Transcript Highlights:

• beginning and middle of year tests.
• middle-of-year tests, for example, something like the MAP test.
• The testing windows require that the end-of-year testing happens later in the school year. and split
• , middle of year, and end of year assessments will look like. ...testing system would look like.
• And so, do you wish that the end-of-the-year test, the STAAR test, was shorter?

Bills: HB8

Keywords: HB 8, Texas public school accountability, school accountability, public school transparency, STAAR, state assessments, instructionally supportive assessment program, Student Success Tool, Texas Education Agency, TEA, accountability ratings, A-F ratings, through-year assessment, benchmark testing, norm-referenced assessment, college career military readiness, CCMR, local accountability plan, school district performance, campus turnaround

Transcript Highlights:

• Is the A to Z of that year that last test, or is it?
• They are the state standards for the state assessment for the beginning of year and middle of year tests
• HB 8 would now add beginning and end of year testing for all state-required tests, K through eight.
• You know, end-of-year tests and answer keys are to be released every three years.
• Year-long testing is just a better idea.

Bills: HB8

Keywords: HB 8, Texas public school accountability, school accountability, public school transparency, STAAR, state assessments, instructionally supportive assessment program, Student Success Tool, Texas Education Agency, TEA, accountability ratings, A-F ratings, through-year assessment, benchmark testing, norm-referenced assessment, college career military readiness, CCMR, local accountability plan, school district performance, campus turnaround

Transcript Highlights:

• The end-of-year test is criterion-referenced.
• beginning- and middle-of-the-year tests.
• The testing windows require the end-of-year testing to happen later in the school year, uh, and split
• school year, same year that the new test goes live.
• , middle-of-year, end-of-year testing system would look like.

Bills: HB8

Keywords: HB 8, Texas public school accountability, school accountability, public school transparency, STAAR, state assessments, instructionally supportive assessment program, Student Success Tool, Texas Education Agency, TEA, accountability ratings, A-F ratings, through-year assessment, benchmark testing, norm-referenced assessment, college career military readiness, CCMR, local accountability plan, school district performance, campus turnaround

Summary: The House Committee on Public Education met to hear House Bill 8, which would replace STAAR with a new assessment and accountability system beginning in the 2027-28 school year. The chair described the bill as reducing testing time, limiting benchmark tests, adding beginning-, middle-, and end-of-year assessments, requiring faster score turnaround, involving Texas teachers in test development, and tightening accountability timelines and transparency rules. Members also discussed provisions on A-F ratings, cut scores, CCMR, local accountability plans, and TEA reporting requirements. Committee members and invited witnesses split sharply on the bill’s approach. Supporters, including the chair, TEA Commissioner Mike Morath, and Ed Trust’s Nicholas Munyon Penny, argued the bill would reduce high-stakes pressure, provide quicker and more actionable data, limit over-testing, and better align assessments to Texas standards while preserving criterion-referenced accountability. They said the new system would help teachers and parents intervene sooner and would improve transparency, including parent access to student responses and automatic rescoring in some writing cases. Opponents, including Rep. Hinojosa and student witness Ella Moran, argued the bill still increases testing and replaces one high-stakes test with multiple TEA-created tests. Moran testified that STAAR creates anxiety, disrupts instruction, and does not reflect real learning, while Hinojosa said the House had previously passed a better bill based on a nationally norm-referenced model and criticized the new proposal as a concession to the Senate. Questions also focused on AI scoring of writing, rescoring rates, and whether the bill’s new accountability rules would be reliable and fair. The committee did not take a final vote during the portion provided, but the chair said a vote on HB 8 would be called after public testimony later in the day.

Bills: HB 16, HB 1618, HB 2692, HB 2712, HB 2970, HB 3609, HB 3628

Keywords: water infrastructure, Texas Water Development Board, financial assistance, water supply projects, rural municipalities, water access assessment, aquifer storage, Edwards Aquifer, water injection, environmental regulations, groundwater management, San Antonio River, pollution control, flood management, water quality, conservation district, bonds, utility rates, ratemaking, water services

Bills: HB 16, HB 1618, HB 2692, HB 2712, HB 2970, HB 3609, HB 3628

Keywords: water infrastructure, Texas Water Development Board, financial assistance, water supply projects, rural municipalities, water access assessment, aquifer storage, Edwards Aquifer, water injection, environmental regulations, groundwater management, San Antonio River, pollution control, flood management, water quality, conservation district, bonds, utility rates, ratemaking, water services

Transcript Highlights:

• So it would be the assessment value can't go up more than 10% year over year.
• Cannot go up more than 10% in a given year. Correct. OK.
• Now, I took it upon myself to go back a year of their video.
• This year, just about a month ago, it was held again.
• During my 28-year career with Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, which includes over 10 years as a

Bills: HB148, HB203, HJR30

Keywords: HB 148, Texas Education Code, Texas Education Agency, TEA, artificial intelligence, AI, machine learning, automated scoring, constructed response, open-ended answers, student assessments, state testing, standardized tests, public schools, education policy, assessment instruments, school accountability, test scoring, 2026-2027 school year, ad valorem tax

Transcript Highlights:

• , maybe next year when it comes up at sunset again, then we initiate that process just to show that we
• , three year, five year appointments.
• of these loose ends, and the time constraints, I would respectfully ask that you give the board a year
• I've just been so suspicious through the past couple of years of kind of how we got to the why.
• Hopefully next year, when we come back and look at them, they will have cleared themselves up.

Bills: HB191, HB35, HB29, HB123, HB35, HB29, HB191, HB123

Keywords: sales tax, use tax, sales and use tax, local tax exemption, county tax, municipal tax, county commission, municipality, Alabama Department of Revenue, tax exemption, ordinance, resolution, fiscal year, September 1 effective date, notice requirement, local government, tax administration, revenue law, state and local taxation, volunteer firefighters

Transcript Highlights:

• the PUC for 10 years.
• the PUC for 10 years.
• for 10 years.
• over a year.
• has been years in the making. has been years in the making.

Bills: HF4236, HF4122, HF4377

Keywords: public utility, interim rates, utility rates, rate case, general rate case, Minnesota Public Utilities Commission, PUC, rate increase cap, rate freeze, refunds, customer refunds, ratepayer protection, electric utility, gas utility, regulated utility, ratemaking, return on equity, rate base, test year, rate design

Transcript Highlights:

• House Bill 8 is a transformational bill that will replace the SAR test with 3 tests a beginning of the
• year, middle of the year, and end of the year test.
• the students and the teachers, and the last test will be a test over Texas Teaks with the norm reference
• test pattern is mandatory.
• So we're going to have a beginning of the year test, middle of the year test, and then end of year test

Bills: HB8, HB26, HB192

Keywords: HB 8, Texas public school accountability, school accountability, public school transparency, STAAR, state assessments, instructionally supportive assessment program, Student Success Tool, Texas Education Agency, TEA, accountability ratings, A-F ratings, through-year assessment, benchmark testing, norm-referenced assessment, college career military readiness, CCMR, local accountability plan, school district performance, campus turnaround

Transcript Highlights:

• I've been in that office for almost 25 years.
• I've been in the criminal game for 35 years.
• Do not test their firefighters for cancer. Do not screen them.
• His fight actually tested him.
• He's not spoken in this bill but he was on the town for 17 years.

Bills: HB467, HB318, HB503, HB198, HB318, HB198

Keywords: hospital district, Cedar Creek, scholarship, dissolution, county judges, healthcare funding, grant program, rural counties, law enforcement, sheriff's departments, funding, public safety, deputy shortages, sheriff, prosecutor, salary assistance, HB 198, Wade Cannon Act, firefighter cancer screening, occupational cancer screening

Transcript Highlights:

• year or hybrid test model.
• year, removing the requirement that the facilities be used and useful during the historic test year.
• year or a hybrid in water and sewer utility rate cases, in addition to our current historical test year
• Since that test year closed, we've already spent $80 million in infrastructure.
• only had the historic test year option.

Bills: HB16, HB16, HB1618, HB2692, HB2712, HB2970, HB3609, HB3628

Keywords: judicial administration, court reform, juvenile diversion, court security, mental health services, drug offenses, constitutional amendments, water infrastructure, Texas Water Development Board, financial assistance, water supply projects, rural municipalities, water access assessment, aquifer storage, Edwards Aquifer, water injection, environmental regulations, groundwater management, San Antonio River, pollution control

Transcript Highlights:

• Over a trillion dollars a year of the state GDP.
• In 2022, we tested a dual 600-foot, 50-foot gate design through 111 test runs at our own simulation center
• Well, um, we do three years of training, so we take mariners that have had 10 to 15 years of experience
• It follows a five-year planning cycle.
• ... ...year review requirement and instead require review and updates every five years, bringing alignment

Bills: HB16, HB1618, HB2692, HB2712, HB2970, HB3609, HB3628, HB16

Keywords: water infrastructure, Texas Water Development Board, financial assistance, water supply projects, rural municipalities, water access assessment, aquifer storage, Edwards Aquifer, water injection, environmental regulations, groundwater management, San Antonio River, pollution control, flood management, water quality, conservation district, bonds, utility rates, ratemaking, water services

Transcript Highlights:

• The rollback rate had not been changed in 30 years. 38 years prior to that, we had a complete overhaul
• for 20 years.
• During my six years...
• We did our first geo election in 27 years, or actually 21 years, here because we need to utilize debt
• All those saw year-over-year growth of 10%.

Bills: SB9, SB 9

Keywords: property tax, ad valorem tax, voter-approval tax rate, no-new-revenue tax rate, tax rate calculation, Tax Code, local government finance, municipality, county, special taxing unit, sales and use tax, property tax cap, tax rollback, tax levy, maintenance and operations, debt rate, disaster relief rate, Texas Legislature, local taxing unit, school assessment

Transcript Highlights:

• of the year, middle of the year, and end of the year.
• So we're going to have a beginning-of-the-year test, a middle-of-the-year test, and then an end-of-year
• It's not just the STAR test.
• And because obviously the beginning-of-year tests and middle-of-year tests are automated, yes, that whole
• cap is going to be used on the end-of-year test.

Bills: HB8, HB26, HB192

Keywords: HB 8, Texas public school accountability, school accountability, public school transparency, STAAR, state assessments, instructionally supportive assessment program, Student Success Tool, Texas Education Agency, TEA, accountability ratings, A-F ratings, through-year assessment, benchmark testing, norm-referenced assessment, college career military readiness, CCMR, local accountability plan, school district performance, campus turnaround

Transcript Highlights:

• The concessions that you took last year The concessions that you took last year will<00:20:15.760
• per year after that. per year after that.
• And switching for over 25 years now.
• Uh, Chair... remember, the last two years, um, the remember, the last two years, um, the courts<00:41
• over these two years. Right, Cher Scott? over these two years. Right, Cher Scott?

Bills: HF3874, HF962

Keywords: judicial funding, Chief Justice security, fiscal year 2028, court system, judicial branch

Transcript Highlights:

• and the middle of the year test.
• and middle of the year test.
• Right now the TEA only creates the end of the year test. That's the STAAR test. Ms.
• and middle of the year test.
• It is actually the beginning of the year state-created test, the middle of the year state-created test

Bills: HB8, HB12, SB 3, HJR1, SB 11, SB 16, SB 14

Keywords: HB 8, Texas public school accountability, school accountability, public school transparency, STAAR, state assessments, instructionally supportive assessment program, Student Success Tool, Texas Education Agency, TEA, accountability ratings, A-F ratings, through-year assessment, benchmark testing, norm-referenced assessment, college career military readiness, CCMR, local accountability plan, school district performance, campus turnaround

Transcript Highlights:

• Uh, how much was collected on that tax at all last, last year or the year before?
• Accomplish most of this, you put 90% of the, um, surplus in there year after year after year, free school
• dragging with me for about 13 years.
• Um, restaurants in the first year of operating. 60% of restaurants fail, 60, 80% in year 2 to 5.
• Uh, and every year, uh, the taxes are more than the year before.

Bills: HB8, HB9, HJR1, HB 22

Keywords: HB 8, Texas public school accountability, school accountability, public school transparency, STAAR, state assessments, instructionally supportive assessment program, Student Success Tool, Texas Education Agency, TEA, accountability ratings, A-F ratings, through-year assessment, benchmark testing, norm-referenced assessment, college career military readiness, CCMR, local accountability plan, school district performance, campus turnaround

Transcript Highlights:

• year or historical balance.
• This time of year is the busiest time of the year.
• The result of this could very well be that those politicians request waivers year after year, leading
• Just as brief background, each year, or nearly every year, the agency will run an omnibus bill or a cleanup
• to five years, renewable one time only.

Bills: HB2014, HB2055, HB2145, HB2150, HB2696, HB2755, HB2763, HB2781, HB2782, HB2787, HB2795, HB2889, HB2975, HB2985, HB2986, HCM2009, HCR2020, HCR2038

Keywords: air emissions, fuel blends, environmental quality, feasibility study, Arizona Department of Agriculture, brackish groundwater, water supply development, desalination, Arizona Revised Statutes, water infrastructure, financial assistance, environmental reviews, fuel reformulation, gasoline standards, environmental regulations, ethanol supply, Air Quality, state land department, mineral lease, renewals

Summary: The Natural Resources Committee approved the March 17 minutes and then took up a long calendar of bills, holding HCR 2038. HB 2787, which would bar the state and its political subdivisions from using personnel or financial resources to enforce, administer, or cooperate with the Mexican wolf reintroduction program, drew opposition from Sierra Club and Humane World for Animals/Animal Defense League of Arizona, who argued it would hinder wolf recovery and undercut science-based wildlife management. The committee nevertheless gave HB 2787 a do-pass recommendation by a 4-3 vote. The committee then considered HB 2055 on a Brackish Groundwater Recovery Program Fund and HB 2782 on disclosure requirements for regulatory assets in utility rates. Testimony on HB 2055 raised concerns that brackish groundwater is still groundwater and that pumping it could cause localized impacts, but the bill initially received a do-pass recommendation before a later vote failed on reconsideration. HB 2782 prompted discussion about Corporation Commission authority and utility regulation, but it ultimately received a do-pass recommendation. The committee also heard HB 2781, a solar energy decommissioning and financial assurance bill, with testimony from environmental groups, industry representatives, and a local official; an amendment by Senator Sundareshan to strengthen financial assurance and remove the remediation fund failed, and the underlying bill also failed on a tied 4-4 vote. Later, the committee approved HB 2975, which would suspend use of solar scoring maps on state trust lands and require new mining and housing scoring maps, despite opposition from environmental groups and neutral comments from the State Land Department that the solar map is only a guidance tool. HB 2696, as amended, passed after the committee adopted amendments shifting the Arizona Commerce Authority’s fuel-price mandate and creating a fuel resiliency task force; testimony focused on fuel supply, pipeline capacity, refinery access, and whether the ACA was the right agency to lead the effort. The committee also passed HCM 2009 urging Congress to require legislative approval for new national monuments and to streamline mining and land-swap processes, and HB 2889, which funds ADEQ monitoring of uranium contamination and creates a statewide registry and tribal partnership program. Finally, the committee approved HB 2763, which would require legislative approval before the Arizona Game and Fish Commission could close a shooting range. Supporters said it was meant to protect facilities like Ben Avery and preserve safe shooting locations, while opponents argued the bill was unnecessary because existing review steps already exist and there was no imminent closure threat. The committee also heard testimony on the bill from Game and Fish, which said the measure would add another layer to an already extensive closure process and that the department was neutral on the proposal.

Transcript Highlights:

• and the middle of the year tests.
• and middle of the year test.
• and middle-of-the-year... ...of the year test.
• year test can be MAP IRA.
• It is actually the beginning of the year state-created test, the middle of the year state-created test

Bills: HB8, HB12, SB 3, HJR1, SB 11, SB 16, SB 14, HB 8, HB 12, SB 3, HJR 1, SB 11, SB 16, SB 14

Keywords: HB 8, Texas public school accountability, school accountability, public school transparency, STAAR, state assessments, instructionally supportive assessment program, Student Success Tool, Texas Education Agency, TEA, accountability ratings, A-F ratings, through-year assessment, benchmark testing, norm-referenced assessment, college career military readiness, CCMR, local accountability plan, school district performance, campus turnaround

Bills: HB148, HB203, HB360, HB552, HB 1244, HB 1284, HB1533, HJR30, HB148, HB203, HJR30

Keywords: residential property, ad valorem tax, leasing, property appraisal, fair market rent, housing affordability, appraised value, tax limitation, housing market, affordable housing, leased residential real property, rent control, Texas Tax Code, property tax, residential leasing, homestead, tax code, appraisal review board, real estate sales, property tax relief