Transcript Highlights:

• I'm here today with Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice.
• I'm here today with crime survivors for safety and justice.
• Up next, we have PCS for HB 289, boating safety by Representative Oliver.
• It aims to increase boating safety in the state of Florida. This bill has two main components.
• Born after January 1, 1988, to have a boating safety card. Mr. Chair, that is my bill.

Summary: The Criminal Justice Subcommittee heard and advanced a series of bills on inmate medical billing, court-order transmission, animal abandonment during disasters, first responder peer support, firearm purchase waiting periods, capital felony aggravators, domestic violence protections, boating safety, restitution for leaving the scene of a crash, xylazine trafficking, and offenses against law enforcement officers. Testimony was generally supportive across the agenda, with some opposition or caution raised on the xylazine bill, the boating safety bill, and parts of the law-enforcement-officer bill. Several measures were presented as responses to specific tragedies, including the Martin County jail medical billing bill, the Baker Act transmission bill, Trooper’s Law for restrained dogs, the Jason Rayner Act, and Lucy’s Law. HB 407 would cap certain emergency medical charges for Martin County jail inmates at 110% of Medicare rates, mirroring Department of Corrections practice; it passed 15-0. HB 513 would require faster electronic transmission of certain court orders, including Baker Act orders, to law enforcement within six hours; it passed 15-0. HB 205, Trooper’s Law, creates a third-degree felony for abandoning a restrained dog during a natural disaster; it passed 15-0. HB 421, as amended, expands peer support for first responders to certain support personnel involved in crime scene work or evidence handling; it passed 16-0. PCS for HB 383 would let law enforcement, correctional officers, correctional probation officers, and active military service members bypass the three-day handgun waiting period without a concealed carry permit; it passed 18-0. HB 693 adds an aggravating factor in capital cases when the victim was gathered with others for a school, religious, or public government meeting; it passed 17-1 after opposition testimony from Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty. PCS for HB 19 and HB 41, the Haven Act, would expand domestic and dating violence protections, including a feasibility study for a web-based 911 alert system and confidentiality/public-records protections for victims; both passed 18-0. PCS for HB 289, Lucy’s Law, would align boating penalties with driving offenses and expand boating safety card requirements; it passed 18-0 despite concerns from one witness that the bill should go further. HB 479 would allow courts to order restitution in leaving-the-scene property-damage cases; an amendment changing mandatory to discretionary restitution was adopted, and the bill passed 18-0. PCS for HB 57 would regulate xylazine, add trafficking penalties, and include veterinary-use exceptions; it passed 17-0 after one witness opposed mandatory minimums. HB 175, the Jason Rayner Act, clarifies that officers are protected when acting within the scope of their duties and adds manslaughter of a law enforcement officer to offenses requiring life imprisonment; it passed 17-0 after debate over self-defense and unlawful police conduct.

Transcript Highlights:

• I am the House Public Safety Chair, and I'm proud to stand here with my colleagues, uh, most of which
• are on the Public Safety Committee.
• Some are former Public Safety Committee members, and some have bills that are involved, uh, that have
• The safety of our community should not be a partisan issue. It's a fundamental obligation.
• Corrections officer safety is important too.

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• We need safety. This isn't either or.
• Bills included in the package safety.
• </c><00:10:26.959><c> aid,</c> And then on line 29, school safety aid, And then on line 29, school safety
• Um, other than the cost of corrections and public safety, or actually most of public safety provisions
• </c> or and actually most of public safety um or and actually most of public safety um provisions<01:

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• </c><00:18:02.160><c> We</c> taking public safety seriously. We taking public safety seriously.
• </c> to the fight for safety. to the fight for safety.
• ,</c> Neighborhood Safety Community Council, Neighborhood Safety Community Council, and<00:21:36.760>
• Paul Police Department, the city's Office of Neighborhood Safety, and the city's Department of Safety
• I was taught firearm safety.

Keywords: 919, house, all

Summary: The committee heard Chair Bliss present HF 13, a bill to change Minnesota self-defense law so that a person using reasonable force in resisting an offense against the person would not be required to consider retreat. Bliss tied the proposal to a recent Minnesota Supreme Court case involving a man at a light rail station and argued the court had effectively created a duty to retreat that the legislature had never enacted. He said the bill would codify the right to stand one’s ground while still leaving reasonableness to judges and juries. Supporters Bryan Gosh of the NRA and Rob Door of the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus testified that Minnesota’s duty-to-retreat rules are confusing, judicially created, and out of step with other states. They argued the bill would clarify self-defense law and protect people who defend themselves or others, citing examples from other states and a Texas church shooting to argue that a retreat requirement can endanger victims and bystanders. Opponents Maggie Emery of Protect Minnesota, Sarah Erickson of Giffords, and Don Einwalter of Moms Demand Action argued the bill would function as a “shoot-first” law, increase homicides, worsen racial disparities, and make communities and law enforcement less safe. They cited studies linking stand-your-ground laws to higher homicide rates and pointed to incidents in Florida and Minnesota involving firearms and children. The committee also took up two amendments. Representative Hollins offered an amendment on safe and secure firearm storage, saying it was intended to reduce child access to guns and suicides; she requested a roll call. Chair Bliss opposed it, saying current law already covers negligent storage and that the amendment was too broad, including for a rural constituent who keeps a shotgun by his door. Representative Hudson and Representative Pinto argued over whether current law is sufficient and whether the amendment would remove needed flexibility. The transcript ends during discussion of the amendments, with no final vote or disposition recorded.

Transcript Highlights:

• She said OSHA, or the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board, adopted updated process safety
• Motion is do pass and re-refer to the Committee on Public Safety. Ortega? Aye. Alvarado-Gil? No.
• SB 1299, the State Fire Marshal Suppression Education and Training Safety Act.
• Motion is do pass and re-refer to Committee on Public Safety. Smallwood-Cuevas.
• Motion is do pass and re-refer to Committee on Public Safety. Chen? No. El-Hawari?

Summary: The Assembly Labor and Employment Committee heard several bills focused on labor standards, worker safety, and public transparency. SB 954 by Senator Blakespear would revise last year’s CEQA exemption for advanced manufacturing by adding worker protections such as prevailing wage, a skilled and trained workforce, high-road employment standards, and environmental guardrails. Supporters from labor, environmental justice, and conservation groups said the bill restores promised safeguards after SB 131, while business groups argued the added requirements would undermine the exemption and discourage investment. The committee voted 5-0 to do pass and re-refer SB 954 to Appropriations, leaving the roll open for absent members. The committee then considered SB 966 by Senator Gonzalez, which would codify refinery worker participation and safety protections adopted in 2017 after the 2012 Chevron Richmond fire. Supporters, including United Steelworkers and a former refinery worker, said the bill would preserve workers’ ability to report hazards, select representatives, and stop unsafe work, preventing future disasters. The Western States Petroleum Association opposed the bill, arguing it could be preempted by federal labor law and would add regulatory uncertainty. The committee passed SB 966 3-0 and re-referred it to Appropriations, with the roll left open. Next, SB 1203 by Senator Smallwood-Cuevas sought to modernize private security guard training, expand de-escalation instruction, strengthen accountability, and create a clearer professional pathway for the industry. The author and many security workers testified that guards are often first responders in volatile situations and need more practical training and better standards; opponents from industry and business groups warned the bill would raise costs, worsen staffing shortages, and create implementation problems, especially around third-party training and a new wage order. The committee voted 4-1 to do pass and re-refer SB 1203 to Public Safety, with one no vote and the roll left open. The committee also heard SB 1284 by Senator Smallwood-Cuevas, a transparency bill requiring DHCS to publish the names of large employers with workers enrolled in Medi-Cal and the estimated taxpayer cost. Supporters said the measure would show how low wages and unaffordable coverage shift health costs to the public, while opponents argued Medi-Cal enrollment depends on many factors and that naming employers would be misleading and amount to public shaming. After discussion, the committee voted 4-2 to do pass and re-refer SB 1284 to Appropriations, leaving the roll open. The transcript then began discussion of SB 1054 by Senator Cabaldon, which would improve workforce data collection and sharing to better evaluate job-training pathways, but the excerpt cuts off before testimony or action on that bill.

Transcript Highlights:

• We are trained and tested in numerous areas that affect public safety, including fire and life safety
• , and fire safety.
• It also provided some minimum safety and health requirements.
• This would pose enormous safety concerns.
• Safety standards were not uniformly enforced.

Summary: The committee first continued the public hearing on House Bill 2897, which would expand optometrists’ authority to perform certain office-based procedures. Supporters, including an optometrist from rural Missouri, argued the bill would improve access to care in counties without resident ophthalmologists, reduce wait times and travel burdens, and better align scope of practice with optometry training. Opponents, including representatives of osteopathic physicians, raised concerns about patient safety, the lack of live-human-eye training in Missouri, and whether the bill would actually direct services to rural areas. The hearing then closed on HB 2897 without a vote. The committee next heard House Bill 2353 on interior designers’ licensure and sign-and-seal authority. The sponsor and supporters said the bill modernizes the profession, moves oversight under the state’s architecture/engineering board, and would let licensed interior designers stamp their own non-structural work after education, testing, and experience requirements. Supporters emphasized workforce retention, consumer savings, and that interior designers are trained in fire/life safety, ADA, and code compliance. Opponents from engineering groups said they were still negotiating language but objected to provisions that could be read to require interior designers for broad categories of buildings or blur boundaries with architecture and engineering; they asked for clearer scope language and continued collaboration. No final action was taken. Finally, the committee heard House Bill 2241, which would create a framework for certain faith-based residential child care facilities to operate outside the standard foster care licensing system under a new oversight board. The sponsor said the bill is intended to address a shortage of foster placements while allowing Christian homes to maintain their religious mission, with background checks, inspections, and reporting still required. Supporters from Christian child care agencies said the bill would preserve religious freedom and expand placement capacity. Opponents, including child advocacy and child abuse prevention groups and several legislators, argued the proposal would create a separate, less accountable system for vulnerable children, weaken state oversight, and risk repeating past abuse scandals; they said existing licensing rules already allow faith-based providers to participate. The discussion was extensive, but no vote was taken in the portion provided.

Transcript Highlights:

• Certainly, safety is our number one priority in putting on the games.
• and social safety net services.
• These programs move homeless young people from the streets into safety.
• We have our maintenance safety program as well as our shop, which has dedicated money for safety projects
• You're a vital part of our safety.

Summary: The Senate Budget Subcommittee No. 5 held an informational hearing on the Governor’s May Revision proposals for labor, public safety/judiciary, and transportation, and no votes were taken. In Part A on labor, the Employment Development Department described funding for EDD Next document management work, updated UI loan interest costs, disability insurance and paid family leave benefit increases, WIOA adjustments, UI and school employee benefit changes, an EMT training reappropriation, and a technical correction tied to an EDD Next reversion. PERB discussed reduced funding requests for AB 288 due to litigation and a proposal to implement AB 1 covering legislative employees. DIR presented proposals for legal unit reclassifications, two major IT modernization projects, a new Cal/OSHA emerging technologies unit, a COIA reappropriation, and trailer bill language requiring electronic payment of employer assessments and removing a salary cap for the DWC administrative director. CalHR proposed consolidating employee assistance services into a statewide contract with enhanced support for first responders, and CalPERS and CalSTRS presented budget adjustments tied to investment costs, state contributions, and benefit overpayments. Members focused heavily on the unemployment insurance debt and interest payments, asking why the administration had no concrete plan to pay down principal. Finance and LAO explained that the state’s UI tax structure has long been insufficient and that any long-term solution would need to address both the outstanding federal loan and the structural imbalance in employer taxes. Questions also centered on EDD Next costs and timelines, with the chair asking for clearer long-term project cost estimates and Finance noting that future maintenance and operations costs will continue after implementation. On DIR’s emerging technologies unit, members asked whether it would address AI-driven workplace harms; DIR said the unit would focus on physical workplace safety issues involving AI, robotics, autonomous equipment, and related guardrails, while LAO noted broader labor-practice questions would likely fall outside Cal/OSHA’s scope. In the CalPERS discussion, members raised concerns about transparency in private equity and external management fees, while CalPERS said higher fees reflect a strategy of greater private-market and active-management exposure and are offset by higher net returns. Members urged more information on specific investments and future reporting. For CalSTRS, Finance presented routine contribution and overpayment adjustments, but members also raised broader transparency concerns that CalSTRS staff said they would follow up on separately. Public comment in Part A was dominated by strong support for an immigrant worker emergency relief fund, along with support for apprenticeship and workforce proposals and PERB staffing. The chair and members said they would follow up on where the immigrant relief proposal should be considered, noting it may belong in another policy area. The hearing then moved into Part B with an overview of Judicial Branch-related May Revision items, including court interpreter funding, appellate court security, workload cap changes, lactation room implementation delays, and a reduction to the state court facility construction backfill.

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> Oh, the public safety vehicle. Yes. Oh, the public safety vehicle. Yes.
• </c><00:16:16.840><c> vehicle</c> the vehicle is a public safety vehicle the vehicle is a public safety
• </c> safety and underground utility group. safety and underground utility group.
• </c> interaction plan and independent safety interaction plan and independent safety verification<00:
• ,</c> workforce, economic, safety, workforce, economic, safety, infrastructure,<00:54:46.680><c> and<

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• What safety measures?
• What safety measures?
• What safety measures?
• What safety measures?
• What safety measures?

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• </c><00:42:09.839><c> data</c> the sharing of vaccine safety data the sharing of vaccine safety data
• </c> warned and fully aware of their safety warned and fully aware of their safety surveillance<00:42
• But the absolute safety is horrific.
• ><c> safety</c><01:10:43.840><c> profiles</c> um relative safety profiles um relative safety profiles
• </c> absolute safety is horrific. absolute safety is horrific.

Keywords: 1189, house, all

Summary: The New Hampshire House Special Committee on the COVID Response Efficacy met to continue its fact-finding review of the state’s pandemic response, with the chair restating the committee’s mission and focus on federal guidance, federal funding, emergency use authorization vaccination efforts, long COVID, patient rights, and vaccination policies. The chair said the committee had previously reviewed materials about the U.S. Supreme Court declining to hear a COVID vaccine case and CDC internal emails about vaccine risks, and introduced additional research on CDC testing and communications failures. A large portion of the meeting was devoted to summarizing articles and a recent U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations report titled *Unmasked: How Biden Health Officials Purposely Turned a Blind Eye Toward COVID-19 Vaccine Safety Signals*. The chair argued that CDC testing and guidance were flawed, citing delayed data publication, confusing guidance, a faulty early COVID test, missed opportunities to study silent spread, and alleged suppression of safety information. The Senate report was described as alleging that FDA and CDC officials knew their surveillance systems could mask vaccine safety signals, that officials discouraged internal analysis from being shared externally, and that newer analytical methods identified multiple statistically significant adverse-event signals. The chair also discussed the V-safe system, VAERS, and claims that federal officials downplayed or concealed adverse-event data. Members and the chair connected these federal issues to New Hampshire, noting changes in the state’s health care landscape since the pandemic, including more urgent care facilities and satellite ERs. The chair suggested New Hampshire should develop independent scientific assessment resources to validate federal information in future emergencies. Representative Wheeler noted that the materials would be entered into the committee record and made available on the House website. No votes were taken; the committee discussed the materials, invited further questions, and indicated that a proposed committee communication would be revisited later after additional supporting information is gathered, with a goal of issuing a statement by the end of June.

Transcript Highlights:

• Safety Council.
• tribes in implementing traffic safety strategies.
• And it is a commitment to improve traffic safety. Tribal governments strengthen safety initiatives.
• We established a tribal traffic safety coordinator program.
• And it is a commitment to improve traffic safety. Tribal governments strengthen safety initiatives.

Bills: SB6132

Keywords: indebtedness limits, inland port districts, federal funding, infrastructure improvements, economic development, 904, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Chairman, and members of the committee, is to enhance school safety.
• This is a giant step forward to help bring that security and safety to our school districts.
• Senator Padilla, I too want safety in our schools.
• Now, having said that, we currently have lots of money in school safety.
• School safety.

Transcript Highlights:

• </c><00:21:50.400><c> for</c> maintain trust and care and safety for maintain trust and care and safety
• </c> safety, dignity, and a pathway home. safety, dignity, and a pathway home.
• :43:28.319><c> on</c><00:43:28.560><c> the</c> increase their safety while on the increase their safety
• </c> hospitals, and public safety at risk. hospitals, and public safety at risk.
• Thank you for your time. families by providing critical safety families by providing critical safety

Keywords: 910, house, all

Summary: This joint informational briefing on Act 310 grants and aid focused on organizations describing how federal funding cuts, Medicaid/SNAP changes, and related policy shifts are affecting their services and budgets. Committee members explained there would be no Q&A, testimony would be limited to one minute, and in-person participants would be heard before Zoom callers. Members repeatedly asked testifiers to identify the amount of federal funding lost or at risk. Testimony came from a wide range of nonprofits and community providers, including Aloha Care, Hawaii Bicycling League, Hawaii Literacy, Hawaii Youth Symphony, Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies Coalition of Hawaii, the Tsunami Museum, The Kohala Center, West Hawaii Community Health Center, West Hawaii Region Hospital Foundation, Sounding Joy Music Therapy, Big Brothers Big Sisters Hawaii, Dynamic Community Solutions, Feeding Hawaii Together, Girl Scouts of Hawaii, Hawaii Disability Rights Center, Hawaii Youth Services Network, Hawaiian Lending and Investments, Homana, Honolulu Theatre for the Youth, Kids Hurt Too Hawaii, and Kokua Kalihi Valley. Most described reduced or threatened federal support and requested state funding to maintain services such as health care access, food security, disaster preparedness, literacy and digital inclusion, youth mentoring, arts education, housing, and climate or agricultural resilience. Several speakers emphasized direct impacts on vulnerable populations, including kūpuna, low-income families, immigrants, homeless youth, and people with disabilities. Requests ranged from relatively small planning or program grants to multi-million-dollar stabilization asks, with some organizations citing specific losses such as reduced Medicaid or USDA funding, canceled EPA or FEMA support, or expiring federal grants. No votes or formal committee actions were taken during the briefing.

Transcript Highlights:

• Boyd for public safety. Mr.
• There are some some traffic safety.
• </c> uh then the work zone safety uh then the work zone safety requirements<00:56:15.200><c> are</c><
• The commissioner is Public Safety.
• traffic safety or are no other testimony traffic safety or are no other testimony there?

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• And what safety funds each governing. And what safety funds each governing.
• That's funding for school safety. That's funding for school safety.
• The last two years, we put safety be. The last two years, we put safety be.
• dedicated source of school safety dedicated source of school safety funding.
• dedicated source of school safety dedicated source of school safety funding.

Keywords: 1136, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• net, but not incentivizing a social safety hammock.
• Downturn or economic impact on health and safety programs.
• We need to address the federal threat to our social safety nets.
• Even without the cuts, there are impacts to safety net programs.
• The safety net is essential to bridging this gap.

Keywords: 988, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> is also going to spill over into safety is also going to spill over into safety um<00:12:31.880>
• The mission of the Department of Safety is to consistently enhance safety, security, and the quality
• Public Safety mission of our seven Public Safety mission of our seven divisions<02:34:16.640><c> we</
• </c> focuses on the division of fire safety focuses on the division of fire safety which<02:59:08.800
• </c> maintaining effective Public Safety maintaining effective Public Safety Services<03:08:10.399><c

Keywords: 928, house, all

Summary: The Division 2 Finance Committee heard an overview and budget presentation from New Hampshire Fish and Game, led by new Executive Director Stephanie Simi and Business Division Chief Kathy Leonti. The agency described its mission to conserve and manage fish, wildlife, and marine resources, and emphasized growing pressures from disease, climate impacts, habitat change, and increased public demand. Simi said the department is largely funded by hunting and fishing license revenue and federal grants, is reviewing staffing and internal processes, and faces critical needs including permanent funding for environmental review staff, infrastructure and IT modernization, and possible service reductions if additional support is not found. Members asked about specific program and policy issues, including chronic wasting disease in deer, hemorrhagic disease in rabbits and hares, moose population decline, and a proposed bait-disease bill. The department said it is actively monitoring diseases and did not see a need for the bait bill at this time. Legislators also discussed the Hike Safe program, which the department said has grown from an expected $100,000 annually to more than $300,000, and a possible boating version of that program, which the department said remains under consideration but would involve complex logistics and multiple agencies. Questions were also raised about rescue costs, out-of-state hikers, and whether boat registrations could be used as a revenue source; Fish and Game said boat registration is handled by the Department of Safety, though the department receives $5 per registered boat for the public boat access program. The budget discussion focused on revenue projections, use of unrestricted Fish and Game funds, and dependence on federal reimbursements. Leonti said the department met the governor’s general fund target but not the Fish and Game fund target without using surplus unrestricted funds, leaving only about $100,000 in the fund by the end of the biennium. She said the budget uses more than $18 million in Fish and Game funds annually against about $14 million in unrestricted revenue, and that five of 193 full-time positions remain unfunded. The department warned that if federal grants were halted, it could cost about $5 million over five months and force the Fish and Game fund to cover the gap. Committee members also requested that future presentations be sent electronically in advance, and the department agreed to do so.

Transcript Highlights:

• There are other safety issues in higher need of their attention.
• There are other safety issues in higher need of their attention.
• </c> which we know there's not a safety which we know there's not a safety hazard<00:22:08.640><c> right
• </c><00:24:01.720><c> and</c> a way that should improve safety and a way that should improve safety and
• </c><01:42:38.400><c> in</c> national leader in roadway safety in national leader in roadway safety in

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> safety improvements along Highway 10. safety improvements along Highway 10.
• </c> Highway Traffic Safety Administration Highway Traffic Safety Administration study,<01:30:50.639>
• And policies and enhance public safety.
• Or public safety<01:40:07.840><c> or</c><01:40:08.000><c> public</c><01:40:08.239><c> safety</c><01:40
• public safety and it can be safety or public safety and it can be addressed<01:40:09.840><c> there</

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• for safety and security in many ways for the State Capitol.
• </c><00:02:21.840><c> should</c> Department of Public Safety should Department of Public Safety should
• Um and from a safety capital.
• </c><00:43:02.240><c> I</c> the capital about security and safety.
• I the capital about security and safety.

Keywords: 919, house, all

Summary: The committee reconvened in open session after a closed discussion of sensitive security details and reviewed the public executive summary of the Minnesota State Capitol Complex Security Assessment by Axtel. Members discussed weapon screening and access control at length, including testimony from Capitol security and judicial center staff about screening procedures, prohibited items, and how screening is managed for visitors and authorized personnel. The chair emphasized that the committee was voting on high-level recommendations to be included in the final ACAST report and that the Department of Public Safety and Department of Administration would be encouraged to pursue the necessary work, including any legislative or budget requests. The committee then took a series of roll-call votes on the Axtel recommendations. Access control screening and visitor management (5.11) passed 4-2, while authorized access control and credential oversight (5.12), internal circulation and zoning controls (5.13), perimeter and exterior grounds (5.14), staffing models/post orders/operational readiness (5.15), technology and system integration (5.16), and protective intelligence (5.18) all passed unanimously 6-0. Each approved item was added as a recommendation in the final report. After the votes, the Department of Administration, Department of Public Safety, and House and Senate Sergeant-at-Arms offices walked through the draft final report. They highlighted staffing improvements, security infrastructure already installed, and remaining needs, including an estimated $41.008 million request for future enhancements such as kiosks, glass-resistant film, door access controls, cameras, lighting, bollards, and an updated distributed antenna system. The report also includes recommendations on trauma-informed safety drills, conduct rules for hearings, and designating the Minnesota State Patrol Capital Security Division as the primary investigative authority for potential criminal activity on Capitol grounds.