Transcript Highlights:

• CARES programs were comprised of social workers, EMTs, paramedics, nurses, and other types of professionals
• CARES programs were comprised of social workers, EMTs, paramedics, nurses, and other types of professionals
• Another significant barrier is hiring the skilled professionals these programs need.
• Challenges hiring skilled professionals were due to multiple causes, including a nationwide shortage

Summary: The Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee’s Initiative 900 subcommittee held a hybrid public hearing on two State Auditor performance audits. The first audit examined efforts to reduce non-emergency use of emergency systems through CARES programs. Auditors reported that Washington has 52 fire-agency-led CARES programs in 26 counties, but many communities without programs said they need one. Major barriers included unstable funding, difficulty hiring qualified staff, volunteer-based rural departments, and lack of statewide guidance. The audit also found that only about half of programs tracked both required performance measures, and it recommended that the legislature consider private insurance reimbursement options and convene a statewide work group to develop guidance, standards, and possible changes to the role of the Department of Health. Agency representatives and fire officials largely supported the findings and emphasized that short-term grants and one-year contracts make programs hard to sustain. Committee discussion focused heavily on financing, especially Medicaid reimbursement and accountable communities of health (ACHs). Auditors clarified that the 10% figure cited in the report referred to direct Medicaid reimbursement for treat-and-refer services, which some agencies do not pursue because the $115 rate is too low relative to the administrative effort. Several fire officials testified that their programs rely on grants and ACH support, but that funding is often year-to-year and uncertain. They also described the value of CARES programs in reducing emergency room use, jail detentions, and long ambulance wait times, while noting barriers to sharing patient records across systems. Members asked whether the new public safety sales tax authority could help, but fire district representatives said it is not a direct funding option for them. The second audit reviewed performance management in the Department of Commerce’s Office of Economic Development and Competitiveness. Auditors found that the division does not yet have a statewide economic development strategic plan and that performance management is inconsistent across its 16 programs. In a limited review, all six sampled programs had goals, but only half clearly identified performance measures and targets, and only three tracked outcomes and published results. The audit highlighted leading practices from other states, including strategic planning, regular progress reporting, aligning program goals with agency goals, and using performance-based contracts and grant monitoring. Recommendations urged Commerce to seek stakeholder input, assess internal and external conditions, set goals and measures, align programs with the strategy, and strengthen monitoring and evaluation. Commerce officials agreed with the audit and said the division is already working toward a strategic plan, with a new assistant director to be hired and a target of completing the work by mid-next year. Members pressed the department on how the plan would connect to workforce, higher education, housing, and other economic development systems, and asked Commerce to return to JLARC next year with progress updates. The meeting ended with instructions for submitting written public comments and notice of the next JLARC meeting schedule.

Transcript Highlights:

• Again, based on feedback from Tribal partners, the guidance was revised to allow for professional development
• Much of that is in the area of professional development; much of those funds were used for professional
• funding is tied up in staff and personnel, and to find money to be able to provide things like professional

Transcript Highlights:

• These professionals work hard to support parks and waterways across our state.
• Please welcome Executive Director Stephanie Stevens, Director of Professional Development Lauren Oakley
• These professionals work hard to support parks and waterways across our state.
• Please welcome Executive Director Stephanie Stevens, Director of Professional Development, Lauren Oakley

Summary: The Assembly met on May 23, 2025, after a quorum call, prayer, and Pledge of Allegiance. Members also made several guest introductions and memorial recognitions, including tributes to labor leader Louisa Blue and a Memorial Day moment of silence. The body adopted a motion to suspend Assembly Rule 63 for certain Appropriations Committee bills, and later took up a second-day consent calendar and several resolutions. The chamber adopted ACR 68, declaring July 2025 as Parks Make Life Better Month, and ACR 83, proclaiming California Maritime Day; both received broad support. On the floor file, members passed a series of bills covering child passenger safety, student financial aid, downtown office-to-housing conversion districts, rental vehicle theft prevention, fire hazard zone reviews, medical data protections, UC admissions transparency, office-to-housing streamlining, inoperable RV removal, domestic violence and child welfare, insurance classification for social service workers, sustainable aviation fuel CEQA review, UC hiring background checks, accessory dwelling units, fish and wildlife exemptions for Sutter County infrastructure, speed limit assessments, geothermal permitting, special education transfers, recorder fee adjustments, and a BIT program exemption for farmers and ranchers. Most measures passed with little or no opposition. AB 435, which would have implemented a five-step test standard for child passenger safety laws, was later reconsidered and failed on a vote of 36-12 after the call was lifted. The Assembly also adopted the second-day consent calendar, including multiple bills and resolutions, and added co-authors to several resolutions. The session ended with adjournments in memory and an adjournment until Tuesday, May 27 at 1 p.m.

Transcript Highlights:

• Before we dive into Brett's impressive performance, I'd like to thank you for joining us today. professional
• I believe my professional experience lends itself well to these tasks, and I have seen many related issues
• Ranking Member Durbin, and members of the committee, I have been privileged to spend nearly all my professional
• National security is the thread that runs through my professional life.

Keywords: John Eisenberg, assistant attorney general, national security, China Initiative, Department of Justice, judicial authority, executive actions, nomination hearing

Summary: The committee meeting primarily involved discussions around key nominations and pressing legal issues pertaining to the Department of Justice. Notable discussions included the nomination of John Eisenberg for assistant attorney general for national security, where concerns over the revival of the China Initiative were raised. Senators expressed significant apprehensions regarding previous actions taken under this initiative and its implications for national security. Additionally, there were critiques of the broader implications of executive actions that challenge judicial authority, aligning with ongoing dialogues about the integrity of the judiciary and executive oversight.

Transcript Highlights:

• Fund, with comments; support from the League of Women Voters Hawaii, Hawaii Chapter Society of Professional
• c><00:13:13.600> of Hawaii, Hawaii Chapter Society of Hawaii, Hawaii Chapter Society of Professional
• Journalists<00:13:14.560> in<00:13:14.800> support,<00:13:15.200> and Professional
• Journalists in support, and Professional Journalists in support, and individual<00:13:15.920> in<

Keywords: 910, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• This building construction bill ensures ongoing professional competency.
• It removes the exemption from continued education for building professionals licensed 10-plus years.
• It develops qualified professionals to meet the industry demands.
• It develops qualified professionals to meet the industry demands.

Summary: The committee began by postponing SB 1742 on condos until the following week, then took up SB 1298 on building construction. Senator Simon said the bill would require continued education for long-licensed building professionals, clarify interagency sharing of building officials, limit residential inspectors to one- and two-family homes, revive a paid internship for residential planning examiners, modernize permit signatures, and clarify contractor responsibility when work changes hands. The bill drew supportive waivers and was reported favorably. Members then considered SB 940 on third-party restaurant reservation platforms. A delete-everything amendment was adopted to target bots and unauthorized resale of restaurant reservations, while preserving direct restaurant-platform relationships and requiring consumer contact information when reservations are made through noncontractual platforms. The Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association and Booking Holdings supported the measure, and CS/SB 940 was reported favorably. SB 638 on home inspectors also passed after the sponsor explained it would raise education requirements from 120 to 200 hours, add instruction on building code, wind mitigation, four-point and insurance inspections, and require $300,000 in errors-and-omissions coverage; it was reported favorably. The committee next approved SB 960 on elevator accessibility, allowing additional shorter support rails while keeping the existing 42-inch rail requirement. SB 196 on foods containing vaccines or vaccine materials was amended to address mRNA language and cosmetics safety standards, with the committee adopting amendments and then reporting the bill favorably. SB 1418 on heated tobacco products was amended to clarify the definition of heated tobacco products and exclude other forms such as hookah; it also passed favorably. The committee also recommended confirmation of a block of board and commission appointees. Finally, SB 1262 on construction contracting was amended to add contractor continuing-education topics, strengthen penalties for unlicensed activity, create a standardized disciplinary reporting system, and require timely refunds and project completion standards; it was reported favorably with support from the Florida Home Builders Association. SB 1304 on solar facilities was then approved after extensive testimony from rural county commissioners and local officials who argued that utility-scale solar on agricultural land has grown without sufficient local oversight and that decommissioning rules are needed to protect farmland and communities. The bill would repeal the current by-right treatment of solar facilities on ag land and authorize counties to adopt decommissioning ordinances; it was reported favorably after a technical amendment.

Transcript Highlights:

• Some associations can afford professional management companies, some cannot.
• But like I said, the smaller communities, unfortunately, are not professionally managed.
• I am the Policy Director at Texas Realtors. a professional real estate organization of somewhere over
• We're a professional representing more than 1,000 individuals across Texas.

Bills: HB406

Keywords: local economic development, notification, workforce development, municipal agreements, county contracts, 1184, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• POST board will still grow and evolve, and it will protect the rights of both law enforcement professionals
• the rights of both<00:03:52.879> law<00:03:53.120> enforcement<00:03:53.760> professionals
• <00:03:54.640> and both law enforcement professionals and both law enforcement professionals

Keywords: 919, house, all

Summary: House File 1257, which would eliminate the Public Safety Advisory Committee to the POST Board, was the final bill heard. The bill’s sponsor argued the committee was created in 2020 in response to post-Floyd criminal justice reforms but had since become obsolete because local agencies and communities had created their own oversight bodies and the main POST Board still includes citizen members and public participation. The sponsor said the advisory committee had run out of issues to address and was effectively meeting just to justify its existence. Former Representative Carlos Mariani testified in opposition, saying the committee was a bipartisan part of the 2020 Minnesota Police Accountability Act and was intended to preserve citizen involvement in policing policy and protect civil and human rights after George Floyd’s murder. He argued that eliminating it would weaken a state-level structure created to rebuild public trust and ensure consistent oversight, while still allowing local efforts to continue. Another member asked about compensation and noted the committee has a $20,000 ongoing appropriation through the POST Board; the sponsor clarified members are not individually compensated beyond per diem and travel. After discussion, the sponsor renewed the motion to recommend re-referral to the General Register. The committee voted, and the motion carried, sending House File 1257 to the General Register.

Transcript Highlights:

• program, or sometimes, if you’re looking at an estimating conference, it’s called Advanced and Professional
• And there is the index district. meeting conference, it's called Advanced and Professional, is the category
• about the technical colleges and their specific programs, with our programs, is that advanced and professional
• And so they separated both the enrollment by advanced and professional and developmental education with

Summary: The Appropriations Committee for Higher Education met to review Florida’s workforce and Florida College System funding models as part of budget planning. Chair Harrell opened by emphasizing the state’s growing focus on technical education and workforce pathways, and the committee first heard from Tara Goodman of the Department of Education on district workforce education. Goodman explained the programs funded through district workforce dollars, including career certificates, applied technology diplomas, registered apprenticeship, and adult general education, and described the model’s reliance on lagged enrollment, program cost weights, local tuition offsets, and supplemental factors such as disability services, GED testing, and minimum funding for small rural districts. She also noted federal support through Perkins and WIOA and said the model is used to determine unmet need and guide appropriations. In response to questions, she said health care programs are generally among the higher-cost offerings and may be supplemented by pipeline funds. The committee then heard from Kathy Hebda, Chancellor of the Florida College System, on the college system’s funding model. Hebda described the main funding sources, including the program fund, student success incentive funds, pipeline funds, tuition and fees, and performance-based incentives, and explained that the current model was developed by the 28 college presidents under legislative direction. She said the model uses a three-year average FTE, weights workforce enrollment more heavily than non-workforce enrollment, gives significant weight to completions, includes a small-college factor and regional cost differentials, and also provides targeted funding to bring colleges up to a floor based on per-FTE funding. Senators asked about colleges below the target, cost differences among programs, faculty salaries, and health insurance costs; Hebda said the model is meant to provide flexible operating dollars that colleges can use for those expenses, but specific salary and benefit decisions are left to the institutions. Seminole State College President Georgia Lorenz also testified in support of the college funding model, saying it holds institutions accountable for enrollment and completions, can be adjusted to reflect state priorities like workforce, and addresses differences in size and regional costs. No bills were voted on, and the committee adjourned after brief closing remarks thanking Seminole State College and the presenters.

Transcript Highlights:

• I've been providing clean, affordable housing to homeowners in professionally managed communities for
• <00:37:45.360> managed<00:37:45.880> communities<00:37:47.240> for professionally
• serving in key roles while under the supervision of licensed professionals.
• . professionals. professionals.
• health professional, extensive continuing<01:47:15.000> education<01:47:15.560> training,<

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• <00:05:11.039> to<00:05:11.280> just reduce from two professionals to just reduce from
• two professionals to just one<00:05:12.000> for<00:05:12.160> a<00:05:12.320> student
• So, as a plug to professional library people and licensed library media specialists, that is part of
• know that that is against professionally know that that is against the<01:10:52.640> law.
• We also deal with professional development, and that is the CEU.

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• doing business intelligence professional doing business intelligence work<00:46:14.800> for<00
• professional standards. professional standards.
• , either qualified through education or some type of professional licensure, to be on the staff of a
• , either qualified through education or some type of professional licensure, to be on the staff of a
• ,<01:42:59.679> either qualified professionally, either qualified professionally, either qualified

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• Doctors and health care professionals.
• Line 92 would eliminate the funding for the carry pair professional and volunteer training.
• On line 97 is an appropriation for school leader and literacy instructor professional development.
• On page eight, line 282 is an increase to the Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board.
• to the professional educator licensing and<01:32:38.000> standards<01:32:38.480> board.

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• <00:16:04.600> drives of these types of professionals drives of these types of professionals
• testimony about uh medical professionals testimony about uh medical professionals you<00:45:13.400
• But while you're training with this, you're doing it with a professional who does all of this all the
• <01:20:36.520> who<01:20:36.880> who doing it with a professional who who doing it
• with a professional who who does<01:20:37.320> all<01:20:37.480> of<01:20:37.639> this

Bills: HF1355, HF1469, HF1768

Keywords: commercial diving, scuba diving safety, aquatic plant management, workplace safety, environmental regulations, HF1469, Minnesota, workforce development, job training, job skills training, reentry, reentry services, formerly incarcerated, ex-offenders, inmates, recently released inmates, felony conviction, felony-level offense, corrections, prison release

Transcript Highlights:

• Um, I'm a mental health professional, so I work every day with kids.
• Carter did not experience any of the warning signs that, as a professional, I should have or would have
• so I work mental health professional so I work every<00:04:27.680> day<00:04:27.840> with<
• I should have or would have professional I should have or would have noticed<00:05:18.000> um
• <00:08:54.959> I today as a mental health professional I today as a mental health professional

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• education is sustained care professional education is sustained and<00:04:11.840> thrives<00:
• We can increase the state's workforce by 3,000 health professionals over the next decade and every decade
• , and 250 other health professionals, including occupational therapy and medical laboratory sciences,
• <01:10:24.080> but of the state's health professionals but of the state's health professionals
• > professionals<01:10:54.360> including 250 other health professionals including 250 other

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• We represent 85,000 school professionals throughout the state of Minnesota.
• On a family farm, the line between the personal and professional life is often blurred.
• On a family farm, the line between the personal and professional life is often blurred.
• On a family farm, the line between the personal and professional life is often blurred.
• On a family farm, the line between the personal and professional life is often blurred.

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• <02:42:01.439> scope a standalone health professional scope a standalone health professional
• It establishes professional licensure, registration, and modifies professional practice requirements.
• Um it establishes professional things.
• Um professional practice requirements.
• Um related professional practice areas.

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• <00:21:16.200> that they're not nobody's professional that they're not nobody's professional
• required by numerous professional required by numerous professional licenses<01:16:51.320> for
• They facilitate forensic interviews conducted by trained professionals who gather information in a neutral
• who gather information in professionals who gather information in neutral<02:27:31.880> trauma
• and mental health medical professionals and mental health providers<02:27:51.680> currently<02

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• <00:22:13.600> line<00:22:14.080> where what is the the professional line where what
• Is there a line there, or is it a matter of opinion where professionalism comes into play?
• I was going to be so tactful and professional, and I realized I'm just going to be myself.
• No, because I'm a professional.
• are going to give a professional are going to give a professional courtesy<01:32:59.880> to

Keywords: 1189, house, all