Transcript Highlights:

• But this is a way of speeding this process up to get it done. Thank you. >> Okay.
• But this is a way of speeding this process up to get it done. Thank you.
• But this is a way of speeding this year.
• It's camera time for crying out loud. Um, Wesley Robashard up next, please. that.
• It's camera time for crying them anyway. It's camera time for crying out<00:53:46.240> loud.

Keywords: 928, house, all

Summary: The committee first heard Senate Bill 497, a technical correction to last year’s capital budget. Shannon Reid of the Community College System of New Hampshire explained that the bill removes leftover state-agency boilerplate from a repurposed capital appropriation and replaces it with community college language, without changing any dollar amounts. She also described a requested amendment to rename a respiratory therapy renovation appropriation at Nashua Community College as an allied health instructional center, so the space can be used more flexibly for programs such as phlebotomy, radiologic technology, and LNA training. Terry Poff of the General Court then testified on the second part of the bill, which changes legislative space references to support the move of General Court offices from the second floor to the fourth floor of the annex as part of the legislative office building reconfiguration. Members asked whether the community college changes affected funding, and Reid confirmed the amounts do not change and that the bill simply speeds up a correction that otherwise would have been handled later in the lapse process. Poff said the annex space change is part of a permanent transition, though the work cannot proceed until the General Court has legal control of the space. The committee then entered executive session, adopted Amendment 1031H on a 12-0 vote, and voted ought to pass as amended on SB 497 by a 12-0 vote, with several members absent. The bill was placed on the consent calendar. The committee next opened a hearing on Senate Bill 529FN, which would give preference to lumber sourced in the United States on state-funded building projects. Representative Davis, introducing the bill for Senator Roachford, argued that New Hampshire timber is disadvantaged by grading rules that treat U.S. lumber differently from Canadian SPF lumber, even when the wood is from similar species and climates. He said the bill is intended to support New Hampshire’s timber industry and that architects and engineers would still be able to specify stronger materials when needed. Committee members questioned whether the bill should instead refer specifically to New Hampshire lumber, how it would be enforced, and what the cost impact would be. Davis and later witness Mike Olette said the issue is tied to industry grading standards rather than a government code, that the bill is meant to create a preference rather than a mandate, and that price differences are hard to pin down because lumber is a commodity. Olette, who lives near the border, testified that New Hampshire logs are often sent to Canada for milling and then return under a different grade, which he said puts New Hampshire loggers and mills at an economic disadvantage.

Transcript Highlights:

• fancy map anywhere like you >> I don't have fancy map anywhere like you on<00:22:43.120> camera
• on camera. on camera.
• the information that the area agencies collect at intake and eligibility, how that can be used to speed
• <01:30:30.159> up<01:30:30.320> the that can be used um to speed up the that can be
• used um to speed up the process<01:30:30.960> for<01:30:31.280> a<01:30:31.600> a

Keywords: 928, house, all

Summary: The committee first approved the draft minutes from September 26. Senator Gray then raised the idea of creating a continuing subcommittee or recurring agenda item on palliative care and hospice, noting that the issues are evolving and suggesting the committee revisit the idea in coming months. The bulk of the meeting focused on Department of Health and Human Services updates. Officials described contingency planning for SNAP amid the federal shutdown, including a USDA notice that November benefits may not be fully funded, letters to participants warning of possible delays, and coordination with the New Hampshire Food Bank and local pantries. They said New Hampshire serves about 42,000 SNAP households, with average benefits around $300 a month, and that the department is also preparing to transfer funds for a special fiscal committee meeting. WIC was discussed separately: officials said WIC benefits had been extended through November 7 using additional USDA funds, but that some community agency-based WIC services may need to pause while money is redirected to food benefits. Officials also outlined New Hampshire’s rural health transformation grant application under the federal One Big Beautiful Bill, describing a potential five-year, up-to-$1 billion opportunity focused on critical access hospitals, small rural hospitals, federally qualified health centers, community mental health centers, and EMS. Members asked about transportation, workforce, and nursing retention; officials said transportation is included in the proposal, housing is not, and workforce supports may include lower tuition or awards but not loan repayment or traditional scholarships. They also said the final application would be submitted in early November and that priorities would be adjusted depending on the eventual federal award. Finally, Medicaid director Henry Lipman gave a quarterly postpartum coverage update. He said postpartum coverage is now nearly universal nationwide, and in New Hampshire 2,351 women had used the benefit through May 2025. He reported that mental health services were the most frequently used postpartum service, followed by preventive care, substance use disorder treatment, and cardiovascular-related care, and noted that Medicaid women have experienced a disproportionate share of maternal deaths. Committee members asked about rural distribution and the share of women receiving mental health services, and Lipman said the department would follow up with additional data. The meeting then moved into the annual update on New Hampshire’s 10-year mental health plan, with staff describing progress toward a more integrated continuum of care and improved data infrastructure.

Transcript Highlights:

• They are, they move at the speed of smell in general, right?
• That's for the camera. Thank you.
• c><01:06:49.760> That's<01:06:50.000> for<01:06:50.160> the<01:06:50.319> camera
• That's for the camera. we go. Okay. That's for the camera. Thank<01:06:50.880> you.
• dial to ask them, read this on speed dial to ask them, read this section<01:16:43.520> of<01:

Keywords: 1191, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Members, this expands the definition of video voyeurism with respect to use of a camera or a drone to
• This just adds another exemption that you can use a drone and camera for, in connection with a lawful
• request the Department of Transportation and Development to evaluate impediments to safety measures and speed
• request Department of Transportation and Development to evaluate impediments to safety measures and speed

Keywords: 974, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• I wanted to share one specific example, and if we have time, we can share others. high-speed, non-destructive
• Well, do we have any cameras in and out of that area?
• Figure out how to pay for them and, you know, all of the towers for the cameras that we put in Walmart
• Speed. Thank you to increase power grid flexibility and meet demand fluctuation.

Transcript Highlights:

• An example of that is we have cameras that were analog. We've got cameras that are very old school.
• that are going to call those cameras that are going to call those cameras<00:08:26.879> up<00
• lot to do we have thousands of cameras lot to do we have thousands of cameras there's<00:08:34.959
• that system uh we added 1,00 new cameras that system uh we added 1,00 new cameras with<00:10:07.600
• You talked about the cameras, and you were talking about using the analog cameras.

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• Or if they get pulled over and are attempting to get pulled over for speeding and they don't stop.
• Or if they get pulled over and are attempting to get pulled over for speeding and they don't stop.
• Or if they get pulled over and are attempting to get pulled over for speeding and they don't stop.
• If anything, you probably wish you weren't here today with all these pictures and cameras.
• with all these pictures and cameras. with all these pictures and cameras.

Keywords: 1136, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• thank you all for being here, and we will bring you back up for questions when we finish with this speed
• To enhance safety, accountability, and transparency, we've also implemented the use of handheld cameras
• There's a quote that says transformation happens at the speed of trust.
• Through that process, we discovered that there were cameras in the shower rooms and in the toilets, and
• when I went through a tour of the Youth Services Center and saw exactly what was happening with the cameras

Transcript Highlights:

• SB 1425, High-Speed Rail Authority Encroachment Permits.
• SB 1279, Long Beach PCH Speed Camera Pilot Program. The motion is do pass. Roll call vote.

Keywords: 987, senate, all

Summary: The Senate Appropriations Committee met for a suspense-file hearing, which the chair noted was vote-only with no public testimony. The committee moved quickly through a large number of bills, mostly Senate bills with a few Assembly measures at the end, and repeatedly announced amendments that narrowed scope, made bills contingent on appropriation, removed certain provisions, or otherwise reduced fiscal impact. Topics covered included wildfire resilience and recovery, housing and homelessness, energy and utilities, health care and Medi-Cal, education, criminal justice, elections, labor and workforce issues, transportation, environmental regulation, insurance, privacy and technology, and several public safety measures. Most bills were approved, many on unanimous 7-0 votes or 5-0/6-0 votes, while a substantial number passed on 5-2 or 5-1 votes with Republicans generally voting no. A few measures drew more specific discussion: Senator Richardson said he would vote for SB 1203 on security services but expressed concern that it would impose different and doubled training requirements compared with last year’s law; SB 904 on wildfire recovery passed 6-1; SB 1135 on the California Wildfire Coexistence Act passed 6-1; and SB 1241 on skilled and trained workforce requirements passed 6-1 after amendments. The committee also took a reconsideration vote on one previously favorable action, which passed 5-0. No testimony was taken and no bills were held for further discussion during the hearing; the chair repeatedly noted that items not called were held under submission. At the end of the meeting, the committee announced that results would be posted online and that addendum analyses would follow for amended bills, then adjourned.

Transcript Highlights:

• people, creating the potential to eliminate entire occupations across sectors at an unprecedented speed
• Mountain View, Santa Cruz, and South Pasadena, which suspended the use of automated license plate reader cameras
• this is very much in parallel with China's Big Brother system, where they have facial recognition cameras

Keywords: 987, senate, all

Summary: The Senate took up a series of bills focused on consumer protection, housing, worker safety, privacy, and local fiscal authority. Measures discussed included SB 1312 on abandoned cemeteries, SB 1112 on towing fee notices, SB 877 on insurance claim transparency after wildfire losses, SB 1046 on Cal/OSHA standards for Tijuana River Valley pollution exposure, SB 1091 on anti-displacement housing preservation, SB 951 on notice and protections when AI displaces workers, SB 1030 repealing the “man in the house” rule for public assistance, SB 1218 tying vehicle registration to unpaid illegal dumping fines, SB 1013 regulating automated license plate reader data, SB 1116 making technical changes to the starter home housing law, SB 1201 protecting veterans from food assistance cuts, and SB 1164 strengthening state voting rights protections. The Senate also considered SCR 171, declaring May 20, 2026, California Nonprofits Day, and welcomed Berkeley Mayor Adina Ishii during floor introductions. Debate was often divided along policy and fiscal lines. Supporters of the local tax authorization bill AB 1768 argued it would let voters in Los Angeles and Contra Costa counties decide whether to backfill major health and human services cuts tied to federal changes, while opponents said it would raise costs, bypass normal tax-policy review, and worsen affordability. SB 1013 drew strong support from senators who said ALPR data needs tighter safeguards, but opposition warned the bill would hamper law enforcement investigations. SB 951 on AI-related layoffs received support as a worker-protection measure, while SB 1164 drew opposition over concerns about litigation and expanded Attorney General oversight. SB 1030 was framed as a long-overdue repeal of a discriminatory welfare rule, and SB 1201 was presented as a way to shield vulnerable veterans from federal food assistance cuts. Most measures passed on strong bipartisan votes, often unanimously. SB 1312, SB 1112, SB 877, SB 1046, SB 1091, SB 1030, SB 1218, SB 1116, SB 1201, SB 1164, and SCR 171 were adopted, and AB 1768 passed as an urgency measure after extended debate. SB 951 also passed, with some no votes. The Senate then announced committee meetings for budget subcommittees and adjourned until the next floor session.

Transcript Highlights:

• So if you see me giving you a funny look, it's because we're trying to speed it along.
• , as an aside, each vehicle that you would see with the Florida Highway Patrol has, I think, five cameras
• We're looking to integrate automated license plate reading technology into those cameras.

Summary: The committee met to review agency program funding as it prepared to build the budget, hearing brief presentations from six agencies and then taking member questions. Florida Division of Emergency Management highlighted its role in response, preparedness, recovery, and mitigation, describing a largely federal pass-through budget, major technology investments, and large disaster and preparedness grant activity. The Department of Commerce, Department of State, Florida Housing Finance Corporation, Department of Transportation, Department of Military Affairs, Florida State Guard, and Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles also summarized their budgets, staffing, and major programs, including workforce and economic development, elections and arts funding, housing assistance, transportation work programs, military readiness, state guard expansion, and highway safety and motorist services. Members focused questions on several issues: arts and library grant funding and whether award criteria had changed; Commerce’s rural infrastructure and job growth grants and why funds were not being disbursed faster; Florida Housing’s use of SAIL, Live Local, Hometown Heroes, and SHIP funds and how smaller agencies learn about and access funding; and DOT’s work program gap between agency and governor proposals. The most extensive questioning was directed to Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles about long DMV lines, vacancies, overtime, staffing shortages, and the ability to shift funds between divisions. The department said staffing and pay constraints, especially in South Florida, were driving service delays and vacancy rates, and that overtime was being used because troopers were leaving for better-paying jobs. The Florida State Guard was also questioned about its spending and procurement pace, including aircraft purchases and facilities. Its director said long procurement timelines explained the low initial spending and that obligations had risen sharply as contracts matured. Members also asked about the department’s public opposition to Amendment 3 and whether agency resources were used in that effort; the director said no contracts or purchases were made to influence the vote and said the colonel’s comments were made off the clock. The meeting ended with the chair asking agencies to respond promptly to unanswered questions, and the committee adjourned without any recorded votes or formal actions beyond receiving the presentations and questions.

Transcript Highlights:

• I got this lady trying to run over me with a bike, then tried to take the camera out of my hand.
• Cops can arrest them, and they have like four cameras in front of Planned Parenthood.
• Cops can arrest them, and they have like four cameras in front of Planned Parenthood.
• And there are cameras in place. There are laws in place.
• <02:23:06.640> task from the pig task for the speed task from the pig task for the speed task

Keywords: 910, house, all

Summary: The House Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs heard testimony on HB 1875, which would expand Hawaii’s existing protections to include gender-affirming health care, clarify permitted disclosures of protected health information, and bar certain adverse actions by malpractice insurers and health carriers against providers of lawful reproductive or gender-affirming care. The Insurance Division of DCCA supported the bill with a technical amendment, suggesting language tied to actuarial analysis rather than the phrase “actuarially sound.” The Office of Information Practices also provided comments. Most testimony was strongly in support. State agencies and advocacy groups, including the Hawaii State Youth Commission, State Health Planning and Development Agency, Commission on the Status of Women, Hawaii Civil Rights Commission, Hawaii Public Health Institute, Stonewall Caucus, ACLU of Hawaii, PFLAG Oahu, Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates, the Healthcare Association of Hawaii, and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, said the bill would protect patient privacy, reduce chilling effects from out-of-state litigation, and help retain providers in a state already facing shortages. Several testifiers said gender-affirming care is medically necessary, evidence-based, and life-saving, and emphasized that Hawaii should protect its own health care decisions from outside political pressure. A few individuals testified in opposition, arguing the bill was unnecessary or that it protected providers more than opponents of the bill, but these views were not echoed by most of the testimony. The chair repeatedly reminded testifiers to keep comments brief and maintain decorum. The transcript provided does not include a final committee vote or disposition on the bill.

Transcript Highlights:

• And I'm going to look in the camera now, but specifically to those families, I'm thinking about Miss
• The law enforcement on the other side of that body camera are also innocent until proven guilty.
• Do you put a camera in there and record everybody all the time?
• All conversations, all faces that are in there, the body camera that's looking at...
• We are trying to legislate at the speed of AI and without a start, without staking claim to some place

Keywords: 981, all

Transcript Highlights:

• I want, our governor says all the time, he wants government to move at the speed of business, so do I
• So I’m looking in front of the camera, behind the camera.
• But I would think that moving with speed on those complaints to help the public realize that we’re taking
• So if they note or somebody reports or through some of the electronic camera surveillance, that there's
• a problem with the wall. through some of the electronic camera surveillance, that there's a problem

Bills: SB 1

Keywords: campground safety, youth camp regulations, flood safety, emergency evacuation, health and safety standards

Summary: The committee began with Article I budget items for the Secretary of State. LBB staff outlined recommendations that would reduce the agency’s appropriation by about $40.3 million, including changes to HAVA funding, removal of one-time business system replacement money, and a rider directing the agency to use Fund 5095 first. Secretary Jane Nelson and staff then defended several exceptional items, especially additional staffing for elections and business filings, a new website, digitization of records, cybersecurity tools, and renovation of the James Earl Rudder Building. Members focused heavily on election administration, cross-checking voter rolls, Harris County complaints, call-center response times, and whether online voter registration should be expanded. No votes were taken; the discussion was informational and budget-focused. The committee then heard the Office of the Governor and trustee programs. LBB presented a recommended $2.4 million decrease for the governor’s office proper and a much larger decrease in trustee programs driven by one-time funding and unexpended balances, while still preserving major border security funding and victim assistance funding. Governor’s staff emphasized Texas’ economic growth, the importance of border security, and efforts to seek federal reimbursement for the roughly $11 billion Texas has spent on border operations. Members discussed whether shifting National Guard deployment to federal control could reduce state costs, and they also reviewed the music incubator program, the Governor’s University Research Initiative, and the semiconductor innovation consortium. Staff highlighted a $5 million late-added request for grants to protect nonprofits from violence and terrorism. Again, the exchange was largely explanatory, with no formal action. Finally, the committee took up the Texas Facilities Commission and lease payments for revenue bonds. LBB recommended major reductions overall, including removal of border wall construction funding and capital complex bond funding, but added money for higher utility costs, renovation of the Rudder Building, and additional facilities staff. George Purcell also noted stable maintenance-and-renewal funding and new riders related to the Texas State Library and Archives Commission building, tenant communications, and space utilization. For lease payments, LBB recommended a smaller appropriation tied to revenue-bond costs allocated across agencies. The discussion was informational, with members asking about the Rudder Building renovation, border wall progress, and capital complex construction timelines; no votes were recorded.

Transcript Highlights:

• I wanted—but Christian, it was walking the camera. Okay. Okay. Okay. I don't know. Okay, whatever.
• But, as we've been saying, the speed that you spend money is not the whole puzzle; it's also what you're
• peer-to-peer relationships with other grantees, might be having either getting, being more successful on speed
• Might be having either getting, being more successful on speed and deployment of funding or being more
• But, you know, as we've been saying, funding—the speed that you spend money is not the whole puzzle;

Summary: The Assembly Budget Subcommittee on Accountability and Oversight held a hearing on California’s homelessness funding, focusing on the Homeless Housing Assistance and Prevention (HAP) Grant and the Encampment Resolution Grant Program. HCD described new accountability requirements, including regional action plans, stronger reporting and expenditure conditions, housing-element compliance, encampment response plans, and public dashboards that track fiscal spending, service outcomes, and encampment resolution status. Officials said the goal is to use the data to identify underperforming grantees, provide technical assistance, and, if needed, withhold or reallocate funds. Local officials from San Diego, Fresno, and Santa Cruz said the programs have helped expand shelter, outreach, and permanent housing, and that state dollars have leveraged local and federal resources. Mayor Todd Gloria said San Diego has used HAP to expand shelter and safe sleeping options, reduce downtown encampments, and increase housing production, but argued the state’s new accountability website is too high-level and does not fully reflect countywide conditions, behavioral health outcomes, or the role of continuum-of-care partners. Fresno officials said HAP and other state funds helped the city add shelter beds and reduce homelessness, while Santa Cruz emphasized that state funding helped build local coordination and draw in federal vouchers. Members pressed the panel on whether HAP is actually reducing homelessness, what the best success metrics should be, and whether the state is getting full, usable data from grantees and subcontractors. Several members asked for more granular jurisdiction-level reporting, better tracking of nonprofit spending, and clearer measures beyond point-in-time counts and “people served.” HCD said it is still improving HMIS participation and data quality, but can already show outcomes such as exits to permanent housing and returns to homelessness. The hearing ended with broad agreement that transparency is important, but disagreement remained over the best measures of success and how much emphasis should be placed on housing, prevention, shelter, and treatment.

Transcript Highlights:

• security equipment around the state like our x-ray machines, our walk-through metal detectors, replace cameras
• , the security cameras, replace the access controls—that's the door swipes, security gates, and the like
• Our x-ray machines, our walk-through metal detectors, replace cameras, the security cameras, and replace
• Everybody who gets a speeding ticket, whether they're doing 100 or they're doing 30 miles an hour over

Transcript Highlights:

• He moves the different camera views. He's just a jack of all trades, aren't you, Mitch? Good.
• Is the camera, the microphone on? Great. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
• They're very strong on moving at the speed of trust.
• They're very strong on moving at the speed of trust.
• You have to move at the speed of trust.

Summary: The Advanced Nuclear Energy Committee met to hear a series of presentations on the economics, financing, workforce, and community impacts of advanced nuclear deployment in North Dakota. William Bridge of Nucleon Energy presented the committee’s economic impacts and private-sector financing report, estimating construction and operating job impacts, local spending, and state/local tax effects for hypothetical SMR projects. He said the report assumes first-of-a-kind costs are still high, used a $6 million per megawatt nth-of-a-kind proxy, and estimated peak construction workforces of about 500 for a 200-MW plant and 1,000 for a larger facility, with roughly 100 operating jobs for a 200-MW plant. Committee members questioned security costs, capital cost assumptions, water and transmission siting constraints, and whether the model included fuel and waste; Bridge said the report included initial fuel in capital cost and that waste disposal is funded through existing federal mechanisms. Lori Brady of the Nuclear Energy Institute then outlined national nuclear workforce needs and NEI’s strategic workforce planning efforts. She described declining labor-force participation, retirements, and the need for a much larger future workforce, and said NEI has organized recommendations around career awareness, pipelines, training and qualification, policy support, retention, and nontraditional recruitment. She highlighted tools such as the Nuclear Works career website, the Nuclear Energy Academic Roadmap, the new federal Energy and Natural Resources career cluster, and the Nuclear Uniform Curriculum Program for community colleges. Members asked about AI, timing for training relative to plant development, and whether advanced manufacturing would reduce staffing needs; Brady said AI is not expected to replace workers and that training timelines depend on the specific project and staffing plan. The committee also heard from Gary Yaco, mayor of Red Wing, Minnesota, who described Prairie Island’s role in his community. He said the plant provides a large share of local property tax revenue, supports well-paid jobs, contributes to emergency preparedness funding and training, and is broadly supported by the city despite periodic protests and public concerns. He emphasized the plant’s security, regular drills with local and federal responders, and the absence of problems with dry cask storage. Later, Benton Arnett of NEI discussed the current financing landscape for advanced nuclear, explaining how tax credits, federal loan support, off-take agreements, and new business models are helping projects move forward. He said early projects face high upfront costs and long lead-time procurement, but that investor confidence is improving as federal policy and regulatory streamlining continue. The committee asked about waste funding, comparisons with natural gas, the effect of political shifts on investor confidence, and whether the market will narrow to a few winning technologies; Arnett said the industry is still sorting that out, but expects clearer winners in the late 2020s and early 2030s. The meeting concluded with an introductory presentation from Julie Kazeraki of DOE’s Office of Energy Dominance Financing, who said the office is focused on accelerating nuclear deployment through financing support.

Transcript Highlights:

• I apologize if my protocol isn't exactly up to speed.
• I'm brand new at exactly up to speed I'm brand new at this<00:36:18.200> so<00:36:19.200>
• We also were able to install security cameras in the building and update the common area bathrooms to
• where they installed security cameras where they installed security cameras<01:02:00.720> in<
• I could see my camera, and suddenly it is not working. I apologize.

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• I have had to debunk misinformation that claims sharks have perpetuated about the speed of claims, with
• No matter who represents a veteran on federal benefits matters, it is not possible to speed up the VA
• Then we'll go online. speed up the VA or to guarantee a 100% speed up the VA or to guarantee a 100% rating
• Next up is John Blomstrom, who is also online, so you can turn on your camera, state your name for the
• You can come up and begin your testimony. go on camera an opera a motor go on camera an opera a motor

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• HOW ELSE WILL YOU DO IT BESIDES PUTTING CAMERAS IN EVERY CORNER.
• YOU KNOW, REALLY HOPE ONE DAY MY POWER CHAIR DOESN'T END UP WARP SPEED IN LAUNCHING ME -- THOUGH TO BE

Keywords: 999, senate, all