Transcript Highlights:

• An extremely costly mandate placed on every consumer in the Commonwealth.
• It simply makes the climate roadmap a goal, not a mandate.
• It recognizes It simply makes the climate roadmap a goal, not a mandate.
• On this path of expensive mandates, energy bills will continue to rise year after year.
• It removes a mandate and asks for an aspirational goal.

Keywords: 995, all

Summary: The House met in a session centered on the FY26 budget, especially the Energy and Environmental Affairs and Labor/Economic Development sections, while also taking time to recognize several championship teams and other guests. Early in the day, the chamber adopted a set of commemorative resolutions, including observances for Apraxia Awareness Day, International Celiac Awareness Day, and Jewish American Heritage Month. Members also welcomed Franklin High’s cheerleading and boys basketball champions, Winthrop boys hockey champions, St. Mary’s of Lynn girls basketball champions, Holy Trinity School students, and later Boston Celtics guard Drew Holiday and Lauren Holiday. The most contentious debate involved amendments related to Massachusetts’ climate and clean-car policies. Representative Lombardo offered amendments to delay or repeal ACC2/zero-emission vehicle requirements and to convert climate mandates into goals rather than requirements, arguing the rules were unrealistic, costly, and harmful to dealers, consumers, and the economy. Opponents said the House had already addressed the issue, and that climate and energy policy should remain under review through a public process. The House rejected Lombardo’s ACC2-related amendments, including after a ruling of the Chair was upheld by roll call, and later adopted a consolidated Energy and Environmental Affairs amendment by a wide margin. The House then adopted a consolidated Labor and Economic Development amendment and ultimately passed the FY26 budget to be engrossed. Supporters highlighted major funding for environmental protection, parks, fish and game, clean energy, food insecurity programs, agricultural support, economic development, tourism, and an immigration legal assistance fund. The chamber also observed a moment of silence for Molly McGovern, and at the end of the session adopted an order to meet the next day at 11 a.m. before adjourning.

Transcript Highlights:

• <01:52:42.239> now<01:52:42.560> they mandate remove the mandate then now they mandate
• mandate.
• We remove that mandate. Rather school. We remove that mandate.
• We mandate everything. with you. We mandate everything.
• mandated? mandated?

Keywords: 1136, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• expensive and cumbersome mandate on us. expensive and cumbersome mandate on us.
• <01:25:39.199> just Uh this is an unfunded mandate just Uh this is an unfunded mandate just
• unfunded mandates out of this building. unfunded mandates out of this building.
• It's a very good mandates. I get it.
• claim that the government's mandated claim that the government's mandated description<02:23:15.280

Keywords: 981, all

Summary: The House convened, established a quorum, and approved the journal from March 4, 2026. Members then made a series of announcements recognizing visiting groups, including emergency managers, community health centers, the Colorado Chamber Alliance, medical equipment providers, the League of Women Voters, and upcoming committee meetings and Denver Zoo Day. The chamber also moved several bills to special orders later in the day. The House then took up third reading of several bills. House Bill 1026, expanding plan options for the Public Employees Retirement Association, passed 49-13. House Bill 102, concerning access to behavioral health providers and licensure for clinical social workers, passed 51-13. House Bill 1205, updating state law to reflect federal good neighbor authority agreements, passed 63-1. House Bill 1145, on water quality and mobile home parks, passed 42-12. House Bill 107, improving use of distributed energy resources, passed 48-16. House Bill 1127, requiring a report after fatal motor vehicle crashes, passed 42-22. House Bill 1277, continuing the kidney disease prevention and education task force, passed unanimously 64-0. The chamber then considered House Bill 1081, which would require utilities to evaluate advanced transmission technologies to improve Colorado’s electric transmission system. Members debated amendments, including L007 and L004, both of which were adopted, while L006 was rejected. Supporters said the bill would help reduce costs, improve reliability, and better use existing infrastructure; opponents of L006 argued it would add unnecessary mandates and costs. After amendment, House Bill 1081 passed. The House also took up House Bill 1228, creating an additional pathway to licensure for marriage and family therapists, which passed unanimously. House Bill 1120, implementing mobile home taxation task force recommendations to protect mobile homeowners’ equity and align tax sale procedures with constitutional requirements, was then considered; the finance committee report was adopted, and debate continued on a proposed amendment as the transcript ended.

Transcript Highlights:

• Uh, this would lift wages through opportunity training and incentives rather than mandates.
• We really do think of really overreaching mandates like this are job killers.
• You have the letter of the law: the minimum wage mandate does what it says on the label.
• Shortly after they put that $20 mandate in—let me pause here.
• Mandating living wage laws.

Summary: The committee held a study on the potential effects of living wage or minimum wage laws in Oklahoma, with the chair emphasizing that the discussion was not intended to advocate for or against State Question 832. The first panel focused on economic and workforce impacts. An Oklahoma Department of Commerce representative argued that living wage calculations vary by region and household type, that Oklahoma’s average wages are already near or above many living-wage estimates, and that higher mandated wages could lead employers to cut hours, reduce hiring, automate, or avoid expansion, especially in rural areas where childcare, healthcare, broadband, and infrastructure constraints also affect labor participation. Committee members asked about wage distributions, rural cost differences, training pathways, and whether higher wages might draw workers or businesses out of state; the witness said many low-wage workers move up over time and that Oklahoma has seen net in-migration. A State Chamber Research Foundation witness then testified that a $15 statewide wage floor would raise payroll costs substantially, especially for small rural employers, and cited examples from California and Seattle to argue that higher wages can reduce hours, jobs, and benefits while increasing consumer prices. She suggested alternatives such as expanding the state earned income tax credit and promoting upskilling through existing education and training programs. A Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry representative described Missouri’s recent voter-approved minimum wage increase to $13.75, rising to $15, along with paid sick leave provisions. She said the chamber opposed the measure because it would raise business costs, hurt rural communities and youth employment, and force some employers to cut hours, reduce hiring, or close. She cited examples from Missouri businesses facing significant added costs and warned that a future ballot initiative could create a patchwork of local minimum wages. In response to questions, she said Missouri’s law did not distinguish by age or industry, that businesses had raised concerns about union contracts and compliance, and that the chamber viewed the measure as harmful to competitiveness. Peter Hansen of NFIB presented the final major testimony, summarizing an NFIB study projecting that a higher Oklahoma minimum wage would produce some short-term GDP gains but longer-term losses, with GDP turning negative by the early 2030s and job losses growing over time. He said businesses respond to higher wage mandates by raising prices, trimming jobs, converting full-time positions to part-time, reducing benefits, and shifting investment toward automation or other capital. He argued that the burden falls most heavily on vulnerable workers such as young or marginal employees, who are less likely to be hired when labor costs rise. In questioning, he acknowledged that higher wages can improve pay for some workers and may have some short-term positive effects, but maintained that the long-term employment and investment effects are negative. No votes or formal actions were taken in the meeting.

Transcript Highlights:

• Although updating the rules and definitions surrounding mandated reporting is a new undertaking, your
• Although updating the rules and definitions surrounding mandated reporting is a new undertaking, your
• there is an expectation that a mandated there is an expectation that a mandated reporter<00:34:17.399
• <00:38:10.320> reporters, list of mandated reporters, list of mandated reporters, who<00:38
• and how we can best support our mandated and how we can best support our mandated reporters with

Keywords: 926, house, all

Summary: The House opened with a devotional in honor of Earth Day, then referred three Senate bills to money committees under House Rule 35A: S. 173 to Appropriations, and S. 232 and S. 327 to Ways and Means. The chamber also adopted JRS 50, a joint resolution setting weekend adjournment so the House and Senate would reconvene no later than April 28, 2026. Several members then made announcements recognizing guests and interns in the gallery, including a homeschooling eighth grader, UVM interns, a constituent shadowing a member, family members, and a Civil Air Patrol delegation. The House next took up S. 89, expanding survivor benefits, and passed it in concurrence with proposal of amendment. It then considered S. 157 on recovery residence certification. The Human Services Committee described the bill as making permanent a temporary framework for certified recovery residences, placing oversight with the Department of Health, requiring standards, data collection, and annual reporting, and preserving resident protections such as written agreements, notice, grievance procedures, and alternative housing arrangements. The committee also said the bill would modernize definitions and repeal the sunset on the current framework. Human Services voted 9-0-2 to recommend the strike-all amendment, and Ways and Means reported the bill favorable 11-0-0, noting no fiscal impact unless a future fee is proposed and enacted. The House adopted the amendment, ordered third reading, and moved the bill forward. The final major item was S. 239, creating a child abuse and neglect reporting working group. The Human Services Committee said Vermont’s mandated reporting system has not been substantially reviewed in over a decade and that the bill would convene experts to review the law and recommend updates. Committee testimony emphasized that Vermont has a very high reporting rate but relatively low rates of substantiation and referral to supportive services, and members said the working group should examine reporting before, during, and after a report, including alternatives when in a child’s best interests. The committee’s strike-all amendment added findings, narrowed and prioritized the working group membership to people with direct child-serving or mandated-reporting experience, set deadlines for an interim report by April 1, 2027 and final recommendations by October 1, 2027, and required the first meeting by August 15. The committee also heard from a wide range of child welfare, education, law enforcement, and advocacy witnesses.

Transcript Highlights:

• Coroners training has always been a nonfunded mandate.
• /c><00:36:58.079> based<00:36:58.400> on mandated fair salary scale based on mandated fair
• Uh, but the state has mandated those. But the state has mandated those.
• Chairman, please. >> Yes. >> Was uh we mandate your salary, right?
• that instead of being mandated on those? that instead of being mandated on those?

Keywords: 958, all

Transcript Highlights:

• mandating it, but you're not funding it. mandating it, but you're not funding it.
• c> mandate<01:49:09.840> on<01:49:10.080> public mandate, yet another mandate on public
• redundant in another mandate. redundant in another mandate.
• This bill is another mandate on public education, and this one is an unfunded mandate.
• Representative Nadeau. mandates and numerous other mandates on mandates and numerous other mandates on

Keywords: 1189, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• be due to mandates if that was covered? be due to mandates if that was covered?
• so yes, there were several new mandates. so yes, there were several new mandates.
• And I'll kind of get it mandates?
• <01:12:20.159> that like to buy 25 of the 30 mandates that like to buy 25 of the 30 mandates
• And for some all the mandates in it.

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• I continue to hear from not a mandate.
• <00:25:23.679> are district that the 65 mandates are district that the 65 mandates are challenging
• Um unfunded mandates very challenging.
• Why not allow overwhelmed with mandates.
• school<00:48:24.800> districts, We impose mandates on school districts, We impose mandates

Keywords: 919, house, all

Summary: The committee heard House File 3764, as amended by the DE1 amendment, which would allow school districts and charter schools to create local anonymous threat reporting systems. Representative Nadeau described the bill as an optional framework that would support 24/7 anonymous tips through an app, hotline, or website, use trained crisis counselors and school-based teams, coordinate with 911 and law enforcement when needed, require public awareness efforts and student training, and direct districts to report usage data to the Department of Education. The chair adopted the DE1 amendment, and the bill was moved before the committee with the intent to place it on the general register. Testimony was largely supportive. Chris Linquist of St. Francis Area Schools said his district has used the Sandy Hook Promise reporting system since 2023-24 and credited it with helping identify bullying, mental health crises, and other safety concerns outside school hours. Alexandra Fitz Simmons of Children’s Defense Fund Minnesota said anonymous reporting systems are an important prevention tool because students are often the first to see warning signs before violence occurs. Representative Lawrence also praised the bill for being encouraged rather than mandated and emphasized local control. Rick Kaufman, speaking for several school organizations, supported the concept but said the bill still lacked clear standards for how tips are evaluated and shared with school officials, and he urged stronger coordination and funding for staffing and training. Joe Oonie of the Department of Education said the department supports anonymous reporting systems but raised concerns about the costs of building data collection and reporting infrastructure, FERPA safeguards, and the need for resources to implement the bill effectively. Chair Bennett pushed back on the funding objection, arguing the department should be able to handle the reporting within existing resources, and Representative Roach later asked whether the department had higher-priority uses for its carryover funds. No final vote on the bill itself was taken in the portion provided, beyond adoption of the DE1 amendment.

Transcript Highlights:

• mouth though is saying not to mandate mouth though is saying not to mandate it.<01:02:05.280>
• mandating that they have to be offered. mandating that they have to be offered.
• I rise in support. yep we're mandating something we're yep we're mandating something we're mandating<
• that he believes there's a mandate. that he believes there's a mandate.
• This isn't a mandate.

Keywords: 981, all

Summary: The Senate convened with a quorum, approved the previous day’s journal, and received a long list of bill status reports and enrollments. It also introduced Senate Bill 168, concerning reporting of money handled by legislative caucuses, and Senate Bill 169, a non-substantive revision bill for the Colorado Revised Statutes. The chamber then agreed to proceed out of order for moments of personal privilege and recognized the Denver and Colorado Springs chapters of The Links, Incorporated for Lynx Day at the Capitol. The Senate next took up a special-order consent calendar containing House Bill 1110, Senate Bill 78, and Senate Bill 151. All three committee reports and the bills themselves were adopted without objection, and the Committee of the Whole report was later adopted by a 35-0 vote. As reported, Senate Bill 78 was amended, Senate Bill 151 passed second reading and was ordered engrossed, and House Bill 1110 was amended, passed second reading, and ordered revised for third reading and final passage. The chamber then moved to special orders on Senate Bill 6 and Senate Bill 15, and the transcript focuses mainly on Senate Bill 6, which would require health insurers to offer at least one non-opioid pain medication option. Supporters argued the bill would expand access to safer pain-management alternatives, reduce opioid addiction, and encourage innovation; several members shared personal or professional experiences with opioid harms. Opponents argued the bill would mandate newer, more expensive drugs when less costly alternatives already exist and could raise health care costs. The debate continued in the excerpt, but no final vote on Senate Bill 6 is shown here.

Transcript Highlights:

• As I said in 2023 when... ...mandate, cementing this mandate into the future?
• And it is not a mandate. I am so tired of that. I've heard it all over the state. These mandates.
• And it is not a mandate. I am so tired of that. I've heard it all over the state. These mandates.
• And it is not a mandate. I am so tired of that. I've heard it all over the state. These mandates.
• "Please stop the unfunded mandates." "Please stop the unfunded mandates."

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• The State Board came up with it, but we mandated it, and we're mandating this bill would mandate firearm
• This is an unfunded mandate.
• And then there's the unfunded mandate.
• Chair, to that point, it's not an unfunded mandate because it's already mandated to teach a year of civics
• So it is not an unfunded mandate because it is already currently mandated to have that full year.

Keywords: 1182, all

Summary: The committee heard and voted on several education-related bills. Senate Bill 1422, which continues the Credit Enhancement Eligibility Board for 10 years to support the state’s credit enhancement program for charter school debt, received a due pass recommendation on an 8-1 vote. Senate Bill 1166, allowing county school superintendents to offer high school equivalency preparation through accommodation schools to 11th- and 12th-grade students age 16 and older, also passed 8-1 after testimony from county superintendents in support and one member opposing expansion to 11th grade. Senate Bill 1684, creating a private cause of action against public schools for failing to address known bullying that results in serious physical injury, drew the most opposition. The sponsor’s comments described it as a response to school inaction in bullying cases, including a referenced Chandler Unified student suicide. Opponents from the Arizona Trial Lawyers Association, Arizona Charter Schools Association, and Arizona Education Association argued the bill was constitutionally problematic, overly broad, lacked a definition of bullying, could expose schools to costly litigation, and could create liability for conduct outside school control. The committee held the bill without a vote. The committee also considered Senate Bill 1424, requiring annual age-appropriate firearm safety instruction in K-12 schools beginning in 2027-2028. Supporters said the bill teaches children to avoid touching firearms and alert an adult, while opponents argued it shifts responsibility from adults to children, should be handled by parents, and creates an unfunded mandate. The bill passed 6-5. Senate Bill 1475, barring students convicted of or admitting to specified serious offenses from participating in school-sponsored interscholastic activities, passed 6-5 after debate over juvenile rehabilitation, public safety, and the role of extracurriculars in helping students succeed. Senate Bill 1572, requiring Celebrate Freedom Week civics instruction, passed 6-5 amid debate over curriculum, age appropriateness, and whether it duplicated existing civics requirements. Senate Bill 1741, requiring districts and charters to allow release-time religious instruction and award credit under certain conditions, also passed 6-5 despite opposition from secular advocates who argued it undermines local control and promotes religion in public schools.

Transcript Highlights:

• practice to recover federally mandated practice to recover from<02:12:58.119> Medicaid<02:12:
• federally mandated federally mandated function<02:13:25.960> Federal<02:13:26.920> this
• are here legislate or even mandate are here legislate or even mandate certain<03:34:21.760> Medical
• But my view is that if safety and efficacy was not scientifically proven, we should not mandate it.
• <04:08:19.399> any<04:08:20.000> new before we mandated any new before we mandated

Keywords: 1189, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Mandates and regulations have caused incredible increases in our cost.
• It's not a mandate one way or the other. That's what the percentage is.
• It's not a mandate one way or the other. That's what the percentage is.
• <00:37:50.400> That's mandate one way or the other. That's mandate one way or the other.
• It's not very often that we stand before you and say let's do a mandate.

Bills: HB185, HB378, SB28, HB400, SB155, HB312, HB185, HB378, SB28, HB400, SB155, HB312

Keywords: appropriation, transportation, judicial system, funding, state budget, Pickens County, local act, vehicle tag fee, registration fee, issuance fee, motor vehicle registration, license plate, replacement tag, transfer tag, renewal fee, county revenue, earmarked funds, ambulance service, emergency medical services, EMS

Transcript Highlights:

• Unfunded mandate on page three. Unfunded mandate on page 16. Unfunded mandate. Unfunded mandate.
• Unfunded mandate. Unfunded mandate. Unfunded mandate.
• Unfunded mandate. mandate. mandate. Unfunded<05:55:41.600> mandate. Unfunded mandate.
• Unfunded mandate. Unfunded<05:55:44.718> mandate. Unfunded mandate. Unfunded mandate.
• <05:56:11.760> Here's mandate. Unfunded mandate. Here's mandate. Unfunded mandate.

Keywords: 958, all

Transcript Highlights:

• I think it needs to be mandated.
• I think it needs to be mandated.
• I see more mandates, more mandates, and less funding, and it really saddens me.
• I see more mandates, more<00:59:01.200> mandates,<00:59:01.599> more<00:59:01.839> mandates
• Mandates.

Bills: HF4893

Keywords: education finance, student support, aid allowances, appropriation, school funding

Transcript Highlights:

• Other districts have not complied with the mandates that this body adopted relating to the READ Act,
• unfunded sick and safe time mandate unfunded sick and safe time mandate imposed<00:32:24.200>
• in the first opposition to this mandate in the first place<00:33:01.679> we<00:33:01.799>
• went to effect Industries across mandate went to effect Industries across Minnesota's<00:33:28.559><
• <00:46:28.000> poses fits-all nature of of this mandate poses fits-all nature of of this mandate

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• But if it's deemed a mandate at the legislative level, it's supposed to run through the PERS program
• But if it's deemed a mandate at the legislative level, it's supposed to run through the PERS program
• There's two bills that we've added since 2001 that followed under that PERS pilot mandate process.
• You guys will be hearing a number of health insurance mandates, which you can see on Goal.
• The bill includes those special clauses that I had noted for the other health insurance mandates.

Summary: The Employee Benefits Committee met to approve prior minutes, hear presentations on state employee health insurance, compensation, leave, and related policy issues, and then recess for lunch. PERS reviewed the history and structure of the state health plan, noting the long-standing state-paid family coverage, cost-control measures, wellness incentives, the current grandfathered PPO and high-deductible options, and the effects of recent benefit mandates such as insulin caps, prosthetic coverage, medication management, prescription copay changes, and ambulance balance-billing limits. Committee members questioned the fiscal impact of adding benefits and the possible cost of moving to a non-grandfathered plan, while PERS and HRMS emphasized that health insurance remains the top-ranked employee benefit and that any major plan changes should be considered carefully. HRMS also presented compensation comparisons showing state pay generally below private-market benchmarks, discussed targeted market equity adjustments, identified ongoing recruitment and retention concerns in fields like nursing, IT, engineering, and attorneys, and reviewed leave policies, tuition reimbursement, and family leave comparisons with neighboring states. Job Service provided labor market data showing low unemployment, high labor force participation, and wage growth that still trails some neighboring markets, and OMB explained that prevailing wage requirements apply to federally funded projects under Davis-Bacon, not to ordinary state contracts. After lunch, the committee took up the required process for health insurance mandate bills and adopted an amendment to Joint Rule 211. The amendment clarified that the deadline for submitting mandate measures is intended to allow time for all required reports, including both the cost-benefit analysis and any Employee Benefits Committee actuarial report, while leaving the existing deadline unchanged. The amendment was adopted on a roll call vote, with several members voting yes and a few no votes recorded. The committee then moved into its jurisdiction review of bill drafts, beginning with a bill that would automatically renew pre-tax dental and vision elections; members debated whether it had any actuarial or administrative impact on PERS or the state, and the chair explained that the committee’s role was only to decide whether further analysis was needed before later testimony and recommendations.

Transcript Highlights:

• It is also an unnecessary mandate that erodes the decision of the local community.
• It is also an unnecessary mandate that erodes the decision of the local community.
• It is also an unnecessary mandate that erodes the decision of the local community.
• It is also an unnecessary mandate that erodes the decision of the local community.
• It is also an unnecessary mandate that erodes the decision of the local community.

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• like retail delivery fees, a new payroll tax and paid family medical leave, and massive unfunded mandates
• This year, though, they're back to advocating for millions of new taxes and even more mandates.
• Democrats so far have proposed more than a dozen new health care mandates that would drive up the cost
• Let's cut the mandates so businesses can grow and prosper and property taxes can come down.
• , the To opt out of the costly mandates, the unfunded mandates that Democrats have passed on to them.

Keywords: 919, house, all

Summary: House Speaker Lisa Damoth and Leader Harry Niska held a press availability focused on “affordability” in Minnesota, arguing that families are being squeezed by rising costs for groceries, child care, housing, insurance, energy, and property taxes. They blamed recent DFL control for spending down an $18 billion surplus, raising taxes, and adding mandates and fees, and said House Republicans are prioritizing lower taxes and reduced mandates to help families keep more of what they earn. They outlined a package of Republican proposals, including making the state’s reinsurance program permanent, expanding direct primary care, requiring the state to pay for new health care mandates, allowing schools and local governments to opt out of some unfunded mandates, creating a property tax commission, eliminating taxes on tips and overtime, repealing the retail delivery fee, ending the Social Security tax, lowering car tab and boat fees, and returning future surpluses to taxpayers. They also criticized DFL proposals such as additional health care mandates, a climate super fund, and higher car tab fees, and said they oppose any new tax increases. In response to questions, the leaders said some affordability measures could be affected by federal policy, but emphasized that many cost drivers are within state control. They said they are open to broader property tax relief, including caps, and to investments in DHS and county systems modernization to reduce fraud and improve efficiency. They also said they do not expect a large omnibus bill at the end of session, arguing that bills should move individually through committee and onto the House floor, and they accused House Democrats of delaying bills for bargaining leverage. No votes were taken.