Transcript Highlights:

• </c><00:46:34.720><c> outcomes</c> the dire need around Workforce outcomes the dire need around Workforce
• </c> major investments in Workforce major investments in Workforce Development<00:52:45.200><c> but</
• </c><01:06:36.599><c> social</c> exception of things like nurses social exception of things like nurses
• I'm a retired registered nurse.
• </c><03:58:11.159><c> go</c><03:58:11.319><c> early</c> so we can go home go early so we can go home

Committee: House Finance

Transcript Highlights:

• Deliveries to homes and businesses.
• Members, please join me in protecting safety in our workforce.
• He's lost his home.
• Expanding access to home ownership strengthens neighborhoods.
• AB 86 would standardize the health education for grades K through 8 by requiring the State Board of Education

Transcript Highlights:

• Um to direct self-directed home nursing.
• We're going to be in group homes, nursing homes, assisted living.
• We're going to be in group homes, nursing<00:39:01.440><c> homes,</c><00:39:01.839><c> assisted</c><00
• You are nursing homes, assisted living.
• This issue has got real-world impact. like this in nursing homes, we have a like this in nursing homes

Bills: HF3174 , HF3800

Committee: House Human Services Finance and Policy

Transcript Highlights:

• Every dollar that the legislature has allocated to actually roofs on homes.
• I was unable to work for almost a whole year while we attempted to get her set up with in-home nursing
• So if you just put policy number, that's not standardized.
• That's not standardized.
• So we passed the bill last year to provide more funds for fortified homes.

Committee: House Insurance

Summary: The House Insurance Committee met on April 23 with a quorum present and first deferred HB 1142. The committee then heard HB 1187, which would direct any excess Louisiana Citizens emergency assessment funds, after related debt is paid, toward the Louisiana Fortified Homes Program or future Citizens debt. Representative Sawyer and Commissioner Tim Temple said the bill would likely redirect about $50 million in one-time surplus funds and would help expand a popular roof-mitigation program that has already awarded more than 4,600 fortified roofs. The bill drew support from several witnesses and was reported as amended without objection. Next, HB 1210, dealing with insurance claim disputes and a pre-suit review process for Louisiana Citizens claims, was discussed. Representative Dana Henry said he was voluntarily deferring the bill and instead pursuing a study resolution after hearing concerns from members and stakeholders. Department and Citizens officials said the proposal was modeled on Florida’s process and could help resolve disputes faster and cheaper, but the bill was ultimately voluntarily deferred after testimony and some opposition cards were noted. The committee then took up HB 1199, which requires coverage for genetic testing and treatment related to SCN2A-associated disorders. Representative Jordan and the Diedon family gave emotional testimony about their daughter Emily’s diagnosis and the importance of timely genetic testing. The bill was amended to require that testing be ordered by a provider and deemed medically necessary by the health plan, with discussion about whether a neurologist should be involved; members said that issue could be refined later. HB 1199 was reported as amended. Finally, the committee considered HB 880, the Louisiana Artificial Intelligence Insurance Fairness Act, which would regulate AI use in underwriting, rating, and claims. After a lengthy discussion about state insurance regulation, McCarran-Ferguson, and concerns that the bill could jeopardize federal broadband funding, Representative Jordan voluntarily deferred HB 880, and HB 920 was also deferred. The committee then heard HB 1221, which would limit the policy data collected for the Louisiana Fortified Program Fund. Former Representative Bowler argued the bill was needed to protect policyholder privacy, while the Department of Insurance and Commissioner Temple said the data is needed for surplus-lines premium tax audits, fraud detection, and consumer assistance after disasters. The discussion continued with questions about what data would be visible and how it would be used, but the transcript ends before a final action on HB 1221 is shown.

Transcript Highlights:

• And I had the honor to serve President Barack Obama on the Board of Visitors, like the Board of Trustees
• park, where they rent the space their home sits on.
• mobile homes, there should be adequate notice.
• So I just think that these mobile home parks are people's homes.
• Because it seems like you just want to help the mobile home owners so that way they can keep their homes

Committee: House Judiciary

Summary: The committee heard several bills, beginning with SB 29, which would extend a sunset on California’s survival-action pain and suffering remedy and require additional reporting on settlements and cases. Senator Laird and supporters, including a family member describing a medical malpractice death and labor/building trades representatives, argued the bill protects victims whose claims would otherwise die with them and that there has been no demonstrated increase in malpractice rates. Opponents from the health care, hospital, and business sectors said the measure would increase costs, create a third category of damages, and could harm access to care, especially for clinics and rural providers. After extensive discussion about the sunset and data collection, the committee passed SB 29 to Appropriations on a divided vote. The committee then approved SB 294, which requires employers to notify workers about rights if they are arrested or detained and directs the Labor Commissioner to create an annual notice template. Supporters said the bill is needed because workers often do not know their rights amid weakened federal enforcement and workplace intimidation; there was no opposition on file after amendments removed prior concerns. SB 697, which updates stream adjudication procedures to allow the State Water Board to use modern technology instead of requiring in-person field investigations, also passed without opposition after stakeholders worked out concerns. Later, the committee took up SB 37 on attorney advertising, which would strengthen rules against misleading ads and allow consumer lawsuits. Consumer attorneys and supporters said the State Bar’s current enforcement is too weak, while joint-advertising businesses said they support the goal but want amendments to protect their model. The bill passed to Appropriations as negotiations continue. SB 645, dealing with peremptory challenges in civil cases and extending anti-bias procedures to certain discrimination-related matters, also advanced after supporters described it as a compromise and opponents said they were still working toward agreement. SB 303, narrowing protections for bias-mitigation trainings so good-faith admissions in those trainings are not treated as FEHA discrimination, passed after several groups moved to neutral. SB 464, requiring specified state workers to be included in annual pay-data reporting to better track racial pay gaps and promotion disparities, was presented as a reparations-related transparency measure and was heard with support from civil rights advocates.

Transcript Highlights:

• The statistic tells us that in their homes, their home library, they don't have it.
• School board members are also...
• You're probably at the school board.
• I'm getting called by three high schools, a community college, and a workforce development board."
• They explained that the high school, the college, and the workforce board were all calling them, and

Transcript Highlights:

• across workforces.
• And the state may have even more detailed workforce analysis and projections around the medical workforce
• and maternal health workforce.
• a lot of these health workforce initiatives.
• So we have conducted supply and demand analyses for the nursing workforce, sort of irrespective of practice

Transcript Highlights:

• This particular bill, the first thing I did is I called a nurse, a pediatric nurse, and I said, what
• </c> the treatment that has been standard the treatment that has been standard care<03:18:43.600><c>
• I called a nurse a pediatric nurse<03:19:30.640><c> and</c><03:19:30.760><c> I</c><03:19:30.880><c>
• latter before 2014 the standard protocol latter before 2014 the standard protocol for<03:26:15.040><c
• </c> regulates this or sets the standards regulates this or sets the standards started<03:55:47.319><

Committee: House Health, Human Services & Elderly Affairs

Transcript Highlights:

• It leads to an overburdened workforce.
• So even if the lawsuit isn't going, you have to inform the board of that.
• medical board.
• The medical board, any person can, any citizen can, for investigation.
• Many of the anesthesia providers are contractors, nurse practitioners, ER doctors.

Bills: HB99 , HB49 , HB164 , SB30 , SB43 , SB50 , SB136

Committee: House House Judiciary

Summary: The committee first took up House Bill 99, which would make changes to the Medical Malpractice Act, especially around punitive damages. The chair and sponsor said the bill would not be voted on that day and that public comment would wait until Monday, when a fuller presentation and any recommended substitute would be considered. Dr. Brooke Baker, a physician-lawyer, gave a long presentation on physician wellness, malpractice stress, and the effect of litigation on staffing and burnout, while also discussing hospital ownership structures, private equity, and rural hospital vulnerability. She argued that punitive damages are often pled too broadly in New Mexico, that the amendment language was unclear about which entities would be capped, and that better oversight and internal quality systems—not punitive damages—are the better tools for addressing bad actors and unsafe care. Committee members from both sides asked extensive questions about the patient compensation fund, indemnification, corporate structures, the effect of caps on insurance and recruitment, and whether the bill would protect physicians’ personal assets. No vote was taken on HB 99, and the committee recessed before moving to the next bill. The committee then returned to House Bill 49, a public safety measure increasing penalties for felons who possess firearms. The sponsors and law enforcement witnesses said the bill is aimed narrowly at serious violent felons who are already prohibited from having guns, and that it would align state sentencing with federal law and give police and prosecutors a stronger tool against repeat violent offenders. An amendment was offered to narrow the bill further, add destructive devices, and make the offense a second-degree felony rather than escalating to first degree on repeat offenses. The amendment was adopted without opposition. Public testimony on HB 49 was largely opposed. The Law Office of the Public Defender argued the bill criminalizes possession without a new act of violence, that current law already punishes felon-in-possession conduct, and that New Mexico has repeatedly increased penalties without evidence of reduced gun crime. The ACLU of New Mexico also opposed the bill, saying increased penalties are not a proven deterrent. The transcript cuts off as additional online opposition testimony was beginning.

Transcript Highlights:

• federal dollars that allowed us to improve our data and disease response systems and expand our workforce
• public health addresses these disparities and promotes a healthy start include nutritional support, home
• Extensive facility preparedness and health care workforce protection functions are needed.
• We proudly represent our public health workforce at state and local jurisdictions.
• Focused on skilled nursing facilities and those patients, or broader than that?

Transcript Highlights:

• United States credentialing board.
• . standards. standards.
• . standards. standards.
• </c> uphold the highest ethical standards. uphold the highest ethical standards.
• </c><01:11:01.520><c> The</c> Minnesota Medical Board. The Minnesota Medical Board.

Committee: Senate Health and Human Services

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> care of the priorities hospitals nursing care of the priorities hospitals nursing homes<00:10:05.560
• homes or, in a damaging way, cut the disability funding and make it not work.
• What do you think is AI the answer to Minnesota's workforce challenges?
• This equipment upgrade not only improves streaming standards but also broadcast television standards
• This equipment upgrade not only improves streaming standards but also broadcast television standards

Transcript Highlights:

• They'll be watching those mobile homes built to make sure they comply with the standards.
• It called for realigning and consolidating our local workforce development boards streamlining aligning
• The reduction of local workforce boards from 24 to 21. This process began in 2021.
• We have new governance in place across consolidating local workforce development boards including the
• The local workforce development boards and other stakeholders to evaluate performance, highlight issues

Transcript Highlights:

• Charter School Board? Thank you for that question.
• So, if boards are granted... Senator Hicks. Thank you, Madam Chair.
• It's hard to know who the actual employers held to a hired standard.
• And we need nursing.
• The graduation standards.

Bills: SB514 , SB346 , SB1593 , SB1782 , SB1366 , SB1497 , SB366 , SB1895 , SB2048 , SB2005 , SB2006 , SB710 , SB1480

Committee: Senate Education

Summary: The Senate Education Committee met for deadline week and first recognized guests and updates, including a report from Senator Devers on the Elgin school bus crash and recognition of 2025 Teacher of the Year Melissa Yvonne and visiting students from UCO and Darnaby Elementary. The committee then took up a series of education bills, with several authors explaining that some measures were work in progress and striking title on those bills to continue negotiations. Among the measures advanced were SB 514, clarifying alternative education programming through charter and virtual charter schools; SB 346, expanding school-to-school notification requirements about allegations or investigations involving teachers; SB 1593, updating outdated statutory references for the OSU-Tulsa board; SB 1366, using the Teacher Empowerment Fund to reward top teachers; SB 1497, correcting graduation standards to comply with IDEA and clarify alternate diplomas; SB 366, creating a process for charter schools to be notified about district facilities and lease or purchase opportunities; SB 1895, requiring districts to report whether they participate in the Community Eligibility Provision and why not; SB 2048, allowing the statewide charter school board to pay travel-related expenses for conferences and training; SB 710, allowing multiple grants under the Teach Forward teacher-prep program; and SB 1480, creating a pilot youth apprenticeship program. Most of these bills passed on bipartisan votes, often after questions about implementation, fiscal impact, or scope. Two of the more debated measures were SB 1782, which would end new tenure plans for higher education employees and move new hires to five-year contracts, and SB 2005, which would restructure the OSSAA board. SB 1782 passed 6-4 after extended debate over constitutional authority, academic freedom, recruitment, and litigation risk, with supporters arguing it would increase flexibility and accountability and opponents warning about legal and retention concerns. SB 2005 failed 4-6 after members split over whether the legislature should intervene in OSSAA governance; supporters said the association was not responsive enough to member schools and families, while opponents argued the issue should be left to the organization and that the bill risked government overreach.

Transcript Highlights:

• It creates a tax credit program for home builders constructing income-restricted for-sale homes.
• Currently, if an individual owns a multi-million-dollar home in San Francisco and a mobile home along
• Why should people who own multiple homes pay the same rent as someone whose only home is their mobile
• or a second home.
• We're in the home stretch. Thank you. We're in the home stretch. My name is Mimi Kalili.

Summary: The Assembly Committee on Housing and Community Development heard a long agenda focused mainly on housing production, higher education facilities, homelessness, and permitting reform. Early items included AB 6, which would direct HCD to convene a working group on allowing three- to ten-unit “missing middle” housing to be built under the Residential Code rather than the Building Code; AB 48, a higher education bond proposal that would fund campus repairs, modernization, disaster recovery, and student/employee housing; and AB 76, which would clarify a Chula Vista university innovation district exemption so the project can include academic buildings and housing without conflicting with surplus land rules. Supporters emphasized affordability, cost savings, student housing needs, and access to education, while members raised questions about implementation, affordability requirements, and project scope. The committee later took votes on these items, with AB 6, AB 48, and AB 76 all moving forward on unanimous or near-unanimous votes to Appropriations. Members also heard AB 595, which would create a state homeownership tax credit pilot to support affordable for-sale housing. The author and supporters argued that California’s homeownership rate is at historic lows and that the bill would help close racial wealth gaps by financing homes working families can buy. The committee approved AB 595 and sent it to Appropriations. The consent calendar, including several other housing-related bills, was also approved unanimously. A major portion of the hearing was devoted to AB 1165, the California Housing Justice Act of 2025, which would require ongoing state investment and a financing plan to address homelessness and housing affordability. The author and witnesses described the scale of homelessness, the limits of one-time funding, and the need for sustained, accountable funding streams. After testimony from housing advocates and people with lived experience, the committee passed AB 1165 on a 10-0 vote to Appropriations. Finally, the committee heard AB 609, a CEQA reform bill that would create a simplified exemption for qualifying infill housing projects in already developed areas. Supporters framed it as a targeted way to reduce delays and costs for housing near jobs and transit, while opponents from environmental justice, labor, and tribal groups warned it could reduce public participation, weaken protections for disadvantaged communities, and create consultation concerns for tribal cultural resources. The author said the bill would not change zoning or affordability tools and would continue to work with opponents on amendments. The bill was moved forward after extensive discussion, with members noting ongoing negotiations on tribal consultation and labor concerns.

Transcript Highlights:

• Proposed federal standards.
• and future federal standards.
• I practiced as a pediatric nurse for 25 years and hold a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree from the Massachusetts
• As a registered nurse, I took an oath to first do no harm.
• Thank you for bringing us home at the end.

Committee: Joint Joint Committee on Public Health

Summary: The Joint Committee on Public Health held a lengthy hearing to take testimony on a wide range of bills related to environmental health, PFAS, medical device chemicals, food access, lead poisoning, air quality, oral health, and school food additives. Chair Driscoll and Chair Decker emphasized that the hearing was for testimony only, no decisions would be made that day, and that written testimony could still be submitted. They also noted the high volume of speakers and asked witnesses to keep remarks brief. A major portion of the hearing focused on PFAS-related legislation, including bills to restrict PFAS in products and food packaging and to create a PFAS remediation trust fund. Municipal officials and advocates described the high costs of PFAS cleanup, especially for drinking water systems, citing Easton’s multimillion-dollar treatment investments and rate increases. Testimony from legislators and advocates argued that Massachusetts should act despite federal uncertainty, and that the state should stop PFAS at the source rather than leaving municipalities and residents to pay for remediation. The committee also heard strong support for a bill banning DEHP in medical devices, with physicians, nurses, and a bill sponsor saying the chemical can leach from IV bags and tubing and that safer alternatives already exist. The committee also heard testimony on bills to establish statewide food truck permitting, with food truck owners and a senator describing the current system as costly, duplicative, and inconsistent across municipalities. Another set of witnesses supported the “Bean New Deal,” which would expand plant-based food options in public institutions, senior nutrition programs, and WIC, citing health, equity, and cost savings. On lead poisoning, housing advocates and a representative backed bills to expand lead-safe housing requirements to all rental units, arguing the current law contributes to discrimination against families with children and leaves too much pre-1978 housing uncertified. The committee also heard support for an outdoor air pollution bill that would create an advisory committee, identify pollution hotspots, expand monitoring, and set reduction targets, with testimony from environmental justice groups, pediatricians, and legislators describing disproportionate asthma and other health harms in overburdened communities. Later testimony addressed oral health bills to create dental therapists and allow dental hygienists to administer nitrous oxide, with supporters saying the measures would expand access, reduce costs, and help underserved patients. The committee also heard testimony on a bill to prohibit harmful food dyes in competitive school foods, with parents describing behavioral and health concerns tied to synthetic dyes. No votes or formal actions were taken during the hearing.

Transcript Highlights:

• They fill essential roles in health care, including nurses, home health aides, and up to 25% of primary
• I'm the CEO of the New Mexico Home Builders Association.
• Now I'm asking, because if Workforce Solutions, tell me what Workforce Solutions does, because I just
• Because if Workforce Solutions, tell me what Workforce Solutions does, because I just said they help
• Yet there is no standard for mitigation.

Summary: The committee first heard House Bill 25, which would prohibit a juvenile who committed a firearm-related delinquent act that would be a felony if committed by an adult from legally owning or possessing a firearm for 10 years after disposition. The sponsor and supporters said the bill is intended to address serious youth gun violence without lengthening juvenile sentences or unsealing records, and they emphasized that the substitute language was meant to clarify, not change, the bill’s intent. Support came from law enforcement, the district attorney’s office, CYFD, and business interests, while opponents including the Public Defender, ACLU, and criminal defense advocates argued it conflicts with juvenile-code principles, creates civil disabilities based on juvenile conduct, and could raise Second Amendment and sealing-record concerns. Members raised extensive questions about how the NICS background-check process would work, what offenses would qualify, whether the measure would apply retroactively, and how sealed juvenile records and pardons would be handled. After discussion, the committee adopted the committee substitute, but no final vote on the bill was taken in the portion provided; members discussed possibly working on the language further in Judiciary or tabling it. The committee then took up House Bill 15, the Medical Injury and Collaborative Resolution Act, described by the sponsor as New Mexico’s version of a candor law. The bill would create a protected adverse outcome conference process allowing patients and providers to discuss medical injuries or undesirable outcomes outside of court, with the goal of improving communication, giving patients answers, and reducing litigation. A family medicine doctor and a trial lawyer testified in support, saying patients often want explanations more than money and that open conversations can sometimes resolve disputes early. Public commenters also supported the concept, though one noted concerns about how pro se litigants would fit into the process. Committee questions focused on how the bill would define injury, how confidentiality would be enforced, whether statements could be used in court, who would pay for the process, and how it would interact with existing malpractice procedures. The sponsors said the conference would be voluntary, not require an apology, and would be protected by evidentiary rules; if protected statements were introduced at trial, they said remedies such as mistrial could apply. The discussion continued into procedural details, but no final action on HB 15 appears in the provided portion.

Transcript Highlights:

• It is an opportunity for the research review board to do.
• And I think that was a big proponent of me being close to home and having that home-based, so to speak
• We represent the people we go home to, right? And...
• We represent the people we go home to, right?
• But as home to over 11% of the nation's research and development jobs, our R&D workforce is over four

Committee: Joint Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies

Summary: The committee on Economic Development held a hearing on the DRIVE Act, a proposal to invest $400 million in Massachusetts research and innovation without new taxes. Governor Healey and administration officials said the bill would direct $200 million to public higher education research and regional partnerships and $200 million to a research funding pool for hospitals, universities, and other institutions, with the goal of retaining talent, leveraging private and philanthropic dollars, and offsetting major federal R&D cuts. They argued that research is a core economic engine for the state, supporting jobs across labs, construction, services, and surrounding businesses, and said the bill would help protect the Commonwealth’s tax base and competitiveness during a period of federal uncertainty and cuts to SNAP, Medicaid, and other programs. Committee members raised concerns about whether Fair Share surtax dollars should instead be used for K-12 and other community needs, whether the proposal is enough given the scale of lost federal grants, and how the money would be allocated. The governor responded that the funds are one-time surplus dollars, that most surtax revenue already supports education, and that the bill is meant as a bridge to stabilize public higher education and research. She also said the legislation includes a review board and could support a revolving or matched-fund approach in some cases. Several members pressed for more detail on selection criteria, future funding, and whether private companies and large endowments should contribute more. University of Massachusetts leaders and researchers testified that federal grant cancellations and delays are already causing layoffs, furloughs, rescinded admissions, and lost research capacity. UMass officials said the bill would help preserve faculty, postdocs, graduate students, and research programs in medicine, climate science, marine science, Braille instruction, and AI decision-making. They emphasized that the funding should be merit-based and that the state needs to act quickly to prevent talent from leaving Massachusetts. Business, labor, and industry groups, including MassBio, the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, AIM, the AFL-CIO, and Building Trades, supported the bill, saying it would protect jobs, sustain the innovation ecosystem, and reinforce Massachusetts’ national leadership in research and life sciences. No vote was taken in the hearing.

Transcript Highlights:

• That's the Board of Nursing. The Board of Nursing regulates nursing schools and practice.
• My next question is on HB 449, the Board of Nursing.
• Chairman, Committee, the Board of Nursing has seen some turnover.
• Just one quick question on the nursing board.
• Chairman, the Board of Nursing is strictly a licensure oversight.

Committee: House House Appropriations & Finance

Transcript Highlights:

• Have we thought about the Oklahoma workforce boards?
• Is Oklahoma workforce boards? Yeah, I mean, yeah, we're we're we're more than willing to do that.
• There's an executive board that's made up of part of this board and part of the new board that'll be
• Oklahoma in G91 GIS address standard workshop.
• I think about nursing programs. When you have a nursing program, you teach people to be nurses.