Transcript Highlights:

• You have a safe, warm place to go each day and caring teachers who provide a positive learning environment
• You have a safe, warm place to go each day and caring teachers who provide a positive learning environment
• , child care, and education.
• Long-term care is a continuum.
• Every day, our team cares for residents who depend on Medicaid to access skilled nursing services.

Summary: The House Appropriations Committee held a public hearing on proposed substitute House Bill 2289, the House operating budget. Budget staff Mary Monroe gave a detailed overview of the proposal’s near general fund outlook, reserve levels, major revenue assumptions, and major spending and savings items. She highlighted assumed revenue from capital gains and a proposed “millionaires tax,” a transfer from the budget stabilization account, administrative reductions across agencies, and several major policy shifts, including changes affecting Working Connections Child Care, K-12 education, higher education, long-term care, behavioral health, wildfire response, and state employee compensation. Members then asked questions, including about the higher education building account/operating fee swap and its interaction with the capital budget and Climate Commitment Act funds. The committee also announced amendment deadlines for the budget process. The bulk of the meeting was public testimony, with many speakers generally supporting or opposing specific parts of the budget. Supportive testimony praised funding for wildfire prevention, public health, reproductive health, civil legal aid, the Poison Center, some higher education institutions, and certain disability and child welfare services. Many speakers urged restoration or protection of funding for K-12 education, especially transition to kindergarten, local effort assistance, bus depreciation, and Running Start; others opposed cuts to child care, early learning, public defense, long-term care, adult day and home care services, occupational/physical/speech therapy for Medicaid patients, and community and technical colleges. Several local government, health, and nonprofit representatives also asked the committee to preserve public works, homelessness, energy assistance, environmental justice, and recovery/diversion programs, while some business and public safety groups sought continued funding for organized retail crime prevention and related initiatives. No votes were taken during the hearing. The committee recessed briefly and later resumed with virtual testimony, where additional witnesses repeated concerns about education cuts, long-term care, health care access, disability services, dispute resolution, early childhood programs, and the need for ongoing or increased funding in those areas.

Transcript Highlights:

• outpatient care, and in-jail care.
• $619 per day.
• Today we have three day-habilitation rates. We have a standard acuity day-hab rate.
• This is for ongoing inflationary costs for medical care and food in our 24-7 care.
• It is a day-to-day decision, of course.

Committee: House Budget

Keywords: 959, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Those primary care providers supplied primary care to about 8,000 people in the Gallup community.
• We had four days cash on hand. As of the end of July, we had 87 days cash.
• However, in our day-to-day operations, they don't have any say-so. I'm not responsible to them.
• Back to primary care and primary care cuts: studies show that if you add ten primary care physicians
• Yet primary care only receives 5% of the national health care spend, so we're spending 5 cents on the

Committee: House Legislative Health & Human Services Committee

Transcript Highlights:

• Aging services, HIV care, primary care, behavioral health.
• If that was up every day, or if it was up just because I was there that day, and it was up every day,
• and non-medical care for our residents. ...proper medical care and non-medical care for our residents
• . ...into systems of elder care and long-term care facilities.
• care and advocacy.

Summary: The Select Committee on Older LGBTQ Californians held an inaugural hearing focused on the health care and support landscape for older LGBTQ Californians, including people aging with HIV and transgender, gender non-conforming, and intersex seniors. Opening remarks emphasized the long history of discrimination faced by older LGBTQ adults, the growth of the aging LGBTQ population, and the need to translate existing state commitments into concrete services. Senators highlighted concerns about nursing home vulnerability, the aging of people living with HIV, and the impact of federal actions and Medicaid cuts on California’s safety net. The first panel featured Justice in Aging, CalHHS, the Department of Aging, and the Aging and HIV Institute. Testimony described widespread inequities, including discrimination, social isolation, economic insecurity, and gaps in culturally competent care. State officials outlined the Master Plan for Aging, the first statewide survey of LGBTQIA older adults, gender-affirming care protections in Medi-Cal, and efforts to improve coordination across departments. Advocates argued the state has been too slow to respond to federal threats and that services are often hard to find or fragmented. Committee members pressed the departments on how survey findings are being turned into action, how rural and underserved communities are being reached, and whether more formal stakeholder coordination or “no wrong door” access systems are needed. The second panel focused on seniors living with HIV. A long-term survivor gave emotional testimony about the “survivorship penalty,” loss of benefits, housing insecurity, and the need for legal and navigation support, housing assistance, and protection from outdated disability standards. The Department of Aging reported on implementation of SB 258, which added HIV status to the definition of greatest social need for area agencies on aging; it said 20 of 33 area plans now identify HIV as a target population and many include specific strategies, such as LGBTQIA mental health connections programs. The Office of AIDS described Project Cornerstone, Ryan White, ADAP, HOPWA, the Medi-Cal waiver, and PrEP-AP, noting these programs serve thousands of older clients and rely on whole-person case management. Case management testimony underscored persistent needs for medication subsidies, transportation, food, and housing. Committee members questioned how ADAP rebate funds might be used, how SB 258 is enforced across local agencies, and how to reduce administrative barriers and auto-connect eligible people to benefits. The final panel began with the Department of Social Services outlining protections for TGI seniors in licensed care facilities, including SB 219’s nondiscrimination requirements and related provider notices and resident rights materials. The hearing remained focused on identifying service gaps, improving coordination across aging, health, and social service systems, and ensuring state programs better reflect the lived experience of older LGBTQ Californians.

Transcript Highlights:

• </c><00:08:50.320><c> Um,</c> looks like 247 a day up to 290. Um, looks like 247 a day up to 290.
• </c><00:08:56.240><c> Um</c> 342 per day. Um 342 per day.
• </c> prohibited by CMS under managed care prohibited by CMS under managed care medical<00:12:40.240><
• ><c> Medicaid</c> medical s under managed care Medicaid medical s under managed care Medicaid systems
• </c><00:31:18.080><c> Um</c> to the right level of care. Um to the right level of care.

Keywords: 928, house, all

Summary: The Committee to Study Long-Term Managed Care approved the prior meeting minutes as amended after correcting the first paragraph. The chair then outlined the committee’s plan to produce a preliminary report by October 1, with additional meetings to follow, since some questions remain about the federal One Big Beautiful Bill (OB3) and its effects on Medicaid financing and managed care. The main discussion focused on New Hampshire nursing home funding and how ProShare and MQUIP work. Members reviewed Medicaid rates, supplemental payments, intergovernmental transfers, and the role of federal matching funds. The chair and Mr. Litman concluded that OB3’s phase-down of payments above the Medicare rate likely would not directly eliminate ProShare or MQUIP in New Hampshire, but uncertainty remains about intergovernmental transfers and about how these payments would function if the state moved nursing facilities into managed care. Mr. Litman said managed care would likely require waivers for supplemental payments, and Texas was cited as an example of a state operating under such waivers. The committee also discussed dual eligibles, DNIP, PACE, and the possibility of carving out HCBS from nursing facility services. DHS said its managed care contract would allow the state to use MCOs for DNIP, with the goal of better coordination between Medicaid and Medicare, while PACE would likely require more study and might be more feasible in populated counties. Members also reviewed OB3’s new presumptive eligibility provisions and a state waiver request modeled on Washington’s approach, plus a separate grant for transitioning people from facilities back to the community. The rural health transformation fund was discussed as a possible source for workforce, telehealth, mobile integrated health, and other support investments, but not for direct construction or major building renovation. County representatives emphasized that any county role in PACE or DNIP would require significant vetting, infrastructure, capital investment, and a realistic timeline. The meeting ended with the chair saying the draft report would outline issues and possible alternatives, but not recommendations yet, and the committee adjourned without taking further action.

Transcript Highlights:

• Now represent Hassel, you care to Now represent Hassel, you care to Now represent Hassel, you care to
• , the good days, and even the hard days, the good days, and even the hard days, the good days, and even
• the days I wanted to days I wanted to days I wanted to quit.
• Roughly 20% fund day-to-day operations. Roughly 20% fund day-to-day operations.
• Meanwhile, financial needs continue to exist for day-to-day local continue to exist for day-to-day local

Bills: HB 10 , HB 12 , HB 147 , HB 1522 , HB 422 , HB 675 , HB 204 , HB 748 , HB 912

Keywords: regulatory reform, government efficiency, administrative law, rulemaking, agency deference, judicial review, de novo review, Texas Government Code, Administrative Procedure Act, state agencies, plain language, regulatory burden, regulatory reduction, cost-benefit analysis, fiscal note, public benefits and costs, contested case, rule challenge, Texas Regulatory Efficiency Office, advisory panel

Transcript Highlights:

• The bill will be laid aside for the day.
• You don't get a day off.
• intervening days being legislative days.
• being legislative days.
• days.

Keywords: 993, senate, all

Summary: The Senate opened with the Pledge of Allegiance and an invocation, then approved the prior day’s journal and proceeded to a lengthy third-reading calendar. Early business included several motions to discharge Assembly bills from committees and substitute identical Senate bills, along with a few bills laid aside for the day. The chamber also recalled two bills from the Assembly, restored one bill to the Third Reading Calendar after reconsideration, and received amendments on two other bills without changing their calendar status. The Senate then took up a large number of bills across topics including labor, energy, insurance, consumer protection, environmental conservation, health, banking, elections, public service, education, workers’ compensation, criminal justice, local government, and tax law. Most measures passed with broad support, though several drew recorded opposition. Notable debate included Senator Mayer’s explanation for a bill intended to prevent treatment-court participants, including veterans, from losing their driver’s licenses twice after completing diversion programs; Senator Ryan’s support for a bill expanding prosecutors’ ability to treat repeat sexual abuse as persistent abuse; and a sharp exchange on a bill repealing New York’s HIV/STI criminalization law, with Senators Borrello and Chan opposing it and Senator Salazar defending the repeal as necessary to reduce stigma and protect survivors. The chamber also adopted and recognized several resolutions and guest presentations. Members welcomed the Tri-Valley Secondary School girls cross country champions, Miss America Cassie Donagan and Miss New York Teen Nadia Anwar, and the Hudson High School varsity boys basketball team. Later, the Senate took up a resolution proclaiming May 2026 as Maternal Mental Health Month, with multiple senators speaking in support of greater awareness, reduced stigma, and improved care for pregnant and postpartum New Yorkers. At the end of the session, the sponsors opened the day’s resolutions for co-sponsorship, and the Senate adjourned until Monday, June 1 at 12 noon, with intervening days designated as legislative days.

Transcript Highlights:

• The amendment in the Senate bill is five days rather than seven days before adoption.
• I look up to you every day.
• , and updated individualized treatment plans every 30 days when a person is receiving inpatient care.
• plans every 30 days when a person is receiving inpatient care.
• We don't care. They didn't care so bad. You know what they did?

Keywords: 998, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• And look at health care.
• How this impacts every single one of our health care systems, decimating our ability to provide care
• Oh, what about the health care?
• things we care about.
• And we have been fighting every single day for the things we care about here in the state of California

Summary: The Assembly met after a quorum call, recess, prayer, and the Pledge of Allegiance, then moved into a highly procedural and contentious floor session centered on redistricting measures. Members debated a point of order raised by Assembly Member DeMaio challenging the constitutionality of SB 280, ACA 8, and AB 604; the Speaker ruled the point not well taken, and the Assembly sustained that ruling on appeal. The body also took up consent-calendar and procedural motions, including suspending rules to adopt late amendments on ACA 8 and to bring the measure up without reference to file. Several motions to re-refer or suspend rules on related measures failed, while the motion to adopt the late amendments on ACA 8 carried. The main substantive item was ACA 8, the Assembly Constitutional Amendment related to redistricting, presented by Assembly Member Berman as a response to mid-decade redistricting efforts in other states, especially Texas. Supporters argued the measure was a temporary, voter-driven response to protect democracy, counter partisan gerrymandering, and address broader threats tied to the Trump administration, including immigration enforcement and health care cuts. Opponents argued ACA 8 would undermine California’s independent citizens redistricting commission, violate the state Constitution, and amount to partisan gerrymandering or a power grab. Members on both sides framed the issue as a defense of democracy, but disagreed sharply over whether the Legislature should act or leave redistricting to voters and the existing commission. No final vote on ACA 8 is shown in the transcript excerpt, but the Assembly did vote on several procedural matters: the appeal of the Speaker’s ruling was sustained 58-18; the motion to adopt late amendments on ACA 8 passed 58-19; a motion to re-refer ACA 8 and SB 280 to Judiciary failed 19-58; and a motion to take up A.J.R. 21 without reference to file failed 19-58. The session remained focused on ACA 8 and related redistricting questions, with extensive floor speeches from both supporters and opponents.

Transcript Highlights:

• of respiratory care practitioners.
• Respiratory care practitioners provide highly specialized, often life-sustaining care under physician
• care for years.
• People are submitting plans all day, every day across the state and having them without requiring an
• or full-day rates.

Summary: The joint sunset oversight hearing reviewed five California regulatory entities: the Respiratory Care Board, the California Council for Interior Design Certification, the Speech-Language Pathology, Audiology, and Hearing Aid Dispensers Board, the Board of Occupational Therapy, and the Board of Naturopathic Medicine. Each agency described its licensing, enforcement, modernization, and consumer-protection work since the last review, and committee members focused heavily on workforce access, public safety, transparency, and fee authority. For the Respiratory Care Board, the main issues were a possible move from an associate’s degree to a bachelor’s degree for licensure, fee structure changes, and ongoing work on LVNs performing respiratory tasks. Board representatives said the degree proposal was intended to strengthen competency and could be phased in without harming access, but several public commenters—especially respiratory therapists and families of medically fragile children—argued it would worsen shortages, particularly in rural and low-income areas. Other stakeholders supported clarifying LVN authority in congregate living health facilities, while the California Medical Association flagged the proposed Advanced Practice Respiratory Therapist classification as having limited current workforce impact. The interior design segment drew the most debate. CCIDC leaders defended the current voluntary certification/title-act model, saying it establishes competency, has produced minimal complaints, and that licensure would unnecessarily disrupt the workforce and create barriers without demonstrated public harm. Committee members questioned the lack of state-style enforcement authority, transparency, and Bagley-Keene compliance, and some public commenters criticized the private structure and inconsistent plan acceptance in local jurisdictions. Supporters of the current system said the certification and commercial designation help educate building officials and allow qualified designers to work safely, while opponents argued licensure would provide clearer accountability and reduce confusion. The speech-language pathology, audiology, and hearing aid dispensers board reported major modernization gains, including online licensure processing, faster turnaround times, and new continuing education audits and advertising rules. The board supported creating a licensed audiology assistant category to improve access to care, and public commenters generally backed the board while urging continued modernization. The occupational therapy board described steady growth, improved enforcement and licensing performance, and requested additional fee authority to address rising costs; the main public comment supported the sunset extension and a reduction in advanced practice hand therapy training hours. The naturopathic medicine board emphasized consumer protection, enforcement against unlicensed practice, and the need to clarify statutes; it said most licensed naturopathic doctors practice in underserved areas and welcomed legislative collaboration on scope and enforcement issues.

Transcript Highlights:

• It is their money at the end of the day.
• It is their money at the end of the day.
• It's Broward Days at the Capitol.
• I suggest that if somebody else is actually caring for the child and being compensated for that care,
• necessarily providing the care themselves, but paying for the care—has the funds to do that forever.

Committee: Senate Banking and Insurance

Keywords: 999, senate, all

Summary: The Senate Committee on Banking and Insurance met with a quorum present and took up a series of bills, beginning with SB 1286, which expands Florida’s first responder recruitment bonus program to include newly employed firefighters, creates a DFS grant review panel, and establishes a PTSD institute within DFS. Supporters from the fire service and local government spoke in favor, and the bill was reported favorably. The committee then considered SB 198 on virtual currency kiosks. After adopting a substitute amendment, members heard testimony from consumer advocates, industry representatives, and credit unions about scam prevention, elder financial exploitation, and the need for regulatory certainty. The bill was reported favorably as a committee substitute. Members also approved SB 772, which allows limited licenses for portable electronics and eyewear insurance, and SB 1504, which creates a pathway for high school students to qualify for insurance customer representative licensure through insurance and personal finance coursework. Later, the committee approved SB 1038 and SB 1040, which together create a Florida Strategic Cryptocurrency Reserve and the related trust fund, both with technical amendments. SB 1440, dealing with public records exemptions tied to cybersecurity events and financial regulation, was also reported favorably after amendment. The committee then heard SB 1668 on the NICA program, with testimony both supporting solvency reforms and raising concerns about benefits and retroactivity; the bill was reported favorably. Finally, SB 570 created a task force on payment scams under DFS, was amended to reduce FDLE staffing requirements, and was reported favorably. The meeting ended after senators requested to be recorded as voting in the affirmative on certain bills and the committee adjourned.

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> has to intervene our health care system. has to intervene our health care system.
• Now I work in home care.
• </c> that we would lose the intensive care that we would lose the intensive care unit,<00:19:22.400><
• </c><00:21:38.320><c> A</c> health care as a key priority. A health care as a key priority.
• </c> from the owners of our health care from the owners of our health care system<00:35:40.800><c> to

Committee: Senate Health and Human Services

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• , physical health care, but behavioral health care.
• Managed care organizations are the Health Care Authority contracts with managed care organizations to
• help us with delivering behavioral health care. ...health care authority contracts with managed care
• continuum of care.
• Behavioral integration is really about how do we bring behavioral health care and primary care, physical

Bills: HB1634

Committee: House Education

Keywords: mental health, behavioral support, education, school districts, student assistance, 904, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Nationally, immigrants make up 28% of the long-term care, direct care workforce.
• Gomez, child care centers. Thank you. Amendment number 34 by Mr. Gomes, child care centers.
• How proud are we this day?
• Our frontline health care workers are more than just providers of medical care.
• We collapse the number of days.

Keywords: 1212, all

Transcript Highlights:

• On day one.
• When I look at our rainy day fund, we wouldn't be able to last a day.
• Reserve, a rainy day fund.
• I wanted to move a little bit now to just health care, the cost of health care.
• We fight to make sure that child care providers are paid 100% of the true cost of care.

Committee: House Budget

Keywords: 988, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Happy day nine of session. I don't have a lot to add.
• about when they get up each day.
• , or managing our child care system.
• , or managing our child care system.
• And I don't think Republicans care.

Summary: Republican legislative leaders used the availability to focus on affordability, budget pressures, and opposition to several Democratic tax proposals. They criticized a circulating draft income tax proposal as a de facto small-business tax, arguing it would hurt LLCs, S corporations, housing investment, and the broader economy. They also attacked a proposed tire fee, a possible cigarette tax increase, and other tax ideas as regressive or hidden from consumers, while saying Republicans would not support any tax increases and urging budget cuts and spending restraint instead. The leaders said they planned to raise these concerns in an upcoming meeting with Governor Ferguson, along with questions about his budget and how he reconciles prior opposition to a wealth tax with support for an income tax. They also discussed a bill to make it harder to qualify initiatives for the legislature, calling it anti-democratic, and said the majority was ignoring or undermining voter-driven policy efforts. On child welfare, they criticized DCYF oversight and supported stronger accountability, including a bill to fix the state’s “imminent harm” standard and another proposal to stop the state from collecting certain federal disability and survivor benefits from foster youth. Other topics included tort liability reform, where Republicans said the state’s repeated failures in child welfare and juvenile rehabilitation are the underlying problem, not just the cost of claims, though they were open to limited reforms such as disclosure of litigation financing. They also discussed the 340B drug pricing program, saying it is complicated and could affect hospitals, FQHCs, patients, and pharmaceutical innovation. On public safety and technology, they expressed cautious support for bills regulating kids’ social media and AI use, but stressed First Amendment concerns and the need to avoid private rights of action; they were more skeptical of a bill limiting police retention of automatic license plate reader data, saying law enforcement needs effective tools to solve crimes. No votes were taken, and the event ended with Republicans reiterating that affordability was their top priority.

Transcript Highlights:

• The bill appropriates the money to the Health Care Authority and what the Health Care Authority will
• Day 41, 42 I think.
• The Affordable Care Act was supposed to fix health care affordability.
• to health care.
• Mexico, we take care of our own.

Transcript Highlights:

• And so then they went to two, three days a week, and now they're one day a month.
• And so then they went to two, three days a week, and now they're one day a month.
• I know how to take care of that.
• I never meet the first day because it's opening day, and the following Monday is a holiday.
• To that point, Wyoming has a 40-day session, followed by a 20-day budget session.

Committee: House House Government Committee of Reference

Summary: The committee first took up SB 1167, which would allow municipalities and counties to satisfy certain public-notice requirements by posting advertisements, publications, and printings on their official websites. The sponsor argued the bill is permissive, intended to modernize notice practices, reduce costs, and help governments meet statutory deadlines, while a Blackmun amendment required a six-month transition period in which notices would still be published in newspapers and the public would be alerted to the change. Newspaper and media representatives, along with tribal and rural community advocates, opposed the bill, arguing that print notices remain important for transparency, historical recordkeeping, and access in areas with limited internet service. Supporters from county and local government said newspaper publication schedules have become unreliable and that websites are a more effective way to reach the public. The committee adopted the Blackmun amendment and then passed SB 1167 as amended on a 4-3 vote. The committee then considered SB 1021, as amended by a strike-everything that would require the Auditor General to refer evidence of possible criminal activity involving health profession regulatory boards to the Attorney General, with procedures for investigation and conflict-of-interest handling. The sponsor and amendment sponsor said the measure would create a mechanism for criminal findings in audit work to be acted on. With no opposition testimony, the committee adopted the amendment and passed SB 1021 as amended on a 4-3 vote. Next was SB 1011, which would require county medical examiners or forensic pathologists to review an infant’s immunization and vaccination history, along with any countermeasures administered in the prior 90 days, in sudden unexplained infant death cases. The sponsor said the bill was a data-collection measure meant to improve accuracy, transparency, and prevention efforts. Opponents, including vaccine advocacy and disability representatives, said Arizona already collects this information, that unsafe sleep is the primary issue in most SIDS cases, and that the bill could fuel misinformation about vaccines. The committee passed SB 1011 on a 4-3 vote. The committee also heard SB 1013, a merit-based public employment bill that would prohibit hiring based on conditions other than merit. Supporters said it would ensure public employees are selected by qualifications and objective criteria; opponents argued existing law already bars discrimination and that the bill could create litigation risks and hinder outreach to underrepresented communities. The committee passed SB 1013 on a 4-3 vote. Finally, the committee considered SB 1015 and a strike-everything amendment that would replace the bill’s original detransition-liability language with the Arizona Thriving Families Act, creating a family and medical leave insurance program within Medicaid beginning in 2029. The original bill sponsor defended the underlying detransition-related liability concept as accountability and support for detransitioners, while opponents said it would function as a discriminatory backdoor ban on transition care for minors. The transcript ends during debate and explanation of the strike-everything amendment, before a final vote on SB 1015 is shown.

Transcript Highlights:

• of care or for just a few hours each day.
• of care or for just a few hours each day.
• This bill creates a separate co-payment for half-day care, aligning family co-payments with the state
• The state already recognizes before-and-after care as a half-day care reimbursement rate, and it's only
• receiving a few hours of care each day.

Bills: SB219 , SB9

Committee: House Appropriations

Keywords: military pension, military retirement pay, veterans, retiree tax relief, income tax exemption, pension exclusion, Delaware income tax, retirement income, state tax subtraction, armed forces retirement, National Guard, Space Force, Coast Guard, NOAA, Public Health Service, taxable income, Title 30, Section 1106, wetlands protection, nontidal wetlands

Summary: The House Appropriations Committee met to hear several bills, with members repeatedly reminded to focus on fiscal impacts rather than policy merits. The committee first considered SB 9 on freshwater wetlands, which would combine tidal and non-tidal wetlands programs into one permitting framework; supporters said the bill resulted from a two-year consensus process and that the governor’s office and DENREC would absorb a significant share of the cost. Public testimony was largely supportive, emphasizing flood control and ecosystem services, though one speaker opposed the spending. The committee voted to release SB 9. The committee then heard SB 278 on child care assistance, which would preauthorize summer camp for eligible school-age children and create a separate lower co-payment for half-day care. The sponsor and the YMCA of Delaware said the change would better align family co-pays with provider reimbursement and make before- and after-school care more affordable for working families. The committee also released SB 278, SB 168 on alcohol delivery for package stores, SB 120 on health insurance coverage for certain testing and treatment, and HB 4, a pilot program for artificial intelligence and extended reality in schools; HB 4 was described as having a near-$3 million fiscal note and a one-year implementation delay because it was not funded in the budget. Later, the committee approved SB 219, which gradually increases the military pension income tax exclusion from $12,500 to $25,000 over three years and includes related joint-filing and residency changes. Supporters argued it would help attract and retain military retirees and bring federal dollars into the state. The committee also released SB 1, a major primary care reform bill that would increase primary care spending and implement hospital payment reforms, with projected long-term savings to the state employee health plan, and SB 325, which expands background checks and wrap-back monitoring for fire service personnel and adds an investigator position for the Fire Prevention Commission. In each case, public commenters and committee members generally supported the bills, and all were released from committee by recorded vote.

Transcript Highlights:

• With child care, every one of them? I mean, there will be discussions about child care.
• That's certainly true for child care. That's true for health care.
• That's certainly true for child care. That's true for health care.
• I hear those concerns every day.
• And using money from the rainy day fund is not something I take lightly.

Summary: Senate budget writers, led by Chair June Robinson with Senators Noel Frame and Derek Stanford, rolled out the Senate operating budget and described it as a difficult supplemental budget shaped by flat revenue growth, rising maintenance costs, and uncertainty from federal actions, including H.R. 1 and tariffs. They said the proposal aims to preserve core services such as K-12 education, health care, food assistance, housing stability, and long-term care while making targeted reductions and avoiding broad-based tax increases like sales, property, or B&O tax hikes. A major focus of the discussion was how to pay for the Working Families Tax Credit and how to handle cuts in the Working Connections child care program. Robinson said the Senate budget uses policy changes, especially an attendance-based payment adjustment, rather than the governor’s proposed enrollment cap and waitlist, because lawmakers wanted to avoid destabilizing the child care workforce and reduce harm to families. She also said the Senate is open to negotiating with the House on the Climate Commitment Act use of funds for the tax credit, noting that the statute allows it, though some advocates oppose that approach. The senators defended using $750 million from the rainy day fund, saying it was preferable to deeper cuts and still leaves reserves above $1 billion in the near term. They also argued that Washington’s revenue system is too dependent on property and sales taxes and that a future “millionaires tax” could help stabilize funding, especially for education and other core services. In response to criticism from educators and Republicans, they said the state has made progress on school funding and that rising program costs reflect increased need and utilization rather than waste. No votes were taken in the transcript, and the event was a budget rollout and press Q&A rather than a formal committee action.