Transcript Highlights:

• Two year left is a group of them, and then two your right is the remainder of them.
• Two years ago, but not this year. Correct. Okay. And is it the same language from two years ago?
• I think, you know, with the only two places in the state, the two metropolitan areas, I don't think the
• Two years ago, but not this year. Correct. Okay. And is it the same language from two years ago?
• I mean, it's only three lines.

Summary: The House convened with prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance, approved the House Journal for the 64th day by a 125-0 roll call vote, and then spent much of the morning on personal privileges and introductions of guests, interns, students, and special recognitions. Members welcomed school groups, interns, a Savannah Bananas guest, and several family members, and also noted birthdays and Mother’s Day greetings. On legislation, the chamber first agreed to go to conference on Senate Substitute for Senate Bill 1421, appointing a House conference committee. The House then took up Senate Bill 1000, which reauthorizes the Missouri Tourism Supplemental Revenue Fund and updates outdated tourism funding language; members from both parties spoke in support of tourism as an economic driver, and the bill passed 136-6. The House also considered House Committee Substitute for Senate Bill 1020, an omnibus Department of Revenue bill addressing fee office contracting, vehicle registration and related penalties, Real ID document retention, five-year license plates, and emissions-related provisions. Members adopted amendments reducing late-registration penalties, making document retention opt-in, restoring a five-year plate option, and removing cosmetic damage as a basis for rejecting rebuilt vehicles; despite debate over emissions testing and air quality, the bill passed 130-10. The chamber then moved to House Committee Substitute for Senate Bills 835 and 1111, a combined judiciary/civil legislation package. Members described it as a vehicle for several vetted measures, including anti-assignment-of-benefits language for insurance claims, the Uniform Public Expression Protection Act, and court administration changes such as workers’ compensation procedures, judgeships, automation fees, law library surcharges, and expungement fund provisions. Amendments were offered and adopted to adjust attorney-fee language in the anti-SLAPP provisions and to add a St. Louis police legal-expense-fund provision, though the latter drew objections over procedure and whether it had received a hearing. The transcript cuts off while debate on that amendment is still underway, and no final vote on the bill is shown.

Transcript Highlights:

• It says $6 million on page, I don't know what page it is, but it's line 61 on page six, line 60, line
• It talks specifically about on line one, two, three, four, five, six, increase in county spending that
• I will go back to line 11 and 12 of the amendment. Those are the last two lines.
• So at least two or so, some districts have more than two projects.
• So at least two or so, some districts get more than two projects. But Mr.

Bills: HM3, HM11, HM14, HM15, HM21, HM25, HB9, SB2, SB19

Keywords: nurses, health care workers, healthcare workers, frontline workers, hospital staff, clinicians, allied health professionals, support staff, public health, workforce shortage, nursing shortage, safe staffing, patient safety, rural health care, frontier communities, behavioral health, mental health, substance use disorder, substance abuse, health care memorial

Transcript Highlights:

• The two factors are, number one, massive increases The two factors are, number one, massive increases
• This button for slide two. Okay, commercial... This button for slide two.
• That process is nearing a finish line. We're at the one-yard line.
• So these two lines are pretty much mirror images of each other.
• Washington state is so similar to Oregon that in some cases the Oregon line obscures the Washington line

Summary: The Senate Housing Committee heard a series of work-session presentations focused on transit-oriented development, commercial-to-residential redevelopment, building code implementation, housing market trends, and the Covenant Homeownership Program. The first presentation, from the Urban Institute, reviewed research on HB 1491 and TOD feasibility, arguing that Washington has made major progress but faces diverging conditions across transit areas. The presenter said rising construction costs, higher interest rates, and lower rents in some markets have made many projects less feasible, and recommended targeted infrastructure funding for lower-market communities, adjustments to MFTE and affordability requirements by local market conditions, more support for very low-income housing in high-market transit areas, minimum density standards near stations, expanded public land/joint development tools, and better tracking of TOD outcomes over time. Committee members asked about AMI calculations, immigration’s effect on construction labor, developer input, and whether a tracking mechanism had been removed from the bill. The Department of Commerce then outlined implementation of HB 1491 and demonstrated the new Washington Zoning Atlas, which is live and intended to help visualize zoning, overlays, and station-area conditions. Commerce said local governments will designate station areas, update zoning and MFTE policies, and handle anti-displacement measures, with Vancouver and Spokane first to implement and Puget Sound following later. Staff described a timeline for updated MFTE guidance, station-area implementation guidance, a TOD model ordinance, and later rulemaking on variances. The committee also heard from the Lieutenant Governor’s office on a report about converting commercial properties to housing, which found substantial potential for redevelopment on vacant or underused commercial land, especially near transit, but noted barriers such as ground-floor retail mandates, affordability requirements, infrastructure costs, private covenants, and slow implementation. The office urged by-right residential use on commercial land and faster rollout of new housing laws. The State Building Code Council updated the committee on its three-year code cycle and several legislatively directed actions, including minimum dwelling size, emergency shelters, and especially single-exit stairs and multiplex housing. Council staff said those code changes are nearing completion and will provide prescriptive solutions, while noting that elevator size and requirements were not changed and would require separate legislative direction if the committee wanted to revisit them. Members discussed the cost impacts of building and energy codes and the council said it is required to consider economic impacts and is increasingly looking at performance-based approaches. Later, the Washington Center for Real Estate Research presented its annual housing report, showing that higher mortgage rates have sharply reduced affordability, flattened house prices in many cities, and slowed single-family permitting and completions, while multifamily construction has recently cooled after a prior surge. Finally, the Washington State Housing Finance Commission reported strong first-year results for the Covenant Homeownership Program, which provides zero-interest down payment assistance to eligible first-time buyers with family ties to Washington before 1968; the program assisted 547 homebuyers in its first fiscal year, with more than $60 million loaned, and the agency said participation has continued to grow after income-limit changes enacted in 2025.

Transcript Highlights:

• The two dark gray lines FY17 and FY10 are the two most recent contractions in corporate income taxes
• Two, three point two, something. It's a little under four. A little under four.
• They're in volume two. Volume two. Okay. And there'll be some for the courts and the DAs.
• They're two different sectors.
• SNAP is coming in what two years?

Keywords: 996, all

Transcript Highlights:

• That's why I've got to have two or three around me to make sure I stay in line.
• That's why I've got to have two or three around me to make sure I stay in line.
• That's why I've got to have two or three around me to make sure I stay in line.
• All right, that's why I've got to have two or three around me to make sure I stay in line.
• two for two today process you've done two for two today you<00:23:01.360> really<00:23:01.840

Keywords: Meeting Start: 00:00 Roll Call: 00:06 SB24 Discussion: 01:08 SB24 Vote: 13:22 SB18 Discussion: 14:40 SB18 Vote: 21:54, 958, all

Summary: The committee met with a quorum and first took up Senate Bill 24, a measure aimed at combating property and casualty insurance fraud. Senator Girdler and witnesses from the Insurance Institute of Kentucky and the National Insurance Crime Bureau said the bill would expand the definition of a fraudulent insurance act to cover statements that misrepresent the scope of property damage or repair costs, with the goal of addressing inflated storm-damage claims and out-of-state bad actors. Members discussed whether existing prosecutors were already handling these cases, the role of Commonwealth’s attorneys versus the Attorney General, and the need to keep the bill narrowly tailored to criminal intent rather than negligence or ordinary disputes over value. The committee substitute was adopted, the bill received favorable expression, and a title amendment was also adopted. The committee then heard Senate Bill 18, which would address a shortage of insurance options for automobile dealers by allowing nonadmitted carriers to provide garage liability coverage in Kentucky. Testimony from an insurance agent and a legislative agent for Big I Kentucky described a shrinking market in which some small dealers cannot find coverage at all, risking closure. Members asked about the meaning of garage liability, consumer protections, solvency concerns, and whether more competition could lower prices; witnesses said surplus lines carriers already operate in Kentucky, agents play an important vetting role, and errors-and-omissions coverage would apply to the agent. The bill was supported as a way to preserve dealer businesses and expand coverage options, and it passed the committee with favorable expression after roll call.

Transcript Highlights:

• If it's not one of those two If it's not one of those two initiatives, typically we default to the Legislative
• And then over the last two biennia, we've had legislation that did not And then over the last two biennia
• half, line 7, 8, and 9... ...lines basically half, line 7, 8, and 9, providing for health insurance mandate
• And that includes line 8, too.
• So we would likely have two meetings.

Summary: The Employee Benefits Committee met to hear presentations on state employee health insurance, compensation, leave policies, labor market conditions, and prevailing wage issues, then later took up committee rules and bill-draft jurisdiction. PERS reviewed the history and structure of the state health plan, noting the state has paid the full family premium since 1979, described cost-control and benefit-enhancement changes over time, and explained current plan options, wellness incentives, employer wellness discounts, and the upcoming bid process for the 2027-29 contract. HRMS then presented compensation comparisons showing state classified pay generally trails private and regional markets, with larger gaps at higher-level jobs, and reviewed benefits and leave policies, including the new enhanced annual leave and new-hire leave, the state’s unpaid family leave structure, and varying tuition reimbursement practices. Job Service reported on labor force trends, low unemployment, high labor force participation, job openings, and wage growth, and OMB said there are no state prevailing-wage requirements beyond federal Davis-Bacon rules for federally funded projects. The committee then considered a proposed amendment to Joint Rule 211 to better align the health insurance mandate review process with recent statutory changes. Members discussed how the rule should reference both the committee’s required actuarial reports and the Legislative Council cost-benefit analysis, and the amendment was adopted on a roll call vote. The committee also discussed how its jurisdiction decisions affect whether a bill draft receives actuarial analysis, with staff explaining that a decision not to take jurisdiction means the bill is not treated as impacting the relevant retirement or health plans for purposes of that analysis. After that, the committee began reviewing bill drafts for jurisdiction. The first draft, bill draft 33, would automatically renew pre-tax elections for dental and vision coverage during open enrollment instead of requiring annual re-election. Members debated whether it had any actuarial impact, noting the state does not pay those premiums directly, and the discussion was still underway when the transcript ended.

Transcript Highlights:

• Please come to the center, line up, and take two minutes or less, please. And please proceed.
• So my wife and I, when we first got married, she came with two cats and I came with two cats.
• All of them were spayed and neutered, two males, two females. I don't know... Immediately.
• All of them were spayed and neutered, two males, two females.
• One, two, three, four—if you'd all come to the middle and line up.

Bills: SB38, SB46, SB18

Keywords: SB38, pet food, registered pet food, registration fee, fees, sunset repeal, repeal of repeal, revenue, state fee, business regulation, animal feed, pet food registration, New Mexico, SB46, organic waste, solid waste, waste diversion, composting, compost feedstock, waste characterization study

Transcript Highlights:

• The words I am using are my own words, but if you look at line eight and nine on page two, a qualifying
• eight and nine on page and nine lines eight and nine on page two<00:20:29.919> on<00:20:30.159
• 8, also on line one?
• 8 also on which is right here on line 8 also on line<00:27:24.080> one.
• line one. So, it keeps referring back. line one. So, it keeps referring back.

Keywords: 1191, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• >> What line are you looking at? >> Page 7, lines 185 through 188.
• >> What line are you looking at? >> What line are you looking at?
• >> Page 7, lines 185 through 88. >> Page 7, lines 185 through 88.
• >> page seven lines 185 through 188. >> page seven lines 185 through 188.
• What lines are we looking at? I'm sorry. What lines are we looking at?

Bills: HB308, HB308

Keywords: elections, voter registration, publishing requirements, cost-saving, transparency, property tax exemption, senior citizens, Mobile County, tax legislation, constitutional amendment, 923, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Chairman, I noticed that on line two I had a question about: Is this too broad?
• The other thing that I took from the medical society is on page two, lines one through three.
• The other thing that I took from the medical society is on page two, lines one through three.
• The other thing that I took from the medical society is on page two, lines one through three.
• Uh, actually, page two, uh, line 32, uh, institution that provides abortion has a major part of its services

Keywords: 1191, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• six on page two um once again if line six on page two um once again if the<01:25:21.880> medical
• <01:35:31.199> page<01:35:31.400> two in p on line two on sorry line page two in p
• on line two on sorry line page two lines lines lines 24<01:35:33.679> through<01:35:34.000>
• See page two, line 17, where it says examination or process.
• See page two, line 17, where it says examination or process.

Keywords: 1191, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• I just wondered about the language at the very end of the bill on page two, um, line 16.
• I'm looking at page two, line >> Okay.
• I'm looking at page two, line eight.<02:46:11.359> Yeah. eight. Yeah. eight. Yeah.
• Um, and if I may take your attention to line 13, it looks like it's section two.
• Um, and if I may take your attention to line 13, it looks like it's section two.

Keywords: 1189, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• two, section two of pertains to section two, section two of the<00:04:12.080> bill<00:04:13.000
• I do have an A7 amendment that would delete lines 2.20 on page two.
• Chair Champion, uh, two things.
• They sum to $10.6 million, and on lines nine and 10 are two cancellations that also sum to $10.6 million
• our two sign up sign ups for testimony. our two sign up sign ups for testimony.

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• We do have two of our members that are here to testify.
• Now, regarding rates, the bill creates two options.
• Since last year we've experienced a surge in line strikes, water line strikes, sorry, by broadband contractors
• It's on lines 22 through 24. Is that correct? Correct. OK.
• those two.

Transcript Highlights:

• Those are the back two tabs.
• Those are the back two tabs.
• line 21 and 22.
• line 21 and 22.
• line 21 and 22 um it says on page two line 21 and 22 um it says quote<03:22:50.439> a<03:22:50.600

Keywords: 1191, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• All right, we got two minutes. There was a public hearing called on HB 220 in two minutes.
• Rob Pearson is that—and we'll do two minutes. I'll give you two minutes. I won't be that long.
• Then we have another amendment in your packet that's just clarifying on line 35 of page two the chapter
• <00:22:35.039> 63 this does is that on line 63 this does is that on line 63 uh<00:22:36.880
• the chapter and title and 35 of page two the chapter and title and then<00:23:26.720> line<00

Bills: HB139, HB220, SB274, SB282, SB277

Keywords: 923, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Provider inflation increase two and two. Mr. Chairman. Senator Cleary.
• I think we should get to the point where we make a decision on if we want to do the two and two and one
• And we would like to get two more set up in the state.
• Those would be the two primary sections. Those would be the two primary sections.
• It's a line item that is in one of the slides, Pam.

Keywords: 908, all

Summary: The HR division continued work on the behavioral health budget, with members revisiting several funding items and generally agreeing to hold provider inflation increases until the full division picture is clearer. They tentatively supported additional funding for Community Connect and Free Through Recovery, as well as increases for the drug court program and peer support, while clarifying that some items were already in the House version and others were one-time or grant-related expenditures. The committee spent considerable time on a proposed $2 million behavioral health services program for nursing homes and basic care facilities. Senator Mathern brought revised language to describe a capitated payment model for training, consultation, and direct patient care for residents with medically based behavioral disorders and disruptive behaviors. Some members remained skeptical and wanted to see the amendment before deciding, but the discussion centered on whether the funding would help nursing homes accept patients who otherwise end up in state hospitals or acute care settings. Members also discussed several one-time funding items, including electronic health record and legacy system upgrades, network redundancy for the state hospital, partial hospitalization/intensive day treatment expansion, and a bathroom remodel at the Southeast Human Service Center. The committee restored the bathroom project to the original $972,000 estimate after concerns that the House reduction would not cover the needed ADA and plumbing work. They also debated a $12.96 million behavioral health facility grant for Altru in Grand Forks, with some members opposing it and others supporting it as a regional service expansion, but ultimately set it aside for later consideration. The meeting ended with staff flagging other sections of the bill, including the opioid settlement advisory language, the state hospital steering committee, behavioral health education grants, and the system of care grant. The chair announced that medical services would be taken up the next day, and members agreed to adjourn after planning to revisit unresolved behavioral health items and vote on the held bill later.

Transcript Highlights:

• Both of them are theft from the people who earn them. two uh of the executive summary but what two uh
• So it looks like a two-for-one.
• commissioner um so it looks like a two commissioner um so it looks like a two for<00:23:26.480><
• c><00:58:22.720> um<00:58:23.720> uh<00:58:23.880> is to um page two line 6-9 is
• it um uh is to um page two line 6-9 is it um uh is that<00:58:24.319> definition<00:58:25.240

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Summary: The committee met to hear a presentation from the Commissioner of Revenue on Governor Walz and Lieutenant Governor Flanagan’s tax proposal, with members told no public testimony would be taken because bill language was not yet available. The commissioner said the proposal would lower the statewide sales tax rate by 0.75 percentage points while expanding sales tax to selected professional services such as legal, brokerage, banking, and accounting, with several carve-outs. He emphasized that the plan would not add business-to-business sales taxes, arguing that taxing business inputs leads to tax pyramiding and higher hidden consumer costs. The commissioner said the rate cut would be the first sales tax rate cut in state history and estimated it at about $95 million annually, while the service expansions would raise about $203 million to $205 million annually, for a net increase of roughly $110 million per year. He said the proposal is part of the governor’s broader budget, which he described as addressing long-term structural deficits and funding other priorities such as an R&D credit, an expanded sustainable aviation fuel credit, fraud prevention, and service-member retention bonuses. He also said the carve-outs and exemptions would be reflected in the revenue estimate. Members questioned whether the proposal was truly a tax cut or instead a tax increase, and several asked for a revenue-neutral rate if all or more services were taxed. One member raised concerns about how pro bono legal work with a fee would be treated, and another asked about possible streamlining issues and whether fees are treated as taxes in statute. The commissioner said a fee would be taxable depending on the arrangement and that the department would review the language carefully once drafted. He also said the department would provide more detailed estimates later, including what the rate would be if the tax were made revenue neutral. No votes or formal actions were taken.

Transcript Highlights:

• So first, the two-year change from two years to one.
• Criminal statutes have to have a line you have to draw that line.
• So, enclosed by a wall, it's two feet. Okay, okay, two-foot wall. Mr. Judge, it's a two-foot wall.
• Mean two, Mr. President.
• In the state, Senator, on page two, line 18.

Bills: SB273, SB37, SB100

Keywords: SB273, appropriations, general fund, hold harmless, local government finance, municipal revenue, county revenue, correctional facility, jail contract, private prison, detention facility, immigration detention, revenue bonds, clawback, child welfare, juvenile justice, protective services, school improvement, New MexiCare, aging services

Transcript Highlights:

• Two to five years. Two to five years, yeah.
• Thank heavens, as I opened a clinic two and a half years ago, the APAL line existed.
• Two for and two against. We're two against first. Amanda Shineson. That's a highlight of my career.
• Two of the speakers had to leave, so you just have two speakers against.
• Two. Two. Okay.

Keywords: 1182, all

Summary: The committee heard House Bill 2433, which would require insurers offering Medicare supplement policies to people 65 and older to also offer them to Medicare beneficiaries under 65 with ALS or end-stage renal disease, with enrollment periods and premium protections tied to 65-year-old rates. Supporters, including dialysis and ALS advocates, said the bill would help a small population facing high out-of-pocket costs and could improve access to transplants and care; opponents argued it would shift costs onto older seniors and raise Medigap premiums. The committee recommended the bill do pass on a 12-0 vote. The committee also heard House Bill 2593, appropriating $1.5 million to the University of Arizona for the Arizona Perinatal Psychiatry Access Line. The sponsor and physicians testified that the line helps obstetric and pediatric providers quickly consult on perinatal depression, postpartum psychosis, suicidality, and other mental health crises, improving outcomes for mothers, children, and families and reducing costly emergency and crisis care. The bill received a do pass recommendation on a 10-1 vote. House Concurrent Resolution 2013, proclaiming June 2026 as Celebrate Life Month, drew emotional testimony from a young woman with spina bifida and another speaker supporting the sanctity of life. Some members objected that the state should focus on practical supports such as paid leave, child care, and health care access, while others supported the resolution as a statement of human dignity. The resolution passed the committee 7-5. The committee then approved House Bill 4010, creating a Board of Genetic Counselors and licensure standards, after testimony from genetic counselors and a patient advocate about the need for qualified counseling and better access; it passed 11-1. Later, the committee approved House Bill 2196, which would require pharmacy benefit managers to reimburse non-affiliated pharmacies at least their acquisition cost and pay a dispensing fee, and establish an appeals process. Independent pharmacists and their coalition said PBM practices are driving closures and unfairly favor affiliated pharmacies, while PBM and employer representatives warned of major cost increases and said the bill would interfere with private contracts; the bill passed 11-1. The committee also adopted a strike-everything amendment to House Bill 2182 requiring insurers and health plans to report claims denial and prior authorization data to DIFI, and then gave the amended bill a 12-0 do pass recommendation. Finally, the committee approved House Bill 2189, directing the Board of Nursing to update rules for licensed health aides and collect annual data, with the sponsor and board staff saying it would help implement routine ventilator care in the home; it passed 12-0. The committee then began hearing House Bill 2404, a strike-everything amendment on inter-facility transports for behavioral health patients, but the transcript cuts off before action on that bill.