Transcript Highlights:

• WE MUST PUSH FOR MEANINGFUL INSTITUTIONAL REFORMS INSURING OUR SYSTEM REHABILITATES AND RE-INTEGRATES
• IT IS A COUNTERBALANCE TO THE PRISONS, CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTIONS, WE WILL GO INTO THAT AND HOW WE SEPARATE
• BASIC CRITERIA TO GO THERE IS INSTITUTIONAL MALADJUSTMENT, PREDATORY OR AGGRESSIVE ACTS, DRUG-RELATED
• YOU HAD MENTIONED IN SLIDE 11 THE SHORT-TERM SENTENCE CORRECTION INSTITUTION.
• THAT CONFERENCE WAS THE AMERICAN CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTE CONFERENCE IN ORLANDO AND IT IS CARRIED ON IN

Transcript Highlights:

• </c><00:08:36.360><c> when</c> research and teaching institution when research and teaching institution
• We have one research institution or one research university in the state, and I think it's imperative
• We have 65 projects across the system that will address critical needs at each institution.
• She's our director of communications, and she brings a wealth of institutional knowledge.
• </c> of institutional of institutional knowledge<01:31:53.679><c> I</c><01:31:53.880><c> I've</c><01:

Committee: Senate Capital Investment

Transcript Highlights:

• public two-year institutions.
• And then here it is for four-year institutions.
• So the other fellowship support is supported by other institutions.
• So the other fellowship support is supported by other institutions.
• We have funding through the institutions.

Committee: House Higher Education Finance and Policy

Transcript Highlights:

• Schools are often the first public institution to recognize when a student is struggling, and in many
• cases, the last institution that remains consistently present with them through... the last institution
• My name is Shalini Mostala, and I'm a researcher at the Public Policy Institute of California.
• And while her report from the Public Policy Institute of California is excellent, ...for this hearing
• What are the barriers there, and how do we help our higher education institutions?

Summary: The Select Committee on Youth Mental Health and Treatment Access held its third hearing to review the state of youth mental health, progress under the Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative (CYBHI), and remaining implementation and funding challenges. The chair emphasized that schools are often the main point where education, health care, and social services intersect for students, and that the committee’s goal is to ensure public investments translate into better access and outcomes. The hearing featured testimony from researchers, a youth advocate, state officials, and local practitioners. PPIC researcher Shalini Mostala reported that teen mental health remains a serious concern, with high rates of chronic sadness, hopelessness, and suicidal thoughts, though recent California data show some improvement since the pandemic. She noted persistent disparities by gender, race, and rural status, and said school-based health centers, wellness centers, and community schools are associated with lower suicidal thoughts. Youth advocate Ella Cruz, speaking for NAMI California, described her own mental health struggles and argued that youth voice, peer-to-peer support, and reducing stigma are essential; she also said technology and AI cannot replace trusted adults or trained professionals. Committee members asked about phone use, stigma, cultural barriers, and how to make supports more accessible and relatable to students. Dr. Sohill Sood of the California Health and Human Services Agency said statewide survey data show declining stigma, increased counseling use, and lower suicide ideation among students, and he highlighted CYBHI’s certified wellness coaches, digital tools, awareness campaigns, and the first-in-the-nation fee schedule that allows schools and colleges to bill health plans for behavioral health services. He said the program is growing quickly, with more than 230,000 claims and over $11 million in new revenue to date, while acknowledging that billing systems and coordination are still being built. Trina Frazier of Fresno County described a multi-tiered system of care supported by CYBHI, CalAIM, and other grants, serving thousands of students through school-based services, wellness centers, and mobile therapy units; she said ongoing funding and flexibility are critical. Rachel Kroberniski of El Segundo High School’s James Morehouse Project described a long-running wellness center and peer mentorship model that supports students in multiple languages, and said peer programs help students feel seen, connected, and more willing to seek help. Members broadly praised the flexibility, collaboration, and peer-based approaches described by the witnesses. Questions focused on sustaining funding after one-time grants expire, improving coordination among schools, counties, and providers, expanding the fee schedule to higher education, and ensuring continuity of care for students after high school. Officials said county offices of education, DHCS, and other partners are using communities of practice and technical assistance to spread best practices, and that CYBHI services can follow some young adults through age 25, with additional supports through community-based programs and digital platforms.

Transcript Highlights:

• issues ID cards... ...institution issues ID cards, well, then fine, make it more narrowly written and
• And I, for one, cannot be a part of the institution that makes that promise...
• And I, for one, cannot be a part of the institution that makes that promise smaller.
• It repeals the Florida-China Linkage Institute.
• are allowed at our linkage institutes.

Summary: The Senate opened with prayer, the Pledge of Allegiance, and a series of recognitions for interns, staff, and guests. Members also honored retiring Senate staffer Susan Miller and recognized a veteran injured in combat. After routine announcements, the chamber moved to returning messages from the House and began taking up bills and amendments. The Senate concurred in House amendments and passed SB 118 on RV park assessments and SB 572 on ethics for public officers and employees, both by 38-0 votes. It then took up the elections bill, CS/CS/HB 991, which drew extensive debate. Supporters said it would strengthen election integrity by tightening citizenship verification and ID rules; opponents argued it would burden eligible voters, especially students, seniors, disabled voters, and others without the newly required documents. The bill passed 27-12. The chamber also passed the education package SB 182 after adopting a Senate amendment to the House amendment, and approved SB 474 on military affairs, SB 425 on historic cemeteries, HB 929 on local regulation of chickees, and HB 35/SB 1370 on habitual traffic offender designation, all with unanimous or near-unanimous votes. The Senate then considered SB 902/ HB 733, the Department of Health package. Members adopted an amendment and amendment-to-amendment that preserved most Senate provisions while modifying or removing several House additions, including some early steps and medical marijuana-related changes, and the bill passed 37-0. The chamber also began work on HB 905, the foreign influence bill, with a strike-all amendment offered to expand restrictions on foreign influence, sister-city agreements, linkage institutes, and related activities, but the debate on that measure was still underway when the transcript ended. Several other returning messages and bills were temporarily postponed, and the Senate recessed briefly before resuming business.

Transcript Highlights:

• issues ID cards, Institution issues ID cards, well, then fine, make it more narrowly written and more
• And I, for one, cannot be a part of the institution that makes that promise— And I, for one, cannot be
• a part of the institution that makes that promise smaller.
• It repeals the Florida-China Linkage Institute.
• are allowed at our linkage institutes.

Summary: The Senate convened with prayer, the Pledge of Allegiance, and a series of introductions recognizing interns, staff, visitors, and a military veteran. After routine announcements, the chamber took up several House-returned bills and special-order measures, with most motions to concur or refuse to concur adopted without objection. Early actions included unanimous concurrence in House amendments to SB 118 on RV park special assessments and SB 572 on ethics rules for public officers and employees, both passing 38-0. The Senate then debated and passed CS/CS/HB 991 on election integrity by a 27-12 vote after extensive opposition focused on voter registration documentation, student IDs, provisional ballots, and potential disenfranchisement; the sponsor defended the bill as a citizenship-verification and election-security measure. The chamber also passed CS/CS/SB 182, an education package combining several related provisions, by 37-0, and later approved SB 474 on military affairs by 39-0 after a technical amendment restoring certain retirement eligibility positions. The Senate refused to concur in the House amendment to CS/CS/CS/SB 1014 on municipal utility service, and refused to concur in the House strike-all amendment to SB 598 after the House had added composting language to the cremation definition. Several other messages were temporarily postponed. On the special-order calendar, the Senate passed CS/CS/HB 425 on historic cemeteries by 39-0, allowing historic Black cemetery boards to sell surplus property not used for burial to fund maintenance. It also passed HB 929 on chickee regulation by 39-0, limiting local restrictions on chickee construction and setting spacing, fire-safety, and permitting rules. SB 1370 on habitual traffic offender designation was substituted with identical CS/HB 35 and passed 39-0, expanding habitual offender treatment to repeated driving without a valid license. The chamber then returned to CS/CS/CS/SB 902, the Department of Health package, which was substituted with CS/HB 733 and amended to retain the Senate’s medical marijuana location limits, adjust NICU nutrition language, modify the dental student loan repayment program, and require a pediatric trauma center designation for certain specialty children’s hospitals; it passed 37-0. The Senate also moved CS/CS/CS/HB 905 on foreign influence to the special-order calendar and began debate on a strike-all amendment defining foreign terrorist organizations and foreign countries of concern, restricting gifts and business ties, tightening sister-city affiliations, and adding ethics training and reporting requirements, but the transcript ends before final action on that bill.

Transcript Highlights:

• issues ID cards, Institution issues ID cards, well, then fine, make it more narrowly written and more
• And I, for one, cannot be a part of the institution that makes that promise...
• And I, for one, cannot be a part of the institution that makes that promise smaller.
• It repeals the Florida-China Linkage Institute.
• are allowed at our linkage institutes.

Transcript Highlights:

• Derek Steele from the Social Justice Learning Institute.
• I'm the executive director of the Social Justice Learning Institute out of Inglewood, California.
• ... ...people as central to how we see our future, because the carceral institutions that surveil and
• And last year... ...and wait in these abusive institutions.
• It's about building life-affirming institutions.

Transcript Highlights:

• Corrections adult institutions increased costs by about $4 million in the first year and $9 million in
• Corrections<00:21:48.480><c> adult</c><00:21:48.960><c> institutions</c><00:21:50.159><c> increased</
• c> Corrections adult institutions increased Corrections adult institutions increased costs<00:21:51.039
• Post-secondary institutions, as I said, their performance funding, which has increased at a very good
• </c> post-secondary institutions post-secondary institutions as<00:24:23.679><c> I</c><00:24:23.919><

Committee: House Appropriations & Revenue

Transcript Highlights:

• And Karen Woodall, National Latina Advocacy Institute for Reproductive Justice, also waiving in support
• According to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, 100,000 people in the United States and 8
• Often, their lives are a continuing cycle of institutional admission, release, and readmission.
• Often, their lives are a continuing cycle of institutional admission, release, and readmission.
• I'm Cindy Huddleston from Florida Policy Institute.

Bills: S0036 , S0864 , S0268 , S0844 , S0514 , S1404 , S0914 , S1758

Committee: Senate Health Policy

Summary: The committee first considered SB 268, a public records exemption for emergency physicians. Senator Rodriguez’s strike-all amendment narrowed and clarified the exemption, and testimony from an emergency physician described threats, harassment, and safety concerns tied to mandatory reporting and patient encounters. The committee adopted the amendment and reported the bill favorably as a committee substitute. Members then heard SB 514, creating the Dula Support for Healthy Births Pilot Program in Broward, Miami-Dade, and Palm Beach counties for pregnant and postpartum women affected by substance use disorder. Senator Osgood explained the pilot would provide non-medical doula support and data collection, and an amendment changed the funding source to specific appropriations in the General Appropriations Act. Supporters said doula care can improve maternal and infant outcomes and complement medical providers. The committee adopted the amendment and reported the bill favorably as a committee substitute. The committee also approved SB 36 on use of professional nursing titles after extensive debate over whether nurses with doctoral degrees should be allowed to use “doctor” in clinical settings, with concerns raised about patient confusion and the need for clearer identification. The bill was amended to align with the House version and then reported favorably as a committee substitute. The committee next approved SB 864, a public records exemption for uterine fibroid research data, after a technical amendment setting a July 1, 2026 effective date; Senator Sharif said the exemption is needed so the Department of Health can collect sensitive data for the related research bill. SB 844, requiring continuing education on sickle cell disease care management for certain licensed physicians and nurses, was also reported favorably after emotional testimony from patients and advocates describing delayed care and bias. Later, the committee approved SB 1404 on memory care, after a strike-all amendment creating a new memory care specialty license for assisted living facilities that advertise or provide specialized memory care services, while allowing optional supportive services without the new license. Supporters from the senior living industry backed the clarification. The committee then passed SB 914, which clarifies that licensed occupational therapists may perform dry needling, after an amendment adjusting supervision and continuing education language. Finally, the committee took up SB 1758, a broad Medicaid and SNAP reform bill that would strengthen fraud enforcement, impose Medicaid work requirements for certain able-bodied adults, expand behavioral health services, modernize drug purchasing and prior authorization, and require SNAP fraud-reduction measures. Several amendments were adopted, and members questioned the work requirement, implementation costs, EBT card photo identification, and due process concerns; debate continued as the transcript ended.

Transcript Highlights:

• The National Institute of Corrections provides the state training on structured decisionmaking.
• of Corrections which also Institute of Corrections which also address<00:20:37.039><c> decision</c><
• </c><00:20:41.840><c> to</c><00:20:42.080><c> the</c> Institute of Corrections provides to the Institute
• But we don't know because the National Institute of Corrections hasn't told us yet.
• </c><00:28:29.279><c> of</c> know because the National Institute of know because the National Institute

Summary: The committee reviewed follow-up status on several prior audit observations. For the Department of Liquor Commission item tied to a DAS audit, staff explained that the commission had been listed as observation 8 because it participated in a recycling program, but the required response had been missed because DAS did not notify the commission. After the committee raised it, the commission contacted DAS and submitted the response, and members agreed the observation could be marked complete, making the audit 9 for 9 resolved. The committee then heard from the Department of Employment Security about the remaining open item from a 2016 audit of the former Department of Resources and Economic Development concerning the Work Ready New Hampshire program. The deputy commissioner said the issue had been addressed by 2019 statutory changes that moved the job training program to Employment Security, increased funding, and specifically recognized Work Ready New Hampshire in statute. Members indicated the item should be treated as resolved and moved to green. The Adult Parole Board also reported on its 2019 audit follow-up. Chair Roger Phillips said 18 of 26 recommendations had been completed, with eight still open, including structured decisionmaking, a tracking/performance measure system, records retention, and access to inmate mental health and substance abuse information. Committee members said the board needed to submit an updated report to DAS with timelines and explanations for the remaining items, and the board said it would provide a timeline within 30 days. The committee then agreed to expect a follow-up report after the first of the year, likely by the end of March, to review the status of the eight open items. At the end of the meeting, members discussed future audit topics. They noted that the wetlands council’s responses had been included with the department’s answers, so no separate appearance was needed. They also raised possible future audits involving special education oversight, the Board of Naturopaths, OPLC-related boards, dental examiners, and police standards training, with a request that some of those entities provide status reports at a later meeting.

Transcript Highlights:

• As an anchor institution, ensuring that non-profits have resources, connections, and support they need
• Our partners by bringing together private businesses, government agencies, public institutions, and non-profit
• , our state institutions.
• We are working with the leaders at the higher education institutions in order to continue growing that
• Higher ed institutions have a formal request process that they go through in the summer and fall.

Transcript Highlights:

• If we can give the Institute of Human Services a round of applause.
• If we can give the Institute of Human Services a round of applause.
• If we can give the Institute of Human Services a round of applause.
• Again, we Institute of Human Services.
• If we can give the Institute Henderson.

Transcript Highlights:

• So in terms of the workforce and, you know, leveraging our higher education institutional partners, I
• I mean, Las Vegas, UNM have both hospitals and higher education institutions; Las Cruces may have one
• That have been there at the Behavioral Health Institute, and when they've been released, they stay in
• So, as an example, at the Behavioral Health Institute, we're working now on a new forensic unit, and
• We are working very hard, along with our higher education institutions, to build the pipeline.

Committee: Senate Senate Finance

Transcript Highlights:

• Travis Johnson enacts a new provision relative to community and technical colleges, authorizing institutions
• Sadie Becknell, Louisiana Policy Institute for Children, in favor and not wishing to speak.
• Libby Sonier, the Policy Institute, for working with us so closely on that bill. Thank you.
• Libby Sonier, the Policy Institute, for working with us so closely on that bill. Thank you.
• I'm with the Louisiana Policy Institute for Children.

Bills: HCR26 , HB28 , HB195 , HB283 , HB316 , HB319 , HB363 , HB380 , HB386 , HB392 , HB406 , HB636 , HB738 , HB807 , HB905 , HB992 , HB1146

Committee: Senate Education

Keywords: human growth, development education, prenatal education, state standards, biological science, teacher certification, certification appeals, BESE, State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, Teacher Certification Appeals Council, educator licensure, teaching license, teacher licensure, appeals process, certification denial, administrative appeal, special meeting, board president, retroactive application, education board

Transcript Highlights:

• He also serves on the National Board of Directors for the Lean Construction Institute.
• Powered by California's world-class universities, research institutions, and trailblazing biotech companies
• Board of Supervisors, Rod served as the founding executive director for the Mineta Transportation Institute
• I had to say, at the time he founded the institute, I wondered whether it would be kind of a useless
• The institute, under Rod's leadership, worked to increase the safety, efficiency, and accessibility of

Transcript Highlights:

• The news that comes out of those student institutions, and God willing, they learn better, proper balanced
• It is needed statewide because we have statewide institutions.
• The community support within the ecosystem of each individual institution.
• So, um, Within the ecosystem of each individual institution.
• That's within the process of that institution.

Committee: House Elementary and Secondary Education

Summary: The Committee on Elementary and Secondary Education met in executive session and public hearing, with a quorum present. It first voted House Bill 1767, described as the educator and parent bill of rights combination bill, due pass by a 14-1 vote with one present. The committee then considered House Bill 2918, which was amended by a substitute focused on defining school-sponsored media as a news source and distinguishing news from commentary or editorial content; the sponsor said the changes were intended to promote balanced, truth-in-labeling journalism and to protect only bona fide news sources. The substitute was adopted, and the House Committee Substitute for HB 2918 passed 11-3 with three present. The committee also voted House Bill 2304 due pass by a 10-4 vote with three present, though the transcript does not describe the bill’s subject. The committee then moved out of executive session and heard House Bill 2772, sponsored by Representative Melissa Douglas, which would create a postsecondary McKinney-Vento-style liaison for students experiencing homelessness. Douglas said the bill would help students transition from K-12 homelessness supports into higher education by giving them a designated point of contact in financial aid, and she noted that a substitute would remove earlier appointment and donation provisions and leave implementation to higher education institutions. Committee members asked about the liaison’s qualifications, duties, staffing, and fiscal impact, and Douglas said the substitute removed the most controversial appointment requirements and was intended to be a zero-fiscal-note approach. Supporters testified that the bill would improve coordination and help homeless and foster students persist in postsecondary education. An opponent argued the proposal duplicated existing services, would be costly, and was unnecessary given current state, federal, and nonprofit supports. No vote was taken on HB 2772 before the hearing ended and the committee adjourned.

Transcript Highlights:

• In 2013, I completed the HOPE Leadership Institute program, which was a nine-month program to get Latinas
• And I was thinking in 2013 of running for office, and so I joined the Hispana's Leadership Institute
• And so I joined the Hispana's Leadership Institute with many other women, especially one of my Assembly
• In 2013, I completed the Hope Leadership Institute program, which was a nine-month program, to get Latinas
• And so I joined the Hispana's Leadership Institute with many other women, And so I joined the Hispana's

Transcript Highlights:

• Institutional medical is inpatient, outpatient hospital, non-institutional medical.
• Non-institutional medical is an array of services from ambulances to FQHCs to lab and x-ray to rural
• And so she does most of the abuse in the institutions.
• , a neglect, or exploitation, it is generally filed where either the defendant is or the actual institution
• Earlier, it was brought up that I believe that by the AG's office that you all prosecute, I guess, institutions

Committee: All LEGISLATIVE JOINT AUDITING-MEDICAID SUBCOMMITTEE

Transcript Highlights:

• So in the interim, the legislature had studied reentry and had worked with the Crime and Justice Institute
• brought really as part of a study that was done in the interim, again with the Crime and Justice Institute
• brought really as part of a study that was done in the interim again with the Crime and Justice Institute
• HB 1603 is an important step toward equipping both tribes and institutions with the necessary tools to
• HB 1603 is an important step toward equipping both tribes and institutions with the necessary tools to

Committee: Senate Appropriations - Education and Environment Division

Summary: The committee met to review fiscal aspects of House Bills 1417 and 1425, both part of a broader criminal justice reentry package. HB 1417 would eliminate the $35 public defender application fee and end court-ordered reimbursement of indigent defense costs, while also removing the $55 monthly community supervision fee. Testimony from the Commission on Legal Counsel for Indigents and the Department of Corrections said the bill would replace lost revenue with general fund appropriations of about $310,000 for indigent defense and $1.5 million for supervision fees, and that the fees are rarely collected and can hinder reentry. Representative Clemene said the bill is intended to reduce barriers to successful community reintegration and improve data and supervision practices. HB 1425 would create and fund front-end diversion, deflection, and pretrial services programs. Supporters described it as allowing prosecutors and local jurisdictions to divert appropriate low-level offenders from prosecution, establish deflection programs for people with behavioral health needs, and expand pretrial services. The bill includes a pilot program in three counties, a $1 million appropriation to DOCR for one FTE and contracts with local providers, $750,000 to DHS for treatment services, and $55,000 for a study of pretrial services cost savings. Committee members asked several questions about how the pilot counties would be chosen, how the consultant study would be procured, and what services the DHS funds would cover. The committee also heard House Bill 1603, which would provide a $500,000 matching grant for Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act compliance, with $100,000 available to each of North Dakota’s five tribes if matched. Sponsor testimony said the funds would support a Historical Society NAGPRA compliance committee and help catalog and repatriate human remains and cultural items in coordination with tribes. After questions about the federal mandate and the difficulty of identifying artifacts, the committee voted 4-0 to give HB 1603 a do-pass recommendation, with Senator Meyer assigned to carry it forward.