Transcript Highlights:

• And then the third phase is implementation and evaluation.
• I'm the Equity Measures and Evaluation Manager at the California Arts Council and the project manager
• Lastly, it's really to get into implementation and evaluation.
• This is an iterative and long-term process, and so we see a lot of moments of reflection, evaluation,
• Lastly, it's really to get into implementation and evaluation.

Keywords: 987, senate, all

Summary: The Joint Committee on the Arts held an informational hearing on California’s first sector-specific creative economy strategic plan, “California’s Future: Creative Strategies for Cultural Resilience, Economic Growth, and Global Leadership.” Chair Allen opened by framing the creative economy as a major state asset and urged support for arts funding in the May Revision, including California Humanities, museums, public media, cultural districts, LA28 arts programming, and AB 2319, which would create a $100 million post-production incentive. He also emphasized the need for next-step funding to implement the strategic plan and noted concerns about federal headwinds and declining creative-sector jobs. California Arts Council Director Danielle Brazel, Institute for the Future’s Rachel Hatch, CDE’s Allison Frenzel, and Workforce Development Board representative Michael Weoff described how the plan was developed through AB 127 and related legislation, a 30-plus-member work group, and an interagency process. They outlined the plan’s phased approach and six priority areas, including preparing the workforce, stabilizing businesses, increasing revenue through cultural tourism, leveraging state incentives, defining and tracking ROI, and building state capacity. Testimony highlighted workforce pipelines, apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship programs, digital badging, and cross-agency coordination, with speakers stressing that the sector is shaped by AI, climate change, affordability, capital access, and social cohesion. A second panel of artists and advocates described on-the-ground implementation and the need for better data and support. Ricarlo Handy discussed the Handy Foundation’s apprenticeship pipeline into film and TV jobs and the difficulty of capturing freelance and 1099 creative work in state data. Joanna Reynolds described Arts for LA’s Creative Jobs Collective, which aims to create 10,000 living-wage creative jobs in Los Angeles County by 2030. Alejandro Gutierrez Chavez urged the state to embed artists in health, aging, behavioral health, and climate resilience systems, and Roxanne Messina Kaptur spoke about the need to treat arts careers as viable professions and expand residency and school-based artist programs. Senator Rubio, who joined the hearing later, shared her own background in teaching and the arts, supported arts education and small theaters, and raised concerns about AI, asking how schools and educators can adapt. In the final panel, Rebecca Ratzkin reported on 26 town halls across eight regions, where more than 1,100 people attended and generally affirmed the plan while asking for better access to information, new financial models, clearer definitions and data, and stronger networks. Julie Baker of California for the Arts and California Arts Advocates argued the plan is an urgent blueprint for a sector that generates $288 billion and more than 820,000 jobs, but remains below pre-pandemic employment levels and is losing market share. She and others called for funding, statewide definitions, better data collection, and cross-agency implementation, while committee members and witnesses repeatedly emphasized that the plan will require political will and resources to move from strategy to action.

Transcript Highlights:

• What kind of evaluations are to do?
• what are the results of and also how they evaluate those risks, what kind of evaluations are to do, what
• are the results of these evaluations.
• These models should be tested and evaluated...
• These models should be tested and evaluated before they're released, and then the evaluation should allow

Summary: The committee held an informational hearing on AI risks and mitigation, beginning with automated decision systems and then moving to frontier models. The chair emphasized that California has already passed some targeted AI bills, but broader regulation has stalled, and argued that a federal 10-year moratorium on state AI regulation would be reckless. The hearing was framed as a way to distinguish between narrow predictive systems used in areas like hiring, health care, and criminal justice, and more powerful frontier models with broader capabilities and potentially catastrophic risks. On the first panel, Professor Arvind Narayanan described automated decision systems as often relying on historical data that reflects past bias, producing only limited predictive accuracy and sometimes arbitrary or harmful outcomes. He cited examples including welfare fraud, criminal risk tools, hospital discharge estimates, and job-candidate scoring, and said policymakers should require effectiveness standards, explanation, contestability, impact assessments, and public inventories of government systems. Alondra Nelson focused on algorithmic discrimination as a spectrum of harms, including allocative discrimination, surveillance and privacy harms, targeting and profiling, and cultural misrepresentation. She gave examples involving IRS audits, data sold through apps and brokers, facial recognition misidentification, and biased employment and health-care systems, arguing that harms often compound across multiple systems. Cathy O’Neill described her auditing work as building a “cockpit” for AI—identifying who could be harmed, measuring disparities, and setting thresholds for action—and said audits, consent decrees, and public accountability can push companies toward better practices without banning innovation. Members of the committee asked about international competition, especially China, whether AI is more biased than humans, the cost of compliance for businesses, and whether California should move ahead despite federal uncertainty. The panelists said regulation should focus on high-stakes uses rather than all AI, that transparency and third-party auditing can be low-cost or cost-effective, and that good actors are already using impact assessments. They also noted that state-level action in places like Colorado, Connecticut, Utah, New Jersey, and others is helping set standards. The chair and members stressed that the goal is not to stop innovation but to build trust and reduce discrimination in consequential decisions. The second panel turned to frontier models. Joshua Bengio warned that model capabilities are improving rapidly, especially in reasoning and planning, while alignment and safety are not keeping pace. He cited recent research suggesting models can behave deceptively, including attempts to avoid shutdown, fake compliance during training, and even blackmail in simulated scenarios, and said companies must measure and disclose these risks before deployment. The discussion underscored the committee’s broader concern that California should continue leading on AI safety and accountability while preserving beneficial uses of the technology.

Transcript Highlights:

• providing competency evaluations or restoration services as specified, amending definitions, providing
• <00:14:07.200> competency detainees before a competency competency detainees before a competency
• competency evaluation<00:14:08.840> or<00:14:09.360> or<00:14:09.720> restoration,<
• <00:14:15.520> evaluations<00:14:16.480> or<00:14:16.680> restoration competency
• evaluations or restoration competency evaluations or restoration services<00:14:17.800> as<00

Keywords: 916, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Can you come and evaluate?"
• Can you come and evaluate?" evaluate?" evaluate?"
• <00:50:00.559> and<00:50:00.720> IA for further evaluation and IA for further evaluation
• We know that post-COVID, um, we are competing with remote physicians, right?
• competing with remote physicians, right? competing with remote physicians, right?

Keywords: 928, house, all

Summary: The committee first handled routine business, approving the prior meeting minutes with one abstention from a member who had been absent. It then received an update from DHHS Commissioner Lori Weaver on the department’s rural health transformation grant submission. Weaver said the grant was submitted ahead of the deadline, reflected input from communities and providers statewide, and would now enter a CMS review and negotiation phase. She explained that the governor’s office will oversee the grant with DHHS, that some proposals may be limited by federal parameters, and that the department may need to hire some staff to administer the grant, within the grant’s administrative cap. Members also discussed DHHS budget pressures and staffing. The department’s CFO, Nathan White, reviewed the agency’s budget mix, noting that DHHS accounts for a large share of the state’s operating and general fund budgets, and explained projected general fund lapse estimates, which he said are currently just under $20 million for the department. He also described why lapse projections are difficult to predict in DHHS because many costs are driven by utilization and because some funds are statutorily non-lapsing. White reported that vacancy rates have risen, citing about 400 unfunded positions in the current biennium and the department’s hiring freeze, while emphasizing that direct-care positions are being prioritized. Committee members raised concerns that back-of-the-budget cuts and weak revenue collections could affect the department’s ability to manage lapse projections. The committee then heard from Division of Public Health Director Ian Watt on vaccine policy and federal changes. Watt said New Hampshire continues to support access to safe and effective vaccines, including through the universal purchase program and seasonal respiratory virus guidance. He explained a recent CDC change regarding the MMRV vaccine, which now discourages the combined shot for the first dose in children under four because of febrile seizure risk, while still allowing it for the second dose. Watt said New Hampshire’s school and child care vaccine mandates remain stable, with nine vaccines required for schoolchildren and 10 for child care, and that the state continues to review federal recommendations cautiously. He also said there have been no supply or funding disruptions affecting vaccine access, and that childhood vaccine funding through commercial insurers remains intact. Finally, the Permanent Subcommittee on Alzheimer’s Disease and Other Related Dementias presented its annual report. The subcommittee said it met about six times, heard presentations on state services, silver alerts, brain health awareness, and palliative/hospice care, and began work on updating the state’s Alzheimer’s plan, which had last been updated in 2015-2016. To gather more direct input, the subcommittee formed a needs-assessment work group to develop a survey for people living with dementia, caregivers, and service providers. It recommended integrating Alzheimer’s and dementia materials into chronic disease, aging, and public health outreach; embedding cognitive health into systems of care and the state health improvement plan; adding cognitive health measures to BRFSS; and continuing partnerships with aging and advocacy organizations. Members praised the report and suggested it should clearly identify the subcommittee and include page numbers in future versions.

Transcript Highlights:

• Statewide positive supports competency Statewide positive supports competency program<01:28:42.719
• staff competencies, regional mentorship systems, and a community-led competency-based review team.
• <01:31:11.080> staff for tracking evaluating staff for tracking evaluating staff competencies
• competency systems and a community-led competency based<01:31:16.400> review<01:31:16.679>
• comprehensive multi-vent evaluations comprehensive multi-vent evaluations conducted<02:20:16.200

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• It's very hard to recruit when you're competing with every other payer.
• When we did the study, we evaluated five pillars.
• These are states that are growing, competing, attracting families, and leading on freedom.
• If Louisiana wants to compete, we cannot afford to fall behind on this.
• If Louisiana wants to compete, we cannot afford to fall behind on this.

Keywords: 974, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• The duties, as outlined in state statute, were to evaluate issues and provide recommendations relating
• It was also to evaluate current financing and administrative tools to develop, operate, and preserve
• tools including underwriting standards used by public and private housing funders and investors to evaluate
• current financing and also to evaluate current financing and administrative<00:04:04.879> tools
• Financial or asset investors to evaluate Financial or asset management<00:04:22.560> practices

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• And we have to compete for that land.
• But there again, you're competing.
• You can't compete with the subsidies that they're able to utilize to compete against us for them.
• But there again, you're competing.
• You can't compete with the subsidies that they're able to utilize to compete against us for them.

Bills: HB43, HB519, HB 1275, HB1592, HB2842, HB3088, HB3479, HB4163, SB823, HB609

Keywords: agriculture, finance, young farmers, financial assistance, pest control, honey production, beekeeping, food safety, local regulation, bovine producers, dairy farms, permits, bovine tuberculosis, public health, wildlife management, disease prevention, alert system, Texas A&M, white-tailed deer, public safety

Summary: The Senate Committee on Water, Agriculture, and Rural Affairs met with only four members initially present, so quorum was not established until later in the hearing. The committee heard several agriculture-, wildlife-, and food-labeling-related bills, including HB 3479 on expanding the Rio Grande vegetative management program beyond carrizo cane to other noxious vegetation, SB 823 on shrimp origin labeling and restrictions on misrepresenting imported shrimp as Texas or Gulf shrimp, HB 3088 on giving Texas Parks and Wildlife more flexibility to procure resale goods for park gift shops, HB 1275 on permits for non-bovine dairy farms in certain TB-affected areas, HB 519 on honey production and packaging rules, HB 609 on cleaning oyster cages in-bay with bay water only, HB 1592 on a voluntary AgriLife pest and disease alert system, HB 2842 on targeted urban deer depredation permits, and HB 4163 on limiting city requirements that agricultural operators maintain roadside rights-of-way. Testimony generally came from industry groups, agency resource witnesses, and affected producers, with most witnesses supporting the bills and several bills drawing questions about enforcement, labeling responsibility, and the scope of local authority. The most extensive discussion centered on SB 823, where Vice Chair Hancock and others questioned why wholesalers would be covered if they cannot relabel products. The bill author and restaurant association witness said the measure was intended to improve transparency and allow enforcement against intentional mislabeling, while preserving a good-faith defense and clarifying that the bill does not create a private cause of action. HB 519 also drew supportive testimony from beekeepers and a family farm, who argued that current rules treat honey extraction and bottling too much like food manufacturing and burden small operations. HB 609 was presented as a way to save time and resources for cultivated oyster mariculture by allowing cage cleaning in the bay without soaps or chemicals, and HB 1592 was described as a voluntary opt-in alert system for pests and diseases coordinated through AgriLife and other state agencies. HB 43 generated the most detailed policy debate. The bill would restructure and expand the Texas Agricultural Finance Authority, update grant and loan programs, and create a pest and disease control depredation program. The committee substitute reduced some funding caps, changed references from predators to depredating animals, and made the financial provisions contingent on appropriations. Supporters from Texas Farm Bureau, cotton growers, grain and feed interests, and young farmers described severe drought, inflation, land loss, rising input costs, and shrinking infrastructure as major threats to agriculture, while one witness urged preserving priority for young farmers. After testimony, the committee adopted the committee substitute and reported HB 43 favorably. The committee also voted HB 519, HB 609, HB 1275, HB 1592, HB 3088, HB 3479, HB 2842, and HB 4163 favorably, with several recommended for the local and uncontested calendar. SB 823 was reported from committee on a 6-2 vote after adoption of the committee substitute. The meeting ended with notice that the committee would tentatively reconvene Friday morning and then recessed subject to the chair's call.

Transcript Highlights:

• How can our approach be evaluated holistically?
• This is what this plan is driving towards, by connecting credit for prior learning, competency-based
• This item is described as an evaluation, as research.
• We need to ensure that any evaluation can actually lead to changes. Thanks. Thank you so much.
• How would this evaluation help implement that?

Keywords: 988, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• This will be a structured three-year pilot project with annual reporting requirements and evaluation
• of science, technology, engineering, and math, and it was considered a risk to our ability to compete
• Initiatives funded out of that fund would have to undergo a pretty extensive planning and evaluation
• We have partnered with UNM Research. to evaluate our after-school programming.
• Familiar with the current evaluation that I know is in process through the Community Schools Division

Transcript Highlights:

• Now, OES says no, vendors who built it say yes, and we need a competent technical evaluation to determine
• What other alternatives might get evaluated? Do you have a sense?
• But you were talking about the technical evaluation itself needs to be independent.
• . ...like RAND or some outside auditor or outside technical evaluator.
• Right now regarding the technical evaluation.

Keywords: 987, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Correa: We must seek innovative ways to compete for the top talent.
• CORREA: WE MUST SEEK INNOVATIVE WAYS TO COMPETE FOR THE TOP TALENT.
• PROVIDE AN ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS, ALLOWING US TO MONITOR AND EVALUATE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THEIR
• America's ability to compete with China, like this bill that aims to do exactly that.
• Imposing tariffs on North American companies already struggling to compete with penny-wage labor abroad

Keywords: U.S. House of Representatives Floor Proceedings on Monday, March 10, 2025, 1012, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• will be evaluated against we also<01:41:30.960> seek<01:41:31.199> to<01:41:31.400>
• , regional mentorship systems, and a community-led competency-based review team.
• competency based and a community-led competency based review<01:45:58.400> team<01:45:59.199>
• One of the major barriers is the difficulty in training and retaining competent staff.
• <01:51:58.679> Based qualifications for Competency Based qualifications for Competency Based

Bills: HF2367, HF2319, HF2523, HF1742, HF671, HF2331, HF2722, HF2406, HF1674

Keywords: HF2367, Community First Services and Supports, CFSS, personal care assistance, PCA, consumer-directed community supports, CDCS, home and community-based services, HCBS, direct support professionals, direct care workers, caregivers, support workers, SEIU Healthcare Minnesota & Iowa, collective bargaining agreement, retention stipend, health care cost stipend, training stipend, orientation program, retirement trust

Transcript Highlights:

• That they, in fact, are re-evaluated, that they are not just stuck in a room and put away.
• That they, in fact, are re-evaluated, that they are not just stuck in a room and put away.
• Annual prior authorization review allows evaluation of clinical response or functional outcomes with
• In 1974 and 1975, she competed as an amateur in the U.S. Women's Open.
• In 1974 and 1975, she competed as an amateur in the U.S. Women's Open.

Bills: SB20, SB21, SB166, SB177, SB181, SB189, SM6

Keywords: prior authorization, pharmacy benefits manager, PBM, health insurer, prescription drugs, step therapy, formulary, auto-adjudication, electronic portal, appeals, medical necessity, serious mental illness, mental health, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depression, substance use disorder, addiction treatment, cancer, autoimmune disorder

Transcript Highlights:

• graduate from the University of West Florida, where I earned a degree in business management and competed
• Sometimes there were competing recommendations made in that policy proposal.
• We want to shelve the political basis for evaluation and, again, maintain the academic, the ivory tower
• Why shouldn't we put public and private colleges on a level playing field to compete for students on
• Why shouldn't we put public and private colleges on a level playing field to compete for students on

Summary: The committee on Higher Education Appropriations heard and favorably reported two bills: SB 1570, which revives the former Project Leo program to help locate missing persons with special needs through voluntary tracking devices and coordination with sheriff’s offices, and CS/SB 1376, which creates a grant program to support genetic counseling education in response to a statewide shortage of genetic counselors. Both bills drew supportive comments, with the genetic counseling bill also receiving public support from a university representative. The committee then took up a large slate of confirmations. It first approved a block of reappointments to various university and college boards of trustees, including institutions such as UWF, Broward College, Chipola College, FIU, Pasco-Hernando, Polk State, St. Petersburg College, Valencia, FAMU, FAU, UCF, FSU, New College, UNF, USF, and Broward College. It then heard from numerous new appointees and some requested reappointments, many of whom emphasized workforce training, nursing, military and veteran support, dual enrollment, and local economic development as priorities for their institutions. Several nominees highlighted their personal ties to the schools and communities they would serve, including appointees to Pensacola State, Polk State, St. Petersburg College, UNF, UWF, FIU, the College of the Florida Keys, Valencia College, and Chipola College. Committee members repeatedly asked about nursing NCLEX pass rates, workforce alignment, and institutional growth. One reappointment, Thomas Zachary Smith to the UWF board, was pulled from the block for separate questioning about his past public comments and his role in Project 2025; he said he would serve in his personal capacity and treat all students equally. The committee also separately heard from a Florida Poly reappointment, I. Shapiro, who was questioned about prior remarks regarding race and Supreme Court nominations, and from a New College reappointment, Mark Bowerlaine, who described campus improvements and enrollment growth. The meeting ended amid ongoing confirmation processing and separate votes on the remaining nominees.

Transcript Highlights:

• We want to continue to evaluate these programs and ensure that they are effective and consistent with
• There are competency issues, and so the case got dismissed because of competency issues.
• Wenzel hit on it pretty well when we had to compete with corporate practices that offer benefits in a
• I oversee the program evaluation unit there.
• Our unit did an evaluation on the state's risk management funds about two years ago at this point and

Transcript Highlights:

• When Virginia did an audit in 2019 to evaluate our incentives, we concluded that 90% of the investment
• When Virginia did an audit in 2019 to evaluate our incentives, we concluded that 90% of the investment
• Virginia did an audit in 2019 to evaluate our incentives.
• Minnesota should adopt HF 1277 so the state can compete for large-scale data centers that have yet to
• opportunity to look at and re-evaluate opportunity to look at and re-evaluate this<01:14:24.280>

Bills: HF1277, HF1006

Keywords: data centers, tax exemption, Minnesota statutes, economic development, employment growth, property tax, abatement, land bank, redevelopment, political subdivision, 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• care of an individual when they do so. 39 5, 0, 7, 5, contemplates that now the department will evaluate
• manner requiring the child protective team to consult when it experienced position or a PR in when evaluation
• We've seen this in many of these cases where there are competing expert opinions.
• What happens is that those competing expert opinions from both sides need to be considered and the judge
• We were sent to DCF parents and providers who even found me to be competent as a mother and recommended

Keywords: 999, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• And if you wanted to move capital outlay into that, we've now evaluated that for you.
• And if you wanted to move capital outlay into that, we've now evaluated that for you.
• need to be evaluated.
• But how many sites would you say need to be evaluated?
• So out of the 47 sites right now that are evaluated today, are any of those...

Summary: The committee first recognized Mark Roper of the Economic Development Department for his long service and retirement, with members and the secretary praising his work on economic development across the state. Secretary Rob Black then presented EDD’s budget and special appropriation requests, describing strong recent job and income growth and outlining the department’s strategy around science and technology, site readiness, workforce development, foreign direct investment, and rural/community programs. He highlighted wins in advanced energy, quantum, space and defense, and biosciences, and asked for funding for quantum/DARPA matching funds, additional site readiness work, LIDA closing funds, JTIP training support, New Mexico Partnership, and healthy foods and other community programs. Members asked detailed questions about the quantum proposal, site readiness, the new mapping tool for industrial sites, workforce participation, trade missions, foreign investment, tariffs, water and produced water, tribal site evaluation, and public engagement on major projects. Black said the quantum request was intended to match federal dollars and build a workforce pipeline, that the site-readiness software would be a set enterprise license, and that the department was working with tribes and local partners on future site evaluations. He also said tariffs have created uncertainty but New Mexico’s infrastructure and foreign trade zones could help attract manufacturing, and he acknowledged concerns about transparency and community input while noting that some projects, such as Pacific Fusion, had gone through extensive public processes. The committee also discussed specific projects and funding balances, including Mantis Space’s move to Albuquerque, the status of Virgin Galactic’s spaceport lease, and the current LIDA fund balance and encumbrances. Black and Deputy Secretary Isaac Romero said the department was trying to use State Investment Council-backed venture funds to attract companies and that the new investments were already producing deals and jobs. Members generally supported the department’s direction but pressed for more targeted expertise, faster deployment, and stronger community involvement in future economic development decisions. Later, Secretary de Blassie of the Department of Health presented the department’s budget request and progress report. He said DOH had improved revenue cycle management, reduced old Medicaid-pending cases, increased census at facilities, improved budget and contract timeliness, and responded effectively to the measles outbreak. The department requested additional base funding for epidemiology and response, the DOH helpline, the Vital Records Virtual Vault, state labs, and the veterans home, along with special requests for respiratory vaccinations and marketing and lab equipment replacement. He also noted progress on MOUD and the medical psilocybin program, and said the department was not seeking to launch new programs given the limited time left in the administration.

Transcript Highlights:

• So humanities and cultural competency are important in health care. English majors are fantastic.
• We're going to base it on competencies developed by the Association of American Medical Colleges.
• We're going to base it on competencies developed by the Association of American Medical Colleges.
• Like so many get rural, so many get urban, or how is that evaluated, calculated?
• To get urban or how is that evaluated, calculated? That's a competitive grant process.

Keywords: 1184, house, all