Transcript Highlights:

• and around school.
• In terms of the school in the future, you know, there's several things that the school, ...of the school
• Plant High School.
• school, and jobs.
• The passion of the school, the direction of the school, the mission of the school has been fantastic.

Summary: The committee first took up 127 gubernatorial appointees grouped in blocks and, after brief testimony in favor of several nominees, voted to recommend confirmation of the block nominees to the full Senate. The committee then moved through a series of University of West Florida and other board nominations, hearing from each nominee about their background and priorities, with most emphasizing service, local ties, student success, military partnerships, and university growth. Several nominees also answered questions about governance, faculty hiring, diversity, and the university’s strategic direction. For the University of West Florida Board of Trustees, the committee heard from Paul Bailey, Rebecca Matthews, Rachel Moyah, Ashley Ross, Christopher Young, and Adam Kissel. Bailey stressed his local roots, legal background, and support for UWF’s pre-law program and military connections; Matthews highlighted her education and state-government experience, current role as board chair, enrollment growth, fundraising, and alignment with state directives; Moyah cited her education and school board experience, fiscal discipline, and recent positive financial and enrollment figures; Ross emphasized fundraising, workforce needs, cyber opportunities, and support for the governor’s higher education agenda; and Young focused on business accountability, audit oversight, rural access to education, and expanding military-related opportunities. Each of these nominees was questioned about issues such as diversity, “woke” culture, faculty ideology, and the role of the board, and each was ultimately recommended for confirmation by roll-call vote. Adam Kissel’s nomination drew the most extensive debate and public testimony. Kissel described his background in free speech advocacy, federal education policy, philanthropy, and higher education reform, and said he would support UWF’s growth, free-speech protections, military and veteran engagement, and stronger graduation rates. Senators pressed him on prior writings favoring privatization of public higher education, comments about replacing administrators with AI, his work with the Heritage Foundation and Project 2025, and how his views fit with serving on a public university board; he said his long-term libertarian views did not conflict with his short-term support for UWF receiving more resources. Public testimony was split, with supporters praising his free-speech credentials, military focus, and alignment with the governor’s reforms, while opponents questioned his commitment to public higher education and whether he could be trusted to learn the university from the ground up. After debate, the committee voted to recommend Kissel’s confirmation to the full Senate.

Transcript Highlights:

• of our schools.
• Um, this bill funds our schools. We have to fund our schools.
• The yield bill is squeezing schools at a rate faster than the timeline for the foundation formula.
• ... ...established for eligible programs between program providers and schools.
• They want good schools. communities. They want good schools.

Keywords: 926, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• <00:12:04.279> to foundation and the Joyce Foundation to foundation and the Joyce Foundation
• I am a district program facilitator with Minneapolis Public Schools.
• Our program was a K-12 pathway; this year we're completing our elementary school, which will be fifth
• on the program because of this program on the program because of this program we<00:47:15.720>
• School league actually has a foundation School league actually has a foundation found<01:32:54.719

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• basic allotment under the Foundation School program referred to the Committee on Education, Public Education
• School program referred to the Committee on Public Education.
• of guaranteed yield of the Foundation School program referred to the Committee on Public Education.
• School program referred to the Committee on Public Education.
• Foundation School program referred to the Committee on Public Education.

Transcript Highlights:

• Now, my passion is school safety, but I will tell you this: this program works anywhere with any situation
• So these are the programs that we're going out and teaching in the schools and in businesses and courthouses
• Every school should be doing this training every year, and since 2022, when we started this program,
• Every school should be doing this training every year, and since 2022, when we started this program,
• in the professional development programs at the beginning of school?

Summary: The committee heard extensive testimony on Oklahoma school safety from Commissioner Tipton, OSSI director Mike Fike, OACTIC director Alan Young, OSBI lieutenant Isiles Keene, and Rogers County Sheriff Scott Walton. The main focus was a statewide school-safety framework built around response, prevention, and recovery. Witnesses described training law enforcement in the LASER active-shooter response model, adding A-TURK training for coordinated law enforcement/fire/EMS response, expanding run-hide-fight and Stop the Bleed instruction for educators and staff, conducting risk and vulnerability assessments, and using the Rave panic-button system and the ProtectOK tip app to speed reporting and dispatch. They also emphasized behavioral threat assessment and management (BTAM) teams as a prevention tool to identify and support at-risk students before violence occurs. Members asked about administrator and teacher training, school counselor involvement, how apps are deployed on personal versus school devices, and whether schools are actually using the programs. Witnesses said administrators, counselors, and SROs should be part of BTAM, that training is most effective when it is realistic and repeated, and that Rave is geofenced and typically invited onto devices by schools. Several members stressed that school leaders must buy in for safety plans to work, and one member raised concerns about traumatic training and the need for mental-health support as part of prevention. Witnesses said mental-health referral and monitoring are part of BTAM, but the school and local partners must manage the process. OSBI’s lieutenant added broader context, comparing school safety to fire safety and noting that Oklahoma still lacks some statutory requirements for intruder drills and stronger penalties for school threats. He also discussed possible future tools such as surveillance analytics, gunshot detection, ballistic-rated doors and walls, and better access controls, while warning that technology should supplement, not replace, basic safety systems and training. Sheriff Walton closed by describing rural response challenges and his foundation’s effort to place ballistic shields in schools and police cars, arguing that human resources and rapid communication remain the biggest gaps. No votes or formal actions were taken in the meeting.

Transcript Highlights:

• Over 30 schools participate in the River Watch program.
• The River Watch program has been benefiting schools, teachers, and students in the Red River Basin for
• program has been benefiting schools program has been benefiting schools teachers<00:27:13.960>
• In 2024, we launched a program where every fourth grade student in all of our elementary schools in Sauk
• This program sounds great.

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• I mean, do we have people in these small schools that are going for this merit program?
• Do you all three participate in some virtual program that goes across the state to other school districts
• And school, if you're in sixth grade or seventh grade and you're struggling with foundational literacy
• or a school-embedded program operating as an ALE.
• Excluding ESA spending, program spending and total spending both exceeded funding for all three school

Summary: The committee first approved the March 9 and 10 minutes, then heard a presentation from the Arkansas Excellence in Teaching Fellowship Program featuring three third-grade teachers from Poyen, Drew Central, and Cabot, along with Department of Education Secretary Jacob Oliva. The teachers described the fellowship as a year-long collaboration among 23 merit-pay recipients from across the state, focused on sharing classroom strategies, data use, and professional support. Members asked about teacher experience, how the fellowship information is shared locally, the role of merit pay, and how teachers are addressing third-grade reading and retention concerns under the ATLAS assessment system. The teachers emphasized early intervention, relationships with students, small-group instruction, progress monitoring, and communication with families; they also described community supports such as churches, food backpacks, and local donations. Several members raised broader questions about poverty, trauma, social services, DHS involvement, and whether similar professional learning should be expanded to more teachers. Secretary Oliva said the fellowship is a small subset of a larger merit-pay program, that participation was voluntary, and that the state is working to improve literacy supports, clarity, and alignment across grades. He also said ATLAS results are now available to schools and families much faster than in the past, often within 24 to 72 hours, and that the state is using the data to identify at-risk students earlier and support intervention before retention decisions are made. The committee then moved to the adequacy/resource allocation presentation from the Bureau of Legislative Research. Staff explained that the report is part of the statutory adequacy review and focuses on state funding sources beyond foundation aid, including categorical and supplemental funds. They noted that districts and charters spent more than $7 billion in the 2025 school year, with roughly 49% from foundation funding and 51% from other sources over the last three years. The presentation outlined the four categorical funds—Alternative Learning Environment, English Learners, Enhanced Student Achievement, and Professional Development—describing their restricted uses, student-based funding formulas, and the ability of districts to transfer some money among categoricals while keeping it within allowable purposes. Staff said categorical funds account for about 4% of total spending, or less than $300 million, and reviewed superintendent feedback on whether those funds met district needs, with responses varying by category and district.

Transcript Highlights:

• health services, domestic violence shelters, child welfare, and after-school programming for youth,
• and other venues to offer their schools and other venues to offer their free<01:11:18.000> program
• <01:25:32.239> programs<01:25:32.960> community<01:25:33.360> outreach its school
• programs community outreach its school programs community outreach um<01:25:34.560> HSO<01:25
• The pilot program has permanent program.

Keywords: 910, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• systems via the Foundation School Program and via various federal pass-through appropriations.
• House Bill one does fully fund current law requirements under the foundation school program This includes
• It's what's allocated in the foundation school program, but they.
• I mean that's this is all set by the Foundation School Program.
• So that's the way the Foundation School Program works.

Keywords: 1184, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• I learned that as a high school student as part of a workforce investment program at Oakland Public School
• I learned that as a high school student as part of a workforce investment program at Oakland Public School
• These types of programs are programs we should look at statewide.
• The LA Music Center has an educational program that pairs professional artists with schools.
• So can I ask just in general if you know of any program or some kind of collaboration with schools that

Keywords: 987, senate, all

Summary: The Joint Committee on the Arts held an informational hearing on California’s first sector-specific creative economy strategic plan, “California’s Future: Creative Strategies for Cultural Resilience, Economic Growth, and Global Leadership.” Chair Allen opened by framing the creative economy as a major state asset and urged support for arts funding in the May Revision, including California Humanities, museums, public media, cultural districts, LA28 arts programming, and AB 2319, which would create a $100 million post-production incentive. He also emphasized the need for next-step funding to implement the strategic plan and noted concerns about federal headwinds and declining creative-sector jobs. California Arts Council Director Danielle Brazel, Institute for the Future’s Rachel Hatch, CDE’s Allison Frenzel, and Workforce Development Board representative Michael Weoff described how the plan was developed through AB 127 and related legislation, a 30-plus-member work group, and an interagency process. They outlined the plan’s phased approach and six priority areas, including preparing the workforce, stabilizing businesses, increasing revenue through cultural tourism, leveraging state incentives, defining and tracking ROI, and building state capacity. Testimony highlighted workforce pipelines, apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship programs, digital badging, and cross-agency coordination, with speakers stressing that the sector is shaped by AI, climate change, affordability, capital access, and social cohesion. A second panel of artists and advocates described on-the-ground implementation and the need for better data and support. Ricarlo Handy discussed the Handy Foundation’s apprenticeship pipeline into film and TV jobs and the difficulty of capturing freelance and 1099 creative work in state data. Joanna Reynolds described Arts for LA’s Creative Jobs Collective, which aims to create 10,000 living-wage creative jobs in Los Angeles County by 2030. Alejandro Gutierrez Chavez urged the state to embed artists in health, aging, behavioral health, and climate resilience systems, and Roxanne Messina Kaptur spoke about the need to treat arts careers as viable professions and expand residency and school-based artist programs. Senator Rubio, who joined the hearing later, shared her own background in teaching and the arts, supported arts education and small theaters, and raised concerns about AI, asking how schools and educators can adapt. In the final panel, Rebecca Ratzkin reported on 26 town halls across eight regions, where more than 1,100 people attended and generally affirmed the plan while asking for better access to information, new financial models, clearer definitions and data, and stronger networks. Julie Baker of California for the Arts and California Arts Advocates argued the plan is an urgent blueprint for a sector that generates $288 billion and more than 820,000 jobs, but remains below pre-pandemic employment levels and is losing market share. She and others called for funding, statewide definitions, better data collection, and cross-agency implementation, while committee members and witnesses repeatedly emphasized that the plan will require political will and resources to move from strategy to action.

Transcript Highlights:

• for an intergenerational education program.
• Right now, if you're in a school, you're 70% passing.
• I was just wondering how, what the utilization of this program has been.
• Can you give us some metrics related to the program? Yes.
• This was a government program, a federal program that was put in place several years ago, or maybe a

Bills: SR28, SB201, SB1379, SB1525, SB1966, SB2112, SB2170, HB2749, HB3262, HB3265, HB3673, HB3781, HB3040, HB3076, HB3369, HB3982, HB3462, HB3465, HB3521, HB3796, HB3800, HB4095, HB4298, HB4316, HB4338, HB4408, HB4454

Keywords: alpha-gal syndrome, alpha gal, tick-borne illness, tick bite allergy, red meat allergy, meat allergy, dairy allergy, anaphylaxis, Lyme disease, public health, tick prevention, vector-borne disease, allergy awareness, May awareness month, Oklahoma Department of Health, outdoor safety, health education, research funding, minimum salary, education funding

Summary: The Senate convened with prayer, the Pledge of Allegiance, and a special family recitation of the Declaration of Independence by Senator Hamilton’s children. The chamber then adopted SR 28, recognizing May as Alpha-Gal Awareness and Prevention Month in Oklahoma and encouraging awareness, prevention, and research on alpha-gal syndrome, a tick-borne allergic condition. Senator Seifried also introduced constituents affected by alpha-gal. Later, the Senate heard a gallery introduction from advocates for victims of impaired driving, highlighting the toll of DUI-related crashes in Oklahoma. The Senate then took up several House amendments and final-passage votes on bills. SB 201, clarifying that a teacher pay raise applies to certified classroom teachers, passed 47-0 and was advanced as an emergency. SB 1379, SB 1525, SB 1966, SB 2112, and SB 2170 also passed after adoption of House amendments, with SB 1525 and SB 1379 advanced as emergency measures. SB 1525 raised the threshold for contracting to host a conference from $25,000 to $75,000, and SB 1966 served as the annual omnibus highway, memorial highway, and bridge designation bill. Among the House bills considered, HB 3262 increased the sheriff fee for service of process from $50 to $100 and passed 37-8. HB 3265 allowed a psychologist to make PTSD determinations for the Oklahoma Police Pension and Retirement System and passed 47-0. HB 3781, a major insurance modernization bill changing rate-filing procedures for homeowners insurance and expanding the insurance commissioner’s review authority, passed 39-6 after extended debate over transparency, regulation, and market impact. HB 3040 expanded sex-offender loitering restrictions around businesses serving minors and passed 40-4, while HB 3076 authorized alternative teacher certification providers under OEQA oversight and passed 38-6 as an emergency measure. The chamber also passed HB 3369, a deregulation and efficiency bill affecting fire suppression and LP gas inspections, HB 2749, which shifted an intergenerational education program toward a Medicaid state plan amendment, HB 3982 on fleet vehicle titling, HB 3462 creating a shorter residential-only plumbing licensure pathway, HB 3465 extending the Oklahoma Emission Reduction Technology Rebate Program to 2029, HB 3521 modernizing money transmission law, HB 3796 as an Oklahoma Insurance Department omnibus bill, HB 3800 as a roofing-industry cleanup bill, and HB 4095 modernizing the 211 hotline advisory council. Several of these measures drew debate over regulation, workforce needs, public safety, or fiscal and policy impacts, but all of the listed bills ultimately passed by recorded vote.

Transcript Highlights:

• In addition to their support of superior academic programs, Baylor has one of the finest law schools
• partnership programs and a high school advising program including funding of those programs under the
• foundation school program and to the new institutional facility allotment. and the permissible use of
• funding under the Foundation School Program refer to the Committee on SC and Academic Career-Oriented
• School Program for certain. school districts to support those measures.

Keywords: 1184, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Prior to the State's Universal School Meal Program in 2023, schools relied on a tiered federal reimbursement
• Lunch and School Breakfast Program, which reimburses schools based on per meal served.
• Chair, Representative, the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) Program is a program that schools can
• Schools that participate in the CEP program, 99% of them do not have to collect school lunch applications
• Of our capital program, particularly the earmarked programs and the public school capital outlay council

Transcript Highlights:

• Adams from the Hawai after school Adams from the Hawai after school Alliance<00:15:58.399> if
• through the Pacific American foundation through the Pacific American foundation for<00:19:47.840
• <00:20:00.320> has<00:20:00.440> run American Foundation has run American Foundation
• American foundation in action during<00:20:33.280> a<00:20:33.400> school<00:20:33.720
• School founded on Hawaiian culture-based School founded on the<00:23:36.559> values<00:23:37.039

Keywords: 910, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• skills school year 24-25 foundational skills school year 24-25 foundational skills screening<
• or in their teacher prep program or in school while they're teaching as well.
• or in their teacher prep program or in school while they're teaching as well.
• district that or that the Hibbing school district that or that the Hibbing school<01:36:14.240> foundation
• school foundation school foundation if<01:36:16.120> if<01:36:16.320> we<01:36:16.480

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• > then<00:09:06.080> they school foundation funds, and then they school foundation funds,
• <00:19:26.000> foundation pardon me, $3,000 of school foundation pardon me, $3,000 of school
• Senate Third Reading 34, CRGO, is an addition of $21.9 million for the school foundation program, and
• > the<00:34:33.919> school<00:34:34.159> foundation directly into the school foundation
• directly into the school foundation program<00:34:35.040> account<00:34:36.399> senate

Bills: SF0032, SF0010, SF0001, HB0001

Keywords: 911 services, emergency response, grant funding, next generation technology, government accountability, public safety, mental health, detention, competency evaluation, treatment, contractual agreements, Wyoming, budget, funding, education, wildfire prevention, healthcare, community colleges, grants, economic development

Transcript Highlights:

• That will ensure school districts get their full amount of foundation funding.
• This is to fund the Education Facilities Partnership Program, where the department and the public school
• This is to fund the Education Facilities Partnership Program, where the department and the public school
• Number eight is $25,000 to Arkansas FFA Foundation for education, career success, and FFA programs.
• Number eight is $25,000 to Arkansas FFA Foundation for education, career success, and FFA programs.

Summary: The PEER Review Subcommittee met to consider a large agenda of budget, appropriation, transfer, and contract items. Members approved temporary appropriation requests for several agencies, including the Auditor of State, Department of Education, and Labor and Licensing; ARPA return requests from Workforce Services; Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act requests for State Police and Agriculture; restricted reserve transfers for teacher scholarships, school facilities, and economic stimulus; a Commerce reallocation of positions and spending authority; cash fund, budget classification, overtime, and pay plan requests; and 17 methods of finance items for universities and other agencies. Most items were approved without objection after brief explanations from staff and agencies. Several items drew questions and were held or discussed further. A Department of Human Services discretionary grant package for the RSVP program was held over after Senator Irvin raised concerns about whether the grants were an effective use of state general revenue and asked for more information on administration costs and program operations. In the contracts section, Representative Richardson questioned a DHS sole-source contract with EMS Link for document management software and a DHS contract with Presidio; the EMS Link item was held for additional answers, while the Presidio item was clarified as not sole-source and was allowed to proceed. Members also asked for more information on a Department of Education mental health referral contract with Care Solace, which officials said is a statewide concierge/referral service connecting students to Arkansas providers and telehealth options. The committee also reviewed monthly reports, including the Medicaid Trust Fund. DHS and DFA officials said the fund was currently sufficient to finish the fiscal year, though it was being drawn down and would likely require a $100 million transfer from restricted reserves in FY27, with another $100 million set aside in the governor’s budget as a backstop. Members discussed the need to define a minimum reserve level and to better account for ongoing Medicaid costs in the budget. The meeting ended with no further business and adjournment.

Transcript Highlights:

• The Eric Paredes Save a Life Foundation has placed over 200 AEDs.
• We operate a soccer program just south of Sacramento.
• We operate a soccer program just south of Sacramento.
• I mentioned that our foundation has placed over 200 AEDs. ...I mentioned that our foundation has placed
• Just when Mike is one of the larger foundations that offers grants.

Summary: The Assembly Arts, Entertainment, Sports, and Tourism Committee met as a subcommittee and heard three youth-sports safety bills. AB 310 would require youth sports organizations to have written emergency response plans for cardiac emergencies, maintain and test AEDs, and ensure coaches have training in AED use and CPR. The author and supporters, including the Eric Paredes Save a Life Foundation and the California chapter of the American College of Cardiology, argued the bill would save lives and build on last year’s AED requirement. Youth soccer organizations opposed the bill’s broader AED mandate on cost grounds, saying compliance could total millions statewide and could force higher dues, while asking for grants, liability protections, and public-field AED installation. The committee discussed costs and funding options, then passed AB 310 on a 9-0 vote. The committee then considered AB 437, which would add sports-related injuries, including head injuries, to the health and safety information the CIF must report to the Legislature and Governor. Support came from the California chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians, and there was no opposition. Members said the measure would improve reporting on athlete safety and accepted technical amendments. AB 437 was approved 9-0 as amended. Finally, AB 708 would allow parents to choose soft-shelled helmet add-ons for youth football to reduce concussion risk. The author described the bill as a parental-choice and safety measure, noting studies showing reduced concussion risk. Members praised the bill as a common-sense alternative to banning the sport and emphasized that it would let families choose additional protection. There was no opposition, and the committee passed AB 708 9-0. The committee also adopted a consent calendar item with amendments before adjourning.

Transcript Highlights:

• We provide an algebra assist program for beginning Algebra 1 teachers at the middle school level.
• We have also conducted data in-house on schools and students that have gone through our program, and
• We provide an algebra assist program for beginning Algebra 1 teachers at the middle school level.
• We have also conducted data in-house on schools and students that have gone through our program, and
• And also a lot of our schools, high schools across Kentucky, for alternative programs, they do use a

Keywords: 958, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Early college programs enable high school students to take college classes and earn college credit at
• Early college programs enable high school students to take college classes and earn college credit at
• to expand these programs in middle schools... ...in Massachusetts, but we've also begun to expand these
• programs in middle schools so that the conversation around students' path forward, goal setting, and
• So if you've got a school that has a Chapter 74 program and is looking to expand capacity so that more

Keywords: 995, all

Summary: The hearing focused on House Bill 55, the governor’s FY25 supplemental budget proposal to spend about $1.3 billion in surplus Fair Share revenue. House and Senate chairs framed the bill as a one-time opportunity to invest fairly in education and transportation, while also noting the need to protect the state’s long-term fiscal balance. Administration officials said the proposal should be considered alongside the FY26 budget and related bills, since the governor’s broader Fair Share plan aims for roughly an even split between education and transportation over time. Secretary of Administration and Finance Matthew Gorzkowicz, Transportation Secretary Monica Tibbits-Nutt, and Education Secretary Patrick Tutwiler outlined the administration’s priorities. Transportation funding would go mainly to the MBTA and related reserves, including money for the Federal Transit Administration reserve, MBTA stabilization reserve, low-income fares, winter resilience, RTA workforce support, MassDOT workforce and project delivery, and micro-transit grants. Education funding would support universal preschool expansion, early education and care capacity, early literacy tutoring, adult basic education and ESOL, early college and career technical education, MyCAP expansion, and special education circuit breaker funding. The administration emphasized that many of these investments are one-time or multi-year measures designed to address current needs without creating unsustainable recurring costs. Committee members raised concerns about regional equity, especially the large share of transportation money going to the MBTA versus regional transit authorities and rural areas. Several members asked for more detail on how the proposal would benefit Western Massachusetts and other non-MBTA regions, and whether micro-transit and Chapter 90-related investments would be sufficient. Education questions focused on special education reimbursement shortfalls, federal funding cuts to school districts, and how CTE and vocational investments would align students with workforce needs. The administration said it would provide additional data on MBTA versus RTA investment and explained that the special education circuit breaker and transportation reimbursement changes were intended to improve predictability and relief for districts. After the administration panel, Jessica Tang of AFT Massachusetts testified in support of using Fair Share funds to protect public education amid federal uncertainty and cuts. She argued that schools are facing a fiscal cliff, that vulnerable students would be hit hardest by funding losses, and that the Fair Share revenue should be used to preserve services and support students’ needs.