Transcript Highlights:

• Thank you, um, and um, Miss Benjamin, um, congratulations on being Teacher of the Year.
• Thank you, um, and um, Miss Benjamin, um, congratulations on being Teacher of the Year.
• Thank you, um, and um, Miss Benjamin, um, congratulations on being Teacher of the Year.
• Thank you, um, and um, Miss Benjamin, um, congratulations on being Teacher of the Year.
• qu if you want to get spicy um uh Miss qu if you want to get spicy um uh Miss Benjamin<01:42:58.400

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• They missed the payment, something occurred, the policy gets canceled.
• Well, actually, we do have another one here in person. Okay. Where is he with?
• Well, actually we do have another one is here in person. Okay. Where is he with?
• We prepare a detailed estimate of damages to the building, personal property, business property.
• I just wanted to share your journey, personal story.

Keywords: 995, all

Summary: The Joint Committee on Financial Services heard testimony on a wide range of insurance-related bills. Topics included public adjusters (H. 1100/S. 785), electronic cancellation notices (H. 1123/S. 701), insurance rebates and loss-mitigation devices (H. 1233), flood hazard determinations (H. 1087 and related flood bills), organ donor insurance protections (H. 1248/S. 727), mental health parity in disability policies (S. 780), motor vehicle service contracts (H. 1139/S. 812), modernization of business-to-business insurance transactions (H. 1105), and a bill changing the GIC withdrawal notice deadline (H. 1150). Committee chairs set a three-minute testimony limit and heard from legislators, industry representatives, advocates, and affected consumers. Testimony on public adjusters was sharply divided. Insurance agents and property-casualty industry representatives argued that bills barring insurers from prohibiting public adjusters would interfere with policy terms, while public adjusters and several consumers described cases where adjusters helped secure substantially higher settlements and said some surplus lines policies already contain anti-public-adjuster endorsements. On electronic notices, the insurance industry supported consumer opt-in email communications, while agents warned that email-only cancellation notices could cause consumers to miss cancellations. On rebates/loss mitigation, insurers supported allowing risk-mitigation devices outside the policy to encourage innovation, while agents opposed the bill as an improper inducement. Flood-related bills drew opposition from insurers who said flood determinations are complex and federally governed. The committee also heard strong support for organ donor protections from a kidney transplant recipient and the American Kidney Fund, who said the bill would prevent insurance discrimination against living donors and could encourage more donations. On disability parity, a disability insurance specialist opposed S. 780, arguing that mental health limitations are a consumer choice that helps keep coverage affordable, while the bill’s sponsor said it would prevent unequal limits on behavioral health claims. The committee also heard support for H. 1139/S. 812 from the service contract industry, and support for H. 1105 from APCIA as a modernization measure for specialty commercial lines. No votes were taken; after testimony concluded, the chairs closed the hearing.

Transcript Highlights:

• One of the primary things we start looking for is where is this person going to live?
• I want to be that person that leads them through this.
• He had to miss a field trip to come. And my daughter, Noemi, who is missing her nap to be here.
• I missed that before. But thank you for that abbreviated meeting.
• There's no better person for the job. Thank you. Hi, I'm Ken Hartman.

Keywords: 987, senate, all

Summary: The Senate Rules Committee met to consider several gubernatorial appointments and routine agenda items. The committee first approved, on initial roll calls, appointments not required to appear including Olivia May Assuncion to the Commission on Disability Access, William Adams to the California Exposition and State Fair Board of Directors, and two appointments to the California Law Revision Commission (Anacubas and David Hubner, J.D.), while also taking up bill referrals and floor acknowledgments. Later, after all members were present, the committee completed add-on votes on those items, with most receiving unanimous or near-unanimous support; Anacubas and Hubner drew some opposition but were still approved. The committee then heard testimony from Brian Bishop, nominated to lead the Division of Adult Parole Operations at CDCR. Members questioned him about data-driven supervision of high-risk parolees, GPS monitoring, drug and alcohol testing, unannounced visits, coordination with local law enforcement, victim protections, out-of-county placement, supervision of unhoused parolees, and oversight of private reentry/housing contractors. Bishop emphasized a public-safety-and-rehabilitation approach, frequent collaboration with local agencies, compliance sweeps, victim exclusion zones, and efforts to expand housing and reentry support. Public witnesses from reentry and criminal justice organizations spoke in support, and the committee voted 5-0 to send his appointment to the full Senate. The committee also heard from Sarah Larson, nominated to direct CDCR’s Facilities Management and Construction division. Questions focused on aligning facilities with a declining prison population, aging infrastructure, heat and cooling needs, safety during construction, prison closures, disaster planning, and the status of the Norco closure. Larson said the department has reduced its footprint, is piloting cooling upgrades at several sites, is using the San Quentin Rehabilitation Center as a model for safer, more healing design, and is maintaining closed facilities in cold shutdown while planning for possible future use. Public commenters from reform and reentry groups strongly supported her, and the committee approved her nomination 5-0 for the full Senate.

Transcript Highlights:

• As the first and only person in my family to graduate from college, I know a degree doesn't open, only
• But one thing I'll just add: I'm also a data person.
• And, you know, there's a missing piece with that.
• And so you have a person that say, maybe I'm stuck in the LVN role, well, there's a...
• And so you have a person that say, maybe I'm stuck in an LVN role.

Keywords: 987, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• This isn't necessarily about even a person in Broward finding out what happens.
• This isn't necessarily about even a person in Broward finding out what happens in Liberty.
• This is a person in Liberty finding out what happens in Liberty. So right now, we've got that.
• Right now, because he missed his flight, so he's sitting at the airport watching this.
• It's for one single person.

Bills: S0218, S0380, S0936, S0948, S0962, S0984, S1020, S1180, S1434, S1444, S1612

Keywords: land use, disaster recovery, local government, federal assistance, Hurricane relief, legal notices, public accessibility, government transparency, digital publication, government agencies, temporary door locking device, emergency safety, building code, training programs, fire exit security, affordable housing, land development, starter homes, local government regulations, housing shortage

Summary: The committee took up a series of land use, housing, local government, and public notice bills, along with a firefighter cancer bill and a bill on temporary door locking devices. SB 984 on firefighter cancer benefits and prevention was explained as clarifying access to death benefits and a one-time cancer payment for firefighters; it was reported favorably. SB 1612 required local governments to accept electronic payments online; it also passed favorably. SB 1180 created a recall framework for elected community development district board members and, through a strike-all amendment, also addressed synthetic turf enforcement and expanded compact urban mixed-use district definitions; the amendment was adopted and the bill was reported favorably. SB 936 allowed temporary door locking devices above the finished floor and directed the Building Commission to add standards to the Florida Building Code; it passed favorably. The committee also considered SB 380 on legal notices, which would let certain local government entities publish notices on their own websites or other designated sites instead of relying on newspapers in more cases. The Florida Press Association, Common Cause, and newspaper representatives opposed the bill, arguing it would fragment public notice access and make notices harder to find and verify, while supporters said it would modernize and reduce costs. The bill’s amendment clarified which agencies were covered, and the committee reported the bill favorably. SB 962 on affordable housing narrowed prior zoning preemption language so working farms and farm operations would not be unintentionally captured by Live Local-style rules; it passed favorably. SB 1444 on state preemption and religious expression, private clubs, and minor home construction drew support from religious freedom advocates and opposition from cities and counties, which warned of vague terms and overbroad preemption; it was reported favorably. The committee then approved SB 218, which would limit the reach of last session’s hurricane recovery land-use preemption to counties actually damaged by hurricanes and restore normal local land-use authority in unaffected counties. SB 1434 on infill redevelopment would streamline zoning and subdivision approvals for environmentally impacted parcels in certain urban counties to encourage housing on contaminated or underused land; counties and local-government groups opposed it as an overbroad preemption and raised concerns about the environmental threshold and density provisions, but the bill was reported favorably. SB 1020 on chickees prohibited local ordinances from blocking chickee construction if setback requirements are met and made unauthorized attempts to circumvent the building code a misdemeanor; it passed favorably. Finally, SB 948 on local government land development regulations and orders, as amended, proposed a statewide starter-home framework with lot-split and zoning changes to increase housing supply; local-government and planning groups warned it would function as a rigid statewide zoning code and could drive overdevelopment, while housing advocates supported it as necessary state action. The committee reported the bill favorably after extensive debate.

Transcript Highlights:

• . missing. missing.
• , to that is as a history person, to that is as a history person, we're<00:49:35.200> this
• And personally, I think that's kind of a false equivalency.
• And personally, I think that's kind of a false equivalency.
• And personally, I think that's kind of a false equivalency.

Keywords: 1189, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Miss Downing is educator voices.
• and personal identity characteristics and personal identity ideology<03:49:22.080> without<03
• is this vague, um, a reasonable person is this vague, um, a reasonable person can't<03:51:25.840
• because it's not about personal because it's not about personal responsibility.<04:22:30.159>
• about the person having any actual actual actual personal<04:49:33.200> impact<04:49:33.680><

Keywords: 1189, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• More specifically, the bill as it came to us provides clarity for rounding by any person engaged in a
• , etc., we modified “person or business” to be just “person.”
• The sixth instance of amendment deals with notices to those persons engaged in cash transactions.
• This is to fix an error in the current statute resulting in a year of employees missing the statutory
• the statutory definition for missing the statutory definition for these<00:39:22.520> respective<

Keywords: 926, house, all

Summary: The House opened with a devotional performance by four Vermont music therapists, followed by remarks recognizing music therapy as an evidence-based profession and welcoming the performers to the chamber. The body then handled several referral and procedural matters: Senate Bills 212 and 328, and Senate Bill 325 after an Environment Committee report, were referred to Ways and Means under House Rule 35A because of revenue impacts. The House also read HCR 263, congratulating the 2026 Mount Mansfield Union High School Division 1 championship girls basketball team, and members offered brief congratulations and announcements, including a birthday greeting for the Chief of Staff, notice of an art social, and a reminder about the House Adjournment Pool benefiting Good Samaritan Haven. The House voted to move Senate Bill 206, relating to licensure of early childhood educators, from Government Operations and Military Affairs to Human Services. It then took up House Bill 951, the state budget bill, suspended rules to consider it immediately, and voted not to concur with the Senate’s proposal of amendment. The House requested a committee of conference and appointed Representatives Shay, Feltes, and Lumley to serve on the House side, then suspended rules again to message its action to the Senate forthwith. In the orders of the day, the House passed House Bill 902 on amendments to the City of Barre charter, and passed Senate Bills 142, 179, 227, 230, and 298 in concurrence with proposals of amendment. Action on Senate Bill 223, relating to water quality, was postponed for two legislative days. The House then considered Senate Bill 327 on economic development, hearing detailed testimony from the Commerce and Economic Development, Ways and Means, and Appropriations committees. The bill would support small businesses, repeal the VEGI sunset, create hospitality and culinary workforce initiatives, revise the Rural Industrial Development Grant Program, authorize cash rounding when pennies are unavailable, and establish a C-PACE financing program. Ways and Means offered nine amendments, including changes to VEGI limits, grant language, rounding notice provisions, and C-PACE timing and tax clarifications; the House adopted the amendments and proposed the bill back to the Senate as amended.

Transcript Highlights:

• <00:15:39.920> Appreciate >> Thank you, Miss Piltier.
• Appreciate >> Thank you, Miss Piltier.
• Miss Goose, did you want to add some more comments to that?
• Miss Goose, did you want to add some more comments to that?
• Miss Goose, did you want to add some more comments to that? Yeah.

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• I am personally disappointed in that.
• And I want to thank Miss Martone, and I also want to thank our committee chair.
• > our<00:23:22.000> committee Miss Martone along with our committee Miss Martone along
• And I want to thank Miss forward.
• Just like every other person sitting here, is it a budget that I think solves all problems? No.

Keywords: 1191, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Chair: Do we have Miss Peoples? No. Okay. Did you want to speak? Chair: 395. Okay, yes. All right.
• Quaviona People, proponent wishing to appear in person. Welcome, you are recognized.
• Chair: Miss Rosenberg, we have some other people. Thank you.
• Miss Rosenberg: Foster care exists to protect children, not providers.
• I don't believe any person should be defined by their worst day. Rep.

Transcript Highlights:

• Mississippi Volunteer Maddie Grace Morris, Miss Mississippi Volunteer 2026.
• Personal privilege, Senator Hawkins. Thank you, Mr. President.
• So I'm just grateful because they're not just our personal assistants.
• So we want to make sure they didn't miss another one like they did Human Services.
• I think to a person we would say that.

Keywords: MS Senate Floor - 2 April, 2026; 10:00 AM, 925, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Each person wishing to make public comment will be limited to two minutes per speaker.
• Members, unless I'm missing anybody, don't see any. We'd like to now...
• There are no further questions, members, unless I'm missing anybody, don't see any.
• that a person moved or no longer lives at the address where they're registered, made a lot of sense
• So there might be a missing testimony or two, but certainly mine for Jeanette Dean.

Keywords: 909, all

Transcript Highlights:

• I I was looking, and I probably missed it.
• It's the school improvement money that I was missing.
• I'm going to read this very carefully, so I might have missed it.
• And sometimes that's a big gap and a big missing part, Mr. Chair, in the math learning part.
• My personal feeling is this ought to be like the Finland's baby boxes and things of that sort.

Keywords: 996, all

Transcript Highlights:

• But I think we need to hear from Miss Fox.
• be counted as one person or 30?
• Thank you for taking my question again, Miss Fox.
• um back in my day as a technical person um back in my day as a technical person backup<02:42:00.880
• Did you cover, um, I was thinking so many different things I may have missed.

Keywords: 928, house, all

Summary: Finance Division 3 met for a work session on House Bill 519, which concerns funding for Waypoint. The chair noted general support for the organization but said the bill would likely need to be suspended and folded into the budget process because the committee did not yet know available revenues or what amount, if any, could be committed. Kya Fox, director of the Division for Behavioral Health, testified that the department supports the bill and the program, explaining that it had been funded with other available funds, including $100,000 for 2024 and $400,000 for 2025, under a contract running through June 30 of this year. She said the shelter serves a unique population of young adults and is part of the department’s children’s system of care and Mission Zero efforts to reduce barriers to psychiatric discharge and emergency department use. Members questioned Fox and Waypoint representatives about the budget placement of the request, the difference between the efficiency budget and prioritized needs, and whether state budget documents would show any internal Waypoint revenues. Fox said the request appears as a general fund item and that the state would not see Waypoint’s internal financial operations in the budget. A legislative member explained that prioritized needs are critical services already in place but not necessarily included in the efficiency budget, and another member said the distinction is not strictly applied. The committee also raised a separate question about how DHHS would handle any future state or federal restrictions on DEI practices; Fox said that was a question for department leadership and legal staff, but that the department follows state law and contract requirements. Waypoint CEO Bor Alvare and Director Mandy Lancaster then described the shelter and related services. They said the shelter serves ages 18 to 24, is a 14-bed open-room facility with half walls, and is staffed overnight by two full-time workers. They said admission is first come, first served, with some vulnerability factors considered, and that they do not discriminate by race, gender, or sexual orientation. They reported no known incidents of sexual violence, though some youth are turned away each night because the shelter is full. They also explained that Waypoint provides broader services beyond the shelter, including outreach, drop-in centers, housing support, rental assistance, and family mediation, and said they serve about 400 youth and young adults in Manchester alone. The discussion ended with questions about whether lowering the upper age limit would affect the program; Waypoint said most residents are already in the 18-to-23 range, but that housing shortages make the current age span important for helping young adults avoid chronic homelessness.

Transcript Highlights:

• unexpected funding demand on the state education system, an extended budget for the public schools, missed
• The next issue we noted was regarding the cross-check process and missed opportunities for the state.
• UA program found repeat student matches across multiple primary and final cross checks, indicating missed
• I've personally spent the better part of, I guess, a year and a half working with counsel for Step Up
• I don't think there's a single person in this room who doesn't want to see what we have democratically

Summary: The Senate Appropriations Committee on Pre-K-12 Education met for its first meeting of the 2025 session to hear the Auditor General’s operational audit on 2024-25 school funding accountability challenges, focused largely on the Family Empowerment Scholarship and its interaction with the FEFP. Deputy Auditor General Matthew Tracy described rapid growth in scholarship enrollment, timing mismatches between scholarship payments and public-school funding calculations, delayed membership survey processing, weak cross-check and recoupment procedures, inconsistent handling of parent survey responses, and limited documentation for withholding and returning funds. The audit said these issues contributed to funding inequities, duplicate-payment risks, and an unexpected draw on state education funds, and it recommended separating scholarship funding from the FEFP, aligning application windows with budget timing, strengthening controls and staffing, and creating clearer, documented recoupment and balance-limit processes. Committee members questioned whether current law gives the department and scholarship funding organizations enough authority and whether the system is effectively a pay-and-chase model. Several senators expressed concern about the lack of timely reconciliation, the size of the funds involved, and the absence of clear records showing how money was recovered or withheld. Adam Emerson, executive director of the Office of School Choice, said the department is working more closely with school districts and scholarship funding organizations, including pausing payments when districts identify students still enrolled in public schools, and said the office wants to improve the process. President Gates then previewed legislation he said would address the audit’s findings by funding Family Empowerment Scholarships as a separate FEFP categorical, expanding the Education Stabilization Fund, setting clearer application and acceptance deadlines, moving to monthly payments with eligibility verification before each payment, assigning student IDs for scholarship assistance, lowering SFO management fees, requiring annual audits, and requiring prompt return of audit-related funds. Public comment included a private-school attorney describing losses from unpaid scholarship amounts. Members generally supported the need for reform, with several senators saying the program should be preserved but better structured and more accountable. The committee adjourned after the discussion, with no vote taken on the legislation.

Transcript Highlights:

• basis to say that, hey, this person needs this, and that's not policy.
• Would you be able to remind me, because I guess maybe I missed it here.
• But no, I can't say, Parents Forever, you can't charge this person. Okay. Mr. McLean.
• One person, right, subject to a parenting order alleges the other person subject to a parenting order
• So personally, I don’t think there’s any changes that need to be made.

Summary: The Child Custody Review Task Force met to approve prior minutes and then worked through draft legislation related to a possible family court study committee. The group discussed the proposed 15-member committee’s makeup in detail, including whether to add parent representation, judges, family law section members, child support, clerks of court, domestic violence advocates, and other stakeholders. The task force ultimately agreed to keep the committee at 15 members, reduce the legislative membership from eight to six, add two judges from different districts, add two family law section members with rural and urban representation, include one parent subject to a custody order, and replace the mental health professional with a clerk of court representative appointed through the trial court administrator’s office. The draft was also revised to keep domestic violence advocacy representation and to clarify that the study could consider juvenile court issues as part of the family court umbrella. The committee voted to approve the revised draft and recommend it to Legislative Management, with one recorded “no” vote from Judge Hovey after the meeting resumed. The task force then turned to a second draft dealing with requiring participation in a family transition program, which was renamed in discussion to a parenting education course. Members debated whether the bill should simply refer to an existing program like Parents Forever or instead specify broader education about the court process, parental rights, co-parenting, and related issues. Some members supported the requirement as a way to reduce conflict and improve understanding of the system, while others raised concerns about vague language, cost to parents, lack of exemptions, and whether the bill was too open-ended or potentially duplicative of other legislation. The discussion became lengthy and unresolved, with the drafter noting that more specific direction would be needed to revise the bill. The transcript cuts off before a final vote or action on this second draft is shown.

Transcript Highlights:

• Am I missing something here? Okay.
• and the person was left in limbo.
• I have missed my place. Thank you.
• Why should I even do any in-person, provide any in-person services? I'm going to get paid the same.
• I am a neurodivergent person.

Keywords: 987, senate, all

Summary: The subcommittee heard an overview of the governor’s IHSS budget proposals and then took public testimony from the administration, LAO, county representatives, labor, consumer advocates, and an aging/disability advocacy group. The administration described IHSS as a large Medi-Cal long-term services program serving more than 900,000 recipients and proposed three changes: shifting some growth costs tied to authorized hours per case to counties, eliminating the statewide backup provider system, and aligning IHSS terminations with Medi-Cal terminations. The administration also discussed the earlier CFCO reassessment penalty change for counties and said overdue reassessments had dropped significantly. LAO said the governor’s overall IHSS cost estimates appeared reasonable, but raised concerns about the hours-per-case cost shift, including unclear root causes for growth, limited county control over statewide averages, and uncertainty about the eventual savings. County Welfare Directors Association, SEIU, and consumer/advocacy witnesses opposed the hours cost shift, arguing counties use state tools, the proposal would pressure counties to cut services, and it could harm older adults and people with disabilities by increasing institutionalization and shifting costs elsewhere. The chair and members repeatedly questioned the rationale for the proposal, the lack of a defined baseline, and whether the current assessment tools or MOE structure should instead be revisited. On the backup provider system, the administration said the program is underused and costly to administer relative to service spending, while LAO suggested the Legislature consider whether administrative costs could be reduced instead of eliminating it. County, labor, and consumer witnesses opposed the cut, saying the system is a critical emergency safety net even if utilization is low, especially for rural areas and people with complex needs. Members also asked about data quality, county backup systems, and whether consumers know the program exists. On the Medi-Cal/IHSS alignment proposal, the administration said automation would stop General Fund-only spending when recipients lose Medi-Cal and restore IHSS automatically when Medi-Cal is regained; LAO and others noted the proposal had been rejected before and urged better notices and safeguards. Witnesses warned that automatic termination could create gaps in care and unpaid work for providers, while the department said counties already manually terminate in some cases and that automation is ready if approved. No votes were taken in the excerpt, and the chair indicated the committee would continue with public comment and later items before a hard adjournment time.

Transcript Highlights:

• And then I'm not real personally comfortable with handing computers to young children, personally.
• Did we miss any? What else have we missed? Just one moment here.
• Do we miss anything? Probably.
• They have a grooming statute: a person who knowingly performs an act in person or by conduct through
• who's going to trial, the person who's in that witness box, is the person that we have gathered enough

Summary: The committee met to approve prior minutes and then heard a presentation from Dr. Ramona Danielson on adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), focusing on the economic and public-system impacts in North Dakota. She explained that ACEs are a population-level measure, not a diagnostic tool for individuals, and said higher ACE exposure is consistently associated with more chronic illness, mental health challenges, child welfare involvement, justice-system contact, and reduced workforce participation. She emphasized that precise dollar estimates are difficult because of the many interacting factors across a person’s life course, but said the direction of the impact is clear and that evidence-based prevention and protective factors can reduce harm. Members asked about definitions of a “healthy family,” same-sex couples, divorce, substance abuse, historical trends in ACEs, and the role of positive childhood experiences and home visiting. The committee then heard from Allison Mahoney and Missy Barranco about evidence-based home visiting programs in North Dakota, including Healthy Families, Early Head Start, Nurse-Family Partnership, and Parents as Teachers. They described home visiting as voluntary, relationship-based, and tailored to family needs, with referrals coming from hospitals, WIC, human service zones, pregnancy navigators, self-referrals, and other community sources. A parent, Abby, shared that home visiting helped her family after premature births and NICU stays by providing support with postpartum mental health, breastfeeding, developmental screenings, referrals, and parenting guidance. The presenters said the programs are funded through a mix of federal MIECHV/Title IV-E dollars, Medicaid targeted case management, state and tribal funds, philanthropy, charitable gaming, and grants, and they noted that current funding is fragmented and insufficient to serve all eligible families statewide. Members discussed whether the state should expand or better fund these services and how to improve outreach and referrals. Later, the committee received a memorandum on artificial intelligence and sexual exploitation, followed by a presentation from a BCI special agent on how AI is already affecting child exploitation investigations in North Dakota. The memo and testimony described AI-generated child sexual abuse material, deepfakes, sextortion, and risks posed by chatbots, along with relevant federal and state law and recent executive orders. The agent said North Dakota saw 2,698 cyber tips in 2025, the highest on record, and that investigators are increasingly encountering AI-assisted exploitation that is harder to detect and verify. Members discussed the need for child-safety protections, the limits of executive orders, and broader concerns about AI undermining critical thinking and spreading misinformation. No votes were taken on the AI materials during the portion provided, and the committee recessed briefly after the report.

Transcript Highlights:

• Chairman, thank you, and I actually missed the committee quite a bit.
• So that's reflected, I'll just say, in the personal services and employee benefits line.
• Okay, next we'll go to any other questions that folks have missed.
• I missed this one. I don't know.
• Any other questions that have been missed, Representative Lujan?

Keywords: 996, all