an ask for level funding, $750,000 for that.
• There's an ask for level funding, $750,000 for that.
• Funding at the federal level.
• Again, it is unimaginable that this level of care would be the financial cost, without this level of
• Low-income older adults participating in the bridge subsidy program pay 30% of their income toward rent

Committee: Joint Joint Committee on Ways and Means

Summary: The Joint Ways and Means Committee held its final public hearing on the FY26 state budget, with chairs and members emphasizing that public testimony would help shape the budget and asking speakers to keep remarks brief. Committee leaders introduced members, explained the hearing process, and repeatedly thanked residents, students, and advocates for participating. No votes were taken during the hearing. Testimony focused heavily on education funding and the Chapter 70 formula. Students from Amherst, Northampton, Gateway Regional, Chester Elementary, and other districts described budget-driven cuts to electives, special education supports, paraprofessionals, counselors, transportation, and building maintenance. They urged higher Chapter 70 aid, increased minimum aid, rural school aid, and a reopening or restructuring of the funding formula, arguing that current formulas leave many districts unable to meet student needs and force local layoffs and overrides. Other speakers urged funding or protection for a range of programs and facilities, including the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute for homicide survivor services, the Museum of African American History, the Massachusetts Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and CART/interpreter services, the Access to Counsel housing legal aid program, the Department of Mental Health and Pocasset Mental Health Center, and Pappas Rehabilitation Hospital for Children. One speaker opposed offshore wind-related spending and urged a reset of the state’s energy approach, while another advocated ending the aircraft sales tax exemption. Committee members responded sympathetically to many speakers, asked a few follow-up questions, and several expressed support for maintaining or expanding the programs discussed.

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> are in the highest need and risk level are in the highest need and risk level to<00:19:07.400><c
• would be different from an income tax because, again, the income tax is unrealized gains.
• would be different from an income tax because, again, the income tax is unrealized gains.
• would be different from an income tax because, again, the income tax is unrealized gains.
• Yes, that's a credit card debt for even someone in my income level.

Committee: Senate Judiciary

Summary: The Judiciary Committee heard several bills on January 30. SB 286 and SB 287 both concerned supplemental funding for the Honolulu Department of the Prosecuting Attorney: SB 286 for the career criminal prosecution unit and SB 287 for the victim witness assistance program. Testimony from the department explained that these bills are filed each year because the Attorney General’s core budget allocation may not be sufficient, though the department said the core had recently been increased and the supplemental request might no longer be necessary. For SB 287, the department also warned of a possible federal Victims of Crime Act funding freeze that could cut about $1.88 million and severely harm victim services. Both bills drew support from county and community witnesses, and members asked about prior-year funding and why the requests were limited to fiscal 2025-26; no votes were taken in the excerpt. SB 289, from the State Ethics Commission, would create a more uniform administrative fine process under the ethics code and lobbyist law. The commission said the measure would not change substantive enforcement but would let it issue a notice and order of fine first, with the respondent able to request a hearing within 20 days, which would speed up cases that are not factually disputed. Members questioned whether the bill would deny due process or function like an automatic parking ticket, and the commission responded that respondents could still challenge the fine and that the process would apply to violations with fines under $1,000. The committee also heard SB 304, which would add 11 positions for the First Circuit Adult Client Services Branch; Judiciary testimony said probation caseloads are high, with an average of 116 cases per officer, and the added staff would help meet national supervision standards and better serve higher-risk clients. Members asked whether the positions were already in the budget and about current staffing ratios; the witness said the positions were not already funded and that the Judiciary supported the bill with amendments. The committee then heard SB 311, a proposed constitutional amendment to exclude spending money to influence elections from protected free speech. Testimony was strongly divided: supporters argued that Citizens United has distorted elections and empowered special interests, while opponents warned the language was too broad and could affect nonprofit advocacy and grassroots groups. Finally, SB 313 would impose a 1% wealth asset tax on individuals with $20 million or more in assets. The Department of Taxation said it had concerns about the bill’s ambiguity and administration and noted it would require annual valuation and likely additional resources; opponents, including family business representatives and the Tax Foundation of Hawaii, argued the tax would be difficult and costly to administer, would require sensitive business disclosures, and could force family businesses to pay from company cash. Supporters said wealthy residents should pay a fair share. The committee heard testimony and questions on these bills, but the excerpt does not show final committee votes or actions.

Transcript Highlights:

• or at the local level.
• It extends those rules to the local level as well.
• We use the TALX system from Equifax to verify employment and earned income.
• Like I said, we have our vendor Equifax that checks that income.
• During COVID, there was significant discussion on a federal level and on a global level trying to enforce

Bills: HB2775 , HB2874 , HB2940 , HB4014 , HB4067 , HB4115 , HCM2010 , HCR2051

Committees: House Federalism, Military Affairs & Elections , House House Federalism, Military Affairs & Elections Committee of Reference

Keywords: international organizations, government resources, public institutions, Arizona Board of Regents, foreign adversaries, campaign finance, contributions, termination statements, reporting, penalties, electoral processes, healthcare, public benefits, eligibility verification, fraud prevention, Medicaid, SNAP, transparency, accountability, state land

Transcript Highlights:

• Right now, there is a concerted effort at the federal level to resegregate our society.
• Gender scrutiny must receive the highest level of scrutiny; assumed equality is not enough.
• Gender scrutiny must receive the highest level of scrutiny; assumed equality is not enough.
• Gender scrutiny must receive the highest level of scrutiny; assumed equality is not enough.
• </c><00:17:36.039><c> so</c> administration at the federal level so administration at the federal level

Transcript Highlights:

• living in Florida with incomes of up to 400% of the federal poverty level are eligible for assistance
• percent of the poverty level.
• of income.
• So those at the bottom of the income scale get first, and we move on up to 400 percent.
• And so raising it to the levels that are in this bill, looking at CPI, it’s reasonable.

Summary: The committee first took up SB 694, which would compensate the descendants of the Groveland Four—Charles Greenlee, Walter Irvin, Samuel Shepard, and Ernest Thomas—for the wrongful convictions, incarceration, and death tied to the 1949 case. Senator Bracey Davis described the bill as a final step after prior state apologies, pardons, and exonerations. The committee adopted a $4 million amendment that divided compensation equally among the four families and updated the recipient for Ernest Thomas’s share. Multiple family members and advocates testified in support, emphasizing the decades of trauma and the need for full justice. Senators in debate largely supported the bill, and it was reported favorably. The committee then approved SB 330, which clarifies disability provisions for firefighters, law enforcement officers, and correctional officers by refining the definition of heart disease and allowing certain officers who transfer agencies to rely on a prior physical under specified conditions. SB 474 also passed, expanding military leave protections to include public officials and employees who serve in the Coast Guard or Florida State Guard, adjusting pay eligibility for federal service, and updating related retirement and assistance provisions. SB 96, the Veterans Dental Care Grant Program bill, was amended to expand eligibility to veterans with incomes up to 400% of the federal poverty level and to move funding into the General Appropriations Act; members debated whether the broader eligibility could increase demand, but the bill was reported favorably. The committee also advanced SB 7018 on child welfare, making the Step Into Success pilot program permanent statewide, adjusting visitor/background-check rules for out-of-home placements, and creating a best-practices program through the Florida Institute for Child Welfare. CS/SB 480 on state IT governance was reported favorably after amendments that strengthened vendor performance metrics and restored state data center security provisions; it creates a new central IT governance structure under the Governor’s office and aims to improve oversight of procurement, spending, and technical debt. SB 1066, addressing partial restoration of the Ocklawaha River and Kirkpatrick Dam, passed after a late-file amendment and extensive testimony from environmental, recreation, and local economic interests. SB 1216, which gives school districts more flexibility in educator compensation, and SB 1120, which increases oversight and reporting for water management district spending, were also reported favorably. Finally, the committee considered SB 1366 on claims against the government, which raises sovereign immunity caps, ties future adjustments to CPI, shortens claim deadlines, and changes attorney-fee provisions. The bill drew support from local government and public-hospital groups as a compromise, but also significant concern from some senators about the impact on self-insured agencies and whether the fee changes would discourage attorneys from taking cases. The discussion remained ongoing, and the bill was still moving forward as the meeting continued.

Transcript Highlights:

• We all serve working families and from all income levels of working families.
• There's also something very important called the federal poverty level.
• The child care deduction is a subtraction from income, correct?
• The average median income is less than..."
• With these federal tax changes, it reduces taxable income at the state level.

Transcript Highlights:

• Again, very high-level and all anonymized.
• The base was originally set based on the minimum income, low.
• It was originally set based on the minimum income, low income, that a person would need to qualify for
• Left 1, our pension system is our only source of retirement income.
• That is my only source of retirement income.

Committee: Joint Select Committee on Pension Policy

Transcript Highlights:

• Right now, this bill, the current statute, refers to Section 2355, which is the income tax section.
• Banks use this credit, but they cannot use it because they don't have an income tax or corporate tax.
• Right now, this bill, the current statute, refers to Section 2355, which is the income tax section.
• Right now, the banks don't pay a corporate tax or an income tax.
• And what's happening at the federal level and why we're working at the state level, I'll codify this,

Bills: HB1427 , SB1403 , SB1448 , SB1489 , SB1546 , SB1557 , SB1614 , SB1377 , SB1990 , SB1439 , SB1630 , SB1632 , SB1696 , SB1796 , SB1824 , SB1362 , SB1849 , SB2066 , SB2071 , SB2104 , SB933 , SB1633 , SB1224 , SB1246 , SB1280 , SB1303 , SB1346

Summary: The Senate took up a long series of bills, mostly on third reading, with several unanimous or near-unanimous votes and a few more contested measures. Early action included House Bill 1427, which was substituted to add the bank privilege tax section to an existing clean-burning motor vehicle fuel tax credit without changing the cap or creating a fiscal impact; it advanced 45-0. Senate Bill 1403, an IEC recommendation affecting Quality Jobs incentives by requiring rebate claims within one year and eliminating the statewide wage threshold, passed 32-15. Senate Bill 1448, narrowing exclusions under the Consumer Protection Act to improve enforcement, passed 47-0. Senate Bill 1489, codifying IDEA-related procedures in state law and adding principal training and parent participation provisions, was amended on the floor, debated at length about implementation and special education services, and then passed 47-0 as an emergency measure. Senate Bill 1546 renamed and expanded the teacher scholarship program to Next Ed, increasing scholarship amounts while keeping the service commitment, and passed 37-10 as an emergency measure. Senate Bill 1557 transferred behavior analyst licensure duties from DHS to the State Board of Psychologists and passed 47-0. Senate Bill 1614 closed a loophole allowing adjunct teachers to teach early elementary reading and math and passed 46-0 as an emergency measure. Senate Bill 1377, requiring DHS to provide foster children with duffel bags and essentials, passed 46-0 as an emergency measure. Senate Bill 1990 strengthened the incentive evaluation report by requiring analysis of whether incentives actually changed business behavior, and passed 47-0. Senate Bill 1439, with amendments, barred certain climate-change-related lawsuits against fossil fuel entities operating within the law, and passed 40-7. Senate Bill 1630 allowed limited virtual instruction days during statewide testing and passed 47-0 as an emergency measure. Senate Bill 1632 moved career readiness assessment authority to the State Department of Education and clarified college-credit translation, passing 46-0 as an emergency measure. Senate Bill 1696, a local recruitment grant program to attract new residents to Oklahoma, failed 17-30, with notice of possible reconsideration. Senate Bill 1796 shortened the time for informal foster care arrangements from seven days to 72 hours and added guardrails, passing 46-0. Senate Bill 1824 updated the corporation and LLC statutes and passed 46-0. Senate Bill 1362 standardized in-person early voting hours across election types and passed 36-9. Senate Bill 1849 allowed the Podiatric Medical Examiners Board to approve certain medical marijuana continuing education for credit and passed 44-0. Senate Bill 2066 relaxed recording margin requirements for documents filed in multiple counties and passed 45-0 as an emergency measure. The final major item, Senate Bill 2071, a Department of Agriculture request bill updating milk regulation to cover all hooved mammals and align with federal authority, drew extensive debate over an amendment to remove the fee increase and over concerns that the bill would harm a small donkey dairy’s ability to advertise; the fee amendment was laid over, a motion to suspend the rules for an untimely amendment failed, and the bill itself was then advanced for further consideration after lengthy questioning.

Transcript Highlights:

• The two done at the most local level.
• ,</c><00:34:08.560><c> but</c> the national average in income, but the national average in income, but
• </c> towards the median on national income towards the median on national income and<00:34:16.800><c>
• </c> pushes up income and income is what pushes up income and income is what affordability<00:34:26.800
• </c> household income household income while<00:35:41.440><c> this</c><00:35:41.680><c> gets</c><00:35

Bills: HF4862 , HF4598

Committee: House Workforce, Labor, and Economic Development Finance and Policy

Transcript Highlights:

• And then the read by grade level.
• It will level the playing field.
• Some of those include students who cannot even read at grade level and are reading numerous grade levels
• :10:15.440><c> levels</c><00:10:15.760><c> below.
• So reading numerous grade levels below.

Bills: HB0111 , HB0112 , HB0122

Committee: Senate Appropriations

Transcript Highlights:

• At the certification level. That's when it would pause for the year.
• Madam Chair and Representative Duncan, no, the cap is at the certification level.
• So our intent with bringing this forward was to level the playing field there.
• tax, corporate income tax, gross receipts tax, or any other program.
• tax, corporate income tax, gross receipts, tax, or any other program.

Committee: House House Taxation & Revenue