Transcript Highlights:

• a workforce shortage and a maldistribution problem, with the majority of our providers working in urban
• </c> working in urban areas. working in urban areas.
• Rural Minnesotans, like their urban counterparts, also have chronic conditions.
• </c> and instead seek care at larger urban and instead seek care at larger urban facilities. facilities
• </c> leaves another 30 or so urban-based leaves another 30 or so urban-based community<01:09:44.400><

Keywords: 918, senate, all

Summary: The Select Subcommittee first took up adoption of three previously prepared nonpartisan committee summary reports dated October 15, November 13, and November 21. Senator Rasmusson objected to the lack of advance notice about the day’s testifiers and criticized the practice of having nonpartisan staff summarize what he described as a partisan agenda. The chair responded that the committee’s purpose is to gather information, not hear bills, and that the summaries were intended as neutral resources for the Senate. Senator Coopek moved adoption, the motion was opposed by Rasmusson and another member, and the motion passed. The committee then turned to the day’s hearing on federal impacts on Minnesota, with the chair focusing on federal funding threats and the effect of congressional budget actions on health care, especially in greater Minnesota. The first presentation came from the Minnesota Department of Health on the state’s rural health transformation work. Assistant Commissioner Carol Broom introduced the team and described the rural hospital transformation program as a major opportunity to invest in rural health, while acknowledging longstanding challenges such as demographics, transportation barriers, and the financing of care. Nitha Moibi outlined the state’s rural health chart book and data showing an aging population, workforce shortages, and many health professional shortage areas, and described proposed strategies including workforce pipelines, bridge payments for low-volume birth hospitals, telehealth access points, mental health urgent care, and chronic disease prevention. Acting Assistant Commissioner Anna Ashby of the Minnesota Management and Budget office explained the state’s application to CMS for the Rural Health Transformation Program, which was created in federal law and awarded Minnesota just over $193 million for federal fiscal year 2026. She said the application was shaped by public comments, stakeholder meetings, and legislative outreach, and included initiatives on preventive care, workforce, care access, behavioral health, and provider financial stability. She also reviewed implementation constraints, including a January 30 revised budget deadline, limits on administrative spending, restrictions on using funds to offset Medicaid losses, and the need to show measurable progress to remain eligible for future funding. The presentation noted that most year-one funding would go to rural hospitals, with additional support for federally qualified health centers, community mental health centers, tribal partners, and technical assistance.

Transcript Highlights:

• But the rural areas are now dominating the urban votes by the way they've drawn the data. ...districts
• I'm going to tell you about a few things that relate to my community organizing activity here in an urban
• I also know that living in an urban place with lots of worries about traffic and transit and stuff, I'm
• This political maneuver to back blue urban areas into rural districts hurts rural communities too.
• Let us be Texans, and we will take care of everybody, whether they're urban or rural, from the Panhandle

Keywords: 997, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• if that even should be a district just because of the under-enrolled schools that exist already in urban
• it should be a district to begin with, because there might already be enough capacity existing in urban
• Just because of the under-enrolled schools that exist already in urban Honolulu in the first place.
• it should be a district to begin with, because there might already be enough capacity existing in urban

Keywords: 910, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• The first of these I'll talk about is the Urban Data Center's tax preference.
• This is its urban counterpart.
• This is its urban counterpart.

Summary: The Citizen Commission for Performance Measurement of Tax Preferences met on May 7, 2025, with quorum present. The commission approved the October 22, 2024 meeting minutes and then received its annual open government refresher from the Attorney General’s office, which reviewed key requirements under the Public Records Act and Open Public Meetings Act, including record retention, response deadlines, exemptions, and meeting notice rules. Staff then provided a 2025 legislative session update, noting that the legislature passed 23 tax-preference-related bills, with several signed by the governor and others pending. Highlights included bills that extended or repealed certain preferences, added reporting requirements for newspaper and digital content exemptions, authorized JLARC to adjust its work plan when data is unavailable, and created a new exemption for zero-emission buses. The commission approved updates to the 2026 tax preference review schedule, which includes eight preferences in seven reviews, and approved unchanged testimony questions for 2025. The commission also received the 2025 expedited preference review report covering 52 tax preferences, presented as an interactive table drawing on prior JLARC reviews and Department of Revenue studies. Staff then outlined the process for developing the next 10-year review schedule for 2027-2036, including surveying the legislature, incorporating new and repealed preferences, and considering a possible rolling 10-year schedule. No public comment was registered. The meeting ended with acknowledgments of Ron Buing’s long service on the commission and an announcement that the next meeting would be held August 6, 2025.

Transcript Highlights:

• It's some of our urban gateway cities, our suburban communities, and certainly our smaller rural communities
• adequately and equitably meeting the needs of all different types of school districts, whether they're urban
• , suburban, rural. all different types of school districts, whether they're urban, suburban, rural, regional
• goal of making sure that every one of our school districts and communities, again, whether it's in an urban

Keywords: 995, all

Summary: The Senate took up a long series of FY26 budget amendments during debate on the Ways and Means budget bill. Early on, an amendment on debt service and the Debt Affordability Committee was rejected. A major education amendment offered by Senator Lewis and supported by Senator Comerford was then adopted; it directs DESE to begin a public process, with $200,000 in funding, to review and recommend updates to the Chapter 70 municipal contribution formula and related school funding structures as the Student Opportunity Act nears full implementation. Senators argued that school districts across the Commonwealth are under severe fiscal strain, citing rising special education, transportation, health insurance, and Proposition 2 1/2 pressures, and that the current formulas are increasingly out of alignment with local needs. The chamber also considered and voted on many other amendments, with several adopted and several rejected. Adopted amendments included measures on public payroll transparency, regional EMS, a small business group purchasing cooperative pilot, simplifying Medicaid eligibility determinations, and early education background checks. Rejected amendments included proposals on first-time homebuyer savings accounts, population change studies, competitiveness studies, emergency contract reform, natural gas cost containment, a $200 per pupil aid increase, regional school reimbursement increases, a Foundation Budget Review Commission-related study, special education service studies, welfare benefit audits, short-term capital gains, and an MBTA sustainability plan. Senator Durant also spoke in support of Amendment 766, which would create a crumbling concrete assistance fund for homeowners affected by pyrrhotite, with tax-exempt aid, federal funding applications, audits, and a stakeholder working group. Near the end of debate, Senator D. DiDomenico praised the Shannon Grant program for gang violence prevention, and the Senate adopted a final corrective amendment containing technical fixes and local earmarks. The bill was then ordered to a third reading and, after a roll call on engrossment, passed to be engrossed by a vote of 38-2. The Senate also approved a motion to adjourn to the following Tuesday at 11:00 a.m. and recessed in memory of Yaron Lashinsky, Sarah Lynn Milgram, and Leslie A. Feeney.

Transcript Highlights:

• What about rural versus urban and financially tiered numbers? Do you have those?
• What about rural versus urban and financially tiered numbers? Do you have those?
• And then I would love to, if you'll let staff know about rural and urban, because that's the other issue
• , I think, if we're looking at... ...urban because I do think that's the other issue.

Summary: The committee met to review early childhood education funding, access, and program sustainability, with Secretary Aleva and Director Ashland Abney providing updates on Arkansas’s ABC state-funded preschool program and the federal CCDF/SRA program. Members discussed the long-standing flat funding for ABC, which rose from $11 million to $14 million in 2018, compared with roughly $137 million in federal CCDF/SRA funding. Officials said ABC serves about 23,000 children, while SRA serves about 14,871 children and has a wait list of about 2,971 children. Members also asked for more data on rural versus urban access, provider types, and the number of slots and providers by region. A major topic was how to improve quality and access while aligning early childhood with K-12. Officials said the department is moving from the Better Beginnings environmental rating system toward CLASS observations, using local leads and a kindergarten-readiness strategy tied to quality improvement. Members raised concerns about deserts and islands in service availability, the cost of school-based versus community-based providers, and the need to support infant-toddler care as well as preschool. The commissioner said early learning should be part of long-term state education investment, but that simply adding money would not solve access gaps without broader structural changes. The committee also discussed recent funding changes and their effects on providers and families. Officials said a $14.741 million PDG-BFV competitive grant will support systems-building work, including local leads, workforce, data systems, and third-party CLASS observations, but it is a one-year grant and not direct service funding. Members questioned the impact of new co-pays, provider closures, and slot reallocations; officials said eight closures were tied specifically to funding changes, and that paying only for enrolled children rather than allocated slots saved about $576,000. They also discussed dual enrollment in home visiting and ABC, with officials estimating that limiting double enrollment could save about $2.4 million and potentially serve about 470 more children. The meeting ended with agreement to continue regular updates and further discussion, and the committee adjourned without a vote on legislation.

Transcript Highlights:

• In Part 3, which creates a state and local property tax program, it clarifies and defines rural and urban
• In Part 3, which creates a state and local property tax program, it clarifies and defines rural and urban
• It clarifies and defines rural and urban census tracts, modifies phrasing for the underserved community
• together, and what we're talking about in these limited zones are 10 potential zones that are eligible in urban

Summary: House Finance held a bill briefing and executive session on a large set of tax and revenue measures, with staff outlining proposed substitutes and amendments for bills affecting grocery store incentives, insurance premium/B&O tax treatment, tobacco taxes, financial institutions, lodging taxes, fire district levy rules, local tax increment financing, limited equity cooperatives, tourism assessments, and sustainable aviation fuel credits. Members also heard brief summaries of bills on nonprofit assembly hall property tax exemptions and a city levy adjustment related to fire protection districts. Two bills scheduled for public hearing were not reached and may be rescheduled after House of Origin cutoff. In executive session, the committee adopted or rejected several amendments before voting bills out. HB 2297 on grocery stores in underserved communities advanced after the committee rejected an amendment to remove the property tax exemption; the bill was reported out 9-5-1. HB 2487 on insurance tax treatment advanced after the committee rejected an amendment to remove retroactivity and clarify annuity treatment; it was reported out 8-6-1. HB 2382, which raises cigarette and other tobacco taxes and changes tobacco tax structures, adopted amendments redirecting some revenue to health accounts, excluding nicotine-free vapor products, and restoring current-law treatment for modified-risk tobacco products before passing 8-6-1. HB 2451 on tax increment financing, HB 2590 on limited equity cooperatives, HB 2325 on a tourism self-supported assessment program with a tribal opt-in amendment, HB 2278 extending a lodging tax charge, HB 2224 adjusting levy rules for fire protection districts, and HB 2322 on sustainable aviation fuel tax credits all advanced, with some by voice vote. During debate, supporters generally framed the bills as targeted incentives or clarifications to support food access, wildfire mitigation, tourism promotion, housing affordability, or clean fuel investment, while opponents raised concerns about tax shifts, affordability, retroactivity, and whether dedicated revenues should instead come from the general fund. Several members noted that some measures still needed further work before floor action, especially HB 2487 and HB 2382. The committee adjourned after reporting the listed bills out with due pass recommendations.

Transcript Highlights:

• Third, most applications for funds are from urban areas, not spread throughout the state and the rural
• thorough look to see how the money can be spread all across the state and not concentrated in the urban
• And I would expect that the study would compare urban composting programs with rural composting programs
• It actually measures, in rural and urban areas, the amount of organic waste in our solid waste stream

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:

• Randy Urban, Texas Ethics Commission, J.R. Johnson, Executive.
• My name's Randy Urban. I'm chair of the Texas Ethics Commission, and I'd like to introduce. A.R.
• For instance, we've had a proliferation lately of people who file PACs who say that Randy Urban the treasurer
• , and we call Randy Urban, and he says, well, I don't have any idea what you're talking about. of these

Keywords: 1184, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Beautiful red-tailed hawks and barred owls are an integral part of our urban ecosystem.
• We need to embrace a culture of compassion, coexistence, and allow diversity to flourish in our urban
• We restored our urban creek in our backyard. We had rats in the yard. They’re there.
• Rats are to flourish in our urban, suburban, and rural landscapes.
• We restored our urban creek in our backyard. We had rats in the yard. They're there.

Keywords: 995, all

Summary: The Joint Committee on Environment and Natural Resources held a hybrid hearing on a large slate of bills focused on pesticides, pollinators, rodenticides, mosquito control, invasive species, and local authority over pesticide regulation. Chair Becca Rausch set strict two-minute testimony limits due to the very large number of speakers. Early testimony from Senator Moore and Representative Hawkins strongly supported a bill to restrict second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides, citing harms to wildlife, pets, and public health, and noting that California has already adopted a similar model. Testimony also supported a Lowell home rule petition to allow the city to prohibit or restrict these rodenticides, with local officials describing documented raptor poisonings and municipal efforts to phase out use on city property. A major portion of the hearing focused on pollinator protection and neonicotinoid-treated seeds. Witnesses from environmental groups, conservation organizations, academics, and beekeepers argued that neonics harm bees and other beneficial insects, contaminate soil and water, and provide little or no economic benefit in most corn and soybean fields. Several speakers pointed to New York, Vermont, and Quebec as models for restricting treated seeds, and one panel cited research showing only a small percentage of fields benefit economically from the treatments. Support was also voiced for a bill establishing an ecologically based mosquito management program, with advocates criticizing aerial and truck spraying and urging non-chemical, locally tailored approaches. Other testimony supported bills to reform the pesticide board and pesticide regulation process, to give vulnerable municipalities more local control over pesticide use, to protect schoolchildren from pesticides on school grounds, and to respond to invasive species through a centralized state office, coordinator, strategic plan, and trust fund. Many speakers, including representatives from Mass Audubon, MSPCA, the Xerces Society, the Sierra Club, watershed groups, and local wildlife rehabilitators, described impacts on hawks, owls, pets, fish, and broader ecosystems. No votes were taken during the hearing, and committee members generally asked few questions, with the hearing remaining in testimony mode throughout.

Transcript Highlights:

• The organization combines urban agriculture, youth workforce training, and community food programs to
• investment in training, and it allows young people to participate and gain real work experience on urban
• than 50 young people in North Minneapolis to participate in our program, gaining hands-on skills in urban
• We partner with ECMC and Co-lab, Urban Ventures.
• </c> with ECMC and Co-lab, Urban Ventures. with ECMC and Co-lab, Urban Ventures.

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Those are mostly the blighted areas, the urban areas in which there is a need to talk about the urban
• We appreciate that this addresses urban heat.
• multifaceted, including banning things like PFOS forever chemicals and attempting to mitigate the urban
• With urban heat island effects, I'm sure many of you are aware, but we do have the two fastest warming
• We're happy to work with the cities and the redevelopment areas to try to combat the urban heat island

Bills: AB52, AB76, AB163, AB388, AB483

Keywords: health insurance, claims process, insurance regulation, admin penalties, healthcare access, cannabis, cannabis establishment, medical cannabis, adult-use cannabis, advertising regulations, packaging requirements, unlicensed cannabis activities, state prosecution, confidentiality, Cannabis Compliance Board, disciplinary proceedings, mental health, counseling, interstate practice, telehealth

Transcript Highlights:

• The result is there are chronic staff shortages across the state, including rural, urban, and suburban
• The result is there are chronic staff shortages across the state, including rural, urban, and suburban
• I'm a professor of architecture and urban design at UCLA, and I'm proud to say I'm 100% a product of
• partnered with Assemblymember Bloom on AB 2295, we've worked directly to train and collaborate with 19 urban
• Legislation has brought the benefits of citizens redistricting commissions to urban cities or urban counties

Summary: The Assembly Local Government Committee heard a long agenda of housing, water, and local finance bills, with the chair repeatedly reminding attendees about hearing rules and noting that several measures were being heard without a quorum at first. Early items included AB 407, which would broaden eligibility for state-run loan and financing programs to help small businesses fund environmental, seismic, and ADA upgrades, and AB 93, which would require data centers to estimate and report water use and follow state best practices. AB 93 drew support from water advocates and local government groups, while the Data Center Coalition opposed it, arguing the bill could be overly restrictive, difficult to retrofit, and raise trade secret or security concerns. The committee also heard AB 650 on housing element review, AB 1044 on creating a new Tulare County groundwater sustainability agency, and AB 523 on allowing proxy voting for single-representative member agencies on the Metropolitan Water District board; all drew broad support from local agencies and related stakeholders and no recorded opposition in the room. Several housing bills were presented as part of a broader fast-track housing package. AB 507 would streamline adaptive reuse of office buildings into housing, especially in downtowns with high vacancy; supporters said it would revive urban cores and help meet housing and climate goals, while the League of California Cities and a few cities opposed it unless amended, citing concerns about one-size-fits-all by-right approval and fee limitations. AB 1294 would create a universal housing application and limit early application requirements; it drew strong support from housing and business groups, with the American Planning Association and League of California Cities seeking more flexibility and input. AB 610 would require local governments to disclose housing constraints in their housing elements and limit new constraints after certification for three years unless disclosed; supporters said it would improve transparency and certainty, while opponents warned it could chill legitimate local policy choices and inclusionary housing requirements. Both AB 610 and AB 698, which would require analysis of the housing and property tax impacts of proposed transfer taxes, were moved out of committee on 7-0 votes after discussion and amendments. The committee also heard AB 1112, which would repeal an outdated Riverside County property tax provision affecting Rancho Mirage; the city argued it was the only qualifying no-low property tax city not receiving the standard minimum and sought equal treatment. After quorum was established, the bill was passed 6-0 with amendments and sent to Appropriations. AB 1021, heard later, would make it easier for school districts and other local education agencies to build employee housing, with the author citing teacher recruitment and retention problems and support from education stakeholders. Throughout the hearing, members and witnesses repeatedly emphasized the need to balance housing production, local fiscal tools, and infrastructure needs, and several authors accepted committee amendments and committed to continued negotiations with opponents.

Transcript Highlights:

• Hospitals will close, including in rural America and urban America and in the heartland of America.
• </c> including in Rural America and urban including in Rural America and urban America<02:11:51.239><
• </c> those in need HUD Housing and Urban those in need HUD Housing and Urban developments<04:01:42.439
• And at the urging of many of us, I was particularly strong on this, the Department of Housing and Urban
• And at the urging of many of us, I was particularly strong on this, the Department of Housing and Urban

Keywords: U.S. House of Representatives Floor Proceedings on Monday, February 10, 2025, 1012, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• We do work with local fire departments on urban interface fires across the state, and we have working

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• the ability to take conservation<00:40:54.480><c> land</c><00:40:54.880><c> as</c><00:40:55.280><c> urban
• c><00:40:55.520><c> or</c><00:40:55.839><c> you</c><00:40:56.000><c> know</c> conservation land as urban
• or you know conservation land as urban or you know to<00:40:56.319><c> reclassify</c><00:40:56.960><
• You know, as you're probably well aware, when you develop up to 100 acres of non-urban lands at a time
• district supposed to be what the urban district supposed to be for<01:58:01.280><c> versus</c><01:58

Keywords: 912, senate, all

Summary: The committees heard several housing-related bills and resolutions. HB 1298 HD3 would create a government employee housing revolving fund and a government employee 99-year leasehold rent-to-own program; testimony was generally supportive from HHFDC, labor groups, and the Maui Chamber, with the Tax Foundation and Budget and Finance raising concerns about the revolving fund. The committees recommended passage with non-substantive amendments for clarity and consistency, and the motion was adopted. HB 741 H2, which would exempt certain affordable housing projects financed by a certified nonprofit CDFI from prevailing wage requirements, drew support from housing advocates and opposition from several construction unions; the chairs said they were concerned about the labor objections and deferred the measure, with the labor committee agreeing to defer it as well. The housing committee then took up HB 417 HD1, which creates a housing efficiency and innovation subaccount in the rental housing revolving fund and allows HHFDC to transfer funds between the subaccount and the main fund without legislative approval. Testimony was largely supportive. The chair described a series of amendments, including changing the funding-efficiency standard, adding perpetual affordability language, allowing any land tenure type, broadening eligible financing tools, adding priority criteria for mixed-income projects and government-employee projects, and inserting blank appropriations tied to a requested $75 million per year and a $75 million subaccount appropriation for the HCDA 99-year leasehold project. The committee recommended passage with amendments, and the recommendation was adopted. HB 422 HD1, which would repeal school impact fees and move remaining balances to the school facilities special fund, drew broad support from housing and taxpayer groups and opposition from the Department of Education and some individuals. The School Facilities Authority and DOE argued the current system had not produced enough usable land or school sites and suggested narrowing the exemption to government housing projects’ construction costs instead of repealing the fee entirely. Members pressed DOE and SFA on how much land had actually been obtained and whether the fee had been effective; the discussion highlighted concerns about unused balances, school overcrowding, and the role of the Land Use Commission and county zoning in securing school sites. The committee did not take final action on the bill in the portion shown. The committee also heard STR 60/SR 45, urging HHFDC to develop a plan to meet housing demand, and STR 77/SR 60, addressing continued eligibility for housing credits for certain projects after repeal of Act 31; both sets of resolutions had HHFDC support, with DHHL supporting STR 77/SR 60 and Johnny May Perry opposing both.

Transcript Highlights:

• This is work they have been doing for 46 years, while they were founded to serve the urban Native American
• This is work they have been doing for 46 years, while they were founded to serve the urban Native American
• This is work they have been doing for 46 years, while they were founded to serve the urban Native American
• This is work they have been doing for 46 years, while they were founded to serve the urban Native American
• They were founded to serve the urban Native American population, but they provide services to anyone

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• annually through Shiloh Care's Food Shelf, and they're also participating in a youth-led agricultural urban
• annually through Shiloh Care's Food Shelf, and they're also participating in a youth-led agricultural urban
• annually through Shiloh Care's Food Shelf, and they're also participating in a youth-led agricultural urban
• annually through Shiloh Care's Food Shelf, and they're also participating in a youth-led agricultural urban
• </c> a youth-led agricultural Hood Urban a youth-led agricultural Hood Urban Garden<01:09:53.440><c>

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• They came up with a number for urban, a number for rural, and a number for super rural, right?
• long as the ambulance services, they stick to those, like you say, even three subcategories—rural, urban
• 31.480><c> for</c> Services they came up with a number for Services they came up with a number for urban
• a number for Rural and a number urban a number for Rural and a number for<01:14:34.000><c> Super</c>
• town whatever as long as rural urban town whatever as long as their<01:15:10.480><c> rates</c><01:15

Keywords: 928, house, all

Summary: The subcommittee discussed three ambulance reimbursement bills and tried to distinguish their approaches. House Bill 185 would require insurers to pay the full amount billed by an ambulance provider when there is no contract rate, with no balance billing to the patient; the Insurance Department clarified that emergency ambulance services are already covered under the benchmark plan, so the bill’s reference to policies without ambulance coverage is effectively meaningless. House Bill 725 would set reimbursement at 325% of the Medicare rate for non-contract ambulance services and prohibit balance billing. House Bill 316 was described as addressing the broader problem that Medicare/Medicaid rates are low and that current balance billing shifts costs to patients or municipalities; its sponsor said the bill would require insurers to pay a rate that gives providers a fighting chance to remain in business, and he viewed 325% of Medicare as the most logical option. Members debated whether insurers should pay the billed amount, a negotiated in-network rate, or a regulated percentage of Medicare. Some argued that out-of-network ambulance providers are underpaid and that in-network rates are often too low to sustain service, especially for emergency providers who cannot steer patients. Others said ambulance companies should not be able to bill whatever they want and questioned the fairness of charging insured patients or insurers more than the service is worth. There was also discussion of whether rate schedules should be reviewed by an oversight body and whether different costs in rural areas justify different reimbursement levels. A recurring issue was balance billing and who ultimately bears the shortfall. Several members said balance billing harms patients and often does not get paid, leaving cities and towns or property taxpayers to cover the difference for municipal ambulance services. Others argued that shifting the cost to insurance premiums would spread the burden more fairly, though it could raise premiums by a few dollars per person per month. No vote or final action was taken in the excerpt; the discussion focused on clarifying the bills and weighing their policy tradeoffs.

Transcript Highlights:

• construct on smaller gap or infill lots, such as might be found in existing small towns and larger urban
• It would encourage development of family-sized units in urban and suburban areas and expand housing supply
• It would encourage development of family-sized units in urban and suburban areas and expand housing supply

Summary: The Senate Committee on Housing and Human Services met with a quorum, adopted the June 16, 2026 minutes, and then unanimously adopted S-1 substitutes for House Bills 5570 and 5571. The chair said the committee would take testimony and likely not move to final passage that day, in order to allow more discussion and questions. The bills, as substituted, would allow local governments to permit certain multifamily buildings up to four stories to be built or converted with a single staircase, subject to conditions such as limits on units per floor, floor size, and existing fire safety requirements. A sunset provision was described as ending the statute once LARA adopts corresponding building code rules. Representatives Fairbairn and Wooden testified in support, saying the bills are intended to address Michigan’s housing shortage by making smaller infill and “missing middle” projects more feasible and less costly. They argued the current two-stair requirement drives up costs, makes land assembly harder, and limits development on narrow or irregular lots. Senators asked about stair width, emergency safety, the choice of four stories instead of six, and why the American Institute of Architects opposed the approach; the sponsors said the 48-inch stair width was intended to allow two-way movement, four stories was a compromise aligned with expected code changes, and the architects preferred rulemaking over statutory change. Supportive testimony came from Pew Charitable Trusts, which said research from New York City, Seattle, and other places found fire death rates in modern single-stair buildings to be indistinguishable from other multifamily buildings, and that modern safety features such as sprinklers, alarms, and fire-rated construction make these buildings safe. A developer from Ann Arbor and the Michigan Home Builders Association said the reform would improve floor-plan efficiency, reduce wasted circulation space, lower construction costs, and help smaller projects pencil out. Abundant Housing Michigan also supported the bills, estimating they could reduce apartment construction costs by nearly 13%. The clerk read in numerous written cards in support from business, housing, municipal, and advocacy groups, while the Michigan Association of Fire Chiefs and the Michigan Professional Firefighters Union were listed as neutral. The committee adjourned without further business.