Transcript Highlights:

• The sanctity of marriage, the incarcerated and the criminal justice system, employment and labor issues
• emphasize leadership, citizenship and strong character and help members to acquire valuable life skills
• the establishment of Building Better Futures program to support educational, occupational training skills

Keywords: 1184, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• thinking about a career path over 5, 10, 30 years, they really understand the differences in the types of skill
• They have the skills and the expertise.
• federal intelligence so that New Mexico not only becomes stronger economically, but also with our labor

Transcript Highlights:

• Section 24, which creates a new Executive Office of Equity and Under Secretary for Equity for Labor and
• But each charge— Under Secretary for Equity for Labor and Workforce Development, each charge was developing
• But even as demand for services grows, we are losing skilled professionals to burnout, low compensation
• multilingual, culturally responsive, and deeply rooted professionals who use their lived experience and skills
• a large Medicaid population has equipped me with an important perspective. ...and problem-solving skills

Keywords: 995, all

Summary: The Joint Committee on Health Care Financing held a public hearing on a large docket of bills focused on MassHealth benefits and reimbursement, health equity, behavioral health, public health, dental access, 340B drug pricing, tobacco cessation, and coverage for children. The chairs emphasized rising health care costs, provider shortages, administrative burdens, and persistent inequities by income, race, geography, and immigration status. Much of the testimony centered on H.1416/S.901, an act to advance health equity, with legislators and members of the Health Equity Compact arguing for statewide benchmarks, stronger health equity leadership, reimbursement for interpreter services, community health workers and patient navigation, Medicaid graduate medical education support, and a health equity zone trust fund. Witnesses described disparities in life expectancy, maternal mortality, access to primary care, and the impact of federal Medicaid and social service cuts, and urged the committee to report the bill favorably. The committee also heard strong support for H.1368/S.847 on rapid whole genome sequencing for critically ill MassHealth children. Testifiers from industry, academia, hospitals, and families said early sequencing can end long diagnostic odysseys, improve treatment decisions, shorten hospital stays, and save money, while also providing emotional relief and information for families. The hearing then moved to H.1407 on MassHealth rate parity for inpatient behavioral health providers, where Rep. Scanlan and the Massachusetts Association of Behavioral Health Systems said the bill would codify existing administrative parity so managed care plans cannot pay less than the MassHealth fee-for-service rate. On H.1392/S.853 to preserve and protect public health, witnesses supported higher vaccine administration fees to improve provider participation and immunization rates. The committee also heard testimony on H.770/845 to protect 340B providers in MassHealth, and on S.848 to require reporting and transparency around 340B revenues and outside administrative costs. Additional bills drew testimony on tobacco cessation coverage for MassHealth members, with advocates supporting broader access to counseling and medications through medical, behavioral health, and dental providers. On H.1409, a nursing home operator asked for more flexibility in a MassHealth staffing-related penalty tied to patient days per resident. On H.1401/S.888, supporters of the “Take 10” dental access proposal said adult MassHealth dental coverage is underused because too few dentists accept MassHealth, leading to long travel times and avoidable emergency room visits; they urged incentive payments for dentists serving new adult MassHealth patients. Finally, on H.1403/S.855, “Cover All Kids,” advocates and immigrant community members urged removal of immigration status as a barrier to full MassHealth coverage for children, while also backing a related bill to ensure 12 months of continuous coverage for children. No votes were taken during the hearing; the committee primarily received testimony and asked questions on costs, reimbursement levels, and implementation details.

Transcript Highlights:

• And so, to meet this critical need, we hired a skilled senior data scientist in a limited-term role,
• It's a different skill set and a different set of staff.
• We have a number of different ratepayer advocates, as well as environmental organizations and labor organizations
• We have a number of different rate pair advocates, as well as environmental organizations, labor organizations
• So the staff that are working on the rate cases, the skill sets, I think, is part of your question.

Summary: The committee first heard Issue 1 on trailer bill language to redirect funding for emergency demand-response programs. The Department of Finance proposed using about $26.9 million in General Fund originally set aside for the Distributed Energy Backup Assets program to bolster the Demand-Side Grid Support Program for summer 2026, and using about $70 million in CalCHAP interest to support ratepayer-funded demand response in summers 2027 and 2028. The CEC and CPUC said they are working on a transition from DSGS to ELRP or a successor program, while the LAO noted the General Fund money would otherwise revert to savings. Members pressed the administration on whether demand response remains important, whether DSGS has been successful, and whether the state should keep funding it through the CEC rather than shifting to a ratepayer-funded CPUC program. The CEC and CPUC said the programs are not directly comparable, emphasized different cost structures and enrollment metrics, and said a CPUC rulemaking is underway with a proposed decision expected in Q3 2026. No vote was taken in the transcript. The committee then took up Issue 2, a budget proposal tied to SB 254 and the new transmission accelerator. GoBiz and the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank described a five-year, roughly $26 million request to staff and administer the accelerator and manage Proposition 4 and AB 1207 funds for transmission financing. Members asked about state liability, ownership of financed lines, FERC revenue requirements, and whether the program would help underserved regions and offshore wind development. Staff explained that the accelerator would only consider projects already identified through CAISO’s competitive transmission planning process, and that state financing would be a small portion of large projects intended to lower overall costs to ratepayers. The LAO said it had no specific concerns but urged the Legislature to ensure the final language matches its intent. The committee also heard Issue 3 on petroleum market oversight. The CEC and its Division of Petroleum Market Oversight requested additional positions and funding to implement ABX2-1 and continue work on supply stabilization, refinery monitoring, and transportation fuels analysis. Members questioned why the work was funded through the Energy Resources Programs Account, whether existing staff from the paused price-gouging work could be reassigned, and whether the program had produced evidence of price gouging or improved supply conditions. CEC and Finance said the new positions are needed because the workload has expanded, while some existing staff remain on related analysis and reporting duties. The discussion ended without a vote in the transcript.

Transcript Highlights:

• And whereas the fundamental skill of interpretation, breathing life into notes, is rooted and grown from
• "The fundamental skill of interpretation, breathing life into notes, is rooted and grown from the depths
• It doesn't matter whether it's a cost of regulation or the cost of lumber or the cost of labor or the
• environmental benefit it doesn't matter whether it's a cost of regulation or the cost of lumber or the cost of labor
• A marvelous group of people that are not only skilled and talented, but a pleasure to work with as well

Bills: SB6061, SB6234, SB6170, SB6176, SB6182, SB6335, SB5647, SB6047, HB2367, HB2606, SB5998, SB6005, SB6003, SB6129, SB6225, SB6228, SB6231

Keywords: tourism, self-supported assessment, funding, statewide promotion, economic development, sewage, grinder pumps, residential buildings, regulation, construction, contracting rules, state highway construction, procurement limits, state regulations, infrastructure funding, vehicle registration, enforcement, renewal, transportation, state law

Summary: The Senate met on February 23, 2026, opened with the usual roll call, pledge, prayer, and approval of the previous journal. Members then adopted Senate Resolution 8698 recognizing piano teachers, with several senators sharing personal remarks about their own teachers and the role of music education in families and communities. Guests from the Washington State Music Teachers Association and the National Guild of Piano Teachers were recognized in the gallery. The chamber then moved into budget debate, considering a series of amendments to the operating budget. Several proposals focused on housing costs, local planning, utility rates, and state spending restraint. Amendment 0772, which would have created a housing-related task force and increased funding, was rejected after debate over housing affordability and regulatory costs. Amendment 0785, restoring growth management planning funding for local governments, was also rejected. Amendment 0791, directing the Department of Commerce to study the effects of climate and clean energy laws on utility costs, and Amendment 0769, related to grid capacity and clean energy investments, were both adopted. Other amendments drew sharper partisan debate. Amendment 0798, which would have reduced the Supreme Court from nine justices to five and redirected savings to public defense, failed. Amendments 0794 and 0795, seeking funding for ballot measure costs tied to initiatives, also failed. Amendment 0799, intended to redirect Pacific Tower lease savings to developmental disability services, was rejected after discussion of the building’s current public uses. Amendment 0773, capping state spending growth and tying it to median wage growth, failed on a roll call vote, while Amendment 0777, addressing concurrent use of paid family and medical leave and sick leave by state employees, also failed after extended debate. Later, Amendment 0776 on tort liability reporting was adopted, as were Amendment 0758 creating a DSHS work group on community-based services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and Amendment 0786 was introduced to reduce cash and food assistance work-related funding, with debate beginning before the transcript ends.

Transcript Highlights:

• My work requires good judgment, compliance, accountability, and all those skills I will use to guide
• So to the point that the price is going to drop, you have labor that's not going to drop, which is probably
• one of the biggest factors and goes into all the materials going in, and all the outside labor, plus
• The bill ensures that a candidate's experience, education, and specific skills are calculated into a
• weighted... ...and specific skills are calculated into a weighted grade rather than relying on subjective

Bills: SB1108, SB1205, SB1241, SB1286, SB1366, SB1431, SB1473, SB1477, SB1478, SB1479, SB1492, SB1517, SB1563, SB1586, SB1665, SB1671

Keywords: cash transactions, mandatory rounding, swedish rounding, public notice, Arizona Revised Statutes, motor vehicle booting, private property, fees, dispute process, regulations, SB1241, private permitting provider, private permit, private certificate of completion, building permit, building plan review, inspection, single-trade residential construction, residential construction, municipal permitting

Transcript Highlights:

• We work closely with farmers to build skills on the farm, assist with grant writing, and help with business
• rely largely on individual donations, financial contributions, hours and hours and hours of volunteer labor
• infrastructure to be able to leverage... ...we have this infrastructure to be able to leverage volunteer labor
• They're checking expiration dates... ...we have this infrastructure to be able to leverage volunteer labor
• All of those take a lot of heavy labor, equipment.

Keywords: 995, all

Summary: The Joint Committee on Agriculture opened its first hearing by outlining procedures, including three-minute testimony limits, written testimony options, and the plan to hear 27 bills in docket order. The committee then took testimony on H.11/S.53, a resolve promoting equity in agriculture, with advocates from the Massachusetts Food System Collaborative, Southeastern Mass Agricultural Partnership, and urban farming organizations describing racial and economic disparities in farming, lack of data on BIPOC farmers, barriers to land and capital, and the need for a commission to collect information and recommend policy changes. Committee members asked questions about the importance of data collection and future policy development, and the bill was repeatedly urged to be reported favorably out of committee. Testimony also supported H.118, which would create a special commission to examine the strengths and sustainability of the Commonwealth’s emergency food network. The Amherst Survival Center described serving 1.6 million meals last year and explained that food pantries are now functioning as essential parts of the state’s food system while relying heavily on donations, volunteers, and unstable funding. Members discussed the need for a more holistic look at food security infrastructure. The committee then heard H.119/S.60 on climate change impacts on farms and fisheries, with regional planners and farm advocates describing flood damage, rising costs, canceled federal climate-smart funding, and the need for direct state support for adaptation, resilience, and infrastructure improvements. The committee also heard testimony on H.125/H.142/S.65, a healthy soils bill, from landscape professionals who said construction sites often leave poor or stripped soil and that the bill would require better post-construction soil standards to support healthier landscapes and reduce long-term maintenance and environmental problems. Finally, the committee took extensive testimony on H.127, which would prohibit aquaculture of octopus for human consumption. Supporters, including legislators, scientists, veterinarians, students, and animal welfare advocates, argued octopus are highly intelligent and sentient, cannot be farmed humanely, and that octopus aquaculture would create environmental harms such as waste runoff, pressure on wild fish stocks, and ecosystem disruption. No votes were taken during the hearing; the bills were heard and testimony was received.

Transcript Highlights:

• we're facing some of the highest costs in the nation—electricity, fuel, fertilizer costs, inputs, labor
• I mean... ...costs, inputs, labor costs.
• AB 1807 is supported by a robust coalition of labor, immigrants' rights, legal aid, and civil rights
• Ashley De La Rosa with Building Skills Partnership, in support.
• James Thurwector with the California State Council of Laborers in strong support. Thank you.

Keywords: 988, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Since 2022, Go-Biz and our partners at the labor agency have invested $400 million through the regional
• programs, incentives, and other things—whether it’s CalCompetes or workforce training programs at a labor
• keep our eye on that ball, in fact, accelerate our efforts to make sure we have a trained, a highly skilled
• It is a partnership, a very close partnership between Go-Biz and the Labor and Workforce Development
• The Labor Secretary, Stewart Knox, and I are attached at the hip on this work because you can't have

Summary: The hearing focused on the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (Go-Biz) and several related budget proposals. Director D.D. Myers described the California Jobs First economic blueprint, regional planning efforts across 13 regions, and the state’s strategy to target sectors such as ag tech, space, life sciences, semiconductors, and emerging technologies. She also discussed the California brand campaign, export promotion, film tax credits, and the California Civic Media Fund, emphasizing job creation, regional equity, and business attraction/retention. Members raised questions about support for journalism, arts and creative industries, AI’s impact on jobs, foreign direct investment, manufacturing, tariffs, and how the Jobs First framework is being implemented across regions. Go-Biz then presented trailer bill language to extend the encumbrance deadline for remaining Jobs First administrative funds and to codify the Office of Regional Economic Development Initiatives. The department said $95 million of the $100 million Jobs First appropriation had already been deployed to grants for counties and tribes, and members asked for more information on regional outcomes, including Orange County and the North State. Public comment supported Jobs First and the Small Business Development Centers’ role in helping businesses access capital and create jobs. The committee also heard a request for ongoing CalExport funding to replace uncertain federal STEP support; the LAO noted the Legislature may want to weigh whether to backfill federal reductions, while Go-Biz argued the state program is needed because federal support appears unlikely to continue and demand exceeds available funding. The committee next heard the film and television tax credit staffing request. Go-Biz asked for funding for three permanent positions to manage the expanded program, and the LAO recommended approval given the increased workload. The Film Commission reported a sharp rise in applications after AB 1138 and the program expansion, with productions taking place both inside and outside the Los Angeles 30-mile zone and activity spread across the state. Finally, Go-Biz presented a request for one permanent position and one graduate student assistant to support innovation and emerging technologies, including quantum and fusion. Members asked about the use of the state’s quantum funding, and staff explained it would support microgrants, state capacity-building, and workforce education. No formal votes were taken in the portions provided, and the chair indicated some items would be moved and heard later in the agenda.

Transcript Highlights:

• Senate File 46, skill-based amusement games licensed liquor establishments.
• President, your Joint Labor, Health, and Social Services Committee will be meeting now upon noon recess
• President. um your joint labor,<01:40:23.040><c> health,</c><01:40:23.280><c> and</c><01:40:23.679><c
• > social</c><01:40:24.080><c> services</c> labor, health, and social services labor, health, and social

Keywords: 916, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Health care costs and labor costs have been growing at a rate that far exceeds revenue growth for the
• Chapter 257 rates for human service professionals, benchmarked to the 53rd percentile of the Bureau of Labor
• able to provide rental subsidies to individuals who were gaining the independence and the recovery skills
• with youth, and really supports the work that needs to happen—the care that can be delivered, the skills
• And we'll be reporting out data... ...metrics for skilled nursing facilities and their related management

Keywords: 995, all

Summary: The Joint Committee on Ways and Means held a Health and Human Services budget hearing in Clinton, with opening remarks from Chairs Meg Kilcoyne and Robin Kennedy, local officials, and many House and Senate members introducing themselves. The hearing focused on Governor Healey’s FY27 EOHHS and MassHealth budgets, with repeated themes of rising health care costs, federal funding uncertainty, workforce shortages, and access to care in underserved regions. Members also raised concerns about primary care shortages, rural and regional disparities, behavioral health access, maternal health, food insecurity, and the impact of federal policy changes on Massachusetts programs. EOHHS Secretary Kiame Mahaniah said the FY27 EOHHS budget totals $33.7 billion, reflecting mostly non-discretionary growth from health care costs, labor costs, caseload increases, and provider rate pressures. He highlighted targeted investments in foster care, family resource centers, maternal health, youth services, nutrition programs, immigrant legal services, and human service workforce rates, while warning that federal actions could strip roughly $3.5 billion annually from the state’s health care funding. In response to questions, he defended the administration’s cooperation with federal audits and program integrity efforts, discussed the primary care crisis, and said the state is trying to preserve core services while preparing for a more difficult FY28 budget cycle. MassHealth Undersecretary Mike Levine then described two major FY27 challenges: double-digit cost growth and the expected effects of the federal One Big Beautiful Bill Act. He said MassHealth’s proposed $22.7 billion gross budget includes a 7.5% increase and relies on a moratorium on new expansions plus targeted reductions, including a $1,000 annual adult dental cap, ending GLP-1 coverage for weight loss only, reducing care management to peer-state levels, and work groups to slow growth in PCA, adult foster care, and adult day health spending. Members questioned the impact on Boston Health Care for the Homeless, preventive care, and regional access; Levine said the changes are meant to preserve sustainability, that children and certain disabled populations remain protected, and that the administration will continue working with providers, advocates, and the Legislature on implementation and longer-term reforms.

Transcript Highlights:

• guidance on how to register for courses, test prep, and if with a partnership with the Department of Labor
• <00:43:37.720><c> the</c><00:43:37.880><c> Department</c><00:43:38.200><c> of</c><00:43:38.400><c> Labor
• </c> partnership with the Department of Labor partnership with the Department of Labor we<00:43:39.280
• Another component of it is the contract with the Department of Labor, and so we're working on that.
• that we uh that we identified skills that we uh that we identified early<01:56:41.040><c> on</c><01:

Keywords: 910, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• It gives you the ability to show your leadership skills.
• VEBA is a tax-exempt joint labor-management trust used to pay for qualified medical expenses.
• Through a joint labor-management trust, employers can collectivize to establish self-funded programs
• A nonprofit joint labor-management trust established in 1993 to take on rising health care costs for
• I began my career in 2013 in labor and delivery.

Keywords: 987, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• It directs the Department of Labor and Workforce Development (DLWD) to review applications for grant
• The Department of Labor and Workforce Development (DLWD) would review applications for grant funds to
• determine their compliance with the labor-related requirements of the bill, rather than directly requiring
• The costs for labor and Those are two separate things, right?
• The costs for labor and workers is different. This is liability.

Keywords: 1146, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Right now, they're talking about helping them out, and they had to close their labor and delivery unit
• They are often the first community spaces outside the home where children learn social-emotional skills
• Is that falling also in the labor and delivery world? Have we heard anything in that space?
• I have done, and I take care of newborns, but I have not heard any specifics about labor and delivery
• So if we have to do that ourselves, obviously with partners in labor, then we will.

Summary: The joint informational hearing focused on the impacts of H.R. 1 on California’s Medi-Cal program and on community health effects from recent immigration enforcement actions. Committee leaders said H.R. 1 would sharply reduce federal funding, increase administrative burdens, and worsen access to care, especially for Medi-Cal enrollees, immigrant families, rural communities, and reproductive health patients. The second half of the hearing examined how ICE raids and related federal actions are creating fear, reducing clinic and emergency department use, and disrupting children’s access to schools and early childhood education. Department of Health Care Services Director Michelle Bass outlined the main H.R. 1 provisions affecting Medi-Cal: work requirements, semiannual eligibility redeterminations, shorter retroactive coverage, new cost-sharing, limits on provider taxes and state-directed payments, reduced federal support for emergency and lawful immigrant coverage, and a one-year ban on Medicaid funding for prohibited abortion providers. She estimated millions could lose coverage, with tens of billions of dollars in federal funding at risk. Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California warned the defunding provision could force clinic closures, service reductions, and loss of access to family planning, STI testing, and cancer screenings. The California Hospital Association said the financing changes could cut hospital revenue by tens of billions over 10 years and threaten access, especially for rural and safety-net hospitals. The Western Center on Law and Poverty argued the law would increase churn, paperwork, and uninsured rates, disproportionately harming working adults and people experiencing homelessness. Committee members asked about implementation timelines, notification systems, administrative costs, the effect on immigrant eligibility, and whether California could delay or mitigate some provisions. Bass said the state was still assessing federal guidance, planning county and provider outreach, and exploring a possible delay for work requirements and a transition period for provider-tax changes. Members also discussed how state budget actions may need to be revisited in light of H.R. 1, and how California might preserve access through state-only funding or other policy changes. In the second panel, CHIRLA, Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, and the Children’s Partnership described the health consequences of immigration enforcement. Speakers said raids and data-sharing fears are causing anxiety, trauma, and avoidance of care, with Los Angeles County reporting declines in emergency, urgent care, and clinic visits after enforcement actions. The Children’s Partnership said school and early childhood absences are rising in some communities and that enforcement is undermining children’s emotional well-being and access to education. Members asked for more data and discussed possible state protections, telehealth, mobile care, and legal and policy responses to reduce fear and preserve access to health and education services.

Transcript Highlights:

• Shane's skill and tenacity are deeply appreciated by his clients, respected by judges.
• ><c> are</c><00:14:44.320><c> deeply</c> Shane's skill and tenacity are deeply Shane's skill and tenacity
• And he used his skill, courage, courts.
• </c> thousands of workforce and the labor thousands of workforce and the labor force<04:06:30.160><c>
• </c> skilled nursing facilities. skilled nursing facilities.

Keywords: U.S. House of Representatives Floor Proceedings on Wednesday, April 15, 2026, 1012, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> Dreheim's proposal uh to include labor Dreheim's proposal uh to include labor participation<00:01
• Is there further discussion of Senator Champion's motion to amend the labor bill into this one?
• </c> up here to vote no on amending labor up here to vote no on amending labor bill<01:10:41.840><c>
• </c><01:10:50.560><c> If</c><01:10:50.800><c> not,</c> the labor bill into this one?
• If not, the labor bill into this one?

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• The version before you is a striking amendment from the Committee on Labor and Commerce.
• The version before you is a striking amendment from the committee on labor and commerce.
• This bill comes to you from the Labor and Commerce Policy Committee.
• ABC is very concerned about the project labor agreement that is in this bill.
• But unfortunately, if our non-union contractors who are not signatory to project labor agreements are

Summary: The committee took up executive action on the capital budget, Proposed Substitute Senate Bill 6003, and several policy bills. Staff described amendments to the capital budget that shifted funding among behavioral health, local/community projects, irrigation projects, and juvenile rehabilitation capacity, plus a technical fix to the water pollution control revolving program. The committee adopted Senator Dozier’s budget-neutral amendment and a technical amendment, then advanced the amended capital budget to the Rules Committee. It also moved House Bills 2441, 2124, 2471, 2133, 2610, and 2338 forward with due-pass recommendations, and advanced Engrossed Second Substitute House Bill 2251 on Climate Commitment Act accounts to the Transportation Committee after adopting two amendments and withdrawing three others. A major public hearing focused on Engrossed Second Substitute House Bill 2034, which would terminate and restate LEOFF Plan 1 in 2029, transfer surplus assets, and direct portions to the Climate Commitment Account and the pension funding stabilization account. Staff said the plan is currently about 160% funded and explained the bill’s IRS-review process, statute of limitations, and estimated implementation costs. Testimony was sharply divided: some retirees, firefighters, counties, and cities opposed the bill as an improper use of pension assets and urged benefit enhancements or protection of local medical obligations, while others supported using the surplus for broader public purposes. No vote was taken on the bill during the hearing. The committee also heard House Bill 2179 on PERS coverage for certain port workers, with ports and the Washington Public Ports Association supporting clarification for railroad employees covered by the federal railroad retirement system. House Bill 1069, allowing Department of Corrections employees to bargain over supplemental retirement benefits, drew support from Teamsters and corrections workers, while House Bill 2091, expanding employee-information sharing with bargaining representatives, drew union support and privacy objections from Washington Policy Center. Finally, Second Engrossed Substitute House Bill 1210 on targeted urban area tax preferences drew support from labor, local governments, and project proponents, and opposition from contractor groups and environmental advocates over project labor agreement requirements and nuclear-related concerns; Engrossed Substitute House Bill 1408 on community preservation and development authorities and Engrossed Second Substitute House Bill 1974 on land bank authorities for affordable housing were also heard, with both receiving supportive testimony from community and housing advocates.

Transcript Highlights:

• It affects labor reliability. It affects family routines.
• some of the things that you have heard here, that our children are lacking in some of the foundation skills
• In some of the foundation skills that they need to achieve.
• some of the things that you have heard here, that our children are lacking in some of the foundation skills
• In some of the foundation skills that they need to achieve.

Keywords: 959, house, all

Summary: The House first established a quorum after a quorum call and welcomed special guests, including the Freedom of the Road motorcycle riders and students from Warsaw High School. It then took up House Committee Substitute for House Bill 1855, a reporting bill on Alpha-Gal syndrome. The bill sponsor described the condition as a serious tick-borne allergy that has affected his family and many Missourians, arguing that Missouri needs mandatory reporting and surveillance data to identify hotspots, guide public health outreach, and support research and funding. Supporters from both parties said the bill would improve awareness and data collection, while one member raised concerns about the fiscal note and whether the state would get useful information for the cost. The chamber adopted Amendment 1 to HB 1855, changing the follow-up language from “may” to “shall,” but rejected Amendment 2, which would have required patient consent before lab results were reported into the surveillance system. Opponents of the consent amendment said it would undermine disease surveillance and set a bad precedent for other reportable conditions; supporters argued for privacy and individual choice. After debate, the House adopted the committee substitute as amended and ordered it perfected and printed. The House then considered House Committee Substitute for House Bills 2230 and 2978, a K-5 education measure addressing screen time, cursive, and handwriting. The sponsor said the bill responds to research and parent/teacher concerns about excessive screen use, poor literacy outcomes, and mental health effects, and would create a state focus group to review evidence and make recommendations while leaving districts flexibility. Members discussed carve-outs for special education, English language learners, and virtual school, and adopted an amendment excluding the virtual school program. The House then adopted the substitute as amended and ordered it perfected and printed. Finally, the House took up House Bill 2355, the “Food is Medicine” initiative, which would allow Missouri to use federal funds through 1115 waivers for pilot programs such as medically tailored meals, produce prescriptions, nutrition education, and related supports. Supporters said the program could improve health outcomes, reduce Medicaid spending, and help address food deserts. An amendment adding vitamin therapies and updating a date drew discussion over supplement safety and regulation, but the transcript cuts off before a final vote on that amendment or the bill itself.

Transcript Highlights:

• A key component of this project is the project labor agreement that will... questions thank you if you
• component of this project is<00:32:25.480><c> the</c><00:32:25.639><c> project</c><00:32:25.919><c> labor
• /c><00:32:26.159><c> agreement</c><00:32:26.440><c> that</c><00:32:26.519><c> will</c> The project labor
• That means 2,300 skilled union construction workers will be on site—men and women trained in the safest
• When we believe this is the right investment at the right time, it puts skilled trades people to work

Keywords: 1183, house