Transcript Highlights:

• The Department of Agriculture also has that. Access to other funds, primarily from tariff revenue.
• It's our understanding that the department used the contractor, which also the Federal.
• The scale of the effort through economic development and workforce solutions is nowhere near the challenge
• It makes more sense to me that we'd have workforce solutions.
• Under theoretical conditions, I would agree with that, Madam Chair, but Workforce Solutions actually

Transcript Highlights:

• And the United States Department of Commerce did, in fact, confirm that a few years back.
• Forty percent of that workforce is undocumented.
• We operate these centers under contract to the Los Angeles Economic and Workforce Development Department
• ... ...under contract to the Los Angeles Economic and Workforce Development Department and also with
• We're using our legal department to provide direct representation.

Summary: The Select Committee on Latina Inequities met at Los Angeles Mission College in Sylmar, hosted by Assemblymember Celeste Rodriguez and joined by Assemblymember Mia Bonta. Rodriguez opened by framing the committee’s work around the economic status of Latinas and the effects of federal policies on the economy and social safety net, while the college president welcomed the committee and described campus services for undocumented and housing-insecure students. Rodriguez also emphasized the local impact of immigration enforcement in the San Fernando Valley and said the hearing would focus on Latinas’ economic conditions, immigration enforcement impacts on the workforce and safety, and H.R. 1’s effects on the safety net. The first panel featured HOPE’s Maria Morales and Dr. Elsa Macias, who presented findings from HOPE’s National Economic Status of Latinas report. They said Latinas are a major and growing part of California’s population and workforce, but face persistent inequities, including a large wage gap, higher unemployment, high uninsured rates, student debt, and affordability pressures around child care, housing, and education. They also discussed entrepreneurship, noting both the growth of Latina-owned businesses and barriers such as limited access to capital, technical assistance, and retirement and health coverage. In response to committee questions, they said higher education can still offer a strong return on investment, but only if students can complete degrees without being overwhelmed by debt and care costs; they also pointed to policy solutions such as SB 642, mentorship, financial literacy, CalSavers access, and support for community development financial institutions. The second panel focused on immigration enforcement and Latina safety in the workforce. Luis Nolasco of the ACLU described arrests tied to apparent ethnicity and Spanish-speaking, the chilling effect on families, and the loss of wages, school attendance, and mobility. Dr. Amada Armenta said immigration enforcement harms California’s economy, public health, and mixed-status families, and noted that undocumented workers are concentrated in agriculture, construction, and child care. SEIU’s Jen Baca Beltran said raids and school-based enforcement traumatize children and families and highlighted the need for Know Your Rights trainings. Megan Ortiz of IDEPSCA described repeated Border Patrol raids on day labor centers, injuries to staff, and the need to protect worker centers, domestic workers, and street vendors. Inclusive Action’s Shannon Camacho said raids have forced many informal workers to stop working, prompted emergency cash assistance and rent relief efforts, and strengthened advocacy for vendor protections and CDFI support. CHIRLA’s Jeanette Zanipatine said the rapid response network has expanded, documented widespread arrests and detention conditions, and is providing direct support and legal referrals; committee members asked about detention, maternal health, and what the state can do, and panelists urged stronger oversight, more legal representation, and protections for pregnant and detained people.

Transcript Highlights:

• It is one of the most important tools for building a good robust provider workforce.
• It is a workforce study.
• Um, we're just looking at solutions right now or potential solutions.
• That is something the department could do and has failed.
• Disability Rights New Mexico in 2022 sued the state corrections department um and and then.

Transcript Highlights:

• find solutions.
• Our solutions are not always at length.
• Um reading through this bill, solutions.
• So um I guess I'll just the department.
• <00:52:53.839> feels in terms of what the department feels in terms of what the department

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Pump that solution out, and then that solution has uranium in it, and we can recover that in a processing
• addition to the Department of Energy.
• It's not just Department of Energy focused.
• Department of War may give you one answer, Department of Energy may give you another.
• Workforce, indeed. How about this one: worry?

Keywords: 908, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Um, I have some questions for Jia Moore or somebody from the Department of Labor and Industry.
• <01:10:35.280> of Moore or somebody from the Department of Moore or somebody from the Department
• <01:13:55.280> of there efforts from the Department of there efforts from the Department of
• How would the department handle that? Mr. Nikolai: Thank you, Senator McEwen.
• with you how how would the department with you how how would the department handle handle handle

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• So we'll welcome and allow the Department of Finance to begin first.
• First, Chavez with the Department of Finance.
• Does the Department of Finance have a response to that?
• Justin Hurst, Department of Finance...
• The Sonoma State WGS department is a high-impact department.

Keywords: 988, house, 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
• The Department of Labor is going to get $2.5 billion for a workforce development program. ...billion
• A solution. I mean, everyone says, what's your solution?
• I have ideas for a short-term solution for funding and a long-term solution.

Keywords: 1146, all

Transcript Highlights:

• This underscores our strong commitment to growing New Mexico's statewide workforce.
• Department of Labor.
• Department of Education. 30th of this year.
• So what does this workforce initiative look like from the Department of Health (DOH) perspective?
• Semillas de Salud. as a workforce initiative, as an upstream initiative.

Transcript Highlights:

• With this with workforce housing needs.
• many municipalities in their workforce many municipalities in their workforce are<01:53:26.560><
• in lie if we can't find a good solution in lie if we can't find a solution<01:54:00.800> on<01
• when you hear about uh these workforce when you hear about uh these workforce housing<03:54:14.000
• <04:19:00.479> My workforce in most circumstances. My workforce in most circumstances.

Keywords: 1189, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• would follow the path of what Workforce would follow the path of what Workforce housing<00:22:37.320
• <00:25:25.039> housing<00:25:25.320> language the workforce housing language the workforce
• <00:26:26.679> housing uh why you chose Workforce housing uh why you chose Workforce housing
• <00:26:57.600> housing workforce housing workforce housing number<00:26:59.760> um<00:26
• <01:24:47.360> of assessments uh one by the Department of assessments uh one by the Department

Keywords: 1191, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• [clears throat] in its workforce. [clears throat] in its workforce.
• contributor to its culinary workforce contributor to its culinary workforce pipeline<00:36:43.000
• is critical for the long-term workforce is critical for the long-term workforce needs<00:36:53.600
• . solutions. solutions.
• , more expensive emergency departments, more expensive emergency departments, urgent<01:19:08.080

Keywords: 927, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• And first up to testify on the topic is somebody from the State Department of Agriculture.
• For the record, my name is Andrea Veble, and I serve as Deputy Commissioner at the Minnesota Department
• The first airport in our network in which we can say every single airplane that departs MSP has SAF on
• Department of Energy. In the United States, that is the state standard.
• , as trucking workforce and industrial employment opportunities.

Keywords: 1183, house

Summary: The committee heard testimony on sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and Minnesota’s efforts to build a SAF industry. Andrea Veble of the Minnesota Department of Agriculture said the Walz administration strongly supports SAF because it could benefit agriculture, forestry, clean energy, and rural economies. She highlighted the 2023 state SAF tax credit and sales tax exemption for facility construction, describing the credit as a nation-leading incentive designed to stack with federal IRA credits and attract producers and blenders to Minnesota. Jeff Davidman of Delta Airlines said aviation is difficult to decarbonize and that SAF is the airline industry’s best available tool to reach net-zero goals by 2050. He explained that SAF is a certified drop-in fuel that can be blended with conventional jet fuel and used in existing aircraft and infrastructure, and he cited growing global demand and limited supply. He said Minnesota has many potential feedstocks, including used cooking oil, corn, soybeans, and camelina, and praised the state’s SAF tax credit and the Minnesota SAF Hub as important steps toward making Minnesota a leader in the sector. Peter Fros of Greater MSP described the Minnesota SAF Hub as a public-private partnership aimed at building an industrial-scale SAF value chain in Minnesota. He said the state has key advantages, including airport demand, corporate partners, research institutions, and agricultural inputs, and estimated that three SAF biorefineries could create tens of thousands of jobs and significant emissions reductions. He also said the Hub is working on blending infrastructure, private demand commitments, a winter camelina expansion study, and efforts to secure additional refineries before 2030. Members raised questions about how sustainability is measured, and Fros said the Hub relies on the federal GREET model but wants a clearer, transparent, and standardized national method that also accounts for issues like water quality and biodiversity. Amanda Bellik of the Minnesota Corn Growers Association said corn-based ethanol is a strong fit for SAF production through the alcohol-to-jet pathway because it is abundant, affordable, and supported by existing infrastructure. She said SAF development could create a new value-added market for corn without requiring new acres, but emphasized the need for significant capital investment, stable tax policy, and efficient permitting. She also said the group has worked with a consultant on third-party sustainability assessments of corn production practices to help fill data gaps and support the carbon-intensity requirements tied to SAF incentives.

Transcript Highlights:

• Pump that solution out, and then that solution has uranium in it, and we can recover that in a processing
• addition to the Department of Energy.
• It's not just Department of Energy focused.
• Department of War may give you one answer, Department of Energy may give you another.
• Workforce, indeed. How about this one: worry?

Summary: The meeting opened with remarks about the value of public engagement and the availability of presentation materials, then moved into a series of technical briefings from Idaho National Laboratory staff. Joe Renovitz described recent federal and DOE efforts to streamline nuclear regulation for advanced reactors, including NRC Part 53 and upcoming Part 57 rulemaking, DOE authorization updates, crosswalks between DOE and NRC requirements, and use of AI to speed licensing communications and document review. He emphasized that the goal is to align safety standards for advanced technologies, reduce rework for developers, and support deployment for commercial, defense, and research uses. In response to questions, he said there is no current plan to merge agencies, but there is more information-sharing and embedded NRC staff at DOE facilities; he also noted public outreach is supported through groups like GAIN and NEI. David Tolman then discussed the nuclear fuel cycle, covering uranium mining, conversion, enrichment, fuel fabrication, spent fuel storage, transportation, disposal, and recycling. He explained high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU), DOE’s HALEU Availability Program, and the need to expand domestic enrichment, deconversion, and transportation capacity to support advanced reactors and the 2050 nuclear growth goal. He also reviewed used fuel management, including on-site storage at operating and shutdown reactors, the Center for Used Fuel Research at INL, a high-burnup research cask project, and the long-term repository question, which he said is ultimately political as well as technical. He outlined reprocessing approaches—aqueous/Purex, pyrochemical, and fluoride volatility—describing INL’s work on electrochemical processing of EBR-II fuel and noting industry interest from several companies in recycling technologies. Ashley Shields presented on AI for nuclear applications, describing INL’s use of generative AI, high-performance computing, and digital-twin tools to accelerate reactor design, licensing, operations, and materials development. She highlighted the Prometheus effort to pursue highly automated reactor design and operation, the large documentation burden for reactor licensing, and ongoing work on autonomous control, remote operation, and AI-assisted materials qualification through the Vulcan challenge and related data platforms. In questions, she said AI tools are used under data-governance and security controls, with different models chosen for different tasks, and argued that software engineers and human oversight remain necessary. The session ended with a brief recess announcement and a transition to a later presentation on critical minerals and materials.

Transcript Highlights:

• we have maintenance pool uh department we have maintenance pool uh department for<00:05:06.080><
• larger uh multifaceted set of solutions larger uh multifaceted set of solutions for<00:08:46.320
• > of I'm with Kentucky Department of I'm with Kentucky Department of Education.<00:17:15.439><
• exchange system for workforce exchange system for workforce development<00:30:37.520> to<
• Priority request number 10 is for the maintenance pool that's related to the Department for Workforce

Keywords: 958, all

Summary: The Capital Planning Advisory Board met for its first meeting of the year, confirmed a quorum, approved the prior year’s minutes, and welcomed new co-chairs and members. The board reviewed the capital planning timeline and a list of agencies that submitted plans but would not testify. Members were reminded to keep presentations brief because of a packed agenda. The Cabinet for Health and Family Services presented first, outlining priorities centered on public safety, infrastructure preservation, and preventive maintenance. Its requests included a $21 million maintenance pool, phase two funding for a new state public health laboratory, construction of an 18-bed children’s psychiatric hospital, and several projects at Western State Hospital and Western State Nursing Facility, including HVAC work, cooling tower repair or replacement, and chiller plant repiping. Additional projects covered elevator upgrades at Hazlewood and phased cottage renovations at Oakwood. Board members asked about vacant buildings, the cost per bed for the youth psychiatric facility, and the relationship between the CHFS youth facility and a separate DJJ facility; CHFS said the youth facility would serve DCBS-involved youth and be separate from the DJJ project. The Kentucky Department of Education then described its state-operated facilities, including the Kentucky School for the Deaf, the Kentucky School for the Blind, and the FFA leadership training center. Its priorities included additional funding for the FFA classroom and activity building, a rewrite of the SEEK education finance application system, renovation and repair of the FFA swimming pool, electrical upgrades, campus education enhancements, safety and security work, door and window replacements, and HVAC maintenance. Members asked about student outcomes, the size and cost of the swimming pool project, and construction cost assumptions; KDE said it tracks student outcomes through special education staff and that current estimates reflect higher post-COVID construction costs. The Education and Labor Cabinet began its presentation with 12 priority projects, including a state labor exchange system, renovation of the McDow Vocational Rehabilitation Center, and a new adult education and family literacy management information system. The cabinet said the labor exchange would connect job seekers and employers at no cost, while the McDow renovation was needed because the 30-year-old facility faces safety and code concerns. The cabinet planned to continue through the remaining priorities and answer questions at the end of its presentation.

Transcript Highlights:

• electrical workforce. electrical workforce.
• Uh this amendment 40% of the workforce.
• We are a pump and blower distributor with a dedicated repair department.
• So, I think we can find a solution, members, that works for everyone.
• ,<01:03:00.600> members, think we can find a solution, members, think we can find a solution

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• This robust plan builds in professional learning, resource development, workforce supports, including
• And we just look forward to working alongside you to find some solutions to best support the growth of
• These reforms would stabilize the workforce, improve care and accessibility, and ensure families can
• There's no workforce pipeline of new providers on the horizon.
• Now there's no workforce pipeline of new providers on the horizon.

Summary: The committee took up issue number seven, Child Care Rate Reform Transition Plan, and heard a presentation from the LAO on an eight-part transition plan for the period before implementation of the alternative methodology-based child care rate system. The plan would provide interim rate increases to existing regional market rates and standard reimbursement rates beginning January 1 of the budget year, keep the higher of SRR or ARMR as the single rate, annualize cost-of-care supplements, update hold-harmless language, eliminate the private market cap, authorize one-time systems transition funding with JLBC approval, and require annual reporting on parent co-pays. Members asked about the timeline and public/legislative feedback process, and administration staff said they were working toward the July 1, 2025 deadline while continuing stakeholder engagement through the rate and quality advisory process. Public comment was overwhelmingly focused on child care and early learning funding. Providers, county offices, advocacy groups, and education organizations urged the Legislature to move quickly on the alternative rate methodology, provide interim relief through a cost-of-living adjustment, reimburse based on enrollment rather than attendance, and preserve health and retirement benefits and workforce stability. Many speakers also pressed for funding to expand the promised 200,000 child care slots, warning that waitlists remain long and providers are under financial strain. Several commenters supported maintaining or extending grants and technical assistance for transitional kindergarten, inclusive early education, and mixed-delivery early learning programs. A separate set of comments addressed the Inclusive Early Education Expansion Program, with Sacramento County education officials and others urging a statewide plan that would extend support to the 20 counties not currently receiving grants, especially rural areas. Other speakers raised concerns about facilities and staffing impacts from TK expansion, the need for consistent eligibility rules across subsidized programs, and the importance of statewide systems-level funding. The chair thanked the LAO, administration, and public commenters, said the item would remain open until after the May Revision, and adjourned the meeting.

Transcript Highlights:

• This is not a workforce impossible.
• <00:19:06.880> who frankly the staff and the workforce who frankly the staff and the workforce
• The Department of steering committee.
• this is not the end all be all solution this is not the end all be all solution because<00:40:57.680
• <00:42:24.120> directors, to hear from, um, department directors, to hear from, um, department

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• And the Department of Corrections is added to departments whose pure officer shall find the statement
• Most departments are department. We are in regular replacement schedules right now in the bill.
• of Law Enforcement in Cooperation with the Department of Transportation, the Department of Highway Safety
• Workforce impact by Senator Davis or Davis.
• On Florida's workforce and economy.

Keywords: 999, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• clear<00:13:49.199> we our Workforce the solution is clear we our Workforce the solution is
• <00:53:25.359> of<00:53:25.599> Education the Department of Education the Department
• He and Congress resourced the department accordingly, and this department was tasked with implementing
• and this department accordingly and this department<01:07:36.799> was<01:07:37.000> tasked
• Dexter, recognized. solution part of the solution it's the solution part of the solution it's the right

Keywords: U.S. House of Representatives Floor Proceedings on Thursday, February 6, 2025, 1012, house, all