Transcript Highlights:

• So there's 100% validity in making this a separate crime based off of motivation, and currently Minnesota
• So there's 100% validity in making this a separate crime based off of motivation, and currently Minnesota
• So, um, I think Representative Johnson's point is valid that there is, like, some concern about what
• <01:35:24.760> um<01:35:25.000> able<01:35:25.360> to allow them use the tools
• um able to allow them use the tools um able to locate<01:35:26.440> someone's<01:35:26.880>

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• > organizations organizations, and these organizations organizations, and these organizations screen
• Medicare<00:46:46.440> and<00:46:46.560> Medicaid<00:46:47.080> patients screen
• Medicare and Medicaid patients screen Medicare and Medicaid patients for<00:46:47.760> needs<
• to deliver better alike, has the tools to deliver better health<00:52:29.280> at<00:52:29.440
• tools tools uh uh uh to<01:35:52.400> uh to uh to uh most<01:35:53.640> mental<01:35:53.920

Keywords: 958, all

Summary: The Medicaid Oversight and Advisory Board met on September 24, 2025, approved the minutes from the September 9 meeting, and then continued its discussion of Medicaid waivers with Leslie Hoffman and Carmen Hancock from the Department for Medicaid Services. Members asked for updates on the 2024 waiver waitlist management assessment recommendations, including aligning waiver policies, standardizing applications and waitlist placement, and modernizing data systems. DMS said that work is being done jointly with Aging and Independent Living and Behavioral Health/Developmental and Intellectual Disabilities through task forces, that ARPA spending delayed action, and that implementation timelines extend through March 2027. The board also reviewed per-member waiver cost averages for fiscal years 2023 through 2025 for ABI, ABI long-term care, HCBS, Model II, Michelle P, and SCL. DMS emphasized these figures were benefit-only averages based on paid claims, not full waiver costs, and explained that true budget neutrality is calculated on an aggregate basis against institutional care comparisons approved by CMS. DMS said all six waivers remain in compliance with budget neutrality and that the most recent 18-month lag review for FY 2022 and FY 2023 found costs at or below institutional care. Members also asked about unused waiver slots; DMS said slots generally cannot be reallocated mid-year if they have been used, except in cases such as death or reserved capacity, because CMS treats participants as unduplicated for the waiver year. A major portion of the meeting focused on the new child waiver created under House Bill 6. Legislators questioned whether the waiver’s design, including the exclusion of participant-directed services and the emphasis on high-acuity children with behavioral health, DCBS, or juvenile justice involvement, matched the bill’s intent to keep children at home. DMS said it used the $14.7 million appropriated for FY 2026 to develop the program, that there is no priority list, and that the waiver is intended to serve the highest-acuity children while also addressing residential needs for those sleeping in offices or placed out of state. Members also raised concerns about the rapid growth of the HCBS waiting list and asked for more detail on age and timing patterns, which DMS said it would provide later. Finally, DMS gave average processing times from application to eligibility determination and from approval to service start, and said the overall average from application to services beginning was about 80 days, while members requested follow-up information on the Carewise assessment contract and related costs.

Transcript Highlights:

• Faith should not be used as a tool to destroy the world.
• Faith should not be used as a tool to destroy the world."
• That is absolutely correct and I see people But you make a very valid point.
• It makes the law a tool of exclusion. exclusion, and our courtrooms instruments of silence.
• Scripture was never meant to be twisted into a tool for hate.

Bills: SB 8, HB7, HB15, HB 265, HCR 13, SB 8, HB 7, HB 15, HB 265, HCR 13

Keywords: sex designation, restroom access, civil penalties, private civil right of action, women's privacy, abortion, healthcare, jurisdiction, civil action, qui tam, prohibition, state law, youth camp, safety regulations, advisory committee, child welfare, health standards, summer camp, camp safety, child abuse reporting

Transcript Highlights:

• Again, SB 7 is something that will put common-sense guardrails into how some of these high-tech tools
• Automated decision-making systems, or ADS, may be a tool employers, maybe a new tool that employers have
• Automated decision-making systems, or ADS, may be a tool employers have at their disposal to squeeze
• As the previous witness stated, the growth and use of these kinds of management tools is exponential,
• As the previous witness stated, the growth and use of these kinds of management tools is exponential,

Summary: The Assembly Labor and Employment Committee heard several bills focused on worker rights, workplace technology, pay equity, and retail/self-checkout standards. SB 703 would require ports to collect and report information on trucking companies to help identify worker misclassification in the port trucking industry; supporters, including Teamsters and the California Labor Federation, said better data is needed for enforcement, while trucking and retail groups said they were working with the author and expected to remove opposition after amendments. The bill passed 5-0 and was re-referred to Transportation. The committee also approved a consent calendar of other measures. SB 294, the Workplace Know Your Rights Act, would require the Labor Commissioner to create a template for annual employer notices about workers’ labor and civil rights, including emergency contact notification if a worker is detained or arrested. Supporters said the bill would help workers understand their rights amid federal rollbacks and weak enforcement; the California Restaurant Association opposed it. SB 7 would require notice and human review before employers use automated decision-making systems for discipline or termination, and would bar predictive use of such systems for employment actions. Labor groups supported the bill as a safeguard against biased or opaque algorithmic management, while HR, chamber, retail, and local government groups raised concerns about breadth, notice burdens, and small-business impacts. Both bills passed 5-0 to their next committees. The committee also advanced SB 238, which would require disclosure about workplace surveillance and AI monitoring tools, and SB 442, which sets staffing and operational standards for self-checkout, including at least one staffed lane, one employee dedicated to monitoring self-checkout, item restrictions, and a 15-item limit sign. Supporters argued both bills improve transparency, safety, and worker protections; opponents warned SB 238 could expose security practices and SB 442 could raise costs and create preemption issues. SB 464 would expand state pay-data reporting to better capture public-sector workforce demographics in line with reparations and pay-equity goals, and SB 642 would strengthen the Equal Pay Act by extending recovery periods, clarifying wage definitions, and updating pay-scale language. SB 464 and SB 642 also passed, with some opposition from county and business groups over scope and retroactivity. All measures taken up in the hearing were approved by committee, generally on 5-0 votes, and re-referred to the appropriate policy or fiscal committees.

Transcript Highlights:

• A valid argument exists for both the general election or the primary election.
• Public financing programs are a promising tool for empowering voters.
• I support efforts to examine other tools to help with keeping voter rolls up-to-date, which is why I
• But we need to recognize that those additional tools also come with additional costs, and county elections

Keywords: 988, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Unfortunately, we have a hard time being able to validate or audit that kind of data, and we think that
• And so that's a recruitment tool. That means I know I can come in and get certain levels of pay.
• Jacobson to create an AI tool with New Mexican teachers and students to support authentic learning in
• working group will help understand how to protect and preserve New Mexican language and culture as these tools

Transcript Highlights:

• And on May 6, 1832, held that the Canada Chamberlain grant was valid and distributions made by the ecologists
• was stated by the attorney, the CLPC, which was the Court of Permanent Claims, that we were not a valid
• It was in this court case by the Mexican government, saying that the land grant was a valid land grant
• In 1886, the Surveyor General Proffitt questioned the validity of the land grant beyond its individual
• It's not a tool anymore. It's become a weapon.

Transcript Highlights:

• Yeah, it is not showing on the screen. Let's 1 second. Let me see if it shows up. 1 minute.
• Yeah, ImmuNet is a tool for pharmacists at the point of distribution.
• House Bill 1625, Public Health Newborn Screening Program Fees and Core Conditions.
• <01:20:01.320> committee screening committee screening committee uh<01:20:02.640> that<
• ,<01:30:12.680> favorable cardiovascular pre-screening, favorable cardiovascular pre-screening

Keywords: House streaming session for Saturday, March 21, 2026, 957, house, all

Summary: The House convened with 126 members present, heard the prayer, approved the previous day’s journal, and then took up a series of Senate messages and committee reports. Senate bills on consent calendars 21 and 22 were read the first time and referred to committees. The House then adopted favorable reports, often without amendment, on a wide range of bills including workers’ compensation evaluation procedures (HB 1325), a state shark designation (HB 97), several local alcoholic beverages measures, commemorative months for Muslim American Heritage and Jewish American Heritage (HB 661), and local license commissioner changes in Anne Arundel, Worcester, Harford, Baltimore City, and Prince George’s counties. Several bills were amended before being ordered printed for third reading. HB 121 (Baltimore County alcohol sales) was amended to change the sponsor to the Baltimore County delegation. HB 1335 on Department of Information Technology workforce recruitment and retention was amended to convert the measure into a study and recommendations report. HB 1037 on PSC oversight of broadband and VoIP was similarly amended from direct oversight to a study and report. HB 1164 on water and sewage rate consolidation and limited-income mechanisms was amended to remove rate-consolidation provisions, require a PSC study, and delay implementation. HB 1381 on stopping or parking in bike lanes added exceptions for emergency, transit, disability pickup/drop-off, disabled vehicles, loading/unloading, and construction or maintenance; HB 1504 prioritized sidewalk and bicycle pathway projects near highways with complete streets or Vision Zero policies; HB 912 adjusted community cat trap-neuter-return rules; and HB 969 clarified electric vehicle charging billing and service fees. The most extended debate centered on HB 639, the Transportation Aviation Passenger Health and Safety Act. After amendments turned it into a reporting measure for fixed-base operators and aviation service companies regarding flights carrying detained individuals, warrants, refueling, and emergency-response documentation, members questioned its practical operation, safety implications, and possible federal preemption issues. The floor leader explained the bill as amended was intended to gather information for Maryland safety and emergency planning. On motion of the committee chair, the House agreed to special order HB 639 until the end of the session for further clarification. The House also amended and advanced HB 1063 on hunting management, including deer damage permits and Sunday hunting rules, and heard a brief statement from an Eastern Shore delegate about the Rural Caucus’s approach to offering amendments rather than opposing bills outright. The session ended with HB 972, creating the Maryland Fair and Agricultural Education Promise Fund, amended to rename the bill in honor of the late Delegate Charles Otto and to replace lottery funding with an annual appropriation; the House adopted the amendments and the favorable report.

Transcript Highlights:

• I've copied onto the screen just some of the key duties that are in state statute.
• motans I've uh copied onto the screen motans I've uh copied onto the screen just<00:25:08.399>
• We believe it's based on the criteria that you see on the right-hand side of the screen.
• activities the slide up on the screen activities the slide up on the screen right<01:08:02.960><
• <01:08:54.759> now those uh the slide up on the screen now those uh the slide up on the screen

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• I don't know, like, when was the last time really any of us probably used a green screen as your major
• And workers are juggling these outdated screens, complicated codes, and manual workarounds just to have
• And workers are juggling these outdated screens, complicated codes, and manual workarounds just to have
• um within our our existing green screen um within our our existing green screen isn't<00:24:48.159
• In my role, I work with patients who screen positive for food insecurity to connect them with county

Bills: HF45, HF1148, HF3624, HF3586, HF777

Keywords: HF45, Lake Benton, capital investment, bonding bill, state bonds, bond proceeds fund, Public Facilities Authority, public infrastructure, sanitary sewer, water main, storm sewer, utility replacement, U.S. Highway 75, road reconstruction, municipal infrastructure, local government grant, Minnesota bonding, capital appropriation, food insecurity, prepared meals

Transcript Highlights:

• This measure would provide a significant tool for public schools to harness a federal tax credit to assist
• 05:05.919> provide<00:05:06.240> a<00:05:06.479> significant<00:05:06.960> tool
• measure would provide a significant tool measure would provide a significant tool for<00:05:07.600
• <00:36:04.160> of<00:36:04.400> their<00:36:04.640> needs verify and to validate
• of their needs verify and to validate of their needs and<00:36:05.119> so<00:36:05.280> forth

Keywords: Meeting Start 00:00:00 Roll Call 00:00:15 HB 1 Discussion 00:02:00 HB 1 Vote 00:15:05 HB 2 Discussion 00:17:20 HB 2 Vote 01:13:20, 958, all

Summary: The committee met on House Bill 1, which would implement Kentucky’s participation in the federal education freedom tax credit program. Sponsors said the bill would allow donors to receive a federal dollar-for-dollar tax credit for contributions to scholarship granting organizations, with no state dollars involved, and that public school districts could potentially create their own SGOs. Members asked about the removal of state tax language in the committee substitute, the meaning of the 11th Amendment waiver, whether SGOs could serve only public school students, and whether data collection could be added. The sponsors said the state tax language was unnecessary because the credit is federal, the waiver would allow federal-court litigation over the act, and a district could establish an SGO if it met federal requirements. The committee adopted the substitute and then reported HB 1 favorably with 16 yes votes, one nay, three pass votes, and one abstention. The committee then took up House Bill 2, an act relating to Medicaid and making an appropriation. The sponsor described the bill as a response to federal HR 1 and to concerns raised by the Medicaid oversight board, saying it would address program integrity, eligibility redeterminations, cost sharing, and managed care organization contracts. He said the bill would require periodic eligibility verification for expansion Medicaid enrollees, add modest cost-sharing for some services to encourage use of primary care over emergency rooms, and strengthen enforcement of MCO contracts, with penalties going into a restricted compliance fund. Members asked about the committee amendment, and the sponsor explained it restored flexibility on the number of MCOs in future procurement rather than locking in a reduction. Members also asked whether the bill had gone before the Medicaid oversight advisory board and whether a fiscal note was available; the sponsor said the board’s recommendations were incorporated and fiscal notes were included in the packet. After discussion, the committee adopted committee amendment one to PHS2 and then adopted PHS2 as amended for consideration. The sponsor continued outlining the bill’s provisions, emphasizing that it applied to the expansion population and was intended to align Kentucky law with federal requirements while improving oversight and accountability.

Transcript Highlights:

• So just an additional consideration it gives tools to law enforcement to potentially have an alternative
• I also want to thank everybody who spoke in opposition because all of their points are valid.

Bills: SB3, HB70, HB49, HB60, HB151, HB164, SB17, SB35, SB164

Keywords: Public Regulation Commission, PRC, utility oversight fund, public utilities, utility regulation, commissioners, commission staff, chief of staff, ethics, Gift Act, revolving door, post-employment restrictions, consumer complaints, telecommunications, pipeline safety, natural gas pipelines, oil pipelines, license fees, regulatory oversight, administrative cleanup

Transcript Highlights:

• talking, this was conversation 10 years ago, in how we respond to this, and we use the SHIP as our tool
• groups that are based out of Health and Human Services, and the State Health Improvement Plan is a tool
• I just very briefly want to say, you know, it is a tool that charts the course to improve health in New
• and education that's available to the EMS professionals in our state so that they have more tools to
• someone for for a valid complaint right so<01:36:19.520> make<01:36:19.719> make<01:36

Keywords: 1191, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• In addition, extending the time that licenses are valid and allowing teachers to renew beyond the maximum
• c> like<00:46:56.280> to<00:46:56.440> help<00:46:56.640> out ...who have valid
• individuals with four-year degrees in other fields to teach temporarily, has been a very valuable tool
• individuals with four-year degrees in other fields to teach temporarily, has been a very valuable tool
• individuals with four-year degrees in other fields to teach temporarily, has been a very valuable tool

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• It's about having a tool in the toolbox and then using it properly and appropriately.
• So eliminating all those tools, we don't think, is the answer.
• He came to us and spoke of a partnership, adding tools and resources, and that DESE would not abandon
• In return, adult committee members can help us run the tools to make our ideas real and practical.
• In return, adult committee members can help us run the tools to make our ideas real and practical.

Keywords: 995, all

Summary: The Joint Committee on Education heard testimony on several bills centered on school accountability, receivership, graduation requirements, charter school access, community schools, school libraries, and student voting rights. Much of the discussion focused on the Thrive Act, S. 374, which would end state receivership and change the state’s accountability approach. Supporters, including educators, parents, advocacy groups, and students, argued that receivership has not improved outcomes in districts such as Lawrence, Holyoke, Southbridge, Boston, and the Dever, and that local communities should have more control, with greater emphasis on community schools, wraparound services, and broader measures of school quality. They also supported related bills on community schools and school library standards, and several witnesses backed a bill to expand student representative voting rights on school committees. Opponents of S. 374, especially charter school leaders, parents, students, and some education advocates, focused on Section 4 of the bill, which would change the charter school net school spending cap in the lowest-performing districts. They argued that the provision would reduce access to charter seats in communities where families are seeking more options, and that schools such as Roxbury Prep, Excel Academy, Brook, Veritas Prep, and Libertas Academy have produced strong results for students, including students of color, low-income students, and students with special needs. Several witnesses said the section would force schools to shrink or close and would remove opportunities for families in districts with long waitlists. Committee members questioned witnesses on both the effectiveness of receivership and the charter school cap language. Chair Lewis and Chair Gordon emphasized the need for a better accountability system and noted concerns about whether current measures, including MCAS-based designations, accurately reflect school quality. Some witnesses said they had discussed the possibility of removing Section 4 from the Thrive Act and suggested it might be addressed in separate charter reform legislation. No votes were taken during the hearing; testimony was received and the committee later closed testimony on S. 374 and several related bills before moving on to the student voting rights bill, S. 367.

Transcript Highlights:

• They can administer the same tools.
• So again, the same tools that are often used for these evaluations can be competently and professionally
• Of course, part of our job is the doctors to make sure they've had their hearing screened, but it doesn't

Keywords: 1204, all

Transcript Highlights:

• lessons prevents many of the patients we serve in central Florida, access these life scapes saving tools
• those swimming skills that they need and understand that, you know, you may be able to give them some tools
• Florida specific coursework another background screening and license verification fees for North Carolina

Transcript Highlights:

• this is a snippet that hopefully those handouts printed out a lot cleaner than how it looks on the screens
• And there's a few tools in the toolbox that the statute provides.
• good on that guarantee and also to take action to recoup the monies from the school and there's a few tools

Keywords: 1182, all

Summary: The Senate Education Committee of Reference met for sunset reviews and first heard a presentation on the Credit Enhancement Eligibility Board from the Governor’s Office. The presenter explained that the board, created in 2016, has no dedicated staff or administrative budget and is supported by existing budget and policy staff and the Treasurer’s Office. The board’s purpose is to lower borrowing costs for qualifying schools by using a guarantee fund to enhance credit ratings, and it has largely been used by charter schools. Because the board has reached its statutory leverage cap and has not met since 2022, it is currently in a monitoring role, but it must remain in place to honor guarantees if any approved financing defaults. The committee asked about financing maturities, demand from schools, and whether a shorter continuation period would make sense. No public testimony was offered, and the committee voted to recommend continuing the board for 10 years, until July 1, 2036. The committee then reviewed the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE). WICHE’s president described the interstate compact, its regional role in higher education access, workforce development, and data services, and its major student programs: the Western Undergraduate Exchange, the Western Regional Graduate Program, and the Professional Student Exchange Program. She highlighted tuition savings for Arizona students and the state, the return of many PSEP graduates to practice in Arizona, and additional cost savings through cooperative purchasing and technology contracts. The committee asked no substantive questions, and it voted to recommend continuing WICHE for 10 years, until July 1, 2036. The final major item was the Arizona Department of Education School Safety Program performance audit, followed by testimony from the department. The Auditor General reported that the program has grown substantially, especially after expansion to counselors and social workers and increased appropriations, but that ADE did not consistently ensure schools complied with program requirements. In a sample of 16 schools, most had issues such as missing or incomplete operational plans, inadequate safety team activity, incomplete required training, missing activity logs, or reimbursement requests lacking expenditure reports. The audit said these problems reduced the program’s effectiveness and increased the risk of improper spending, and it recommended stronger monitoring, written procedures, and better documentation review. ADE accepted the findings and said it is implementing the recommendations through more direct staff oversight, training requirements tied to funding, encrypted submission of emergency plans, site visits, and representative desk reviews. The discussion then shifted to whether emergency plans should address federal law enforcement actions; the director said the plans are designed for campus safety threats generally and do not specifically contemplate ICE enforcement. The committee took no vote on the audit presentation and adjourned after discussion.

Transcript Highlights:

• Given the size of Harris County, they need similar tools in the toolbox that cities have.
• Let's give the counties the, uh, tools they, they need to help with this issue, and I appreciate y'all's
• He disappeared off my screen.

Transcript Highlights:

• Given the size of Harris County, we need similar tools in the toolbox that cities have.
• Let's give the counties the tools they need to help with this issue, and I appreciate y'all's favorable
• There, he disappeared off my screen. I'm just going to submit written testimony.

Bills: HB1597, HB2364, HB2437, HB3205, HB3253, HB3310, HB3648, HB3906, HB4259, HB5645

Keywords: county jailer, jail training, veterans, Texas Veterans Commission, Texas Commission on Law Enforcement, TCOLE, criminal justice system, county jail, law enforcement training, mental health training, jail standards, correctional officers, veteran services, veteran interaction, occupations code, jailer licensing, parking, county courthouse, infrastructure, local government