Transcript Highlights:

• deliverability which is necessary to have resource adequacy must also secure deliverability, which is
• We fully appreciate the security concerns of the utilities.
• SB 846 quarterly report, a joint reliability report that is put out by the Energy Commission.
• It's the CAISO, it's the PUC, it's the Energy Commission.
• It's the KISO is the PUC, it's the Energy Commission.

Committee: House Utilities and Energy

Keywords: 988, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• So again, that was secured through a statewide geo bond and also local funding.
• And so we actually did a commissioned report with Steer and Fourth Economy looking at transportation
• You have now given that driver the opportunity to get a decent rest in an area that is secure.
• Going through the topics that Johnny has mentioned, I want to say something about security.
• , or the State Transportation Commission.

Transcript Highlights:

• For the record, Thomas Gleason, Chairman, Public Utility Commission of Texas.
• At TxDOT, we were planning, when I was at the TxDOT commission.
• I wasn't on the commission at the time; I was the executive director.
• Commission that is above the industry average of 13%.
• Commission that runs over them. Yes, over property and casualty.

Committee: Senate Business & Commerce

Keywords: 1185, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Some security deposit assistance organizations expressed concerns that tenants who secure conditional
• Some security deposit assistance organizations expressed concerns that tenants who secure conditional
• </c> security deposit. security deposit.
• </c> security deposit to be required in RCD. security deposit to be required in RCD.
• If it is a security deposit, because we know what security deposits are for.

Committee: Senate Commerce

Keywords: 1191, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• And I'm happy to answer questions, but quite frankly, you have people from the Commission on this.
• Good morning, Chairwoman, and thank you so much, committee, for allowing the Massachusetts Commission
• You know, not every commission does what it's supposed to do. That thing really hit a home run.
• So this commission could really produce stigma disrupt the provision of services.
• , particularly the Racial and Equity Commission.

Committee: Joint Joint Committee on Public Health

Keywords: 995, all

Summary: The committee opened by explaining hearing procedures and time limits, then heard testimony on House 2499, a bill to create a public awareness campaign on menopause and related midlife health issues. Supporters, including a nurse, the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women, and other advocates, said menopause is widely misunderstood by patients and providers, leading to delayed care, unnecessary suffering, workplace impacts, and inequities in women’s health. Several speakers shared personal experiences with symptoms being dismissed or misdiagnosed and urged the committee to advance the bill. The committee then took testimony on a package of endometriosis bills, including House 2527 and Senate 1564, calling for a task force and broader awareness efforts. Patients, a physician, and advocates described long diagnostic delays, severe pain, infertility, medical gaslighting, and limited access to specialists and effective treatment. They argued for more research, provider education, and a coordinated state strategy, and several asked for favorable reports. The chair also noted the hearing was running behind and extended time to allow more testimony. Later, the committee heard Senate 1579, which would eliminate parental consent and judicial bypass requirements for abortion access for minors under 16. Planned Parenthood representatives, physicians, legal advocates, and students argued the current law creates unnecessary delays and harms vulnerable youth, especially those in unsafe homes or foster care, while supporters said minors can already consent to other reproductive health care. A pro-life witness opposed the bill and emphasized parental involvement and support services. The committee also heard House 2403 and Senate 1560, which would create a Human Service Transportation Consumer Advisory Board; disability advocates and riders described past safety problems and current service gaps, and supported the board as a low-cost way to improve accountability, rider input, and reliability. No votes or final actions were taken in the excerpt.

Transcript Highlights:

• The commission has issued some guidance for the IOUs, and they want to see. Guidance for the IOUs.
• It says on number four, January 1, 2028, the commission shall require each electrical corporation...
• It says on number four, January 1, 2028, the commission shall require each electrical corporation to
• The accelerator's current consulting parties are the PUC, the Energy Commission, CAISO, and IBank.
• , Energy Commission, and ourselves.

Committee: House Utilities and Energy

Keywords: 988, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• The major categories of these liabilities were obligations under securities lending of $1.6 billion,
• Once notified of the deficient internal controls, OST began implementing measures to address security
• Gary Vance, State Chief Information Security Officer.
• On page 93 of the report, it talks about the deficit net position, Workers' Comp Commission.
• Is it again the big Workers' Compensation Commission question? This is not nested within DFA, okay?

Committee: All LEGISLATIVE JOINT AUDITING

Summary: The Legislative Joint Auditing Committee met on June 5 and first adopted prior minutes and several committee reports. The executive committee report noted adoption of its minutes, staff updates on scheduled audits, approval of an annual financial audit for the City of Horseshoe Bend, and an update on the intern program. The Counties and Municipalities report covered delinquent private water and sewer audits, compliance follow-up with towns including Denning, Gum Springs, Omer, Fargo, Jericho, and Haynes, and review of current and deferred reports; the committee filed most current reports but deferred several and referred some matters to prosecutors and the Attorney General. The Educational Institutions report said 103 education audits were reviewed, most with no findings, while several school districts had findings and one Booneville School District finding was referred to law enforcement. The State Agencies report included findings at the Department of Finance and Administration and a deferred Department of Health report, and the committee filed 13 reports. The committee then received lengthy presentations on the State of Arkansas annual comprehensive financial report and the state single audit for fiscal year ended June 30, 2025. Legislative Audit issued unmodified opinions on the state financial statements, but identified two material weaknesses: insufficient internal controls at the Office of State Technology to monitor threats and unauthorized access, and improper methodology changes and documentation issues at the Division of Workforce Services affecting year-end estimates for unemployment-related accounts. The single audit covered $12.4 billion in federal awards across 469 programs, with 16 major programs reviewed. Auditors reported 33 findings overall, including 31 federal findings, $12.9 million in outstanding questioned costs, and qualified opinions for the Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer program, the Coronavirus Capital Projects Fund, and the Child Care Development Fund cluster. Committee members questioned DHS, the broadband office, OST, DFA, Education, and Workforce Services about the findings, corrective actions, cyber protections, federal drawdowns, child care reporting, and accounting methodology changes. Several agencies described corrective steps. DHS said it had changed how it draws Summer EBT funds, addressed provider revalidation and incarceration-related Medicaid issues, and updated internal processes and staffing. The broadband office said the questioned costs reflected invoice documentation disputes rather than missing payments and expected Treasury review to resolve the issue. OST said it was expanding logging, endpoint detection, and enterprise monitoring, and described broader cybersecurity investments, training, and a roadmap. DFA and Workforce Services addressed the workers’ compensation and unemployment accounting issues, with Workforce Services saying it had updated its policy and submitted the methodology to DFA. After discussion, the committee voted to hold the two statewide audit reports over until the August meeting, with members asked to submit specific questions in advance so only needed agencies would return. The final item was a special report on the Hot Spring County Solid Waste Authority for January 1, 2023 through June 30, 2025. The audit reviewed compliance with laws, board procedures, bidding, payroll, permits, inspections, and cash handling. It noted prior private audit findings on segregation of duties, that recent private audit reports had not been obtained for 2023 through 2025, and that the current administrator said prior office staff and bookkeeping contractors resigned when he was hired. The authority’s operations and revenue sources were described, and the report was presented for committee review.

Transcript Highlights:

• The major categories of these liabilities were obligations under securities lending of $1.6 billion,
• Once notified of the deficient internal controls, OST began implementing measures to address security
• Once notified of the deficient internal controls, OST began implementing measures to address security
• Gary Vance, State Chief Information Security Officer.
• On page 93 of the report, it talks about the deficit net position, workers' comp commission.

Committee: All LEGISLATIVE JOINT AUDITING

Keywords: 1204, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Is there a commission? Who is it reporting to?
• That's my only, you know, security. I carry a radio. I carry a punch.
• That's my only security that I have, where I can call for the police.
• S. 1049 reflects the reforms recommended by the 2020 Special Commission.
• And that was before the commission, as was mentioned.

Committee: Joint Joint Committee on the Judiciary

Keywords: 995, all

Summary: The hearing covered a wide range of Judiciary Committee bills, with much of the testimony focused on criminal justice, public safety, and civil asset forfeiture reform. Several lawmakers and advocates supported bills to increase penalties or create new offenses related to assaults on sports officials, assaults on transit workers, reckless discharge of firearms, fires and explosives, pill press machines, and drug-induced homicide. Testifiers described rising harassment and violence against youth sports officials and transit workers, as well as the fentanyl overdose crisis and the need for stronger tools to prosecute dealers whose conduct leads to death. Supporters of the sports-official and transit-worker bills emphasized declining referee availability and repeated assaults on commuter rail and MBTA workers. District attorneys also backed bills on reckless firearm discharge and fires/explosives, saying current law does not adequately address dangerous conduct that endangers bystanders. The committee also heard testimony on several proposals related to youth diversion and prison mitigation. Supporters of the youth court justice fund bill said youth courts are peer-led diversion programs with strong compliance and low recidivism, and argued for a stable funding source rather than annual earmarks. A representative from Bridgewater supported a prison mitigation fund for municipalities that host state prisons, saying the costs of public safety and emergency services are not fully covered. On gun policy, testimony split between supporters of a bill to ban in-state manufacture of assault-style rifles for civilian sale and opponents or skeptics of other firearm-related measures, including a bill on collateralizing firearms and a bill to increase penalties for drug trafficking combined with illegal firearm offenses. A major portion of the hearing was devoted to civil asset forfeiture reform. Advocates from the ACLU, CPCS, the Boston Bar Association, the Institute for Justice, and others supported bills to increase the burden of proof, improve transparency and reporting, require counsel, and limit or eliminate the current practice of directing forfeiture proceeds to law enforcement. They argued the current system creates perverse incentives, lacks adequate due process, and is insufficiently transparent. District Attorney Paul Tucker defended current forfeiture practices, saying his office has reporting and oversight, uses the funds for investigations and community programs, and warned that reducing forfeiture revenue would hinder crime fighting. No votes or final committee actions were taken during the hearing; the chairs repeatedly thanked witnesses and indicated the bills would remain under consideration.

Transcript Highlights:

• Our company does identity security. That's all we do. We're fairly good at it.
• They want a frictionless, seamless, and secure experience.
• They want to be secure, frictionless, and personalized.
• And sometimes those things are no longer supported and become security risks, right?
• And sometimes those things are no longer supported and become security risks, right?

Committee: House House Science & Technology Committee of Reference

Summary: The Science and Technology Committee met without any bills on the agenda and heard two presentations. Deloitte Infrastructure Insights demonstrated an AI-enabled transportation analytics platform, Infrastructure Insights Pro, focused on vulnerable road user safety. The presenter described how the tool ingests crash, GIS, and project data to generate map-based insights, trust scores for data sources, and draft concept reports that can reduce analysis time from six to eight months to a few hours. Members asked about use in other states, cost or effort savings, and the system’s deployment at Caltrans in California. The committee then heard from OCTA and SoCure on digital identity and fraud prevention for state and local government services. The presenters argued that residents face too many separate logins and that governments should move toward a more secure, frictionless, and privacy-preserving single digital identity experience. They described identity verification using contextual signals such as device, location, and document validation, and said their tools are already used by Arizona agencies and in other states. Members raised concerns about Real ID, digital IDs, federal overreach, and privacy under the Fourth Amendment and the Arizona Constitution, emphasizing the need for state control and user choice. No votes were taken and no formal actions were reported. The committee adjourned after discussion.

Transcript Highlights:

• The subsequent uniform laws commission.
• :07.120><c> emergency</c> homeland security and emergency homeland security and emergency management,
• On line 334, the same for the Clemency Review Commission.
• On line 334, the same for the Clemency Review Commission.
• We are nonprofit security grants.

Keywords: 919, house, all

Summary: The conference committee met late on Friday evening to discuss the Public Safety and Judiciary budget agreement, beginning with a brief exchange among members about concerns that the executive branch had been delaying the committee’s work by waiting to approve legislative decisions. Members emphasized that the legislature should retain its independence while still allowing normal collaboration with the governor’s office. The committee then moved through several outstanding policy items and adopted them without opposition, including the A38 amendment addressing data-sharing concerns involving disability-related information, a study of firefighting services by the state fire marshal, and an A46 amendment governing access to unredacted portable recording system data in collision investigations, with guardrails on disclosure and use. The committee next reviewed the spreadsheet and budget targets. Fiscal staff explained the judiciary side of the agreement, including funding for court operating costs, a one-time Justice Partner Access Program appropriation, forensic exam rate increases, guardian ad litem funding, public defense, human rights, the competency attainment board, the cannabis expungement board, and fee increases for civil filings and motions. On the public safety side, staff described the target as well as the discretionary items funded, including nonprofit security grants, BCA staffing changes, fire marshal initiatives, a 10-year arson statute of limitations, prosecutor training grants, legal representation for children, E911 funding for critical infrastructure, Philando Castile Training Fund support, corrections-related savings from the Stillwater phased closure and sentence-to-serve elimination, a mandatory minimums task force, a victims of crime account transfer, a decommissioning study, in-service use-of-force training, and extensions of several expiring appropriations. The committee also noted a correction to a spreadsheet label related to the Stillwater closure item. After the spreadsheet walkthrough, the committee took testimony from Chief Justice Natalie Hudson and State Court Administrator Jeff Shorban on behalf of the Minnesota Judicial Branch. Hudson thanked the committee for its work and said the agreement covers some unavoidable costs, including insurance, lease expenses, forensic examiner pay, and the new access system, but argued it does not adequately address the judiciary’s most urgent problem: staffing and judicial compensation. She said court employees are leaving for better-paying jobs, judicial salaries are frozen for two years, and applicant pools for judgeships have declined, especially in greater Minnesota. She also said the judicial branch was not meaningfully consulted on the budget target and urged lawmakers to recognize the courts as a constitutional obligation rather than a discretionary program.

Transcript Highlights:

• We didn't assume that Social Security wasn't going to be taxed.
• </c> certificates replacement social security certificates replacement social security cards<04:41:14.638
• In fiscal year 26 and additional security equipment for radios that are aging and out.
• facility and in our minimum security facilities at Wava and Kulani on the Big Island.
• </c> a copy of a letter that the commission a copy of a letter that the commission plans<05:00:55.320

Keywords: 910, house, all

Summary: The Committee on Finance held its first informational briefing for 2025, beginning with member introductions and then hearing an economic outlook presentation from Dr. Eugene Tian of the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. Dr. Tian said Hawaii’s economy was in relatively good shape in several areas, especially construction, which he described as at a historical high, with construction employment above 40,000 monthly and building permit values and contracting tax base both up sharply. He also noted real estate sales had rebounded in 2024, the labor market had stabilized with unemployment around 2.9%, and initial unemployment claims were below 2019 levels. At the same time, he highlighted challenges including inflation running above the national rate, a shrinking labor force, lower employment compared with 2023, and continued weakness in visitor spending and arrivals. He said future growth would likely come from health care, professional services, construction, tourism recovery, and diversified sectors such as renewable energy, aquaculture, creative industries, and technology. Dr. Tian also discussed Hawaii’s economic structure and recovery, saying the state remains more concentrated in a few industries than the U.S. overall, with government and hospitality making up larger shares of the economy. He said non-tourism sectors had recovered, but tourism-related jobs and output were still below pre-pandemic levels, with Maui and the visitor industry still affected by the wildfire and COVID-19 impacts. He projected tourism and non-agricultural wage and salary jobs would not fully recover until 2027, and said population trends remain a concern because of aging, the likelihood of deaths outpacing births in coming years, and reliance on in-migration. After his presentation, the chair said questions would be taken later and the committee took a short break. After the break, Dr. Carano of the Hawaii Executive Director’s office presented a second outlook, saying Hawaii’s economy in 2025 looked better than 2024 overall, though he emphasized substantial uncertainty tied to the incoming federal administration. He said possible changes to tariffs, tax policy, immigration, and federal spending could raise inflation and keep interest rates higher than previously expected, which would affect housing, consumer debt, the dollar, and Hawaii’s visitor industry. He noted that U.S. visitors account for roughly three-quarters of visitor spending in the state, making federal policy especially important. He also said deregulation could be a long-term positive but would not likely have much effect in 2025 or 2026. As an additional risk, he pointed to bird flu and its effect on livestock, poultry, and egg prices. No votes or formal actions were taken during the briefing.

Transcript Highlights:

• An independent study commissioned by Dr.
• across the state have not been able to secure comparable investments.
• The voucher program has given me both stability and security.
• I secured a placement in San Antonio, but safety was never guaranteed.
• Commission on Fire Protection.

Committee: House Intergovernmental Affairs

Keywords: 1184, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• gallery, please rise for the invocation, which will be offered by Pastor Scott Wall from the Capitol Commission
• Our team plays a vital role in maintaining order and security within the Capitol.
• and Archives Commission.
• It's, I think, a national security issue.
• operations and powers, tax ramp, and cyber security operations over.

Bills: HB5560 , HB2 , HB24 , HB3233 , HB1397 , HB2067 , HB3133 , HB5696 , HB5680 , HB2885 , HB3966 , HB3556 , HB3595 , HB144 , HB26 , HB2038 , HB521 , HB4 , HB 1178 , HB42 , HB 1211 , HB783 , HB3963 , HB2240 , HB1690 , HB 1234 , HB3372 , HB27 , HB4211 , HB2243 , HB2853 , HB4638 , HJR7 , HB 100 , HB 126 , HB3783 , HB5138 , HB2512 , HB5616 , HB4751 , SB17 , SB1637 , SB1833 , SB2155 , SB21 , SB2778 , SB260 , SB8 , SB12 , SB37 , SB379 , SB441 , SB1566 , SB2878 , HB4112 , HB3866 , HB4749 , HB2844 , HB150

Keywords: groundwater, civil penalties, water conservation, drought contingency, environmental protection, public education, teacher compensation, certification, funding, school finance, educator rights, education funding, charter schools, staff compensation, state aid, retention allotment, zoning, public notice, local government, residential development

Transcript Highlights:

• And Claire, just a quick question on the boards and commissions training and no charge.
• A governor-appointed task force, and we've gone through 172 boards and commissions already.
• And the lottery commission has approved that.
• Security measures need to be much higher.
• PSC, some litigation from plaintiffs against the North Dakota Beef Commission.

Summary: The committee met to review the Attorney General’s budget and related agency operations, beginning with Legislative Council staff walking members through compliance reports and a blue-sheet base budget document. Staff highlighted current-biennium items such as FTE changes, one-time appropriations, litigation funding, opioid settlement receipts, continuing appropriations, and major special and federal funds. Members asked for clarification on items including the Missing Indigenous People Grant Fund, the Internet Crimes Investigation Fund, and the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit grant funding. Assistant Attorney General Clare Ness then gave an overview of the office’s structure, staffing, and budget pressures. She emphasized the office’s broad statutory duties, the value of its legal services to state and local government, and concerns about attorney pay lagging behind other agencies. Members discussed whether attorney compensation should be benchmarked more consistently across state government and whether some legal work could be consolidated within the AG’s office. Ness also addressed questions about AG opinion turnaround times, boards-and-commissions training, the new-and-vacant FTE pool, operating expense cuts, office leases, and the state’s criminal justice information systems. The crime lab presentation drew significant attention. Director Jennifer Penner described severe space, safety, and infrastructure problems at the current lab, including cramped work areas, glycol leaks, outdated fire and burglar alarms, air-handling limits, and equipment failures that have delayed toxicology work. She said the 2024 study projected a much larger facility would be needed and that the preferred location would be near the current health department site, but in a new building. Members asked about possible evidence risks, backlog status, and whether the proposed building would solve the current problems; Penner said it would and noted backlogs have improved overall, though some delays remain. The committee also heard from the new Medicaid Fraud Control Unit director, who described the unit’s civil and criminal work, federal-state funding split, and examples of fraud such as billing for services not provided or upcoding. The gaming division reported continued growth in charitable gaming and e-tabs, with members expressing concern about large trust-account balances, site competition, and possible misuse of proceeds. Finally, BCI outlined its caseload, cybercrime work, missing Indigenous persons task force, and the surge in CSAM cyber tips; members asked about AI-generated CSAM, and the AG’s office noted that last session’s law increased penalties and expressly allowed AI-generated CSAM to be prosecuted like other CSAM. No formal votes or actions were taken beyond approval of the minutes.

Transcript Highlights:

• I will leave you with one other thing: as co-chair of the state's Brain Injury Commission, that also,
• I actually received a text message from a doula last night, waiting down at security.
• When I arrived with the patient at the hospital, I was told to go back downstairs and wait at security
• patients' rights to have their doula... ...successful implementation, and it secures patients' rights
• Then you get a nurse or security person, and then what do the doulas do?

Committee: Joint Joint Committee on Financial Services

Keywords: 995, all

Summary: The Joint Committee on Financial Services held a lengthy public hearing with testimony on a wide range of health insurance and access-to-care bills. Early testimony focused on prescription drug pricing and pharmacy reimbursement, with supporters of H. 1326 arguing that pharmacy benefit managers and MassHealth managed care arrangements reimburse independent pharmacies too little, contributing to pharmacy closures and “pharmacy deserts.” The committee also heard repeated support for H. 1151/S. 742 on cognitive rehabilitation for acquired brain injury, H. 1288/S. 716 on telehealth parity for nutrition counseling, H. 1309/S. 761 on full-spectrum pregnancy care without cost-sharing, H. 1312 on insurance coverage for doula services, H. 309 on prompt access to health care by removing deductibles for certain services, H. 809/H. 1227 on biomarker testing, H. 1162/S. 810 on reducing inequities in access to medical procedures by limiting insurer cuts tied to Modifier 25, and S. 726 on insurance coverage for mobile integrated health. Testifiers included legislators, physicians, pharmacists, dietitians, emergency and rehabilitation clinicians, and patients and family members. Supporters of the brain injury bill said cognitive rehabilitation is medically necessary, improves long-term outcomes, and can reduce institutional care and public costs; they noted the bill has been heard repeatedly and has support from the Brain Injury Commission and prior favorable committee action. Supporters of the pregnancy care and doula bills described out-of-pocket costs as a barrier to maternal health and shared personal stories of high bills and unmet support needs. Biomarker testing advocates and cancer patients said coverage gaps deny patients access to precision treatment, can lead to avoidable suffering, and should be standardized across insurers; several speakers said insurers often deny claims despite clinical benefit. Dermatology witnesses said insurers’ use of Modifier 25 cuts reimbursement for same-day evaluation and procedure visits, forcing separate appointments and increasing patient burden. Mobile integrated health supporters described home-based care as a way to reduce emergency department use and hospital readmissions, especially for patients with transportation or mobility barriers. No votes or formal committee actions were taken during the hearing itself.

Transcript Highlights:

• We worked to craft legislation addressing ATM features and security, and that was fair to the industry
• The Federal Trade Commission has dubbed these kiosks a payment portal for scammers.
• We also ask that a special commission be set up concerning the blockchain technology.
• And then the special commission that DA Tucker mentioned would also look into the relevance of further
• I strongly urge you to report H. 1247 and S. 707 out favorably to safeguard the financial security and

Committee: Joint Joint Committee on Financial Services

Keywords: 995, all

Summary: The committee heard testimony on several financial services bills, with the main focus on cryptocurrency kiosk regulation, financial literacy, and earned wage access. Legislators and witnesses described widespread crypto-related scams targeting older adults, often involving impersonation, urgency, spoofed phone numbers, and rapid transfers through kiosks that are difficult to trace or recover. Supporters of the kiosk bills said Massachusetts needs licensing, registration, transaction limits, warning notices, receipts, refund protections, and other safeguards; some also urged a “pause” or hold on transactions to give victims time to reconsider and allow law enforcement to intervene. The Attorney General’s office, AARP, local law enforcement, and several prosecutors and sheriffs backed the consumer-protection approach, while Bitcoin Depot supported a narrower regulatory framework but opposed low fee caps and strict daily limits, arguing they would function like a ban and reduce legitimate use. Witnesses from Waltham police, Middlesex and Essex County law enforcement, and the AG’s office said crypto scams are growing quickly, losses are often unrecoverable once funds move, and current tools are limited. They described cases involving elderly victims losing thousands of dollars, and said warnings alone are not enough because scammers keep victims on the phone and guide them through the process. Some witnesses said a temporary hold or refund mechanism has worked in at least one case, while others emphasized that transaction limits and visible disclosures could reduce harm even if they do not stop fraud entirely. The AG’s office also said it would submit written opposition to separate earned wage advance legislation, while DailyPay testified in support of that bill, saying earned wage access helps workers bridge short-term gaps without debt or credit reporting. The committee also heard support for mandatory financial literacy education from Representative Jim Hawkins, who said high school students need instruction on credit, debt, and inflation before they enter adulthood. In addition, the committee took testimony on litigation financing bills from insurance industry representatives, who argued for disclosure and regulation of predatory litigation lending and warned about foreign interference and reduced plaintiff recoveries. No votes or final actions were taken during the hearing; members asked questions throughout, and the chair noted the need to move testimony along because of time constraints.

Transcript Highlights:

• Um, let's hear from the Public Service Commission. Can we hear from the Public Service Commission?
• If I may make just quickly four points. the public service commission. the public service commission.
• commission? commission?
• commission? commission?
• It's a changing world. committee, uh the the commission is of committee, uh the the commission is of

Bills: SF0102 , SF0113

Committee: Senate Corporations, Elections & Political Subdivisions

Keywords: energy transmission, load growth, Wyoming energy authority, transmission planning study, public utilities, regional cooperation, hand count audit, ballots, election integrity, transparency, voting system, 916, all

Transcript Highlights:

• do receive credit for it, but it's day for day, and so until they can get to Lark and have their security
• I'm going to ask Director Brandon Clabes of the Abel Commission if he would be so kind as to either come
• Does the Abbel Commission currently Have a human trafficking division.
• So is this bill just gonna be increasing the authority of the Abbel Commission if this is now going to
• So my question is, is this going to increase the authority of the Abbel Commission since this is going

Bills: SB1636 , SB1584 , SB1730 , SB1255 , SB1627 , SB137 , SB2062 , SB1470 , SB1284

Committee: Senate Public Safety

Keywords: cold case, unsolved homicide, violent crime, case file review, law enforcement, police records, victim family, immediate family member, designated person, forensic testing, witness reinterview, investigative leads, cold case unit, unsolved murder, public safety, Title 21, Oklahoma statutes, sexual assault, evidence kits, DNA testing

Transcript Highlights:

• There is currently no Washington law addressing how a mortgage modification affects the security There
• is currently no Washington law addressing how a mortgage modification affects the security or priority
• In 2024, the Uniform Law Commission promulgated the Uniform Mortgage Modification Act, which establishes
• law, for certain types of mortgage modifications identified in the bill, the mortgage continues to secure
• As well, Senators Warren and Wyden wrote a letter to the Federal Trade Commission that talked about how

Summary: The Consumer Protection and Business Committee held public hearings on three Senate bills. SB 5831, the Uniform Mortgage Modification Act, was explained by staff as creating safe harbors so certain mortgage modifications would not alter lien priority or require re-recording; the prime sponsor said it would reduce uncertainty and legal costs. No one testified on the bill. SB 6091, concerning real estate brokers marketing residential properties to exclusive groups, was described as requiring concurrent public marketing when brokers market to limited groups, while allowing private marketing so long as the public also has access; the sponsor and supporters said it would promote fair, open housing markets and reduce pocket listings that can reinforce exclusion. SB 6178, prohibiting post-loss assignment of benefits in property insurance, was presented as protecting homeowners after disasters from signing away policy rights to contractors; the sponsor, the Office of the Insurance Commissioner, the National Insurance Crime Bureau, and the Washington State Association for Justice supported the bill, while discussion focused on whether the $50,000 penalty should distinguish between intentional and unintentional violations. For SB 6178, the Office of the Insurance Commissioner said it has seen more complaints about policyholders being pressured to sign documents before contacting insurers and said the bill would help keep homeowners in control of claims. Testifiers emphasized that contractors play an important role in repairs but should not take over first-party insurance claims, and one witness noted the bill would not prevent direct payment arrangements to contractors. Committee members asked about penalties and whether a cooling-off period or other alternatives might address concerns about good-faith contractors. For SB 6091, supporters including Zillow, Washington Realtors, Habitat for Humanity, Windermere, and the Fair Housing Center of Washington argued that exclusive or pocket listings can reduce transparency, limit competition, and worsen housing inequities. They said the bill still allows private marketing and open houses, but requires public availability as well, and does not force owners to allow access to their property. A rental housing representative asked for an amendment to remove a reference to leases, saying the bill should not unintentionally apply to rental providers who are not brokers. The committee closed public hearings on all three bills and ended the meeting with birthday recognition for two members.