Transcript Highlights:

• AMAZING NURSING HOME CARE PROVIDERS ACROSS OUR STATE.
• A NURSING HOME.
• IF A NURSING HOME CONTAINS AN ELECTRONIC NURSING SYSTEM IT MUST MAKE ALL DISCHARGE DATA AVAILABLE TO
• HOME HOME OFFICE OR THE NURSING HOME.
• OF A NURSING HOME THAT FAILS TO SUBMIT FINANCIAL DATA TO THE FLORIDA NURSING HOME UNIFORM REPORTING SYSTEM

Keywords: 999, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• When doctors regulate doctors, lawyers regulate lawyers, and judges regulate judges, the public is left
• ><c> regulate</c> regulate lawyers and judges regulate regulate lawyers and judges regulate judges<01
• Doctors will not regulate doctors. Nurses will not regulate nurses.
• ><c> regulate</c><01:15:03.320><c> nurses</c><01:15:03.760><c> the</c> the nurses will not regulate nurses
• the the nurses will not regulate nurses the boards<01:15:04.360><c> still</c><01:15:04.679><c> have<

Committee: Senate Health and Human Services

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• House Bill 2339 deals with the regulation of nursing licenses, particularly advanced registered nurse
• nurse specialists.
• licensed practical nurse submit nursing program transcripts to the Board.
• But that does not reflect the fact that there are nurse midwives, nurse anesthetists, and clinical nurse
• But that does not reflect the fact that there are nurse midwives, nurse anesthetists, and clinical nurse

Summary: The committee heard public hearings on several health-related bills. House Bill 1904 would prohibit cat declawing except for therapeutic purposes, with staff explaining definitions, fines, recordkeeping, and reporting requirements. The prime sponsor and animal welfare advocates described declawing as cruel and linked it to pain and behavior problems, while the Washington State Veterinary Medical Association supported the substance of the bill but asked to remove the added reporting and disciplinary provisions as redundant and burdensome. House Bill 2211 would provide guidance for medically tailored meals under existing Medicaid-related nutrition supports, including standards for Washington-based nonprofit providers where possible, menu review, and nutrition requirements. The sponsor said it would clarify implementation without expanding the program, and supporters from meal providers, food distributors, and local farms said it would improve health outcomes, keep dollars local, and support Washington jobs and agriculture. House Bill 2329 would allow licensed midwives to delegate certain tasks to medical assistants and to supervise medical assistants, with the sponsor and birth center operators saying it would fix an omission in current law and help rural and under-resourced birth centers operate more efficiently. Supporters said it would improve staffing and financial stability, while the sponsor indicated the lactation consultant language would likely be removed because those consultants are not regulated by the Department of Health. The committee then returned to House Bill 1904 for additional testimony from humane organizations, veterinarians, shelter leaders, and local officials, all supporting a ban on declawing and emphasizing animal pain, shelter impacts, and available alternatives. House Bill 2247 would expand and clarify veterinary telehealth and veterinarian-client-patient relationship rules, allowing a VCPR to be established in certain telehealth circumstances and setting guardrails for consent, practice standards, and when in-person exams are still required. Supporters from shelters, animal welfare groups, mobile clinics, and veterinarians said telehealth would improve access in rural and underserved areas, reduce shelter intake, and help animals receive care sooner; the veterinary association supported the bill with amendments to clarify recordkeeping and access-to-care findings. House Bill 2339 would update nursing license terminology and processes for advanced registered nurse practitioners, including title changes, controlled substance rules for CRNAs, transcript submission, and interim permits. Nursing board and ARNP representatives supported the technical updates, while the hospital association and medical association raised concerns about title language for clinical nurse specialists and the deletion of a reference to the medical profession. Finally, House Bill 2106 would require health carriers to give 90 days’ notice of significant mid-contract payer modifications and provide the actual modification language, with the sponsor and hospital and provider representatives saying insurers are increasingly making unilateral changes that affect payment, services, and patient access. UW Medicine and a rural hospital district described examples where insurers changed imaging or preventive service coverage mid-contract, causing financial losses and forcing difficult choices about network participation. Carriers were noted as opposing the bill, while providers and facilities argued it would improve transparency and prevent one-sided contract changes that disrupt care.

Transcript Highlights:

• This is for the nursing shortage task force.
• I'm a real nurse and a nurse practitioner.
• I'm here on behalf of the New Mexico Nursing Association and the New Mexico Nurse Practitioner Council
• Mexico Nurse Practitioner Council representation, and deans of colleges of nursing. ...nurse practitioner
• I've been a nurse for 40 years. Do we have people applying to nursing...

Committee: House House Health & Human Services

Keywords: 996, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Nursing, and a representative from TechEquity.
• I've been a registered nurse over 25 years.
• As bedside nurses, we don't just execute tasks. We utilize the nursing process.
• Nurses use technology every day.
• Our attempts to regulate the platforms are being challenged, Platforms to self-regulate have gone unanswered

Committee: Senate Privacy, Digital Technologies, and Consumer Protection

Keywords: 987, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Um nurses include um nursing assistants, registered nurses, licensed practical nurses.
• </c> the Board of Nursing. the Board of Nursing.
• </c> nursing assistants. nursing assistants.
• c> future</c><00:41:55.840><c> nursing</c> Except that our nursing future nursing Except that our nursing
• Same for nurses.

Committee: Joint Labor, Health & Social Services

Keywords: 916, all

Transcript Highlights:

• registered nurses, and nursing practitioners.
• It does not include nurses who report working in a field outside of nursing, nurses licensed in Texas
• Given that, we license and regulate approximately 581,000 licenses issued to nurses in Texas.
• The four types include the nurse practitioner, certified registered nurse anesthetist, certified nurse
• We regulate and approve pre-licensure nursing education programs.

Committee: House Public Health

Keywords: 1184, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Requires AHCA to impose a $10,000 fine against the home office of a nursing home, or the nursing home
• nursing home uniform reporting system.
• To the Florida nursing home uniform reporting system.
• nursing home, actually, because we did amend that, of a nursing home that fails to submit financial
• I can't hire nurses for less than what a hospital does.

Committee: Senate Appropriations Committee on Health and Human Services

Summary: The Health and Human Services Appropriations Committee met to review and advance the Senate’s fiscal year 2025-26 budget proposal for the committee’s portfolio. The presentation highlighted a $1.8 billion increase over the current base budget, including full funding for Medicaid and KidCare, investments in IT modernization, Medicaid provider rate increases, mental health and substance use services, opioid treatment, foster care and guardian assistance, elder care, veterans’ services, cancer research, school nurse staffing, and other public health initiatives. The committee adopted a motion allowing technical adjustments and then approved the budget proposal to be reported to the full Senate Appropriations Committee. The committee then heard and voted on several bills. SB 152 on surgical smoke protection required hospitals and ambulatory surgical centers to adopt smoke evacuation policies; nurses testified in support, citing workplace and patient safety risks, and the bill was reported favorably. CS/SB 958 on early detection of type 1 diabetes required the Department of Health to provide educational materials to schools and, by amendment, early learning coalitions; it was also reported favorably. CS/CS/SB 170 on nursing home oversight added consumer satisfaction surveys, reporting requirements, quality incentive changes, and financial reporting penalties, with an amendment exempting state-operated homes and directing a study of best practices; it passed after questions about dementia, language access, and retaliation protections. CS/SB 738 modernized child care regulation by streamlining DCF processes and reducing obsolete requirements, and was reported favorably without opposition. The committee also approved CS/SB 1356 creating the Florida Institute for Pediatric Rare Diseases at FSU and a Sunshine Genetics pilot to expand rare-disease screening and research, with support from members emphasizing early detection and data collection. SB 1370 separated ambulatory surgical centers into their own statute, with testimony that the change would better reflect the industry and help avoid burdensome regulation; it passed favorably. Finally, CS/CS/SB 1626 made a range of child welfare changes, including codifying DCF coordination with military installations, adjusting shelter certification, refining criminal-background exemptions, extending licensing compliance time, addressing room-and-board rate methodology, and clarifying missing-child procedures; after adopting three amendments and hearing both support and concerns, the bill was reported favorably. The committee also recorded a member’s affirmative vote on SB 958 before adjournment.

Transcript Highlights:

• My name is Kim Doe and I am a nurse midwife representing the California Nurse Midwives Association.
• Roxanne Goulder, with the California American Nurses Association of California and the Clinical Nurse
• An ICU nurse with UNAC/UHCP, and I stand in support. Thank you.
• Under the Biden administration, federal regulators addressed this issue in its January 2025 Regulation
• California's nursing home residents deserve better.

Committee: House Health

Keywords: 988, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Each participating state retains full authority to regulate...
• She said the rule in question was within nursing homes.
• Before COVID, when someone died in a nursing home, the physician in the nursing home was tasked with
• They changed a rule, and the rule was within the nursing homes.
• Whenever someone died in a nursing home previous to COVID, the physician in the nursing home was just

Committee: House Professional Registration and Licensing

Summary: The committee first met in executive session on Senate Substitute No. 2 for Senate Bill 1233. Members adopted several amendments, including language allowing the Boards of Therapeutic Massage and Chiropractors to seek emergency suspension of licenses when there are criminal indictments or charges that could harm citizens; extending the RX CARES for Missouri prescription drug abuse prevention program by removing its sunset; updating pharmacy distributor licensing language to reflect national licensing practices; clarifying pharmacist immunization authority, including RSV immunizations and board oversight for future immunizations; allowing certain long-term care facility employees to administer additional subcutaneous medications; and adopting agreed-upon language related to interior designers. The committee then rolled those amendments into a committee substitute and voted the bill do pass by a 16-1 roll call vote. The committee then heard House Bills 2618 and 2644, which would join Missouri to the Respiratory Care Interstate Compact. The bill sponsors said the compact would improve licensure portability for respiratory therapists, help address workforce shortages, and allow Missouri to be among the first states shaping the compact’s commission. Supporters, including respiratory therapists, a hospital association representative, a student and military spouse, and a nursing association representative, said the compact would speed access to qualified therapists, aid rural and hospital care, help during emergencies like COVID-19, and benefit military families. Several witnesses emphasized that participating states would still retain their own licensing standards and scope-of-practice authority. Opponents argued that the compact would surrender state sovereignty to an unformed commission, create a “blank check” before the rules are written, and potentially allow rules to supersede state law. They also raised constitutional concerns about interstate compacts and questioned whether a reciprocal licensing approach would be preferable. Committee members asked about sovereignty, the legal basis for compacts, and whether Missouri could preserve its standards; sponsors and supporters responded that the compact would not remove state authority and that Missouri could still require its own standards. The hearing concluded without a vote on the respiratory compact bills.

Transcript Highlights:

• The board was established in 1921 to regulate nursing practice in Arizona, and it consists of 11 governor-appointed
• The back-door cases are typically those nurses that have violated the nurse practice act.
• And that's—we want nurses to go to work.
• I am both a registered nurse and an attorney, and for more than 25 years, I've represented nurses and
• The nurse experienced years of prolonged uncertainty, and importantly, if the nurse posed a risk, the

Committee: House House Health & Human Services Committee of Reference

Keywords: 1182, all

Transcript Highlights:

• What we're finding in many of our skilled nursing veterans that come to us, they come to us with more
• COVID had an effect on all nurses across the entire country, not just CalVet.
• I will mention though that the nurses that we do have are tremendous.
• The jobs with traveling nurses, all of these things, there's definitely opportunities out there.
• We support a legal, well-regulated marketplace.

Keywords: 988, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• This is a real-time regulation.
• I'd just like to note... ...regulated under CDI.
• Rightfully so, infant formula is regulated like a medicine, whereas baby food is regulated like all other
• So we can't regulate that. I don't know. We can only regulate what's sold here.
• On November 4th, the nurse arrived.

Summary: The Senate Committee on Health heard a series of bills focused on access to care, insurance coverage, and public health. AB 387 on youth sports AED access drew support from the author and safety advocates, but opposition from school, park, city, and county groups over liability, cost, and access concerns. The author said he would continue working on amendments to shift the bill toward requiring access to existing AEDs rather than mandating facility procurement. Committee members emphasized the life-saving purpose of the bill while also raising affordability and access concerns for youth sports programs. The committee also heard AB 1682, which would require health plans and insurers to cover FDA-cleared scalp cooling devices for chemotherapy patients. Supporters, including breast cancer survivors and health groups, described the emotional and quality-of-life benefits of preventing hair loss and said cost is the main barrier to access. There was no formal opposition, though one senator raised concerns about whether the mandate could exceed essential health benefits. The chair and members expressed support for the bill’s goals and said it would be taken up when quorum was established. AB 2093, a follow-up to the 988 crisis line law, sought to clarify statewide leadership, improve coordination among 988, 911, and mobile crisis teams, and create a more sustainable funding structure. Behavioral health organizations and crisis center representatives supported the bill, saying implementation challenges and demand growth require statutory fixes. Committee members generally supported the concept but noted the bill was a gut-and-amend and that additional work was needed with county and behavioral health stakeholders. The committee then heard AB 1843 on hepatitis C treatment, AB 1629 on dental assignment of benefits, AB 2540 on community college access to medication abortion services, and AB 1929 on disclosure of health plan investments. AB 1843 had broad support from medical and public health groups but opposition from health plans, which argued it conflicted with the prior-authorization framework in SB 306 and could raise drug costs. AB 1629 was supported by dental and patient advocates but opposed by dental plans and insurers over concerns about network participation and out-of-pocket costs. AB 2540 drew strong support from reproductive health advocates and student representatives, while community college health services and some others opposed or were neutral pending amendments; the author said the bill was about equity and accepted amendments to reduce burdens. AB 1929 was backed by labor and immigrant rights groups as a transparency measure, but opposed by health plans and insurers who said Covered California was not the right entity to administer the disclosures and that the information was already publicly available. Throughout the hearing, members repeatedly weighed public access and transparency against cost, administrative burden, and implementation concerns.

Transcript Highlights:

• Today is Texas Nurses Day at the Capitol and I know we have at least a few nurses left because they came
• Nurses are the backbone of our health care system.
• I am proud to be a nurse and I'm honored to recognize today as Nurses Day. in the Texas House.
• UTMB School of Nursing improves the health of Texas by advancing nursing excellence through leadership
• Gah, Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer of Ascension Texas.

Keywords: 1184, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Nursing.
• I've been a registered nurse for over 25 years.
• As bedside nurses, we don't just execute tasks. We utilize the nursing process.
• Nurses use technology every day.
• This is a chatbot regulation bill, and I know Mr.

Summary: The committee heard AB 1979, which would limit the use of AI in health care by requiring licensed professionals to retain final clinical judgment, prohibiting automated systems from directing unlicensed individuals to perform licensed clinical functions, and clarifying medical-record privacy rules for direct-to-consumer health chatbots. Supporters, including nurses and labor groups, said the bill preserves patient safety and keeps care decisions in human hands. Hospital and industry groups opposed unless amended, arguing the bill could create compliance burdens and interfere with training and legitimate AI-assisted care. The bill was approved 6-1 and placed on call. Members then considered AB 2624, which would expand California’s Safe at Home confidentiality program to immigrant service providers, employees, and volunteers facing harassment or doxing. The author and supporters described threats, stalking, and online targeting of immigrant advocates and said the bill would let them use substitute addresses to protect their safety. Opposition focused mainly on concerns about the bill’s legal enforcement language, though the author said it mirrors existing Safe at Home provisions and does not create a new private right of action. The measure passed 4-1 and was placed on call. AB 2103 would make Engaged California a permanent statewide public engagement program. The author and the Office of Data and Innovation said it is meant to broaden civic participation through structured deliberation and transparent publication of results. Some members raised concerns about partisan balance and topic selection, while supporters emphasized the need to reach Californians who do not typically participate in hearings. The bill passed 6-0 and was placed on call. The committee also heard AB 2, a social media accountability bill for harms to children and teens, and AB 883, which would expand privacy protections and shorten data-broker deletion timelines for elected officials and judges; both drew support and opposition, were approved on committee votes, and placed on call. Later, the committee began AB 2023, a chatbot safety bill for children that would require age verification, safety audits, default protections, and limits on ads and data sharing; testimony was strongly supportive from child-safety advocates, while industry groups raised concerns about vague standards, audits, and liability.

Transcript Highlights:

• Twenty-two percent are certified nursing assistants.
• And they do this as family members, but they also do it through nurse delegation.
• The value of assisted living and skilled nursing cannot be understated.
• This puts providers in skilled nursing settings who are required to meet 247 RNs.
• It's not comparable in nursing homes.

Summary: The committee began with an extended work session on the long-term care workforce. DSHS Assistant Secretary B. Rector described the new Home and Community Living Administration and outlined major workforce pressures: Washington had about 126,000 long-term care workers in 2022, with demand expected to outpace supply as the 85-plus population and dementia prevalence rise sharply. She emphasized that direct care workers are largely women, people of color, and immigrants, and that family caregivers are also a major part of the system. She highlighted recruitment and retention efforts funded through federal Money Follows the Person dollars, including high school training partnerships, a retention toolkit, transportation support, caregiver newsletters, tribal workforce navigators, and a remote caregiving pilot. Committee members asked about career pathways, technology use, and turnover drivers; Rector said wages, benefits, unstable hours, and workplace support are key issues and promised follow-up data. Aidan Swain of the Washington Health Care Association said skilled nursing and assisted living facilities face acute RN vacancies, wage pressures, and Medicaid reimbursement that does not cover costs, and urged modernization of training, better reimbursement, and continued support for facility-based care. Maddie Fouch of SEIU 775, representing about 55,000 caregivers, said low wages, weak benefits, lack of voice, and certification delays are driving turnover and shortages, and argued for higher compensation, better worker protections, and more transparent reimbursement. Catherine Smith of Behavioral Health Solutions described growing behavioral health needs in nursing homes, the role of expanded behavioral supports programs, and credentialing delays that slow hiring. No votes were taken; the panel was informational only. The second agenda item was an overview of the palliative care benefit work group report required by 2024 legislation. Nico Jansen of the Office of the Insurance Commissioner explained that the work group, convened with the Health Care Authority, studied a potential palliative care benefit for fully insured commercial plans and also Medicaid, PEBB, and SEBB. He said palliative care is a philosophy of care focused on symptom management, coordination, and support for serious illness, and is distinct from hospice because it can be provided alongside curative treatment. The actuarial analysis concluded that creating a new benefit would likely increase costs, estimating about a 28-cent per member per month increase overall and roughly $2.6 million to $4.5 million in annual state Medicaid costs if implemented in 2027. Jansen said the consultants did not find sufficient evidence to assume savings from avoided hospitalizations or long-term care, though several work group members disagreed and submitted response letters. Senators asked about other states, Medicare, health homes, and whether more research could clarify cost savings; OIC said some states, including Hawaii, are moving ahead with Medicaid palliative care benefits, Medicare covers some related services but not in the same way, and further evidence may emerge over time. OIC did not take a position on whether the Legislature should create the benefit. The final presentation covered health care price transparency tools in Washington and federally. Evan Klein and HCA Chief Data Officer Vishal Chaudry reviewed federal hospital and health plan transparency rules, the state all-payer claims database, prescription drug price transparency, the Health Care Cost Transparency Board, the Prescription Drug Affordability Board, and other reporting systems. They explained that the APCD contains claims from fully insured commercial plans, Medicaid, and public employee programs, but not self-insured employer data except for limited voluntary submissions. They also described how machine-readable files, consumer price tools, and aggregated dashboards are used, and noted that data limitations, delays, and complexity remain significant. Senators asked about voluntary self-insured participation, the role of AI in making data more usable, and whether transparency can really help consumers given access barriers and medical debt. HCA said AI is increasingly used by private entities to mine large transparency datasets, but state agencies still face limits in data access and analytic capacity. The committee did not take action; the session was informational and ended with a discussion of how transparency data might better inform policy and purchasing decisions in the future.

Transcript Highlights:

• I've received some feedback that the regulations Off-load time.
• ECNS, which uses Emergency Communications Nurse System, ECNS, which uses nurses to triage 9-1-1 calls
• Emergency Communications Nurse System, EC&S, which uses nurses to triage 9-11 calls to reduce unnecessary
• We need to evacuate that nursing home, for example.
• We need to evacuate that nursing home, for example.

Summary: The Senate Committee on Rules convened, established quorum, and first approved several governor’s appointments not required to appear: Courtney Welsh to the California Housing Partnership Corporation Board, Janessa Goldbeck to the California Veterans Board, and Tom Huntington to the State Parks and Recreation Commission, each by 3-0 vote. The committee also approved reference of bills to committees, the 2026 committee chair/member assignments, the 2026 session schedule, the 2026 holiday schedule, and floor acknowledgments, all by unanimous votes. The committee then heard and advanced two appointments requiring testimony. Dr. Hernando Garzon, nominated as chief medical officer for the Emergency Medical Services Authority, discussed his background in emergency medicine, disaster response, EMS data modernization, local flexibility within statewide standards, ambulance offload time regulations, stakeholder engagement, and alternatives to emergency transport such as community paramedicine and telehealth. Members pressed him on strategic planning, rural and climate-related disaster response, ambulance rate reporting, and how EMSA can better protect vulnerable people during evacuations; his appointment was approved 4-0 and sent to the Senate floor. Stephanie Weldon, nominated as Deputy Director of the Office of Health Equity at the Department of Public Health, described her tribal background, prior public service, and focus on health equity, behavioral health, tribal consultation, data, and community-led programs. Senators asked about measuring outcomes, serving rural communities, balancing equity work amid federal DEI opposition, youth mental health, and preventing fraud or waste through transparency. Public commenters, including tribal, health, and community advocates, strongly supported her nomination. Her appointment was also approved 4-0 and forwarded to the full Senate.

Transcript Highlights:

• TO A SURGEON OR A NURSE OR A PATIENT?
• NURSES IS A TRUSTED PROFESSION IN AMERICA ACCORDING TO A RECENT POLL.
• AND THE VICE PRESIDENT OF FLORIDA NURSES ASSOCIATION.
• TO ALL THE NURSES WHO ARE HERE THEY HAVE BEEN COMING EVERY YEAR.
• WE ARE HIGHLY REGULATED AS NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS.

Transcript Highlights:

• Like many other nurses working at the bedside, nurses at our hospital experience firsthand what happens
• Like many other nurses working at the bedside, nurses at our hospital experience firsthand what happens
• Private equity run nursing infections.
• Let the doctors and nurses and people that clean the place do their mission.
• </c> information so that we can regulate it. information so that we can regulate it.

Committee: Senate Health and Human Services

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• We have some nurses from the Florida Nurses Association.
• Nurses Association, as well as Sandra Falk, a retired operating room nurse.
• We have some nurses from the Florida Nurses Association.
• The Florida Nurses Association is a voice for over 440,000 nurses in each of our districts. 440,000 nurses
• Nurses Association, as well as Sandra Falk, a retired operating room nurses.

Keywords: 999, senate, all