Senate Local Government & Housing

Senate Local Government and Housing Committee will come to order. Ms. Alumzaro, please call the roll. Senators Basley. Present. Ball. Winstead. Present. Liston. Move to PI. I'm sorry, I mean here. Rich. Here. Snyder. Here. Mr. Chair. Good afternoon, everybody, and welcome to the Senate Local Government Housing Committee. We have three bills this afternoon and we will start with Senate Bill 80 with our Senate president, Senator Coleman, and our minority leader, Senator Simpson, who would like to start. Senator Coleman, thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Members of the committee and Mr. Chair, thank you for the opportunity to discuss this bill today. Throughout my life and my work, I've met families who are doing everything right. Working long hours, raising their children with love and discipline, trying to build stability and yet still cannot get ahead. Not because they lack effort, not because they lack values, but because the systems around them were never designed to move them out of poverty. I've seen parents choose between paying rent and paying for medicine. I've seen families lose housing after one unexpected emergency. I've seen neighborhoods where opportunity feels just out of reach. This is not because people lack…