Transcript Highlights:

• simple and common sense change, removing the notary requirement from trespass letters filed under Penal Code
• Section 603.
• Removing the notary requirement from trespass letters filed under Penal Code Section 602.
• Assembly Bill 1625 by Assembly Member Wynn, an act relating to transportation.
• many residents in my district, especially seniors, working families, and those without reliable transportation

Transcript Highlights:

• The House added two sections of existing code for purposes of technical changes, aligned language in
• the new section, and removed references to urine testing.
• He served as chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and helped guide conversations
• I could talk about all the staff that I've had in the Transportation Committee and talk about the staff
• The House amendment removed the bond provisions to avoid a code conflict with another bill.

Summary: The Senate first handled several House amendments to Senate bills and passed them, including SB 194 updating the definition of disabled veteran taxpayer, SB 499 requiring toxicology tests in auto accidents, SB 672 on Real Estate Commission licensing discipline, SB 724 on home confinement officers and the EMS retirement system, SB 897 on alcohol and drug counselor licensure, and SB 982 creating the Neighborhood Access Road Program. In each case, the chamber agreed to the House changes and then passed the bill, with some measures also given effective dates, including SB 724 effective July 1, 2026 and SB 648 effective from passage. The Senate also concurred in amendments to SB 197, doubling penalties for sex crimes against minors, and SB 648, which removed restrictions on foreign entities in the Strategic and Critical Resources Act. The chamber then took up a series of additional bills and conference actions. It appointed a conference committee on HB 4588 after refusing to recede from its amendment. The Senate passed HB 4009, the Portable Benefit Account Act, after adopting a Banking and Insurance committee strike-and-insert amendment that moved the program to the Division of Labor, expanded portable benefit definitions, and made technical changes. Later, the Senate also passed SB 182 on annexation by minor boundary adjustment after amending the House changes to allow one annexation per year instead of one every two years, and it passed HB 5101 increasing strangulation penalties, HB 4364 on juvenile offender bail and counsel language, HB 4412 on age verification for certain websites, HB 5564 on deputy sheriff vacation carryover, HB 4138 on sex offender registration fees, HB 4951 after receding from its earlier amendment on continuing education, SB 4 after receding from its amendment, SB 389 after refusing to concur in a House amendment that would have stripped the bill, SB 927 on beekeeping and municipal regulation, and HB 5214 on drug testing for parents before reunification. A major portion of the meeting was devoted to Senate Resolution 67 honoring Senator Michael Andrew Woelfel and Senate Resolution 68 honoring Senator Charles Houston Clements. Numerous senators gave extended remarks praising Woelfel’s legal skill, candor, mentorship, and service, and Clements’s long service, institutional knowledge, steadiness, and friendship. Both resolutions were adopted by roll call votes, with SR 67 passing 34-0 and SR 68 passing 33-1. After the resolutions, the Senate recessed briefly to present the outgoing senators with resolutions and flags flown over the Capitol.

Transcript Highlights:

• So we'll just kind of take that section out.
• And if kind of take that section out.
• So a very small section of the group.
• because that is still discriminating against a zip code.
• Thank discriminating against a zip code.

Summary: The committee met with a quorum, approved the September 16 minutes, and then received an update from Insurance Commissioner Sharon Clark and staff on the Department of Insurance. Clark reviewed department activity, including growth in premium volume and licensing, consumer complaints and recoveries, and a rise in fraud referrals. She said the department has 66 open fraud cases and described common schemes such as staged auto accidents, inflated repair or cleanup charges, and roofing scams. She also said the department’s investigators often prepare strong cases but face reluctance from local prosecutors, especially in Fayette and Jefferson counties, to pursue them. Clark reported favorable workers’ compensation news, saying rates will decrease 9.7% next year for the 20th straight year. She contrasted that with a difficult property insurance market driven by storms, reinsurance costs, inflation, labor shortages, and litigation, but said Kentucky’s market remains relatively stable, citing the Kentucky Fair Plan’s small number of policies. She then warned of significant 2026 health insurance premium increases on the exchange: 16.1% for Molina, 23% for Anthem, and 37% for WCare, after CareSource withdrew. She said the rates were reviewed by actuaries and found fair, but that the biggest pressure point is the scheduled expiration of enhanced premium tax credits, which she said could leave about 90% of exchange enrollees facing a compounded increase. Members questioned Clark about fraud prosecution, the number of people in commercial versus public coverage, and the impact of expiring subsidies. Clark said the prosecution issue is mainly with Commonwealth attorneys and that rural counties are more cooperative than urban ones. She also said the health market is individually rated and that older enrollees would be hit harder, while the loss of tax credits could push some people out of the marketplace. One member asked about the attorney general’s recent opinion on SB 188, the PBM bill; staff said attorneys were still reviewing it. Clark closed by noting that Kentucky’s fraud and towing/storage legislation has become a model for other states.

Transcript Highlights:

• This is in Article 13, Section 1 of the Constitution.
• The permanent laws of the state are collected in the statutes and the code.
• </c> sparsity transportation sparsity transportation sparsity<01:12:23.199><c> and</c><01:12:24.000><
• </c> operating sparity and transportation operating sparity and transportation sparsity<01:12:43.520>
• </c> operating sparsity and transportation operating sparsity and transportation sparsity<01:31:48.360

Committee: House Education Finance

Transcript Highlights:

• Thank you for this opportunity to share this section of the budget.
• And it's interesting that you say that because the next section of Section 34 speaks to reducing the
• And it's interesting that you say that because the next section of Section 34 speaks to reducing the
• I have a question on Section 150 of the bill. Who's answering?
• I move our code 932237.

Summary: The Senate took up the conference report on House Bill 501E, the General Appropriations Act for fiscal year 2026-27, with Chair Hooper and the appropriations chairs walking through the $114.5 billion budget. Major highlights included pay increases for state law enforcement, firefighters, park rangers, and correctional officers; funding for teacher salary increases and K-12 enrollment stabilization; workforce and university funding in higher education; major Medicaid, nursing home, waiver, and opioid-related investments in health and human services; corrections and prison-capacity funding; transportation, housing, and emergency management spending; and large environmental appropriations for Florida Forever, Everglades restoration, and water quality projects. Members then asked detailed questions about specific items. Senators pressed on the Hamilton Center at UF, the difference between assistant state attorney and public defender pay, declining student enrollment funding, private school scholarship vouchers, mental health funding in schools, the lack of preeminence funding, APD’s iBudget waiver wait list and provider rates, ADAP premium assistance and the return of Biktarvy to the formulary, prison staffing and air conditioning, Florida Forever land-buying versus easements, SNAP and Sun Bucks funding, Hope Florida, election audit funding, and the IDD managed care program. Chairs generally explained the negotiated compromises, noted where funding was flat or omitted, and in several cases said items would be revisited next year or depended on agency implementation. Several senators used debate to praise the budget while also criticizing major policy choices. Leader Berman argued the state should have expanded Medicaid, invested more in public schools instead of vouchers, and accepted federal summer EBT funds. Other senators highlighted local wins such as Biscayne Bay restoration, Tri-Rail, housing assistance, ADAP funding, and declining enrollment support. The transcript ends with debate remarks thanking Chair Hooper for his work on the budget; no final vote is shown in the excerpt.

Transcript Highlights:

• We have higher transportation costs on the retail side.
• Because right now, we don't have a complete transportation link.
• So it's just this blue section that needs to be completed on that section.
• New Mexico's local food system faces persistent transportation challenges.
• It faces persistent transportation challenges.

Committee: House Economic & Rural Development & Policy Committee

Transcript Highlights:

• Section 593D1.
• Delete the words 'investor-owned' when referencing electrical corporations in Public Utilities Code Section
• 593A2, and delete Public Utilities Code Section 454 from the bill.
• code section 593A2, and delete public utilities code section 454 from the bill.
• This is a Public Utilities and Resources Code cleanup bill.

Summary: The committee heard several energy-related bills, with AB 1715 drawing the most discussion. That bill would require the CPUC to create a searchable database of utility advice letters, protests, responses, and resolutions going back to 2020, and to require utilities to report state, federal, and other public financing so ratepayer savings from loans, grants, and similar funding can be tracked and passed through. The author and TURN said the bill is aimed at transparency, affordability, and preventing double recovery; committee amendments removed some language, and labor said the amendments would remove its opposition. Senators pressed on how “financial benefits” would be defined and whether the bill would require refunds to ratepayers, and the author said the CPUC would determine the details. The bill was later moved out of committee on a do-pass-as-amended vote to Appropriations. AB 1301, a CPUC/Public Utilities Code cleanup bill, was presented as a housekeeping measure to remove obsolete references, align deadlines, eliminate duplicative requirements, and extend the Energy Conservation Assistance Act sunset. The Public Advocates Office and Golden State Power Cooperatives supported it, and the committee advanced it do-pass as amended to Appropriations. AB 2463, which would require the CPUC to disclose the models and analysis used to set utility authorized return on equity, was described as a transparency measure for a process that is currently a “black box.” EDF and the Utility Wildfire Survivor Coalition supported the bill, while members noted the importance of understanding how utility profits are set; it also passed to Appropriations. AB 1813, on community solar and storage, generated substantial debate. The author said the bill is intended to fix a CPUC program that he argued is unworkable and inconsistent with the Legislature’s earlier direction, while supporters including San Diego Community Power, TURN, and many clean energy, labor, and local-government groups said it would make community solar viable for renters and others who cannot install rooftop solar. Opponents, including the Public Advocates Office, Southern California Edison, SDG&E, and PG&E, argued it would raise rates, create cost shifts to non-participating customers, and conflict with a recently adopted CPUC decision. The bill was moved out on a do-pass-as-amended vote to Appropriations, with some senators indicating support but also concern about affordability and pending amendments. AB 2111, which would require the CPUC to plan transmission using multiple demand and resource scenarios instead of a single forecast, was supported as a way to reduce bottlenecks, improve reliability, and avoid costly under-planning as electrification grows. Supporters said better scenario planning would help avoid transmission constraints that block new generation, while the committee raised questions about cost impacts and the role of current CPUC planning processes. The bill passed to Appropriations. The committee also took up AB 2266, which would consolidate related CPUC compliance reporting, require consistent reliability valuation across programs, and direct an evaluation if CAISO uses backstop procurement; supporters said it would reduce confusion and improve consistency, while opponents warned against forcing one valuation method across different resource types. AB 2266 was also moved to Appropriations. Finally, AB 2175 was taken up on consent and advanced without discussion.

Transcript Highlights:

• It’s very much based on zip code.
• </c><01:56:01.440><c> I</c> It's very much based on zip code. I It's very much based on zip code.
• </c> Specialized transportation costs money. Specialized transportation costs money.
• Transporting our feed our children.
• </c> that HB1 1799 establishes in section that HB1 1799 establishes in section five<03:50:44.640><c>

Committee: House Education Funding

Transcript Highlights:

• We will go straight to the Governor's Office, which is agency code 356.
• Okay, we're on agency code 370, and Ms. Hill, take it away.
• Section is the monies coming from the Consumer Settlement Fund.
• Six of those are in the impact litigation section.
• And so the suspense language there in section. relates to that.

Committee: House House Appropriations & Finance

Transcript Highlights:

• This transportation bill makes our transportation system smarter.
• The amendment is coded A22.
• The amendment is coded A22.
• The amendment is coded A26.
• The amendment is coded A38.

Transcript Highlights:

• I'm going to hand it back to Elizabeth for the remainder of the ESSA section.
• I'm going to hand it back to Elizabeth for the remainder of the ESA section.
• And then our final map for this section, this comes from the division.
• They are in a separate section of the Arkansas Code.
• And I'll stop for questions there before our last section.

Transcript Highlights:

• code.
• The bill locks in the 2009 code as the code that you cannot go beyond. That code is 17 years old.
• “The Energy Efficient Code Coalition.” “Code Coalition.
• code.
• If a code, some code, results in an increase in fee, we're typically not going to oppose the code.

Committees: House Commerce , House Commerce, Consumer Protection, Energy and the Environment

Transcript Highlights:

• I'd be happy to answer any questions you have about QR codes.
• And QR codes just don't provide that.
• And some of them are by a lack of ability to access that QR code.
• An infrequently used option, Section 5200 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, allows courts to order
• An infrequently used option, section 5200 of the Welfare in Institutions Code, allows courts to order

Summary: The Assembly Health Committee heard several measures, beginning with SB 331 by Sen. Menjivar, which would require large-group health plans to cover hearing aids for children. The author and supporters described the bill as a long-running effort to address a developmental emergency and reduce out-of-pocket costs for families, while opponents were absent. Testimony from parents, advocates, medical experts, and organizations emphasized the importance of early access to hearing aids; committee members voiced strong support, and the bill was moved on a do-pass basis to Appropriations, with several members requesting to be added as coauthors. The committee then heard SB 608, also by Sen. Menjivar, to expand access to condoms in school-based health centers and related settings and to prevent barriers such as ID checks. Supporters, including students and school health advocates, argued the bill would improve sexual health and reduce stigma, while opponents from family and faith groups argued it would undermine parental authority and normalize early sexual activity. The bill was supported by committee members and moved forward on a do-pass basis to Appropriations. Next, SB 971 by Sen. Choi proposed community-based healthy aging partnerships for older adults, with testimony from the California Senior Legislature and supporters from aging and dementia organizations. The measure was described as voluntary and focused on connection, independence, and local collaboration; there was no opposition, and the committee moved it on a do-pass basis to Appropriations. The committee also heard SB 869 by Sen. Weber Pierson, which would require warning icons and statements on chain restaurant menus for beverages with very high added sugar content. Supporters framed it as a transparency and public health measure, while restaurant and beverage industry representatives opposed it unless amended, citing cost and menu-space concerns; the bill was nevertheless moved on a do-pass basis to Appropriations after a roll call vote, with some members voting no and the measure placed on call. The committee also considered SB 950 by Sen. Weber Pierson, aimed at ensuring timely coverage of FDA-approved, medically necessary treatments for early-onset Alzheimer’s disease on commercial plans. Supporters, including the Alzheimer’s Association and a patient advocate, said the bill would reduce delays and barriers to care, while health plan representatives opposed it over step therapy and utilization-management concerns. Members discussed the limited treatment window and the need for early access, and the bill was moved on a do-pass basis to Appropriations. In addition, SB 490 by Sen. Umberg would set timelines for DHCS investigations of unlicensed sober living homes and allow counties to assist if the department cannot act in time; supporters from Anaheim and a patient-brokering survivor described serious abuse and oversight gaps, while county behavioral health representatives opposed the county role as an unfunded and potentially liability-creating burden. After discussion, the bill was also moved on a do-pass basis to Appropriations. Finally, the committee began hearing SB 1037 by Sen. Weber Pierson on health insurance affordability and rate review, with supporters arguing it would tie premium increases more closely to affordability targets and public reporting; the transcript cuts off before the committee completed action on that measure.

Transcript Highlights:

• The police station did not have enough staff to help provide transportation.
• We mobilized our sexual assault nursing team, provided transportation, and ensured that the survivor
• </c><00:07:56.479><c> and</c><00:07:56.599><c> we</c> team we provided transportation and we team we
• And these services are required, as you said, under Section 260C, but they're not always met.
• And these services are required, as you said, under Section 260C, but they're not always met.

Committee: Senate Judiciary and Public Safety

Transcript Highlights:

• I move to divide sections 1 through 5 and sections 6 through 8, Roman numeral 1 and sections 6 through
• </c><03:35:58.080><c> to</c> to completely rewriting its code to to completely rewriting its code to
• </c> transportation. This is a good bill. transportation. This is a good bill.
• who have the means to transport their who have the means to transport their children<06:30:40.718><c>
• </c> education regardless of their zip code. education regardless of their zip code.

Transcript Highlights:

• Oh, that's Transportation Committee.
• </c> transportation committee. transportation committee.
• </c><01:47:29.679><c> and</c> threat reporting system section and threat reporting system section and
• </c> this section to describe it. this section to describe it.
• The amendment is coded<02:50:15.920><c> A11.</c> coded A11. coded A11.

Transcript Highlights:

• the difference between the fire code and building code that Mr.
• the difference between the fire code and building code that Mr.
• the difference between the fire code and building code that Mr.
• the difference between the fire code and building code that Mr.
• code that Mr.

Committee: Senate Commerce

Transcript Highlights:

• This is really a renewal of the previous transportation expenditure plan and transportation sales tax
• , which is funding a variety of transportation projects in the county.
• It simply allows voters to have a choice regarding their transportation future.
• Tear it down in 30 days and build it back up to building code.
• Clare Sullivan, on behalf of the City of Thousand Oaks, echoing the concerns of code enforcement.

Committee: House Local Government

Transcript Highlights:

• The 14 for the code is the number of that code, and that shows the 15-day drop.
• ><c> shows</c><00:18:00.000><c> the</c> number of that code and that shows the number of that code and
• that count that code so that student's<00:18:10.559><c> code</c><00:18:10.960><c> reflects</c><00:18
• </c> Mars codes, too, which is fascinating. Mars codes, too, which is fascinating.
• </c> are using getting that 15-day drop code. are using getting that 15-day drop code.

Committee: House Education Finance

Transcript Highlights:

• For centuries, the legal code has recognized...
• For centuries, the legal code has recognized that lawful claims must have expiration dates, providing
• For centuries, the legal code has recognized that lawful claims must be for, must have expiration dates
• The definition of tax in this bill relates only to the specific section of code and does not affect the
• This includes our revenue and taxation codes.

Committee: Senate Revenue and Taxation